NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Light
New Trier, Intis. Afternoon of March 31, 428. Cathedral of the War Angel.
The shot of a cannon could be heard from a great distance.
The Bureys entered the cathedral before the start of the preaching; they were all wearing light purple attire.
I feel like a clown having to wear a purple suit. Damned be the idiot who chose to use purple...
Rebecca sat with some of her friends in one of the front rows.
The Viscount and his wife sat together with some other nobles.
Michael sat in one of the back rows.
In less than 10 minutes, the priest began his sermon.
While the believers said their prayers, Michael simply stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.
The churches of the Lord of Light are weird. They barely mention their deity's name in their sermons and only focus on the angel corresponding to the cathedral. weird...
And what pathway does the Lord of Light correspond to? From the name, it would be an obvious conclusion to think it's the Bard, but the architectural style of the churches and the scriptures are much more focused on the figurative sense of light rather than the actual sun...
That's really weird when you think about it from a mystical point of view. All three Orthodox churches of the Northern continent have ambiguous names that can indicate at least two different pathways...
Endless Glory, Lord of Light, and Living Wheel. I mean, I kinda like Lord of Light and Endless Glory. They sound powerful just by their names, but Living Wheel sounds more like a casino than the name of a deity...
While Michael blasphemed against the Orthodox, the priest stopped preaching so the choir could sing.
The choir members were all wearing dark brown cloaks. While singing, they all closed their eyes.
The choir was singing in a strange language that wasn't particularly similar to any language on the Northern continent. Even though no one understood what they were singing, everyone felt an inexplicable sensation of peace and clarity.
When Michael looked at the choir, his eyes started swirling while his vision became wavy. The red became brighter, the beige became white, and the purple became pink.
All these colors merged together in a wave. In Michael's eyes, every person in the church became a different flash of light, each one being of distinct colors.
He looked at a dark purple light and saw a man in his late forties getting yelled at by a young man.
He looked at a dark green light and saw a blood-covered woman and a man fighting.
What is happening!? Michael looked around frantically, trying to understand his situation.
He looked at the brown lights who were singing in an unknown language. He still didn't understand anything, but he felt the meaning conveyed by the lights.
This is weird... I don't know what language they are singing, but I strangely feel the meaning...
In a calm melody, the choir, in harmony, kept singing: "The witness of the forgotten era; XXXX; Illuminator of Salvation; Eternal XXXX; XXXX."
Michael's eyes widened as he realized the situation. Before he could hear the rest of the song, he punched himself in the head.
His vision became normal again; the lights became people once more.
Michael breathed heavily as he tried to reorganize his thoughts.
They aren't singing, these people are chanting an honorific name...
Michael immediately got down on his knees as he pretended to pray.
This isn't the honorific name of the Angel of War...
Witness of the forgotten era... Is this the Lord of Light's honorific name? It makes sense since he was a witness of the Fifth Epoch...
So that's why the Light is barely mentioned during the preachings. They talk about him in a way the believers don't understand...
I'm glad I didn't hear his full name, or else I would be in quite a mess...
Shit, Rebecca! I forgot she's a Beyonder.
Michael got up and looked around, trying to find Rebecca. He noticed she was sitting next to some of her friends and didn't have any sign of losing control.
Oh my, I'm so glad she's fine. I'll be more careful with these kinds of incidents from now on...
At least my theory has been confirmed now; Michael really is a Beyonder...
I suspected it before, but after this, there's no more doubt. Michael never learned any language that could be used for mysticism, nor did I, so I shouldn't be able to know what they were saying...
But from which pathway is he from? None of the 22 pathways have abilities similar to the one I accidentally used...
The closest thing I can think of is spiritual vision, but to use spiritual vision, I would have to have high spirituality and a lot of training...
And that doesn't explain how I understood that language...
Could it be that I am from the same pathway as Rebecca? Based on the law of convergence, it's possible...
The problem is that even after a whole week of trying to get that information out of her, I still don't know her pathway, and asking directly would be too suspicious...
Michael got up and walked towards where Rebecca was sitting.
He looked around for anything suspicious, feeling paranoid.
Rebecca was sitting in the middle of her two friends, praying with her eyes closed.
Based on noble customs, there are different ways to treat someone based on their position, age, and so on...
A noble man should treat a noble girl as 'Lady' since treating them as 'Miss' could be offensive since this is usually only used when referring to older women...
But this only applies to nobles; servants still need to refer to them as 'Miss' no matter the age... I hate nobility; it's too complicated...
Michael took a deep breath before smiling.
"Lady Amber, could you please tell my sister I need to speak with her?"
The girl wearing a light brown dress opened her eyes, looking annoyed, and then turned to look at Michael.
"Uh, I-I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Oh my, how disrespectful of me... I'm Burey, Michael Burey." He said as he gave a slight bow.
Hearing the commotion, Rebecca opened her eyes to look at her friend.
"Mike? Do you need something?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt your prayers, Becca, but I need to have a word with you." Rebecca noticed the nervousness in his tone of voice and followed him to the entrance of the cathedral.
"Becca, did you notice anything strange during the preaching today?"
Rebecca placed her right hand on her mouth as she thought before answering: "No, why? Did something happen?"
"Did your abilities get activated during the preaching today?"
"That's not how that works, Mike. I need to consciously activate it; it doesn't just activate by itself."
Michael stood in silence for a second before whispering to Rebecca: "I have some business I need to take care of in the city, so tell Mom and Dad that I'll go home later."
"Oh my Lord... My little brother finally entered his rebellious phase... Are you going to meet with your secret lover?" Rebecca teased him.
"... I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. See you later." Michael said as he left the cathedral.
Rebecca entered the cathedral once more and sat down beside her friend.
"Rebecca, what in the name of the Lord happened to your brother!?" Amber exclaimed, bewildered.
"Yes, from what I remembered, his illness was quite severe, but he appears so well now..." Hazel said as she adjusted her dark green dress.
....
After the end of the sermon, Viscount Magnus Burey remained to converse with Earl Erin.
"Congratulations on your son's recovery, Magnus."
"Yes, it was a great miracle the Lord bestowed upon my family. We're planning a party to celebrate our joy."
"Oh, I wouldn't miss it for anything..."