Derik spent most of the day time working out and trying to strengthen this weak body of his as much as he can with the little mana he could muster. While his god soul allowed him to regenerate a certain amount of mana daily, this was still too small to be used to carry out mass chaos and destruction. Since this world was already void of mana, Derik decided to follow the path of a true fighter. Using the same method he used to strengthen Blink, Derik kept refining his body slowly with his death aura, strengthening it slowly. Without his powers, he is no different from any normal human so the least he could do for now is to become the strongest fighter in this little kingdom.
After washing his body, Derik returned to the mirror to gaze at his body once again. Thanks to his werewolf path he didn't need much effort to attain muscles or look buff, the problem with this path he has chosen is that his skin was turning pale
"My death aura is seriously affecting this body… but it doesn't mean much… according to this person's memories, My pale skin may arouse suspicion… but as long as there is no concrete evidence that I am a supernatural being then there are no issues…." Derik said nonchalantly.
After his arrival here, he had already changed his lifestyle and choice of clothing. Derik put on a black shirt and black trousers, just from gazing out the window he could see three carriages right in front of the gates and men dressed in white and gold robes slowly walked in.
"They are here?" Derik was not impressed since he couldn't sense any form of power from these men.
Then how are they able to detect supernatural being.
Pondering on this for a while, Derik chose not to write these people off just yet. There is a lot he doesn't know about this world now and until then he can only proceed cautiously.
................................
The people of the church of light gathered at the great hall where they met with Alfred, Alicia and Mariam. Chloe was yet to return and Lucia was yet to come down to meet the guests as promised so all they could do was wait while discussing.
The church of light in this world possessed power comparable to that of the emperors of various kingdoms. Since this was the only acknowledged religion in the world, they had gained so much power that they could rival empires in strength. For that reason, even the noble families and royal families had to treat them with respect.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The great hall fell silent as Lucia walked down the stairs with an emotionless expression on his face. The priest Khalid and Derik were locked in staring contest and none of them was ready to back away, shocking those around.
In this world only royal families are bold enough to gaze at the member of the church without fear. Even a high class noble man can be put to death by a mere priest of the church so no one could understand how an ordinary character like Lucia would be bold enough to gaze at a priest in the eye without fear.
Reaching the great hall, Derik ignored everyone and moved towards Khalid, offering his hand to shake. Seeing this everyone's heart skipped a beat and they shuddered in fear! Even Alfred who was currently the patriarch of this noble house bows slightly as a sign of respect when greeting the priest but Derik was bold enough to offer the man his hand to shake.
"Do you know who you stand before! Heretic!" a man whose face is covered with a hood roared in anger.
The man's white robe had only one ray of golden light embedded on it so based on Lucia's memories, Derik quickly guessed that this man was a deacon. Behind them were three white knights dressed in heavy white knight armor with their shields and swords in their hands just waiting for the order to pounce on Derik.
Khalid's gazed was fixed on Lucia who didn't look fl.u.s.tered at all. He shot the three knights a lazy glance before shifting his gaze to the deacon and then returning to Khalid. Never once did he show any sign of fear or concern.
"Courage! This is what all great men must have!" Khalid laughed loudly as he shook Lucia's hands with excitement.
Only then did the tension building in the room die down. Alfred has been excited by the changes in Lucia after his diseases miraculously healed. During the past week, Lucia had shown great physical prowess, wisdom and courage and never for once did he think that Lucia would be bold enough to do something like this.
"Fear is an unnecessary emotion, only felt by the weak" Derik replied with a warm smile.
"Hahahaha! Well said young man… Lucia are you weak?" Khalid asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.
"I was in the past but now, I am not!" Derik replied instantly with a confident look on his face, making it hard to read his intentions.
Khalid was taken aback by this and for a while he pondered on his short conversation with Lucia. Based on the information Alfred provided him with, Lucia was diagnosed with a strange and incurable disease which he should have died from. On the day he was supposed to die, Lucia was found very much alive and strong!
Serving in this kingdom for so long, the priest Khalid had a rough understanding of Lucia's previous character which was calm and a bit introverted. Lucia has never been the bold type and even though he wasn't necessarily interested in the church of light in the past, Lucia wasn't so bold as to look him in the eye for so long and not blink. The main possibility now is that Lucia is dead and some sort of demonic beast was inhabiting this body
"Lucia, I know after a near death experience you have become bolder and a more reliable person. Honestly I am glad but I also wish to perform so tests on you, to be sure you are okay!" Khalid said with a sly smile.
"Sure I don't mind" Lucia replied casually as he dragged a chair over and sat down gazing at priest Khalid in the face without a sign of fear or discomfort.
In a situation like this, the demon should be fl.u.s.tered and feel uncomfortable. Even a supernatural beast would attempt to escape now but Lucia remained calm.
Could this person really change so much because of his near death experience?
Khalid shoved those thoughts aside as he signaled the others to prepare for the ritual. With salt a circle was made around Lucia with three triangles in it. Four candles were lit within it and the three deacons alongside the priest stood around the circle, all with their sacred beads in their hands and containers filled with holy water.
Splash.
Spilling some holy water on Lucia while chanting some words in a strange language, the circle lit up, turning golden! To those observing, these holy men were sputtering rubbish but Derik could understand them perfectly! This was the ancient language of the world in the past, when he was still Derik Angus. They were calling on the beyond to reveal Lucia's real identity to them.
With the holy water, constantly spilled on him, Derik couldn't help but frown. If it were a normal supernatural being, he was sure they would have been set on fire by the holy water but he was different. During his breakthrough into the demigod realm, the werewolf curse was expelled from his boy, making him a normal human mage but contrary to his expectations, the werewolf curse was not entirely removed. Instead it was shifted from his body to his soul, giving his god soul the werewolf imprint. Unless summoned by him, his werewolf side can never be revealed to people and things like full moons cannot force him to transform anymore. As for his death magic, this is a power belonging to his god soul, this is not something that mere mortals can detect.
"Don't you think you have done enough?" Lucia yawned casually while wiping off the water spilled on his face. His clothes were wet but apart from that he looked perfectly normal.
With this the people of the church of light couldn't say he was possessed. His pale skin, black hair and purple streak made him look strange and unusual, coupled with his unnatural charm. These people could have sworn that Lucia is possessed by something and that's why they continued the process for a good thirty minutes even though they were not getting any result.
"This…" Khalid said as he took a few steps back.
They all watched Lucia walk out of the circle which has been used to bind so many supernatural and spiritual beings in the past as if it's nothing causing despair in the hearts of these people.
"So is there something worng with me?" Derik asked calmly, causing Khalid to flinch.
Deep inside him, his guts told him something is wrong with Lucia. His mind and soul kept warning him of his impending doom if he should push this matter but he had no way to prove that something was wrong with Lucia. As a priest who have casted more than twenty demons and killed at least ten supernatural beings, Khalid was very famous and treated like a saint around here. If he should reveal his uncertainty or request from a bishop his reputation will suffer greatly.
"I can assure you, there is nothing wrong with Lucia… His near death experience is truly the reason for his sudden change… You don't have to worry about him" Father Khalid quickly said to hide his uncertainty. He couldn't afford to show weakness and let his reputation fall because of it.