Wolfram looked at his priestly robes suspiciously. They looked completely different from the ones he had worn recently and more resembled the clothes he wore in the summer when he was not on duty. Knee-length shorts and a shirt with ruffles and decorative embroidery on the chest. Only the red sash and the half cape sewn to his shoulders showed that this was still a priest's outfit.
"I decided that I would remake them for the summer," Adalynn chirped. An older priestess who was responsible for managing the priests' clothes and whose hobby was tailoring.
So that's what happened to them, thought Wolfram with resignation. He didn't mind such modifications, which weren't even forbidden, so most priests reworked their own robes as they saw fit. But he didn't like to stand out too much when he was in the temple. He felt like a temple mascot then. A little more, and they would put him on display in front to attract the worshippers.
Nevertheless, he did not comment on this and simply took his robes and went to his room in the dormitory to change. This part of the temple was only accessible to priests, but they allowed Arwin to accompany him due to the unique situation. Otwin didn't get that permission and had to wait in the guest section, which Wolfram was happy about. Their journey together didn't look a bit better than their greeting on the castle's steps.
A sliver of light came through a small round window into an equally small room. It only took a step to reach the storage box at the foot of the bed. Arwin stayed outside the door, waiting for Wolfram to change - he probably wouldn't even fit in here anyway. In addition to the box and bed, a desk and stool somehow fit in here. On his own, Wolfram also put a soft carpet on the stone floor and thick blankets on the bed since the nights here were unbearably cold. Sometimes he wondered where the conditions were worse - here or in the barracks.
The remaining soldiers were to go through the cleansing ritual first, so Wolfram still had some time to himself. Therefore, he decided to go to the library tower built on the edge of the temple grounds, dominating the other buildings. Round and made of gray stone, it was one of the tallest buildings in the entire country. Probably only the tower at Blood Pledge Castle surpassed it.
He passed a lake that was right in the middle, surrounded by stone torch bowls, with a high mound on one side. On top of it was a small shrine of earth, where priests' funerals were held. It faced the shrine of water placed on a gazebo in the middle of the lake, to which a simple arched bridge led. Wolfram received his ordination there. A point of earth for the body and a point of water for the soul. At the very top of the library tower was the point of wind, for the mind, also often associated with wisdom. And in front of the temple itself was a shrine of fire, lit by torches and surrounded by a narrow channel of lava. A point of fire, for the emotions, where weddings were held.
The first three floors of the tower were dedicated to small rooms where one could read in silence. Heading toward the upper floors with books, Wolfram noticed his father coming out of one of them.
He, too, was already dressed in his robes, simple but trimmed with gold, a sign that he was the high priest. Over his shoulder was slung a blue sash.
"Here you are. Great." His father locked the door with a key, which he tucked under his tunic, and approached him. Under his arm was an old book with a mass of gemstones set into the cover. Emeralds, ambers, onyxes, and amethysts. So it was some kind of religious book.
"Don't you take part in the ritual?" Wolfram stopped and turned to him, asking surprised. He had expected the high priest to oversee something so important.
"They can manage without me. There's something I wanted to talk to you about." He passed Wolfram and started walking in the other direction.
Not having much choice, Wolfram moved after him. They reached a room at the end of the corridor, which was also locked. When his father opened it, Wolfram immediately looked inside, curious. Only the high priest could enter these rooms, so he had no idea what might have been in there. It turned out that nothing interesting. Only a table and two chairs, like in any other room. There was no window, so his father took a fire stone from his pocket to illuminate it. A soft orange light filled the entire small room. It was a useful thing, better for providing light than ordinary candles and torches, and there were plenty of these all over the mountains. Most people in Bielefeld used them, but for some reason, they were hard to come across in the rest of the country. Maybe they were too associated with the religion of the elements, which always scared off people who didn't practice it.
They closed the door behind them, and Arwin, as always, stayed in the corridor.
His father placed the book on the table and took one of the chairs, and Wolfram sat down opposite him. He looked at the book, which he had not seen before - something like this would certainly sink into his memory.
"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, carefully opening the book to the first page. Since his father had placed it in front of him, that meant he could read it. The title was, of course, written in an ancient text, the newer one, which he could read without difficulty. It simply proclaimed Rituals.
"I thought it would be good if you knew what the cleansing ritual is and why it is required."
Wolfram flipped the page. Someone had been kind enough to create a table of contents, something that rarely happened in books of this type. The rituals were grouped according to the elements they were associated with. He searched with his eyes for the cleansing ritual his father had mentioned and found it among those requiring all the elements and carefully flipped through the pages to get to the indicated page. There was a detailed description of the ritual, which was not much different from the baptism. One of the rituals that Shinou had appropriated. Without it, no mazoku would be able to use maryoku.
"So we're just going to go through a new baptism?" he asked while reading the guidelines.
"Once the tainted remnants of crooked rituals are touched, the mazoku's connection to the elements is damaged and sometimes even broken. So it needs to be renewed. This works similarly to being near the houseki stone, but it persists until the cleansing ritual is performed. And it doesn't cause physical weakness, but instead, something worse happens. A new bond is established with the gods in whose honor the ritual was performed. This allowed the people in that town to be controlled."
