The 11th God

Anomaly of Abilities Arc: The Young Cleric

My eyelids were becoming more and more heavier each second. I can feel the pressure inside me as each shade passes through me. I can feel my body getting weaker and weaker but I feel no pain. The shades were just passing against me and nothing else however, it's draining my health consecutively.

I guess I won't be able to accomplish my task. I thought.

But as just my eyelids were about to close for the last time, I felt something light and calming. I felt an aura near me that gives off this calm presense that seems to relax my body and insides. I feel rested and I feel okay. I took a short glance at my health and saw it healing up slowly.

"Art of the Holy Light, Dance of the Night Swan."

The words were echoing inside my ears. It all keeps on going back and forth as a glowing light in a form of a swan moves along Elio's and my body. I got some strength recovered due to it. I feel no weakness, I feel my old strength and courage to fight. I feel myself again, back on who I was before we warped towards this island.

The calm aura of the skill must be the one doing this. There's something familiar about it though, I feel the aura like I have felt it before. The energy passing through our bodies is just familiar. I reconciled what this feeling was and where did I felt it. Then I suddrnly remember after taking a view from where the skill was summoned.

I saw a small kid. It may or may not be a kid, but he is still small. It was his. The energy I felt before which I now remember is flowing inside our bodies. Replenishing our missing energies and taking away all that weak feeling inside us.

The flock of shades vanishes as soon as the glow of light appeared. Instantly, in just a blink of an eye, the shades were all gone. They were a few already, but those few inflicted huge damage upon us. I did nit realize this earlier but this might be the one that was mentioned in my task however, this might just be the beginning.

The small person walked towards us slowly. He has ni rhythm in his steps, just pure footsteps walking towards us. However, as he get nearer and nearer, I did not just hear footsteps. I also heard sobbing and trembling moans of a kid.

I used the force in my hand to gather myself back up. Elio was doing the same too. After getting up, I looked immediately to the kid back again and saw his hands wiping off his face. He is a kid after, and his current emotion is like those babies whose candy were stolen by some candy thief. His face shows fear, but his prowess is unimaginable. What comes along with him is a staff that is bigger than Elio's scepter. The staff seems to be the source of his abilities, which in ither words is his weapon.

The staff is yellowish in color which is also the color of the swan. Aboce the staff is some kind of core that seems to be the one casting all his inside energies out to take form into a swan. The swan however isn't dissipating nor fading. It is just right there, beside us waiting for something or staying in shape for no reason. As the kid got nearer, he vaguely held onto my pants and started sobbing again

"Is it alright?" Elio had asked.

I shook my head as a form of reject. I don't know what is going on but the kid is crying for sure.

"I'm... i'm scared!" he said while he sob.

I was shocked after hearing his voice. His voice were also those of a child's and he acts like one too. I can still feel his energy though. I can feel the vast space of energy inside him which is nowhere near empty. It is clearly full and does not seem to be reducing at all.

"Are... are you alright?" I asked him.

"Does Diether look like that he is alright? Can't you see that Diether is crying and Diether can't stop?!" he aggressively said.

He is a kid who is currently acting with tantrums. His face does not seem to stop sobbing and that his crying seems to be endless.

"Hey it is alright now, we're here. You saved us." I told him.

But it was no use. We were still on our place with the same pace except he is with us. He cried and cried for a few minutes until Elio decided to do something.

He placed his scepter beside the face of the kid.

"You will stop crying or I'll kill you. You choose." he said in a fearsome tone.

I get that Elio is joking. However, this kind of joke surely does not work with kids. It has never been an appropriate way to scare kids into doing them what you tell them to.

But I was wrong.

As soon as the kid looked at Elio's scepter, the kid hanged up and stopped crying. He seems like he's stuck while staring at Elio's scepter.

Elio gave off a little laugh and the boy frowned, "You're rude, I'll tell this to the old priest!" he screamed.

"What is the old priest gonna do about it then? Slap me in my butt?" he teased.

