Pray

Coming down from the room we go down for breakfast.

"Good morning".

Undiora greeted us blushing at the sight of us together.

I am ten years old, but I look a lot bigger.

Standing straight, I am a head and a half taller than her, I am a little over five feet which is damn big for my age, about the same age as Isla, and she is thirteen.

I think it's the mana.

Breakfast is sausages and milk.

It is a little busy this morning with a few Olim spread around.

I go up to the counter manned by Algom.

"Ambrose, how can I help" he smiles warmly at me.

"I would like to know the direction to the prayer house here".

Although Standish knew the word for the public library, he never went.

Always ditching, and making me wish I had smacked some sense into him before killing him.

Religion is the only knowledge these people have, and as far as the kingdoms were concerned will ever have.

"Yes, it's about two miles north of here," he says while pointing north.

"Does the mage association reside here"?

"No, they just come by every year to pick up new recruits even then most of them come back not being able to pass the selection.

You must be under fifteen to get tested."

"If you are considering it let me warn you, the test is to survive all the way to the mages association, no one knows how far it is because anyone who has tried made it and got in or died on the way."

"Are you thinking of joining"?

I shrug and turn to leave, neither confirming nor denying.

I found the prayer house fast; it is a two-story building twice as big as the tavern we are staying in.

As I walk in, I see a round stage in the center with every inch of the walls covered in a leather-bonded scroll, the space around us has stools instead of pews, and rugs in other areas.

A young Olim woman is sitting cross-legged on the raised stage with her eyes closed and hands open calling to whatever gods she believed in.

"Hello welcome may I see your pass"?

I hand her the wooden card I got, and so does Isla

"Please contribute one mana stone, if you need someone to teach you to read that will be two mana stones, at no time can you take a scroll with you".

I hand her over a mana stone and tell Isla to wait for me as the attendant stamps my card and hands it back to me.

"Where are the holy scriptures"?

She points at the wall behind her, surprised I did not ask for lessons.

I walk back and crack a scroll open.

I quickly find that these are more like children's stories than actual scripture with the gods as the main characters.

I spotted names like Hafiz, Lum, and Useja littered across the page.

I am taking my time, and the woman at the counter can not help but shake her head.

'Wasting a whole mana crystal, and pretending to read' she thought.

I sent my mana sense into the scrolls and found that with the right output, I could sense the difference of the ink in the pages making the reading go by a lot faster.

I finished ten scrolls on Terra and Olim Gods stopping at the most recent where these so-called gods left humanity due to the sins committed.

I was able to find out more about the village I was staying in, I found scrolls written by former leaders of the village detailing their rise, and how slaves were sent here from both Olim and Terra kingdoms.

They were sent to mine mana stones but the plan backfired, and these slaves banded together in revolt.

It seems this Village was a place ruled by the strong until the Western Mage Association invested in it.

Even though each respective mage association did not agree with each other, they did not get in each other's way.

Unable to occupy the central region of the continent due to limited resources they each respect each other's territory and even form embassies, this village would be considered an embassy.

After finishing dinner, we go upstairs to our room where I begin instructing Isla on what I learned and what I pieced together.

"The Terra had the first King almost five hundred years ago his name was Terra hence the name of the Kingdom, there has been infighting, but the crown has been in the family the whole time.

"Any questions"? I asked at the end.

"Why did you name yourself Ambrose"? she asked me suddenly.

"It suits me" I reply.

Ambrose means Immortal in Latin which I had to learn as a virologist, how could I tell her that?

"Yes, it does" she smiles.

"We are going hunting tomorrow early in the morning".

That night soft curves pressed on me and her hot breathing flooded my neck, my body flared, and sweat nervously trickled down my throat.

Sleeping that night was impossible so I meditate instead, I fortify my resolve and remind myself of what I am, and if this were genetic would I want this for my children?

Would I be such a monster as to create children just to experiment on them to see if they are like me?

Allowing these thoughts to wash over me and recede like a wave, dispelling this young body's hormonal impulses.