"Joren what are you doing?!" Glenn rushed to Jorens side and tried to pry his hand off of the man.
"I wouldn't touch me if I were you Uncle. Infernal energy is contagious and you'll end up getting infected. Haha, told you I'll be doing something stupid." Joren felt the foreign energy flow into his body. The energy was eating away at his mana like a pride of lions ganging up on a single gazel. The color drained from his face and beads of sweat dripped from his head.
'I need to direct the energy flow to my left hand, that way it can all be destroyed. Fuck this shit hurts. I must be an idiot. This is some main character type shit.'
Joren fell to his knees, clutching his left hand which was still on the man's chest. He could feel his mana draining from him rapidly, more than he could destroy the infernal energy. If things continued this way, his life would be in danger.
[WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!]
'Oh, now you decide to show up! Well look here, I found a source of Infernal energy and it started eating away at my mana but the energy was destroyed when it came in contact with your crest, so I'm absorbing the energy so it can be destroyed from the power of your crest. I know, I'm a genius.'
[No! You're a fool! What you're doing is suicide!]
'Well rather than yelling at me, why don't you help me find a solution!'
[...]
The golden lady fell silent for a while until speaking back up again. Thankfully, she wasn't yelling this time.
[Pour your mana into the crest, I shall help you this one time but if I do, there will be consequences]
'Bitch, I'm here because of you! I didn't want to do this in the first place, the fuck you mean consequences?!'
[HOW DARE YOU-]
'Shut the fuck up! I don't have time for your stupid god complex, just do something already!
[Fine.]
Joren was already pouring mana into the crest when the golden lady finally took action. Using her power, she activated the crest and a bright golden light flashed from Joren's hand, instantly destroying all the infernal energy in the area.
"Haah-Haah-Haah!" Tired after almost killing himself, Joren leaned against the bed frame panting while wiping the sweat from his face.
"What just happened?!" At first, Glenn was confused about why Joren would do something so stupid such as absorbing infernal energy. Now he was confused about how he managed to completely destroy the infernal energy.
"Well, remember when you said we need a saintess with holy power right? Well..." Joren held up his hand and showed Glenn the crest. "I might not be a saintess, but I'm sure this still counts right?" He asked between breaths.
"Yo-You're an Avatar?!" Pointing at Joren, Glenn couldn't contain his shock. The young boy was already on track to become a powerful individual and now he's the avatar of a God. That's not something you see every day.
"Avatar?" 'Well, I want to bend the four elements but I'm sure that's not what he means.'
[An Avatar is the will of a God taking residence in a mortal. Their status is equal to that of a king or queen, sometimes even greater if there is a period of war.]
'That makes sense. I would be shocked too if the kid I knew since he was born happened to be a Gods Avatar. But what's the difference between an Avatar and a Saintess?'
[In terms of status, that of a King and a Prince. In terms of power, an Avatar has pseudo-divine power while a saintess only has holy power. Think of holy power as a washed-down version of divine power]
'Well, that's easy to understand, thanks. Now, what were the consequences you were talking about?'
[Well, first off, the Church dedicated to me now knows that someone has my mark, so they will stop at nothing to find you.]
'Isn't that a good thing? They are your allies that you told me about right?'
[Yes. But you will be taken from your home and family. Being an avatar isn't something you can decline. The church has a hierarchy and the Avatar is at the top right above the saintess. My followers have been on the decline for centuries now, so knowing that I chose someone to be my Avatar, they will find you no matter what.]
'So basically, I'm the most important person in your group of followers and the church is at the height of its power when they have an Avatar at its side and they will kidnap me to aid in their own goals? That's annoying. I had hoped to not get involved in churches but here I am.
[The other thing is that the Gods have sensed that another Avatar has been born and the Gods Avatars have also sensed it as well. They can't do anything about it nor will they know who the Avatar is, but they will definitely try to find out.]
'Should I be worried about them?'
[As of now? No. You pose no threat to them, but you should keep your distance from people who are associated with the church in this kingdom.]
'Why? Is it because you don't want me to be involved with them yet?'
[That's only partially the reason. The crest didn't fully activate, it just did momentarily. While it did alert people, they won't know it's you. I still want you to become stronger before you Join my followers. You should at least be at the 3rd circle. The other reason is that my followers are not from this kingdom. This land is governed by a different deity so involving yourself with them isn't a good idea.]
'Understood. I'll end things here quickly and continue with my journey.'
[Good. You should be able to use the crest to purify the infernal energy. Just don't absorb it like you did previously. I can't stay any longer so this time, I will see you when you arrive at my temple. Be well child. Oh and lastly, Infernal energy doesn't appear in nature like this, someone who has access to this energy is purposely spreading it throughout this village. Find that person.]
'Thank god she didn't destroy my soul when I told her to shut up. Wait, she's a goddess, does that mean I'm thanking her? Whatever. I need to stop this outbreak and find the person who caused it.'
"Yup, I'm an Avatar. Don't tell anyone though. The goddess told me I should keep a low profile."
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Glenn reaffirmed
"Nice, now let's go and find the source of this infernal energy outbreak, we shouldn't stay here any longer than we need to."
They trudged down the stairs and saw that the woman was sitting in a corner, her eyes still red from crying.
"Madam, go check on your son. He should be fine now. Oh, make sure he eats something, he's extremely malnourished." Joren waved at Pantera, motioning her over to him.
"Really? My son is going to be okay? Thank you! Thank you so much! How can I ever repay you?" She got on her hands and knees gripping Joren's pant legs as her tears stained the floor.
"You don't need to repay me. No one should suffer like this. I promise to fix whatever problem or curse is placed upon this village and you can pay me back by living well." He patted her head and left the inn with Glenn and Pantera.
"Is everything okay?" asked Derry as she saw the others approaching.
"Well..." Joren explained everything that happened after Pantera left to tell them the village's situation.
"You're an Avatar?! That's insane!"
"Do you have new magic?"
"Congratulations Joren."
"Wow, you're even cuter than before."
"Enough, we don't have time for this. We need to figure out what's going on here and stop it quickly! Joren, do you still feel the Infernal energy? If so, which way does it lead?" Glenn understood the predicament they were in. Joren being an Avatar, while it's amazing, it was also dangerous so he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
"There." Pointing to a large building in the center of the Village, Joren started walking to it.
...
"Sigh, is there anything we can do?" An elderly man asked
"All the medicine isn't working. The herbs and healing potions aren't working either. All we can do is hope for a miracle." A middle-aged man replied back
All around them lay people who were infected with infernal energy. Hundreds of them lined up perfectly with blankets covering their bodies. Some had their head covered, meaning they were dead, while others only had it up to their shoulders meaning they were alive. There were some people holding swords in their hands acting as guards who were around the bodies.
"What have we done to deserve this? Why has a curse been placed on our people?" The elderly man silently wept in his hands.
"Village chief, we can still-" Cutting off the man's sentence was the sound of two large doors opening with a creaking noise and six people entered the building.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" The village chief sat up and the guards came forward drawing their swords.
"Do not be afraid, for I am here." A young man, around 13 or 14 spoke while hovering in the air while his arms were spread apart.