During this particular evening in a rural village belonging to a kingdom of Leo Empire, a group of small children could be seen entering a small building. They were led by a wrinkly old man wearing a weathered white and golden robe.
Surrounding this building were numerous villagers who were watching the children closely. Some of them looked anxious whereas a few seemed hopeful. The majority were somewhat unconcerned though, as they were there just to kill boredom.
Upon entering, it was clear that the entire building only consisted of a single large space which was filled with rows of long wooden benches facing the far end of the room. The group of children was then led to the front row where they quietly sat down.
Every child here had long been told by their parents and neighbors about the importance of this day and how it could change their family's livelihood for the better, so not a single one of them dared to be rowdy lest they angered the old priest and missed this golden opportunity.
The old priest smiled contentedly as he watched the well-behaving children before he finally headed toward the wooden lectern in the front.
"Everyday we celebrate our Lord's splendor and grace, but today is a special celebration of his divinity and blessing," the Priest preached.
"His divinity is his right, yet he generously shares it with us. We may be undeserving, but we must always strive to be worthy. Today is the time for you to receive our Lord's blessing, my children. So be pious and grateful, for our Lord is almighty.
"May Lord Leo's wisdom and strength empower us all through hardships and joys, through life and death. Amen."
"Amen," uttered the children.
Following this, the priest lifted a small gilded box out of the lectern. After unlocking the box, he took out a small figure; it was a golden lion that was posing majestically.
The old priest then walked toward the child sitting at right end of the row.
"Child, hold our Lord's figure and say this sentence wholeheartedly: 'May your divinity empower me, Lord Leo,'" the priest instructed as he carefully handed the figure.
The little boy received the figure anxiously. Following the priest's instructions, he held the figure in front of him and said, "May your divinity empower me, Lord Leo."
The other children silently watched this scene while the priest stared at the figure expectantly.
Suddenly, the golden idol started to emit light. The light appeared dim at first but turned brighter by the second. A moment later, the light had finally stabilized. It was as bright as a flame torch, but its light was golden instead of orange.
This sight mesmerized the children, especially the one holding the golden figure. However, the old priest's voice interrupted their daze.
"Medium blessing! My child, from now on your life will change. You'll likely be sent to the nearest rectory to serve our Lord as his messenger. Or you could choose to apply as a soldier of our kingdom too," said the priest joyfully.
Hearing this, the boy smiled widely. But while he was handing back the figure, the boy's smile faded as he asked, "What about mom and dad?"
"Don't fret, child, for the Church or the kingdom will take care of them. You should be happy that your family doesn't need to worry much about money and food anymore," said the priest reassuringly as he patted the boy's head.
The boy seemed unsure but he still nodded.
Soon, the priest had handed the figure to the next child.
"May your blessing empower me, Lord Leo," said the little girl holding the idol.
The other children watched closely, expecting a similar sight. However, the figure only let out a dim light that quickly stabilized after the first few seconds.
"Very low blessing, eh?" the priest muttered as he shook his head in slight disappointment.
Hearing this remark, tears started to fill the little girl's eyes.
"Ah, don't cry, child," the old priest kindly said as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the girl's tears.
"Although you won't be a priestess, you can still serve as an acolyte. And you can also apply as a soldier, although the acceptance rate for those with very low blessings is rather low.
"And if you really dislike servitude, becoming a mercenary is also an option, although I don't really recommend it since I've heard it's not an easy life compared to being a soldier."
The little girl seemed to cheer up after hearing the priest's explanation. She handed back the figure with a small smile on her face.
Feeling relieved, the priest continued with the test. One by one, the children held the golden figure and asked to be blessed.
Soon, it was apparent that having a medium blessing was rare. The rest of children mostly had very low blessings, and a few were even devoid of any blessing, causing these poor little things to cry.
After cheering up the last child who was also not blessed, the old priest, who was looking quite exhausted, finally arrived in front of the last child.
Unlike the other children, this particular boy looked unkempt. His hair was messy, and there was grime covering his arms, neck, and face. Several holes and tears adorned his worn clothes. Perhaps this was the reason this boy was seated at the left end of the row, a bit separated from the other children.
'Lev…' the priest sighed inwardly as he looked upon the poor boy.
Lev Awlin was an orphan who lived on scraps. He actually didn't have to live this way as a few villagers had offered to adopt him early on, including the old priest.
However, for whatever reason, Lev had adamantly refused all of these offers. It's unknown what his family had gone through in the past, as he was brought to the village one day by her injured mother who soon passed away entrusting Lev to the shocked villagers.
Even after her mother's passing, Lev never shed a tear, although he occasionally sat in silence in front of her mother's grave with a blank look. This was the reason why some villagers were saying that the boy's heart was dead.
Regardless, the old priest still pitied the boy. The priest had often walked around the village while asking for donations to buy Lev some food, but most of the villagers would rather donate to the Church instead since they had mostly given up on Lev, expecting to discover Lev's cold body at a dark corner one of these days, dying from malnutrition and cold.
That's why the villagers were quite surprised upon seeing that Lev was participating in the annual occasion. They figured the old priest might have succeeded in persuading him to join. Yet unbeknownst by them, Lev had actually voluntarily asked for permission to participate.
"Lev, our Lord doesn't discriminate. You have an equal chance to receive his blessing," the old priest gently reassured as he handed the figure.
As Lev stared at the finely carved lion in his right hand, the old priest inwardly prayed.
'My Lord, please bestow your blessing upon this poor child, for he has suffered much.'
However, after a few seconds the entire room was shocked, because instead of following the instructions, Lev stood up and ran away with the golden figure.
