Chapter 20: Priest Maleck

Lucius watched the children with intrigue and wondered what new things he will get to witness today. The people who had all been waiting also noticed them and some of the kids pointed at him.

"Mom, look! Is that the lord's carriage?" a child that looked seven years old asked.

"Shh! Don't point it's rude. And yes, that does look like the lord's carriage." The mother answered.

"Who is that? That doesn't look like the lord…" A teenager spoke upon seeing Lucius in the wheelchair.

Donald stepped forward and stood staunch in the front while looking around at the crowd.

"Lord Asher Inanis has arrived, commoners make way!" He announced.

The people got a bit surprised upon hearing the name. They could tell that it was the lord's carriage, but did not think it would be Asher who had come. They knew that he had been injured recently, as the news was quite a big thing in the lands of Etara.

Lord Gabriel's son Asher had been injured in the battle greatly and was fighting for his life on the bed now. From the rumors people had heard, they thought that he would not be surviving. But now he was here, right in front of them.

Lucius closely looked at the reactions of everybody, gauging what they thought of him.

'Hmm… this is good. They barely have any impression of me, or rather of Asher. This means I can build it fresh from the beginning when I start my plan.' Lucius thought.

If Asher had a bad impression in the eyes of people, Lucius knew that it would be hard to change that. And if he had a good impression, that could be bad for him too, as he would not be able to act the same as him. Having no impression was the best option he could have.

The guards moved to the sides of Lucius and Kiana started pushing the wheelchair forward. The people made way for them and soon they entered the Appraisal hall. Lucius looked on the inside and found it to be rather simple.

There were benches set up on two sides, similar to that of a church, and an altar was erected on the other side. On top of the altar, a book with a sphere floating over it was placed. The book was made of marble while the sphere made out of some kind of a crystal.

Lucius couldn't tell how the sphere was floating over the marble book without anything supporting it, but just attributed it to an artifact. Beside the altar, an old man was standing. He was wearing grey and blue robes similar to that of a cleric and had the symbol of the appraisal hall printed on it.

"Lord Asher, Miss Kiana, it's a pleasure to meet you." The priest spoke.

"The pleasure is mine, Priest Maleck. Plus lord Asher wanted to go out for a stroll too, he's been cooped up for far too long in his room." Kiana replied.

'Oh, another priest? A different church it seems like it though.' Lucius thought.

"May the divines bless the young lord. How is he faring now?" The priest called Maleck asked.

Kiana looked at Lucius for a moment before a smile appeared on her face.

"He's doing good and he will be even better once the priest from the Grand Cathedral heals him," Kiana answered.

"The Grand Cathedral? You mean a priest of Alana is coming?" Maleck said in a rather surprised tone.

"Yes! Lord Gabriel was able to convince one of them." Kiana confirmed.

"That is amazing! Even healer Delia's gift cannot compare to the divine gift of goddess Alana. Lord Asher will definitely be healed." Maleck said.

"That's what we are all hoping for. While healer Delia and healer Loy were able to heal Lord Asher's surface injuries, they cannot fix his paralysis. Their gifts are not able to accomplish that. That's why our hope now lies with the church of Alana." Kiana spoke in a calm voice.

Lucius picked up the new information and memorized it quickly.

'So the most influential church is this, the church of goddess Alana. They seem to have these 'divine gifts' too. Hmm… they sound similar to that of the blessings of Thara that the priests receive. Looks like some things in this world do match those of my past one.' Lucius thought with intrigue.

"I guess you all are here for the appraisal ceremony?" Maleck asked.

"Of course," Kiana replied.

"Alright, you can take the seats. We'll start the ceremony in five minutes, I'm just waiting for my acolyte to bring in our special candidates." Maleck spoke with a smile.

"Special candidates? Oh, you mean the babies?" Kiana questioned.

"Yes yes, we had a last moment entry too. We now have four babies who awakened their gifts, Goddess Etara is definitely blessing us with her grace." Maleck said with a zeal in his voice.

'Another goddess… Etara. Hmm… looks like Maleck is the priest of Etara, but then what is the relation between the appraisal hall and her?' Lucius wondered.

Kiana placed the wheelchair along the side of the bench and sat there. Captain Donald stood to the side while the guards split up. Four of them stood at the entrance while the rest stood around the hall at equal distances.

Just like Maleck had told, five minutes passed and a young man who looked to be in his twenties walked in with eight people. The eight people were carrying babies with them and there were four of them. Looking at them, Lucius easily determined that they were the parents of those babies.

"Please, come forward. We will appraise the babies first and then the rest of them in the ascending order of age." Maleck directed them towards the benches.

The present seemed nervous at start, but then became a bit more calm after hearing Maleck's words.

"Call in the rest of them and we can start," Maleck spoke.

"Yes, teacher." The young acolyte replied before going outside to call in the rest of the people.