New Beginnings

His throat felt dry and tight, but he finally managed to speak.

"I . . . will this just stay between you and me?"

The man on the other side said, "Absolutely. We take vows never to speak a word unless allowed by you."

Amos knew that because of the system, priests and people with religious classes had trouble lying, and if they did then they would incur large penalties.

But even then Amos still hesitated. His lips trembled as he felt incredible pain even just thinking about the things he had done. He wanted nothing more than to just run out of this church.

'Screw it,' Amos thought. 'I have to take a leap of faith at one point.'

"Is there a limit to how long this takes?" Amos asked.

"Well not really, although technically I have to take part in study later today so I guess the limit would be about 6 hours." The man answered.

"Well then uhh, huh" 

Now that Amos thought about it he had no idea where to start. He never thought that far ahead. 

"Well if I really think about it, it all started about 13 years ago . . ."

Amos then bled his heart telling his early life from how his village was torched and he was left orphaned, to how he became a thief. The priest only ever asked simple questions or asked Amos to elaborate on some parts. Although the priest never sounded judgmental.

It was almost euphoric for Amos. Finally, he was able to get it all off his chest. All of this time he had been searching for some way to unload his burden. He tried everything from alcohol to prostitutes. Yet it was something so simple that did the trick. Amos almost couldn't believe it.

By the time he began to tell the story of how he first met his brothers many hours had passed. But, before he could continue the priest said,

"I'm sorry but it's been about 6 hours and I need to go study with the rest of the priests. I believe you are still far from being finished, so I recommend returning tomorrow. I will be here tomorrow and the day after that for as long as it takes for you to say everything you wish to say."

Amos replied, "Oh, Alright, ~so~ how does leaving?"

"I will just leave right now, and you should wait a few minutes before leaving to make sure I or anyone else doesn't see you."

"uh, ok."

Amos then heard the priest open his door and walk out. He had a bad feeling about this. All of his fears returned to him. It was only now that he realized how much he told the priest.

What if the priest just told Amos to wait so he could bring people?

A cold sweat went down Amos's back. Every second now felt like an hour.

Multiple minutes passed until Amos heard a bell ring multiple times at the top of the cathedral. Amos hand reached for the door. His hand shook too much to grab the handle properly. He hadn't even realized his hand was shaking.

The funniest thing of all was that Amos wasn't even afraid if there were other people outside who wanted to arrest or kill him. Worse case scenario it would just become a fight to the death.

No, what Amos was truly afraid of was the possibility that the priest betrayed him after he bled his heart out to him. The idea that, the only possible thing that could help him would turn on him. The unfathomable pain that it would cause to Amos's heart is what truly scared him shitless.

His hand finally grabbed onto the handle.

In the second it took for Amos to open the door he made up his mind. If there were people here to ambush him then he would go feral. He would fight and kill anything that approached him until someone killed him. At least that way he would no longer have to continue his pain-filled existence.

Amos swung the door open and pulled his sword halfway out of its sheath. But there was no one there. Amos looked from his left to his right. It was just the empty pews of the Cathedral. So Amos cast an invisibility spell on himself. He hoped that by suddenly disappearing he would draw out anyone hiding.

Still, no one came.

Amos couldn't believe it. Through all of his years as a brigand and a thief, he learned that you could trust only a few. So it was so hard for Amos to trust the priest. But it was hard to argue with the facts. 

Normally there were a couple of paladins or even an inquisitor on standby in large Cathedrals like this one. So it would have been all too easy for the priest to alert them and set up an ambush. But he had not.

Amos walked through the silent Cathedral back to the front door. He looked back behind him. Still just a silent empty cathedral.

Amos swung open the door to have a flash of light hit him in the face.

The light came from the setting sun on the horizon. It colored the sky orange and the clouds a light pink. But to Amos, the setting sun meant more to him than it did normally. For today it marked the end of something long and painful. Amos only hoped that what was to come would be better.

— the next day —

Even with the same nightmare as always, today didn't seem as bad as the one before. It was as if Amos was finally able to breathe again. He was even able to get out of bed without taking a swig of alcohol. 

Currently, he stood before the cathedral. It was bout noon time, the same time as he went in yesterday. 

Amos opened the large doors and walked into the cathedral. It was still the middle of the week so the cathedral was relatively empty. Amos walked down the middle of the cathedral and into the confessional. 

Amos closed the door behind him. He then asked the other side, "Are you the same guy that I talked to yesterday."

"If you were the one that talked about his village being burned, and being forced into unfortunate circumstances, then yes."

Amos breathed a sigh of relief. He had feared that the priest may have changed which would have made things complicated.

The priest then said, "Would you like to continue where you left off?"