"Ah… STOP HIM!" the priest bellowed after recovering from his shock. But it was too late, for Lev had already left through the front door.
The old priest hastily scuttled toward the exit, his wrinkled face paled from panic. Meanwhile, the other children merely sat there and looked at each other with their mouth agape, still stunned by the unexpected turn of events.
Arriving outside the church, the old priest saw that the villagers were still gathering around.
"Where did Lev go?!" he anxiously asked the surrounding crowd.
Despite being baffled by the priest's sudden appearance and perturbance, the villagers quickly pointed at the direction of a small hill situated behind the village.
Without another word, the old priest immediately sprinted with all his might toward the hill. The onlookers looked at one another, wondering what had happened during the event.
"Lev must've did something blasphemous to make the old man act like that," a young lad loudly stated amidst the confusion.
"I did see him holding something shiny." This time, it was a chubby housewife who commented.
"Oh no! Lev must've stolen the Lord's idol!" a lady with rosy cheeks exclaimed in shock.
Realizing the dreadful action that Lev might have done, the villagers became restless and a loud commotion quickly ensued.
Suddenly, a deafening shout sounded through the area.
"SILENCE!"
The commotion rapidly died down as the villagers looked around worriedly. Following this, a section of the crowd parted and a tall middle-aged man stepped forward.
"Listen, you lot! We don't know what really happened, but just in case, no one should ever mention this incident! You know the fate of those visited by the inquisitor! I'll lockdown the village if needed!" the man instructed angrily.
The crowd momentarily fell silent but soon nodded in agreement. They had heard plenty horrifying tales of villages and towns suspected to house blasphemers, and they didn't want to end up being a part of these tales.
"Now let's follow the priest! And quickly notify us if you spot Lev along the way!"
After saying this, the man and his cronies departed toward the hill, followed by the rest of the villagers.
In fact, the villagers only needed to ask the children that were still in the church about the whole incident, but due to the heated atmosphere, they had totally forgotten about them.
"What if the idol's gone, John? The old man will definitely report it to the Church," one of the middle-aged man's cronies said as they hurriedly marched toward the hill.
It took a short while before John finally replied.
"We'll take extreme measures if necessary."
The guy who asked the question fell silent. He was worried that if they really went down that route, it would be something that would haunt him for the rest of his life. However, the other side of the coin was even worse as he and the villagers would probably not even have a life to worry about anymore.
Not long after, the villagers finally arrived at the foot of the hill, just outside of the village gate. The people leading the crowd suddenly stopped, and the rest quickly followed suit.
In front of the crowd was the old priest who was standing near a huge tree. Beneath the tree was a small mound with a crude tombstone.
The boy in question was standing still before her mother's grave; a golden figure was tightly held in his hand.
The crowd stared in silence, not knowing what to make of the scene in front of them.
"Lev… return the idol… now…" the old priest said as he forced himself to talk amidst his heavy panting.
Lev didn't seem to heed the priest's words as he remained silent while his eyes were glued to her mother's grave.
"Lev… please… don't trouble the village…"
Still, Lev remained motionless. His expression was hidden from the crowd since his back was facing them.
'He can't run away now,' John thought, feeling relieved that they had at least avoided the worst possible situation.
"Why are you doing this, Lev?" the old priest asked, his breathing had finally steadied.
"Revenge…" Lev quietly muttered.
"Revenge? Against who, Lev? Is it related to your parents' deaths?" the old priest couldn't help but ask.
Lev's answer baffled the old priest as he had failed to notice that Lev had been suppressing his grievances all this time. Everyone had assumed that Lev was a broken and emotionless boy.
"And how does your running away with the idol even help with your revenge?" the priest asked confusedly.
Lev didn't immediately answer. He instead proceeded to kneel beside mound, caressing the crude tombstone so tenderly as if it were the most precious jewel in the world.
Tears filled Lev's gentle eyes as he whispered, "A pledge to mother…"
The distant crowd watched in utter silent as this was a side of Lev they had never witnessed before.
Closing his eyes, tears streamed down Lev's sorrowful face. He poured out all the emotions that he had been holding back for the last few years.
And after emptying his sorrowful heart, he let out a heavy sigh, wiping his tears.
Lev then stood up while gripping the golden idol tightly. He looked up toward the clear dark sky with a wrathful expression, devoid of any trace of his earlier tenderness.
"…and an oath to the Lord."
Raising the idol high, Lev shouted from the top of his lungs.
"LORD LEO ALMIGHTY!!! GRANT ME POWER AND I'LL GIVE YOU THE WORLD!!!"
The sky rumbled as if responding to Lev's words. Immediately, the idol started glowing, rapidly brightening with each passing second.
"Low blessing… Medium-low blessing… Medium blessing…" the priest muttered following the growing intensity of the light.
But the light didn't stop there as it kept glowing brighter.
"High blessing! You can apply to the Holy City, Lev!" the old priest excitedly remarked. But his eyes soon widened as the light kept getting brighter.
The increasingly blinding light forced the onlookers to shield their eyes. It was as if dawn was rising right at the foot of this hill.
"Pinnacle blessing!" the priest shouted in astonishment as he felt the light warm up his entire body.
The light kept getting brighter and brighter, but soon after, the idol suddenly shattered.
As the golden light subsided, the crowd was left stunned except for the old priest who immediately knelt down and prayed.
Cold sweat ran down John's back. Looking at the kneeling priest, he nervously asked, "What just happened, Father?"
Tears were running down the old priest's smiling face as he turned to John and replied, "A miracle."
"A miracle?"
"Yes, John, a miracle, for we have just witnessed the first ever saint blessing in the entire history of Leo Empire."
***