29. Blood Dragon Festival : sacrifice

This temple building is very beautiful and exactly what I imagined at that time. If the destroyed buildings in the ruins were still intact, their shape would definitely be beautiful and now I could actually see the complete version. The version when this building had no damage.

In front of the temple there is a large altar supported by a dragon statue twice the size of an adult human. Under the dragon statue, there is a pool that is the same size as the altar above it.

After waiting for several minutes without knowing what I was waiting for, I finally got what I wanted to know when everyone here suddenly fell silent. No one spoke as if everyone was respecting the seven white-robed figures who came out of the temple. The seven figures in white robes then stood on the altar.

Even though I don't know the names of those wearing white ceremonial robes, I still clearly remember their faces.

The figures in ceremonial robes were the seven students I saw during the evacuation drill yesterday!. Including His Highness Yvone, they were all there and took out a purple dagger which gleamed because of the large amount of light in this temple

With the purple dagger, they suddenly scratched their hands on purpose and spilled drops of blood on the altar, then what happened next was that the blood flowed down and into the mouth of the dragon-shaped statue under the altar.

I wonder, what are they doing?. Is it some kind of ritual?. But something bothered me when I saw those seven people doing that.

Isn't this festival to commemorate the day of victory for mankind and a day of respect for the saints who were willing to sacrifice their blood to defeat the dragon, but why do they actually do things like the ritual of scratching their hands?, as if they were offering their blood to the dragon?.

Strange... have I misunderstood something about this festival?.

Or can the mind of a little child like me not understand it properly?.

Slowly, people started walking closer to the altar. More precisely, they all lined up neatly towards the water pool under the dragon altar. Me and dad are no exception.

I saw people washing their hands with the water of the pool under the altar. Another person is tasked with pouring water from the altar to the visitors of this temple.

The closer I got to the pool, the more clearly I could see that the person in charge of pouring the pool water from the container was Aunt Freya!. She was dressed and made up like a holy tample maiden. But something else caught my attention.

I saw that the water in the pool was magenta because the pool water had been mixed with the blood offered by seven people on the altar there!.

In the pool, I also saw many crystal stones that seemed to shine in the reflection of the light around the temple. Is that amethyst?. I'm pretty sure that my guess is correct even though I can't really see the purple color because the pool water has changed color.

"May god Rozex bless you," said Aunt Freya. She spoke in formal language, the same as when she spoke to everyone including me and daddy when she poured water from the pool into our hands.

"May our sacrifice be accepted..." answered daddy. He also spoke formally and answered like other people after they received water from the pool.

Now it's my turn. I followed my daddy's movements by stretching out both my hands and then Aunt Freya slowly poured water from the pool into my hands.

At first, I felt strange because after all, the water that was poured was mixed with blood. But, slowly I felt a sensation in my hand.

Zrrhhs ...

It felt like something suddenly flowed quickly from my hand to my whole body.

After the ritual of washing our hands with the altar pool water, my daddy and I went to a very large backyard of the temple. From here, we could all see the whole city.

By the way. I'm still thinking about the water from the pool earlier. What is the meaning of washing your hands with pool water that is mixed with blood?. What is the meaning of this ritual?. Then, what strange sensation did I feel earlier?. Did daddy and the people who were given pool water also feel the same sensation as me?. This isn't dangerous, right?.

"Dear Cellia, give your hand to daddy," said daddy as he took both of my hands.

Zrrhhs ...

A moment later, I again felt the sensation like when my hands were washed with water from a pool. When I touched my daddy's palm, I also felt that sensation, but this time the sensation flowing from my hand felt so soft and warm.

Cling!.

A spark of golden light emerged from the joining of my and my daddy's palms like the morning sun about to rise. The appearance of the light was only momentary, but it caused a commotion among the people around me and my daddy.

I saw that the people around us were also doing something similar to what my daddy and I were doing, the difference was that they just put their palms together and a light appeared. Each person has a different color of light. There are blue, green, red, purple, and white, but only my daddy and I have golden light.

"Great!. Isn't that a blessing with lots of Ether mana?!. Very lucky!. God Rozex must have blessed him!"

Mana Ether?. What's that?.

