RSTUM 111

111: Stormdale's Temple

During the past few days, rumors were being circulated in Stormdale city about Leon Dark, the youngest son of Duke William and Duchess Annabelle. While the drama of the ducal house was the least interesting thing to the citizens of Stormdale, it was no secret that the Duchess had isolated herself in her palace a few years ago when her youngest was taken from her. And now that he returned, people were mildly curious about what would happen.

There was no particular source of these rumors but it seemed that heavy security of the Duchy's knights a couple of days ago got some people to ask questions and some rumors came from the servants and the city workers who served in the Duke's palace. One particular rumor that established a public interest was that the youngest son of the Duke is wanted for Evading the Royal Academy.

Still, it was not a hot topic for more than a few hours in the morning.

As for Leon, he started his day early while exercising in his room for 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a long run in the palace's garden. After that, he took a bath and Annabelle summoned him for breakfast.

"DEAR LITTLE BROTHER LEON! YOUR BIG BROTHER IS HERE!"

There, Leon ran directly into Lance, who charged at Leon from an unpredictable angle. Leon could only rely on the Shadow Cloak spell to escape his adoring brother and run for his dear life of his.

After Lance, Leon stumbled upon Lara, who was standing with another man he didn't recognize.

"Oh, my little brother-in-law, it has been years."

Leon couldn't believe himself when he had to admit in his mind that this was the most handsome man he ever saw. Even the so-called Prince Edward the Charming would pale in front of this good-looking man.

"Leon, this here is my husband Galawin." Lara said, "As you heard before, he is Aunt Erielle's son and he's also mother's disciple."

"I am glad to meet you safe and sound after all these years." Galawin said, "We used to be the best of friends back in the day and I am sure we will be nothing less than that now."

Overwhelmed by the glowing presence of that man, Leon was willing to run back into Lance.

"Yes… nice to meet you too." Leon shook hands with the smiling Galawin and took notes of his traits as he wasn't as tall as Erielle and his ears weren't as pointy either.

Seeing as how Leon's eyes checked him up and down, Galawin smiled awkwardly.

"I may not look as wonderful as my mother since I am a half-Elf but I have the four basic elements running through my veins alright. Haha!" Galawin said awkwardly.

"Yes. I'll be off now before Lance catches me." Leon excused himself politely and went to the dining room.

Galawin stood with Lara and saw that Lance was coming from the other side of the hallway.

"Have you seen my cute little brother going this way?" Lance asked with a serious face.

"He was running for his dear life, brother." Lara replied.

"Tone it down a bit, will you, Lance? This is going to be a big day." Galawin said.

"Right. It is the day we return the slab to all of those who questioned Leon. I am sure his talent will rise above all else." Lance said zealously.

"I hope so. His peerage is one of the best among all the young lords of this generation. Being a late bloomer causes a lot of negativity but once a talent blooms, good things always happen." Galawin agreed with Lance.

"You two…" On the other hand, Lara seemed tired of the two people in front of her.

"What is wrong, sister? You have something to say?" Lance asked.

"You understand very well that, talented or not, Leon is marked by the Royal Family and our Father can still come and take him away once the mess in the Capital passes." She said.

"That man will not touch a strand of my brother's hair." Lance said with an angry look on his face.

"Lance, face reality. You know he will come sooner or later and the Royal Family will back him up. Whether I handle Leon's case in court or you get approval from the Regional Temple for his reevaluation or his acceptance in the Silver Peaks Academy won't matter against a royal messenger. Father will come."

"You are right, my dear. But let's not forget that even the Duke can't cross some lines." Galawin said and explained, "Even if he is the Lord of the Duchy, he abandoned his duties for his assistants and relied on the Royal Family's support for leverage. Many lords are dissatisfied with his performance and if Master Annabelle plays her cards right, she can have a decent shot against him."

"The Storm Lord against the Witch of Golems, that's not something we hope to see." Lara said and walked away leaving the two men behind.

