A young boy of dark complexion, sporting a rather neatly groomed black ponytail, traipses behind the priest; he dons a black gown that covers his entire body, his silver eyes shone in the darkness of the hall.

"Where are you taking me… Head Priest?"

The priest's gaze is shadowed due to the darkness yet he can make out a twisted smile, "Do not fret, Uto. I am merely taking you to be cleansed by our holy father, you shall be baptized, and commence your growth in the church."

'His answer is cryptic, why won't he tell me?'

"But none of the other children have gone through this process; it was done during service. Why am I being taken somewhere different?"

The priest whispers something incoherent and my vision begins to waver, "all will be revealed soon…" A dark chuckle escaped his lips as my consciousness fades.

'Smart brat, he's only seven and his intelligence is surprisingly high, the training will commence soon; and the church's rebellion will corrode the world.'

Unknown location…

"Ugh… Where am I?"

Footsteps echoed throughout the darkness, "you've awakened… How was your nap?"

"Who's there?!"

"That is none of your concern…" The voice echoed through the area, bouncing off the walls. "Begin the baptism process…"

Layers of multi-colored circles appeared under me, various runes and inscriptions began to appear, slowly panic started to ensue.

'What is happening?! Am I going to die? Should I run?'

Without seeing any other options I tried running.

"Fate, chance, reality…"

An immense form of pressure fell off my small frame, my muscles felt like exploding under the force the man was exuding.

'I'll die if this keeps up! The pain is unbearable!'

A few moments later the force dispersed, yet the incantations were completed.

'What the!' I shut my eyes to shield them from the intense burst of light.

Behold! Priests of the holy Magus Church! Uto has been reborn! And will become a 'piece' in our agenda! Let us congratulate, his revival!" The man laughs maniacally as the rest clap in celebration.

After a while the light dissipates and the baptism is complete.

"What the… I feel completely drained of energy."

My face connected with the cold concrete yet the pain didn't register, my brain was unresponsive, as if someone stole all of my energy.

"Head Preist… The others have left…"

"What is on your mind, Kusa?" his tone was even and his gaze impassive, unaffected by his current actions.

"Was this under the Bishop's orders? Again? This is the twelfth child."

"Yes, it was. Yet their purpose has nothing to do with us any longer… He has been cleansed, and now can be reshaped."

"Is cleansing stripping them of their spiritual essence?! The right every living being has!" Kusa clenched his fists in rage, "this isn't how us priests should indulge ourselves in! We're committing grave sins!"

The head priest turned a scathing gaze toward Kusa and walked forward, "though this may be seen as filth before our father, it is necessary to form sharper tools in order to hunt and execute those filthy beings. Our fellow priests cannot handle this burden any longer; we are down to our strongest members." His steps seized as he stared empathetically at my frame. "We need to mold newer weapons and eradicate those that utilize the dark arts, forgive us, our father, who arts in heaven." He clasped his hands in a praying motion as a lone tear fell from his eye.

Kusa repeated the same motion, "forgive us, heavenly father… Head, we should deliver him to the Bishop." 

The head priest slowly stood from his position, "yea, that would be the best course of action." He crouched down and picked up my body. "We should make haste, the Bishop can be quite impatient."

"Agreed, also the energy received from the child should've been sent to the 'Key' right?"

"Yes. The Key's roots are connected to this barren chamber anyway, since it's under the chapel. The church these children are familiar with is merely fifteen percent of its true size; they haven't gone beyond the chapel walls yet."

"What I don't understand is how dense this darkness is, what force is hidden within here?" Kusa's eyes shifted towards the priests which wore an impassive expression.

"I don't know the exact production process of this place, yet I do know the Bishop and those from 'The Magus Spire' created a new form of magic here. So, if i were to guess, this unusual pressure that's been permeating the air, would be due to that event. Though in any case we should quicken our pace."

The two rushed ahead, creating a small cloud of dust in the process, wind rippled and tore due to their rapid increase.

"When was our last mission?" Kusa mused.

"We hunted down the cultus group that turned themselves into fiends. Those vile beings ravaged our camp and killed the saints."

"May our father have mercy on them." Kusa muttered.

"Indeed, the high ranking mages from the magus spire have been treating us as their hounds; the missions have increased in difficulty, now we have to resort to these methods to find suitable replacements."

"How do you know they'll make it?"

"The orphans that get housed in the church are examined for a strong 'Kairo' if they do, they'll go through this process. If not, they'll be trained and slowly advance through the church." 

Kusa sighed, "I didn't know half of this… I suppose you won't tell me about the stolen spirit essence?"

"…"

He sighed once more, "bastard… I trust you more than anyone, don't get yourself killed.

Give me any constructive criticism or leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for reading!