"Yes, I think I left off at . . . "

With that Amos continued telling the story of his life to the priest. It felt like the chains that tied his heart finally began to loosen.

Amos continued like that day after day telling his life story until he eventually no longer had anything left to tell. It took 3 more days until he finally finished and when he did the priest sighed and said, "That . . . was a lot to take in. Even with the breaks in between each day."

The priest then paused to think. It led to an awkward silence. Amos felt uncomfortable and asked, "Yeah, it is a lot to take in, but even so I . . . I truly want to change. I don't want to be a brigand, but at the same time, I know I'll go mad if I continue what I'm doing now. I just, don't know what to do anymore." 

The priest hesitated to answer at first but eventually found his words. 

"Listen, if I'm being candid then, originally I was afraid of you. After all, you are an extremely high-level guy who used to be a brigand."

This hurt Amos and took him aback. But, thankfully the priest continued speaking.

"but, as you continued the story I realized you truly do want to change. So I will try to help you however I can, and I think the first step to doing so is to finally move on from the past."

Amos replied in confusion, "Move on from the past?"

"Yes move on from your past. Although you have done terrible things you need to move on from it, at least for now, so you can at least begin to redeem yourself. Don't get me wrong I am not saying to forget. I am just saying you need to start moving forward. Or else nothing will ever change."

"Redeem myself," Amos repeated under his breath. It was what he had wanted for the longest time, but had no idea about how to do it.

Amos then asked, "How would I even redeem myself? Or 'move on' as you said? I haven't done anything illegal in months and I even became an adventurer, yet I still feel the same as I did when I was raiding."

The priest went silent for a moment to think before saying, "I know this will be coming from out of nowhere, but have you ever thought of becoming a sentinel?"

Amos was surprised by the sudden idea and thought to himself, 'I never even considered it. But it actually makes a lot of sense.' 

Amos then asked, "Lets . . . let's say I do. How does someone even become a sentinel?"

The priest replied, "It's easier than you think. All you need to do is go to the main barracks of a city. Then you need to apply to become the sentinel of another settlement. There are almost always spots open as well since being a sentinel is generally very dangerous and death is unfortunately common."

"Is it that easy?"

"Well, not quite, you will also have to be tested for many things. but with a recommendation from me, you should be able to pass the screenings."

"You . . . you would do that for me?"

"I already told you that I would help."

Amos felt his eyes water a little before he wiped his hands against them. He then said, "Thank you."

The priest laughed and said, "Don't thank me yet. Nothing is set in stone. Anyway, I don't have much more time plus I will have to prepare things now, so can we call it a day? Then we can finally meet face-to-face tomorrow to settle everything."

"Uh yeah sure, face to face."

Amos then heard the other door open and footsteps leaving it. A couple minutes later Amos did the same.

This time as Amos walked through the cathedral he took his time. Although he still felt something deep inside of him find the temple deeply unsettling, he wanted to look at the paned windows.

They ranged from old religious figures to recent history. One of the largest panes in particular displayed the day that all humans gained the system. From what Amos had read in books it was disastrous. The next few panes of glass showed the aftermath. 

It showed everything from uprisings to wars. After humans gained the system the common people rose up against their prior lords and kings. It caused many kingdoms to collapse and uncountable amounts of death. After the commoners rose, the nobles fought back to keep the control they already had. It led to multiple bloody periods of history that culled most of the human population on Earth.

Then the magical beasts and monsters showed up. They had also gained the system and were naturally stronger than humans. They swept through and destroyed the now-disorganized humans left after the wars.

However, humans were still able to survive due to the beast's inability to work together. That was until Malkroth showed up. He was an insanely powerful black dragon who rallied monsters together for one purpose: the extermination of humanity.

Humans then finally stopped fighting each other to band together and fight off Malkroth. In the end, they succeeded and Malkroth was slain. The heroes of the war against Malkroth then formed a new kingdom based on unity and the rule of law. They named it Dragfell. It was the very country Amos had lived in his whole life and was currently in the capital of.

The glass panes stopped after the formation of Dragfell and the naming of its first king. 

Amos then turned towards the other side of the cathedral. This side of the cathedral held a different set of panes. This set instead showed the history of the Holy Pathism. Amos merely glanced at them. The Holy Pathism was far more simple. They were originally the most common religion on Earth until the system came and Earth became connected to the upper realms and the abyss. When they finally met actual holy figures they had tweaked their religion around the upper realms and the system.

The next set of panes just showcased different historical religious figures. Amos only recognized one of the more famous ones, but another one caught his attention. It was of a Lizard kin paladin. Amos found it very confusing as lizard kin were well known to worship dragons and act as their servants. Even when Malkroth the black dragon declared war on humanity the lizard kin joined them. So it begged the question to Amos: how and why did this lizard kin become a paladin?