Galawin and Lance stood beside one another and seemed lost on what to do themselves.

"She has a point, you know." Galawin said, "We can't simply go against the Duke without the full support of the Council of Elders."

"Those who wished to suck up for the Royal Family have increased in the Council. It is mainly made of Crowns now and the Moderates grow less powerful day by day." Lance said.

"Then it will come to a face-off in the end?" Galawin asked.

"I know what you're saying but we are planning to send Leon off to the Academy. Mother can't simply watch over him over there as well." Lance said.

"The Academy is protected, I assure you. I've spent so much time making sure that no corruption enters the Silver Peaks but the problem shall always be powers above."

"The Guardians Palace." Lance nodded, "You think they will support us?"

"The Guardians don't involve themselves a lot but the Duke won't even make any trouble around them. The only problem is if he gains their support." Galawin said.

"He did that once 8 years ago." Lance said.

"Back then, Leon's talent was ranked E and the guardians were disdainful. Why do you think Master Annabelle is walking out of her fortress just to prove that Leon is talented enough to be protected? This is why you had to ride for 2 days just to get that approval from the Regional Temple."

"Right, High Minister Cage is one of the Guardians as well." Lance said, "It is nice to be a High Human."

"Ain't that just the truth." Galawin said and walked with Lance to the dining room.

Right in the dining room, Leon was sitting at the seat right beside Annabelle and the two of them were looking at his Identity Plate.

"Just like that. I want it just like that." Annabelle said.

"Why exactly?" Leon asked

.

"I have my reasons, son." She replied.

The two seemed to be talking about a secret only the two of them are aware of, which seemed like that same old Leon and Annabelle. She always told him things she doesn't tell to anyone else and he was the keeper of her secrets.

Still, what this was really about was Leon's status. She was the only one aware of his "Conceal" spell and they had to hide every little bit of bad or unwanted information therein.

The ID Plates were very unique artifacts made of quartz glass and were washed with the purest holy light. This artifact shows the Status of its owner and tracks his growth without needing to go through an official temple evaluation.

Still, just like many other artifacts, they can be tampered with quite easily by Arcanists and Illusionists. That is why an official Temple Evaluation that was witnessed by many and got verified by the Temple has a more powerful standing.

On the other hand, other corrupted artifacts are used to conceal bits of the System like the Twilight Syndicate tokens that hide the Criminal Titles from the status (Leon has two of those). That's why Annabelle once said that some of the abilities possessed by Leon only belong to items just like his "Conceal" spell.

It was then vital to hide Leon's most suspicious elements of the system. Things like the extra class, the criminal titles, the overpowered perks, the unprecedented talent, some skills, and many types of magic like Space-Time, Knowledge, and of course the Shadow Element.

"Family."

But as everyone gathered around the table, Annabelle called them all.

"I haven't used this word in ages… since Leon was taken away." Annabelle spoke, "Please, gather around my table and eat together with me."

Raising a glass of wine to everyone, the group sat at the table. On Annabelle's right was Lance's seat followed by Leon's and on her left was Lara's seat followed by Galawin's. Erielle sat opposite Annabelle and raised a glass of wine back as well.

"Today is an important day, I hope all of you are ready to move according to plan. All preparations are complete and once our Leon's results come to light, we will no longer be afraid and look behind our shoulders every time we breathe. Eat your breakfast and prepare yourselves to head out."

***

The City of Stormdale was hustling and bustling on this fine Sunday as most of the people headed to the Temple for prayers. Usually, the upper folk of the city wouldn't show up to these religious gatherings but riding through the main street was a parade of knights escorting two carriages to the temple's direction.

The Knights were donned in black and red and had the sigil of a shield covering a Knight's spear on their surcoats.

These were the Lancers, the Knights of Lord Lance Dark, the heir to the Duchy.

This young heir was riding ahead on a white horse among his knights and received a lot of cheers and calls as was a popular man despite his strict public character.

