The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary

The question came to being, why did the Partrus approach her.

And simply enough, it all boiled down to a single reason. They wanted to manipulate not only her status but her blessing. Despite not being recognized by her own religion as a saint, her power is still active inside her.

And based on her power level alone, she’s around the 3^rd staged of a pure core.

And seeing the level of competency she had when dealing with the enemies, I say that as of right now, she had already learned a sizable amount of spearmanship that would make her quite strong even without a pure core.

She’s quite strong for a person around my age, which makes me wonder…was she trained to be a saint since young? Or is simply a talent of the spear?

“How long do you think the Partrus Church will send in another round of men to pick you up?” I asked.

“…I don’t know. A week from now, maybe a month…it’s hard to predict when it is they’ll attack. Even today, I did not expect their attack.”

“What did they say when they approached you?”

“Not much. All they wanted from me was to follow them quietly back into their region. They offered me to switch my loyalty towards another God…but that in of itself is a sin. Even if I wasn’t accepted by the pope, I won’t turn my face away from the God who I’ve devoted my entire life to.”

‘…Still, in truth, there’s only one true God.’ I thought.

Although there are some divine beings who lead their own religion, like those who rule the properties of a good harvest, or those who rules the seas, only one true God exist to rule it all.

And that God happens to be the one she’s devoted her life into.

The Alticrast God. Despite being said as such, this isn’t it’s true name. The true God doesn’t have a name and is simply the all-knowing and almighty God who simply rules over everything. A God that is simply over everything and all.

But as for the Partrus Church, that in of itself is the name of the divine being. Partrus and his rule or control at least is known for the Stars and Void or at least the darkness of all things.

And although it preaches the formations of the sparkling stars above the sky, and the formation and the creation of the void, one secret held from the public about the Partrus church is that it preaches on Secrecy. From Stars, the Void and most of all, Secrets, the Partrus Church is secretly a cult that takes away the life force of the people who comes to worship it.

I’ve known this when Amelia herself took on to destroy this religion in honor to her own righteous path. She attacked this religion all for the fact that this religion was claiming the lives of the innocent.

And when thinking about all the accomplishments that Amelia did in the past, It makes me wonder who it was that pointed and supported her to such a path. If I’m looking at it right, she might not have been capable to go towards being a true saint all on her own…a second party must have supported her.

I knew things have changed. Because of how this village wasn’t raided by the Bandits, it became her choice of path to go forward…in the past, I wonder which other village she went through so that she could obtain her fate and it was probably at that original path she must have meet her destined fate.

But here, she’s met no one…

I knew her and I deliberately approached her.

“…What about the other Religions? Do you think they’ll be after you as well?” I asked.

“…I…I don’t know.”

“Right, if that’s the case…we don’t have to act on anything yet.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means that you can keep your position here as the nun who teaches.”

“But what if they will come after me again?” she asked.

“If that happens, just make sure to keep the children safe…and try not to kill the intruders instantly. I want to approach them myself and interrogate them.”

“Okay…I’ll try.”

As we had an understanding with one another, I decided to take care of the two corpses on the floor.

“I’ll take care of the bodies…you clean up the place.”

“Y-you don’t have to bother yourself with such a task. I can take care of it by myself.” she said.

“…It’s okay, I know how to deal with things like this.” I said as I picked up two of the bodies at the same time.

As I carried them out, I quietly made my way deep into the forest to take care of the mess.

After a while, I returned to the church to find the nun cleaning her mess as well.

“…” I didn’t bother to go inside anymore and decided to just go home.

***

The next day, Tilly was back to being happy again after hearing that she gets to go back and learn with the other kids.

As for me, I finally developed the 2^nd pure core.

“…haa.” I can feel the difference in power.

This familiar strength I once held…it felt grand just as I remembered.

With this much power, it won’t be hard for me to deal with Amelia if she ever does attack.

After a few days more, surprisingly, nothing happened.

The Partrus Church had yet to make a second move and the development for the Amber Shop was already half-way done.

Along with this is that it’s been an entire month since I’ve been training Theodore in his magic. Or at least pushing him to his limits. I don’t know anything about magic, so I just did what I knew felt effective.

And right now, Theodore, in all his efforts can now create a fireball twice the size of his head. But he could only do it five times before he loses all strength.

It’s quite the improvement since before.

And along with his improvements, my other brother Thomas has started to become quite handy in the workshop.

With his decision to help out, I can now see that he’s gotten used to making nails. Just a few days ago, he wanted to make a sword and although he did succeed, it wasn’t good enough to be sold at the shop. But still, he now keeps it on his room as a reminder of his achievement.

If I could make a comparison of our talents in being a blacksmith, I could say with full confidence that in a few years, he’ll surely reach my level if he keeps this up.

He’ll become a master blacksmith just like me and our father, and I’m happy to welcome him into that life.

Or at least that was what I thought.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“…I-I’m asking if I could be allowed to go to the city and learn baking.”

“Why?” asked Theresa as she stood beside me in the dining table.

Out of nowhere, in the afternoon, Thomas came up to me to talk about his future.

“…I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time…I want to be a baker?” he said nervously.

“But what about your progress in being a blacksmith?” I asked curiously.

“It’s not that I hate being a blacksmith, it’s just that I…I don’t like it in the same way you do. I’m more interested in being a baker than anything.”