"Yes! Yes he will and I will tell that to him. You're mocking the high priest." he said and then he started crying again.

I glared at Elio for what he did. The kid had already calmed down and now here he is teasing the kid. He is the one who made the kid shut up now he's trying to make the kid cry again.

Elio immediately responded off and stopped teasing the kid after seeing my glare at him.

"We should start walking or else we won't be able to get anything." Elio said.

I glanced at him before giving the young kid a pat on his back. We all started walking towards nowhere. We had no plans of where to go, it seems like it is everyone's first time going into the island. While we were walking. I decided to lighten up the mood, because the childish dispute and argument between the two seems to be not improving at all, Elio is on my right side while the kid is on my left side and I can clearly hear the two of them whispering to themaelves.

"So you mentioned the name Diether. Is that your name?" I asked the kid.

"Yes, Diether's name is Diether and I am 13 years old." he mentioned.

I was shocked by is introduction. Not the whole of it but the age that he just mentioned. It seems impossible for a kid like him to be wandering around in a forest like this, but Elio and I have both seen his skills and affinity. He is definitely something compared to the both of us.

Since I have witnessed it first hand his fighting skills, I decided to ask him his role, "Would you mind telling us your role?"

He tightened his grip on my hands. The whole time we've been walking I haven't realized that he is actually holding my left hand.

It took him for about half a minute or so before he gathered himself up, giving his body a proper pacing and straightened his whole back explaining, "My role is a cleric. It is a role bestowed upon me after I was born into this world."

His head is facing up high before his introduction, and then suddenly, in a despairing way, he looked down and started sulking for no reason.

"God I did not sign up for this." Elio said exhaustedly.

I glared at him again.

"What? I mean we're here to gain experience not just hear the story of a kid whose role is a cleric when he was born." he defensively said.

"Just let Diether explain okay? And then we'll rush after that." I told him.

Childishly, in an immature way that Diether just did, Elio also sulked in a very blink of an eye. It lasted for a second, thinking something might change but he thought wrong, it would only make things worse which is why he did it for a mere second.

"I am an orphan." Diether explained in a tone which I could not describe whether he's sad or angry.

Elio and I, caught off-guard looked at him.

"My parents died immediately right after I was born. Our city was caught on fire and I was the only survivor. People said that I got this sign on my forehead when there was a fire, which they thought is the sole reason I survived it. I have been an orphan ever since that day and the sign in my forehead banished."

"But there is one thing about that sign."

We all look at him as his tone gets deeper. He is explaining something serious I presume.

"The mark on my forehead, it was bestowed upon by the God of Light." he explained.

Elio and I were shocked about what he had just said.

The God of Light? He is alive?

"The mark on my forehead was said to be the blessing fron the God of Light, Suthain."

"They call it the Mark of —"

"Shush!" Elio shouted in awareness.

I am definitely sure he said it for a valuable reason this time. It is becaude I sense it, I feel it and definilite I hear it.

It is not just an 'it'. It is a them.

"I know you feel that as well." Elio said.

Diether paced himself, steadying his staff infront with his right hand while lifting his other hand in his left side.

"Wild Centaurs." Diether muttered.

"That's impossible." Elio answered.

"Believe me or not, but I kniw very well the foes of light." he replied.

I have no idea what the two were talking about. But all I know is I hear a bunch of heavy footsteos coming at us. There should be around ten of them if I am not mistaken.

"Art of Moonlight, Incandescence" Elio casted.

Nothing happened though after he casted his spell. There might be something wrong. I can sense his energy and it replenished oafter our asses were saved by Diether so there should be no problem. But why did nothing happened after he casted his skill?

It was no more than a minute when a group of stallion-like creatures appeared in frint of us. heir eyes were read, their body is those like of horses while the head is like a human.

My count was wrong. They are not ten, but only five. Fivewild centaurs wrre the one who caused that rumbling sounds and heavy footsteps. They're bigger than us. Their height and width is like those of a tree.

