Nature

Each one of the several religions in this continent has its own beliefs and traditions. Some are minor religions, having a small number of believers, while some are widespread among many lands. 

The main belief in The Empire belonged to the Church of the Sun.

They praised the Sun, as the source of life, warmth, and light. There were various theories inside the church about this mighty existence; some appointed The Sun as their god, while some factions believed in an entity born from the sun, or, in other religious texts, the embodiment of The Sun. The second concept had more believers, as there were various pieces of historical evidence to prove such an individual's existence.

Holy power is the symbol and representative of this faith. It's believed to be the gift of The Sun, its representation of love and grace. Thus, the holy power was also held in high regard not only for its various benefits for humans but also for its origins. 

As The Empire spread its lands and conquered other lands in the past decade, the believers of the Church of the Sun were also increasing in number, but that religion was obviously not the sole faith in the continent. 

People of Loyatou followed a rather ancient religion, which believed in the almighty omniscient, and omnipresent God. The all-knowing and all-powerful. The one and sole god. This religion, despite being centuries old, still had its devoted believers. There were no signs of getting forgotten or being replaced. Even when some parts of this country got separated from their government due to The Empire's colonialism, the natives kept their beliefs, not wanting to follow the Church of the Sun. 

The other widespread religion in the continent belonged to the believers of the Goddess. Monarch of Magicians, Supreme Spellcaster, Sorcerer Sovereign; she had many names. Her roots, race, and identity were all unknown. The only clear thing was that The Goddess was the prime of magic, the entity that brought an end to the mages' dark age and miserable lives. She's the one who established the system where any mage could live a fulfilling life. Despite being a new faith compared to the others, its followers weren't low in number. It was the main faith in Menaberg, a fairly large country at the western edge of the continent.

In addition to the three main religions, several smaller faiths existed throughout the land. From the wanderer tribes living in the mountains to the sailors abroad in the oceans, religions varied from place to place. One of those small and unrecognized religions belonged to the elves, who'd taken solitude by living inside The Perennial Forest, away from humans and the bustling of their lives. 

Elves considered themselves the chosen race. Using the historical morals left from ancient times, they claimed to be the descendants of dragons, a mighty and sacred blood. They held great pride in their lineage and roots. Humans were but filthy creatures incapable of anything but wrecking chaos; thus, they distanced themselves from these unworthy life forms. 

This small and proud race carried firm faith in The Evergreen, the protector deity of The Perennial Forest, as well as The World Tree, the heart of their hometown. Evergreen wasn't a well-known god, neither had she a high number of believers, restricted only to the elves who had cut all ties from the outside world. Thus, no humans knew or worshipped her. 

But what if that wasn't the case?

'The Goddess of Harvest had close ties with The Tree of Life... Which is similar to the story of The Evergreen and the World Tree.'

Ian clearly remembered the inscriptions he read and the bible he saw on their encounter with the abandoned shrine inside the jungle. That was the only time he'd seen such a shrine in that location and also the first time he heard about the entities mentioned there.

His previous knowledge and newly gained information matched perfectly. 

'This is...'

Not normal. 

'There were also mentions of The Bird of Nature and The Blessed of light in those inscriptions... Bird of Nature...'

Ian's eyes rested on the elf's figure. That too was a familiar Phrase.

'What about The Blessed of Light?'

Neither in the bible of nature nor in his previous knowledge did he have any information regarding that deity. Except for The Blessed of Light, the other three seemed to be all connected to each other and to both religions with similar but different beliefs. 

'Is should look deeper into this.'

If he ignored such a factor that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it could severely damage and alter his plans. 

'How come I didn't realize it sooner?'

If not anything else, Ian could confidently call himself an expert when it came to matters relating to different religions. As someone trapped inside a neverending cycle of life and death, he'd spent a lot of time studying various faiths in search of any clues or solutions to his regressions.

It was humiliating, he thought, that he couldn't even link two similar topics from the subject he'd spent years studying. 

'Not that thinking of it sooner would've solved anything.'

Even now, he couldn't change his plans much for the sole reason of studying this newly found information. All he could do was to be mindful of anything related to these figures and hope nothing would go wrong. 

'Well, whatever. Let's focus on the matter at hand.'

Finally having sorted out his thoughts, Ian raised his head and observed his surroundings. The matter had kept him awake all night, causing him to be unusually tired since morning. The group had been walking since dawn, but they didn't seem to get closer to their destination. It was just as Claus said, The Prennial Forest wasn't a region humans could easily pass neither was the elf village built in a location that could be so easily found. Judging from his experience, Ian estimated it'd take at least four days to reach their destination. 