I tried to remember and remembered several books that mentioned Mana. The first book is a book about creation which says that at the center of the samach or world there is a gathering place for a large energy known as mana. That place is called amethyst valley.

Then I remembered the books that contained magic. Magic that requires mana to be able to use it. If someone is born without any mana, the result is that they cannot use magic.

On the other hand, if someone is born with a lot of mana, then he will be able to learn Aether type magic which is known to be difficult and requires a lot of mana to be able to use it.

OK, I'm pretty familiar with mana, but what is Mana Ether?. Is that like a term to say that mana is very large, like Aether type magic which requires a large amount of mana?. Yes, I think so...

So, who has this Ether Mana or big mana?. Is it me or dad?. I don't know because our hands are both glowing golden at the moment. Could it be that we both have Ether mana?.

"Very good, your mana is big now..." said daddy as he let go of our hands and the golden light disappeared.

But what does it mean that mana got bigger?.

Isn't having mana determined from birth whether a person has large mana, small mana, or no mana at all?. Then what about me?. Why did daddy say that as if a person's mana can increase or decrease...

Looks like I have to find out more about mana. Especially, mana ether.

After the main event of the festival at the temple was over, my daddy and I decided to return home. Actually there are still a series of other events at the temple, but daddy doesn't seem interested in following them to the end. He also prefers to prioritize my health because coming home too late is not good. The air at night is bad for my body.

We walked home. Actually, my daddy was still carrying me because my daddy definitely didn't want something like before to happen again and I was also afraid that I would be separated from my daddy and meet bad people again. But after a while, it felt like my body was getting sore from being carried all the time. I want to walk with my feet....

Dad obeyed my wishes and held my hand tightly. We walked towards our horse-drawn carriage, but when I passed through the alley, I saw a small child wearing a brownish robe coming out of it with weak footsteps. And ...

Bruk!

I was shocked to see the next scene and myself so panicked.

"Dad!. Dad!. There's a little kids who fell!" I said to my daddy.

My daddy and I quickly approached the little boy and we were shocked when we found out who this little boy who suddenly fainted was.

I never thought that the little boy who had passed out on the side of the road was the choco kid!. It was prince Kharel!.

"Prince Kharel?" Muttered daddy. He looked very surprised too.

I reflexively touched his forehead after seeing his pale face and it was very hot. It turned out that Kharel had a high fever, but I was surprised why it felt like no one cared about him, even though they certainly knew that this unconscious little boy was a prince in their own country!.

"Daddy, Prince Kharel has a fever!"

"Vincent!. Bring Prince Kharel to our residence and immediately call a doctor to treat him," said daddy to Vincent who suddenly appeared out of nowhere when daddy called him. Vincent is like a shadow knight!.

"Yes, My Lord"

It seems, right now my daddy and I are both thinking "how could Prince Kharel faint on the side of the road like this?"

Even so, only I know that Choco Kid actually had a fever from the start. That's what His Highness Yvone said yesterday. But, what does he do here when he's sick?. Why doesn't he just rest in the castle?. Did he want to see this festival so much that he didn't care about his fever?.

Whatever the reason, I'm still worried. After all, prince Kharel was only five years old and he was alone. I also don't know what happened to him or his relationship with the king of Yevonia, but I began to realize that Prince Kharel didn't seem to be considered by his own daddy.

I started to sympathize with him. I've been in a position like this in my previous life. Alone and uncared for. Even the cold feeling when you have a fever is nothing compared to the cold feeling of not feeling the warmth of your family.

Unconsciously, I rubbed prince Kharel's head. His hair is very soft.

"Mom..." muttered Prince Kharel. He seemed delirious. Did he think that the one rubbing

Ah, for some reason, my chest feels tight. I remember my previous life. Those were the times when I was still in the orphanage. One day, I had a high fever due to extreme weather changes which made my immune system collapse.

At that time, the orphanage mother only provided medicine and food for me. That was enough, but I also felt very lonely. Deep in my heart, I want someone to be by my side when I'm sick. And I'm sure Kharel is also feeling something like that right now, right?.

"It doesn't matter. Cellia is here..." I said.

"I will protect you. I will protect you, don't leave me, please. Please ..." whispered Prince Kharel in his sleep and that made me curious again. Was he having a nightmare because of his fever?.