“Is it because you hate being in the hot furnace all day?” I asked.

“Maybe he’s being influenced by his love for food.” said Theresa.

“Hmm, but why the city? There’s a bakery right here in the village where you can learn to bake, so why go to the city?”

“…Hmm, you may not have known, but in my free time, I’ve started baking bread in our neighbor’s bakery.”

“Since when?” asked Theresa.

“About three years ago. It was mother who motivated me to go forward with this path…and since then, I’ve been keeping it a secret.”

“I never knew this.”

“So did I.”

“Sorry that I’ve been keeping it a secret. But my love for baking is more greater than my promise to help you in the workshop.” he said.

“…Well, you don’t have to be so down about it. If this is what you wanted, I’ll support you.” I said.

“Of course, we all do. But why go to the city if you already know how to bake here in the village?” asked Theresa.

“Unlike the village, the city has a famous bakery called the Sweet Tooth known for its grand variety of sweets and bread. I want to go and work for them one day and to do that, I need to study baking there in the City.”

“Hmm, you know what. This could be a great opportunity for you two. Both you and Theodore.” I said.

“What do you mean?” asked Theresa.

“Well, unlike Thomas, Theodore doesn’t really do well on his own. He’ can’t cook well and he can barely do any chores. If Thomas is with him there in the City, they can both support each other.” I said.

“That’s a great idea.” said Thomas.

“But we don’t have a place there for them. Unlike the academy which has a Dorm, Thomas doesn’t have anywhere else to settle in.”

“We don’t have to, we can just look for a boarding home for them to live in. I think I know a few places there we can look into.” I said.

As we conversed about Thomas’s plans in going to the city with Theodore, soon after, Thalia came back with Tilly on hand.

The next night, the Partrus Church finally made their next move.

As the sky was filled with the glittering sight of the stars and the moon was fully in show, I could feel the sudden change of the atmosphere.

“…This is feeling, it’s definitely magic.” as I said this, I got up from my bed and made my way to pick my weapon and a full set of iron armor I myself made.

Not only was my head set for armor, both my arms and legs were protected by a heavy layer or steel that no simply sword could ever go past through.

It may seem heavy to an outsider’s perspective, but wearing this kind of armor was common to my style of fighting.

Heavy and Barbaric.

Head on and Warrior-like.

As I stepped out, I could difenitely feel the magic in the air. Not that it’s any good to me as a warrior, I only recognized the use of magic because of how much I used to fight mages back in the past. To me, this change was similar to that of the air suddenly turning heavier than normal. I can feel the change in the air simply by the way I breathed in the surroundings.

And right now, the range of the use of magic was rather large…

‘Its almost as if…the entire village is affected.’

As I turned to the sky, that’s when I meet eyes with a few men in robes. Hiding their faces, they looked to me as if I was their target.

I’ve did my best looking for hints in their arrival for the past few days. Like a watchguard at night, I roamed the village without a torch. Neither my family nor anyone from the village noticed my stroll in the dead of night.

Now finally, they arrived.

“…” and already, I can tell something was amidst.

“Who are you people?” I asked.

“…” but all that question brought me was silence on their end.

“Not willing to talk?”

‘…It makes me wonder. What kind of spell did they cast over the entire village?’ as I thought this, out from the direction of the church, a beam of light suddenly appeared…and what followed then was the sound an ear crushing explosion.

*BOOM!*

“!?” I was surprised.

Not by the explosion…but by the reaction of the village. No lights were turned on, no cries were heard…no panic was made…everything was still the same. A quiet night just like any other night.

“…A silencing spell is it? Or is it a heavy sleep spell?” I asked.

“…” but even still, they did not spoke back.

From the light that appeared at the direction of the church, I knew that they must have attacked Amelia. But four men were up against me…I can’t just go to Amelia while these men are here confronting me.

So to try and move things forward, I brought out my fathers sword and pointed it at them.

“…” and in return the four men showed their own intent towards me. Although they didn’t show any sort of erratic movement, their killing intent was clear.

They were never willing to talk, so I guess we’ll have to move things forward in my own form of language.

“Lets end this quick!” as I said this, I lunged myself at them.

I was twice faster than before thanks to being able to develop into the next stage of the Pure Core. And with it, I attacked the farthest one from behind.

Appearing before them, I had my sword ready to pierce the first enemy right before they could turn their way to me. And as I did, I quickly plunged my sword down on the enemy’s back.

*Ting!*

But surprisingly, my sword could not pierce through their flesh.

“What the-” and before I could react, one of the men in the black robe suddenly grew a large hairy arm that reminded me of a Bear’s.

And the man struck me down. The cover of it’s entire attack…the bear’s arm was so large, it crushed me whole.

“Khk!”

I braced myself as the strength of the bear arm was so intense, blood came out of my nose. The attack I received was something else.

Rolling away on the dirt, I quickly used my sword to stop my body before I could crash on a house’s wall.

“…Ah fuck.” as I slowly got up, I turned back to the four robed men and noticed that they started running up to me.

‘looks like their finally ready to start this rumble.’ having thought this, I readied myself.

But out of surprise again, the men started to change just as how one of them grew a hairy bear arm.

One of them grew suddenly grew a skinned wing that was similar to that of a bat that was paired with razor sharp claws.

Another grew four pairs of kraken limbs that were pointy on its end like a spear.