As the carriages stopped in front of the Temple, the Knights surrounded the carriages and the coachman climbed down first before opening the door. He then lowered a metal ramp that reached the ground.

The first to emerge was Leon who then turned and led the wheeled chair of Annabelle on the ramp while she was smiling at him with glee. Coming from the other carriage were Erielle, Galawin, and Lara.

As Lance joined the group, a man came walking down from the temple's rocky stairs. He was wearing a fancy toga and was followed by many individuals who shared his sense of fashion.

"Your Grace, I bid you welcome. My Lords and Ladies, what a fine day this Sunday. We are glad you joined us at our weekly sermon. My name is Minister Clark, servant of the Holy Light in Stormdale."

The man was so friendly and down to earth to the point where he almost wanted to carry the people up himself.

"I bid you welcome, as well, Minister Clark. We are honored to join the sermon this Sunday and to attend the baptism ceremonies." The Duchess spoke with a wide smile.

"The honor is all ours. Please!" The man opened the way to the temple but as it was all steps where Annabelle's wheelchair seemed unable to climb, the man seemed to have prepared something in advance.

The Deacons and Acolytes who were followed by Minister Clark all raised their feet and stomped down the stairs. With the power of the Earth Mana, a lane of stairs suddenly sank down and rotated to form a ramp for Annabelle.

"Thank you, Minister."

"Please, this way."

The group was led to the Temple and Leon remained the one pushing Annabelle's wheelchair. Many people gathered on the sides but remained far off because of the intimidating aura coming from the nobles.

As for the temple itself, it was something similar to what Leon saw before. A roofless building with high walls and glowing wall patterns. It had no seats inside and the praying believers were all gathered in circles listening to the sermons from the Clerics that were reading from the Scripture of Light.

Each sermon would take around ten minutes. The place was submerged in sunlight as much as possible but the believers could stand under the shade of some canopies for the sake of convenience. Only those who were really zealous would keep standing in the sunlight for straight 10 minutes at this hour of noon.

Minister Clark guided the six visitors to a large canopy with a few stone benches forming a half circle and facing a pedestal. He stood behind the pedestal and called for the believers who wished to join the sermon.

Nobles or commoners, the Temple did not acknowledge the difference in class and would go to far lengths in order to punish the nobles who would bring their discrimination into the Temple.

Leon and the rest sat down at the forefront while Annabelle adjusted her chair to the side. The sermon started and the Minister thanked those who attended and began the sermon.

As Leon listened, the Minister spoke about virtue and helping the poor, spoke about stories of the Holy Mother as she traveled the land during the heroic ages and the era of miracles to distribute her grace and benevolence when the land was overtaken by beasts and demons and the people struck by disease and famine.

It was rather a vanilla sermon that one would hear at any house of worship no matter the religion but as the Minister was done, he invited the people to follow him to the Altar at the end of the temple to begin the baptism ceremony.

Many parents accompanied their five years old children to the altar and it seemed that another group was done with baptism with a different Cleric. There, Annabelle and Leon stood forward.

"Young Lord Leon, I understand you are a late bloomer according to the testimony of Councilor Erielle." Minister Clark said.

"This would seem to be the case, yes." Leon replied.

"Then I would ask you to excuse me as I follow the tradition of calling names by their alphabetical order. It is no disrespect to Your Highness but…"

"Of course, Minister. As a guest in the House of Light, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Minister Clark was pleased with Leon's swift reply as some nobles would complain about wasting their time having to wait for commoner children to be baptized.

Leon has undergone this procedure before in Karanberg but it wasn't anything special since all he had to do was make the temple issue him an official paper. This time, things had to be done according to the ceremony since Annabelle wanted it to be done that way.

She seemed to have her own plan and Leon wasn't minding it but just as they waited around the altar, someone joined the ceremony from the temple's side, someone that made Leon widen his eyes and become nervous instantly, someone that came looking for Leon.

This ceremony may not go as smoothly as planned after all.