Their face may seem humane but they don'y have human instincts. They don't speak at all nor create any signs of harm towards us — except their eyes. Everytime they exhale air pressure comes out, smoke-like shapes coming.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." one of the centaurs suddenly said.

I heard Elio smirk. I glanced at him immediately because despite the situation we are currently in he still has the courage to smirk.

"I wouldn't make a step if I were you." Diether said boldly.

It's like there is something thay these two are up to. They might have finally agreed on something but how come I have no idea what they are talking about?

The centaurs were all confused too about what Diether had just said. Yet they didn't mind what the two had said.

All the centaurs rushed forward without any hesitation. lifting their heavy metal weapons and any second now, ready to strike upon us. I was about to call for a move when suddenly I heard Elio and Diether shouted.

"Art of the Holy Moonlight, Incandescence of the Forest!"

Both of them said the exact same words at the exact same time. They did plan something after all. I gazed upon the centaurs to check what will happen, and I saw it with my very two eyes, there were tons and tons and tons of different animals in white color.

All of them were interconnected with some sort of rope that glows. As in all of it. So basically there is a chain if animals around us, covering us up and scattered amongst the centaurs. All the centaurs were not moving though, seemed to be binded by the chain of white animal lights.

They were binded indeed. The whute light was touching their body and there seems to be some sort of marks around it. The centaurs were suffering over something, like as if they are strangled by some sort of rope.

Then suddenly we felt another essense. The dense flow of the energy stopped the combined skill of Diether and Elio. Then fter being released, the centaurs look over the same direction — which I realized after some seconds. Fear suddenly bestowed upon their faces and started running away. One of them anidhed though, it looks like the combined skill of Elio and Diether was able to slay one centaur. But the dark and heavy energy presence is what is we are all focusing right now.

"I sense it." Elio said.

"I know what that is. I have felt this energy before. Something so dark and scary. I definitely have seen this!" he screamed.

As the energy presence come nearer and nearer, my legs started shaking. The level of this one is definitely ten times more than the centaurs. There are so much dissipating dark energy around us and it seems likecit is really coming after us.

"The one and only anti-mage mythical beast, Lomocubus." Diether muttered.

There were no signs of fear in Diether's face. Instead, there's a strong resolve inside him that makes him look angry and braver.

"That can't be. This— this island should only he filled with tier 2 monsters below." Elio said while stuttering.

"Is it just right now when you realized it is not? You just fought five centaurs which are tier 3 monsters. We are lucky enough thise aren't sorcerer centaurs." Diether said.

Diether completely changed. From being that cry-a-lot kid to that brave man that we never thought he would be.

"Those creatures disgusts me." he said.

He paced himself up, stancing himself as he try to cast a skill. He did not cast a skill though, instead it's a chant.

Ylgaea has distinction in beetween chanting and casting. Casting differs through the shortness of its time to produce and emit energy, while on the other side, chanting requires constant emitting of energy, giving out energy to make your chant be successful.

"Oh God of Light which reigns against the darkness, I call upon thee to bestow your servant your powers with no discreet. Entirely, with all my clean intentions I ask for power, strength and resolve in exchange for my neverr-ending faith as your servant."

"Trust upon me your gift, let me use it to defend my allies and protect those whom I cherish the most. I open the gate of life, connection between the gods, Mark of Life!"

The mark that he mentioned before appeared on his forehead. Then suddenly, a sphere of light wrapped us and suddenly faded. It did not fully fade though, it only made itself invisible to make us be able to see through what is coming at us.

But it was no use. The sudden extreme force of dark energy made the sphere of light disappear.

"Im— impossible!" Diether mentioned.

We were all to late. The lomocubus reached us. It is just like shade except this one is wrapped with something. It is dark energy I presume.

I made a move.

"Art of Illusion, Dance of a Thousand Blades!"

However, it failed. I wasn't able to call my edgelights.

The lomocubus took a stance with the staff it's holding, quickly in a blink placing it on the ground. A pure pressure of darkness appeared and in just a blink, I was knockbacked towards somewhere far and far from Elio and Diether.