'I think we'll barely arrive at the right time.'

His group was stronger this time, so traveling was faster and safer. He could only hope for nothing major to come up so that they could arrive at the village before the incident happened. 

Kieeekkkkkk

Jolting his dull senses awake was a loud screech echoing in the woods. The carefree atmosphere shattered like glass. The first to react was Raven, who stashed back to Ian's side with two large steps. The two mages ran behind Calus for protection and Eleen hid beside Ian. 

Bomm. Bomm. A shockwave ran through the ground. Birds flew up in groups. In the distance, trees could be seen, falling down one by one. 

"Another monster."

Claus didn't wait for the enemy to approach. His trained hands moved fast. A wooden arrow stationed between his fingers, leaned on the body of his bow, then flew out, like thunder. Piercing the wind on its course, it targeted the monster in the distance. His fingers slid across the stash of arrows in his back, pulling out two at once and aiming them in the same direction as before. 

But what could some wooden arrows do to such a monster?

'It's larger than the monsters we'd encountered till now'

To understand the danger, one needn't see it up close. Hiding Eleen behind himself, Ian wrapped the wolf pup in his arms. Fortunately, everyone was too focused on the monster to notice him suddenly hugging the air. 

A golden shade flashed in the air, whirled, and took the shape of a circle. The complicated form was presented for a brief second before splitting apart and expanding, taking the shape of a magic shield surrounding the group. 

"Stay back."

The disgruntled voice warned Ian. Raven's hand pressed down on his chest, pushing him further towards the trees behind them. The swordsman didn't wait for the monster to show its face. The tree roots shattered under his boots once he darted forward. Leaves scattered as his shadow traversed through, jumping between the woods.

Halting on his course, Raven used a thick branch as his foothold to throw his body up in a circle. Flying high up into the end, his cloak flapped in the wind. He was a raven, soaring up.

The enemy was clear in his sight; an overgrown bear the size of a house. With its skin thick and armored by fur; the monster appeared unstoppable.

As if merely levitating, Raven casually shifted his posture as he fell down. 

Alaric reached out a hand, grumbling under his lips. A streak of golden mana was whirling around his fingers. The mana turned into symbols of ancient languages as it faded in the air. The next instant, an amber sphere flashed around the falling swordsman; a shield to protect him from the fall. 

As if not even threatened by the fall, Raven somersaulted in the air. His leg locked around a random branch and his body spun around, landing perfectly on it. Reeling the hilt of his sword between his fingers, Raven eyed the monster's movement. Arrows kept crashing into its body, only to crumble and fall to the ground, unable to pierce the thick skin. 

"Hah!"

His fingertips twitched. His body was ready to shoot forward. A rare glint flashed within his midnight eyes. 

BANG- The tree Raven stood on bent in the middle and snapped apart. A black dot darted at the monster. A bean was up against a bear. 

"Kriek?"

The monster growled lazily, not even bothered. Another nearby tree got smashed by its tail as it dashed forward towards its prey. But right then, it stopped.

SLIRP

Something stung its arm, sending a burning sensation all over its body. It turned its head to find a fly running across its body. A bloody trial was left behind wherever the fly passed. The monster growled loudly and flared its body. It had to smash the fly to death right now. 

BOOOOMMM

The whole area shook as the bear smashed against trees. Losing his balance, Claus failed to shoot the arrows in his hand. His face was shrouded in burning rage while watching the trees collapse one by one. 

"...Crazy..." A gasp left Doris's lips. "I-Is that man alive?"

There wasn't a need to answer her question. The black shadow bolted up from atop the bear's head, sprinkling crimson blood on his wage. Before landing on the ground, Raven twisted his wrist and hurled the sword at the monster's face. The blade stabbed into the monster's eye, sending its cry loud and far. 

The rest was dealt with quickly. Arrows flew by, piercing the monster's eyes and wounds one after another, rendering it incapable of getting up. As soon as the tips of his boots touched the ground, Raven dashed forward again. The sleek sword was immediately stabbed into the monster's thick neck, forced to cut through the sturdy skin. Seeing it incapable of piercing through, the swordsman kicked the hilt, thrusting the blade deeper down by force, digging deep into the monster's vein. 

Blood sprung up akin to a crimson waterfall; drenching the surroundings; coloring the area red. The bear twitched a few times before its body finally stopped moving. As the huge corps lay on the ground, the jungle fell into silence. 

"Hah!" Breaking the silence was a repressed gasp. "Not bad for a human."