Amos walked over to a priest who was walking through the Cathedral and asked him, "Why is there a pane for a lizard kin? I thought lizard kin were staunch worshipers of the dragons."

The priest was surprised by the question but answered it as best as he could.

"That pane is about Saint Albert. He was originally a general in Malkroth's army, but then he saw the error of his ways and converted. He dipped his hands into the waters of absolution, adopted a new name, and took the holy path."

The story was what Amos wanted for himself. Well maybe minus the holy part. It was so strange that he would run into the pane. There was one part he did not understand though. So Amos asked him, "What are the waters of absolution?"

"Ah yes, I forget that it is rather obscure. Well, the waters of absolution are a special holy water that only very high-level holy classes can make. The water itself is rather unique as it removes all the work that someone has done, and returns them to level one as if they were a newborn."

This stunned Amos. He knew that this priest would get big penalties if he lied, so there was no way he would lie about something like this. So everything he said was true. Amos then asked the question at the top of his mind, "Why would the system even give that to high-level holy classes?"

"I agree it is extremely strange. But from what many Cardinals have theorized, the system gave it to us to provide others with a second chance."

This made Amos think deeply. He wanted to leave to think about it more, so he said, "Thank you, but I think I have to go."

He then walked out of the cathedral and back to his room. There he sat down and stared at the ceiling as he thought. 

'The waters of absolution huh.'

— the next day —

Today Amos was more nervous than normal. This was because today would be the day that Amos would meet the man he had been speaking to this entire time.

As Amos entered the cathedral he heard a low hymn fill the temple. Amos forgot to ask where they would meet yesterday so he just stood by the confessional. He felt out of place as the minutes ticked by. Then Amos noticed someone approaching him from behind due to his high perception. He turned to get his first actual look at the man he had been talking to this entire time.

The priest he had been talking to was a middle-aged man with a dark-trimmed beard. He was also balding and had a gentle look.

"First time we are meeting face to face," he said.

"I guess I should be the first to introduce myself. I am Brother Elijah."

Amos hesitated to give his name. He never told Elijah so far because he still had reservations about fully telling him his identity. But Amos swallowed hard and said, "My name is Amos."

Elijah put his hand forward for a shake. Amos shook his hand. Elijah then said, "Come, let us go to the garrison so we can make you a sentinel."

Elijah turned to walk. But Amos did not follow. Amos instead said, "Actually I had another thing that I wanted to do before that."

Elijah asked, "And what would that be."

"I wanted to wash my hands in the waters of absolution."

Elijah's mouth opened in disbelief, or as if it had been broken.

"Are you sure? That is a huge decision. And there is no going back. Not to mention it will make being a sentinel much harder."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've been thinking about how I recently came to the city to start again. But it wasn't really a fresh start because all of the strength and power that I built up to get here has been built on the blood of others. Until I cleanse it I will never be able to truly start again."

Elijah slanted his eyes in thought. He scratched his beard, sighed, and then said, "Alright sure. There is merit in what you say. But, I will need to go get the head of this cathedral. He is a cardinal. He will be able to make the waters of absolution."

Amos sighed in relief. Elijah then went through a door towards the back of the cathedral. Amos waited a few minutes before Elijah came back and told Amos to follow him. They both walked through multiple hallways and rooms before they reached the cardinal.

His room was small and lit only by candlelight. The cardinal himself wore a long golden robe. He also had a paladin as his guard to the side of him.

The cardinal eyed Amos suspiciously before saying, "I assume this is the man you were talking about Brother Elijah."

Brother Elijah nodded. The cardinal eyed Amos a little more before he turned around and picked up a bowl of water. The water itself had a slight shine to it, and Amos could sense a little bit of holy mana coming off of it. Amos assumed that it was holy water.

The Cardinal began to recite a prayer. The reciting lasted for multiple minutes, but soon enough the bowl of water began to shine even brighter before it nearly became blinding to look at. The shine then decreased until it was possible to look at it again. Now the water seemed almost like molten gold, yet it still flowed and moved like water.

"It is complete," the cardinal said.

Amos steeled his nerves before slowly reaching his hands toward the bowl of water. The Cardinal quickly pulled the bowl back and said, "This isn't something small. This will remove everything that you have worked towards and gained within your life. This is not a spur-of-the-moment decision. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Amos looked the cardinal in the eyes. He then thought to himself, 'It will remove everything that I earned in my life? The only things I have ever gained in my life were through murder and violence.'

Amos then said, "I am sure."

The cardinal looked at the determination in Amos's eyes before nodding and bringing the bowl closer to him again. Amos then put his hands into the waters of absolution. A message then appeared in Amos's head from the system.

[ Are you sure: Yes / No ]

Amos then mentally selected yes.