"Pay attention, Rufus; divine aura is the most terrible thing about authorities. Mortals do not possess natural means to prevent its influence." Helena counseled me.
"Of course, you manifest your divine aura with specific goals. For instance, an unholy aura can suppress holy spells, or a holy one can rebuke the undead. But the full release of the aura would have a more pernicious effect," she continued her explanation.
"Let me stop you here, Helena. I am studying by myself about aura, but how do I manage to fully or partially release my aura?" I asked her because currently I was concealing my entire aura.
"Actually, there are minimal things that we must teach you. Letting you walk a world without being minimally equipped to manage your divinity is like turning you into a walking catastrophe." Helena had a grave expression. I think that there were issues in the past.
"Managing it is a continuous exercise, fellow apostle. Use Hercules' summons to try it. You can feel the Authority, let it be free, as if it were like opening or closing a faucet."
"And in case I make a mistake." I tried her a bit.
"Be prepared for plenty of headaches. Even as an apostle, if you release your aura, the place where it happened will temporarily become a holy site. Mortals present could either be extremely terrified or strongly linked." Helena answered my question, at least, partially.
"I understand what you mean by terrified. But linked?"
"No, you don't understand both yet. If they are terrified and have heart issues, they will have a heart attack. When someone got linked, the person would become a holy fanatical."
"Think about it, Rufus. You live in a world where you know the existence of gods, but are you in their presence, physically close to them? That is a game-changing experience. People exposed to a divine aura will have a ground-breaking revelation. You are an exception; you were born with godlike willpower, and you resist divine auras in the same way a demigod would."
---
Helena's explanation makes sense now. I could see Jel's beaming eyes, they even made me feel guilty.
"I am sorry, Jel, but I may mishear you." I asked her to repeat, even though it was obvious that I understood what she said.
"I want to worship your Lord too, Mr. cleric. I don't have anywhere to return, and I've seen your power over those unnatural creatures."
She was probably holding on to this declaration until now. I thought that she was unaffected by my divine aura, but the reality was cruel. I am afraid of what will happen to Matila. She has been asleep since the event.
"I think that before deciding for Matila, you should wake her up." I started to disregard our situation, and dealing with the aftermath of my mistake was my responsibility. Especially as an apostle.
"Fine. She was there too." The way she phrased it sounded awfully ominous.
She woke up gently, Matila. The child started to open her eyes and almost instantly turned her head to me. That was creepy.
"Are you fine, Matila?" I asked her with a worried voice.
"Yes. I am." her voice was monotonous.
"Are you hurt somewhere, Matila?" Jel asked her.
"No, I am fine. I don't get it, I feel odd." Jel and I silently agreed that something was wrong and we should postpone our discussion. Well, at least it was what I thought my look and nod meant. But communication is not a trivial thing.
"Matila, let's become priests along with Mr. Rufus." I was now feeling goosebumps. Her energy when speaking was far too unnatural, as if it was almost like her personality had a changed.
"Yes." The monotonous answer made me feel anxious. The guilt started to consume me, if I had managed better my divine aura.
"You were a huntress, a goblin huntress, Jel. Matila, you have a bright future ahead. Why do you two want to become priests?
She got angry. Her bright mood plummeted instantly. "Do you think that our resolution is not enough for your Lord? I know that we lack the correct instructions from a renowned human school and that we are lowly filthy creatures, but even though I have felt the true faith. I saw my mission and my life goal. You can't deny that to us, please. Never in my whole life have I felt anything like that."
I was taken aback by her sudden rant. I will train divinity restraint immediately, as soon as I reach a city, and reduce my reliance on Authorities.
"Asclepius. He is the true owner of the power that you felt. Jel, Matila is a child. She has a lot of time until she can decide..." Matila, yes, the child, interrupted me.
"I am one year younger than Jel! I want to be a great priest."
So many surprises. I read about goblins and their fast growth speed and fertility rate. Matila was a half-sized version of Jel. And only one year apart? Jel seemed to be very mature, and she is pretty clever and smart.
"How old are you, Jel?"
"Four years in the next season." Jel proudly answered.
"We have nowhere to go Mr Rufus, please don't leave us. We can become your slaves, but what I felt. I don't know how to put it in words, but I feel that I must by your side." Jel continued, and before it became a new ranting, I stopped her.
"I understand. I am not in a position to deny it, as I am responsible for this. First and foremost, you aren't filthy creatures. Necromancers are. They desecrate bodies to fulfill disgusting ambitions. Second, priests should serve their god voluntarily. I can't accept anybody who is compelled." I exposed my reasons.
"So, you want us to become your followers, not slaves." Jel concluded.
"What is this logic? I influenced you both, inappropriately, with my the Healing divine aura. These are not your true feelings."
"So you are saying that our faith is fake." Matila intervene.
Wait, what. She got me here. Their faith is not fake because they experienced first-hand a divine aura, they truly witnessed a divine presence in the mortal realm. I don't know how to address this anymore.
"No. Your faith is real. But, that is not how one should believe in a god."
"Mr. Rufus, we were always present in our religious ceremonies in our tribe. But what I felt before attacking the necromancer was a lot more intense. Your god did not forsake us. Where is our Goblin? Why did he allow such monsters to destroy our land? Why did Goblin permit that our parents be killed?"
Jel stopped. We haven't told Matila that everybody has been assassinated by the undead and the necromancer minions.
"Moma and Papa, dead?"
I understood every feeling that she was expressing. "Matila, sorry, but we have things to tell you. The world is a lot more complex than that Jel, we will continue this later."
Jel was embarrassed; she spouted without measuring her words. Matila started crying and felt many feelings. Two girls, three and four years old, lost everything in one night and met a god's apostle. I stopped overthinking every minute detail and consoled them.
---
Matila cried for a long time until she was tired, and Jel was exhausted from all the events. Both girls were convinced that we were going to discuss their priesthood tomorrow after burying their tribe. Jel was absolutely sure that this was some impregnable fortress. After everything, I did not possess such a strong belief in this man-made hole.
So, I let them sleep first and kept watch. I have a lot on my mind. Everything that transpired in the last hours, I was going to achieve 24 hours in Midgard and have already made several mistakes. Letting an Authority get the better of me, releasing a divine aura over residents, and turning them into religious fanatics.
I am an apostle, after all. So I started to pray and beg for forgiveness. I doubt that my mission was going to be fulfilled if I kept going this way. Curiously enough, all of my Authorities resonated as if they were telling me that what happened was for the best and to keep on.
This feeling appeased my anxiety, although I think my next few days are going to become a lot more busy. Now, I need to take two goblins with me to Wheatstone and train them to become priestesses of an unknown god for the great majority of Midgard people. While developing this world, of course.
---
"It is a shame that we can't communicate with him." Asclepius lamented.
"A full release on the first day, he is a brave apostle." Athena said.
"I think it was reckless." Hermes told them his opinion.
"He cleansed goblins and humans from an undead curse. I think it was a great start." Hercules gave his honest impression.
Asclepius boastfully said, "I even have two new priestesses.
"The Forest Goblin deity will be pissed with us at this rate." Hermes pointed out.
"She should be glad that at least two of their kind were rescued by our apostle. If our initial schedule went on, he would not be able to save anyone. Wait, Athena." Asclepius was displeased, then he perceived that something was amiss.
"Athena, did you know about the situation there?"
"Who, me? No, I didn't." Athena said that while looking sideways.
Hercules started to laugh hard, Hermes made a facepalm, and Asclepius was dumbfounded looking at the goddess of wisdom, who by the day appeared to have received the Authority of Trickery.