"A connection to other gods." Wolfram flinched reflexively. He didn't like the idea that someone could control him through such a thing. But for that matter, could elemental patrons also control their people?
"The connection varies from person to person, but no matter how strong or weak it is, being connected to human gods is still dangerous for a mazoku."
Wolfram settled back in his chair and looked at his father uncertainly.
"So that thing over there really was a god? The same as the partons of the elements?"
"The thing that attacked the city was only a demigod. However, that thing that appeared later to take it was definitely a god. The equivalent of the patron of the wind, if its descriptions in the books are still relatable."
"You have their descriptions?" Wolfram looked at him suspiciously. It certainly wasn't in the books he had access to.
"In the section accessible only to the high priest." He smiled cheerfully when Wolfram looked at him reproachfully. "I'll let you read them later. There's no point in keeping it hidden in this situation."
Wolfram crossed his arms over his chest and smiled contentedly. Since he would let him read it, he could forgive him now.
But the gods?
"What did they even want? Why were they with grandfather and killing humans? If they're gods of the humans, shouldn't they act the other way around?"
"I doubt they care about the humans living in Shin Makoku. However, they still consider them a good source of power. And that man, with his obsession, was the perfect tool to use for that purpose. Gwendal has already put him in prison?" he asked in a tone as if he remembered it now.
"For now, he's still in the castle dungeons." He was quickly put on trial, but he had to recover first before he could be sent anywhere, and Gwendal forbade the use of maryoku on him to help heal his bones, so it would still take some time.
His father nodded slowly, and Wolfram looked again at the description of the ritual.
"What about the crystals? You said they work similarly."
"They most likely form a connection with that wind god. However, it is not so stable, and I guess that just destroying the crystals will break it."
"And how do you plan to destroy them?"
"Do you happen to know the story about the Lord
Guzzler?"
Wolfram furrowed his brow. Of course, he knew it. His brothers reminded him of it every time he overate sweets as a child.
"What does a lord bursting from overeating have to do with it?"
"Everything has a certain capacity, beyond which it can be damaged or destroyed."
"Do you know how to charge them?" Wolfram straightened up suddenly, interested again. His father raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"So you already know that they can be charged?"
"Well..." He frowned slightly, and his shoulders slumped. He probably now looked like a child caught in a cookie-snacking situation, but he wasn't about to admit to that vision just yet. "I found something interesting in the library in Erythea," he said part of the truth instead.
"Ah, yes. That city. You'll have to tell me about it later."
"What about charging those crystals?" queried Wolfram as his father closed the book and began to get up from his chair.
"We'll deal with that later. We'll need the wind mazoku for that anyway."
"And the crystals on the bracelet?" He raised his hand when his father stopped and looked at him. "They are the same, aren't they?"
"They are not tainted. But yes. With them, your connection to the elements is strengthened, so the connection to other gods doesn't affect you as much."
"So I can charge them too." He lowered his hand and looked at the crystals.
"Unfortunately, not as easy as the ones we have." His father laughed and closed the door to the room behind him. "Stronger crystals need stronger sources to charge them. So I'm afraid you'll have to go to the Fire Mountains to do it."
"I think it's not so impossible now." They moved along the corridor and arrived at the room his father had left earlier.
"Possibly. But I'm not sure this is the best time for such expeditions. Your boyfriend would worry himself to death." He smiled slyly and put the key in the lock.
This room, in turn, was full of stone bookcases, similar to the ones he had seen in the underwater city. Fortunately, instead of boxes with scrolls and clay tablets, leather-bound books stood on them. It looked like he had plenty of reading ahead of him. But would he find enough time for it? They would be returning tomorrow after breakfast, so his only option was to ask his father to let him take them with him. At least a few.
"Do you know what charging them can give me?" Wolfram asked his father while looking at the covers, reminding himself they were in the middle of a conversation.
"I'm not sure. It's possible that it could further strengthen your connection."
Wolfram stopped and looked at his father, who put the book back on the shelf and turned to him, looking questioningly.
"So that's where these sudden new abilities are coming from? My maryoku is stronger because my connection has strengthened?"
His father pondered for a moment as if he hadn't thought about it at all before.
"It's possible," he finally stated. "However, the strength of the connection does not affect the strength of the maryoku itself. But we can assume that it influences what we can do with it. So the loss of the ability to also use ice maryoku by fire mazokus was due to the weakening of the connection to the elements." His father crossed his arms and nodded. "That explains a lot. But the ability to manipulate pure maryoku without turning it into a specific element, you and your people achieved before I gave you the bracelet. Just tell me: are they all from Bielefeld?"
Wolfram didn't like the conclusions his father began to draw from this, but his guess was right, so he nodded.
"I think now we have proof to back up our theories." He smiled contentedly, and Wolfram hoped this wouldn't end in any religious quarrels.
His father let him stay in the room, and he himself went to check how the rituals were going.
Wolfram walked along the shelves. The room was lit the same orange as the rest, making it seem cozier, despite the stone furniture. In the corner stood a small desk, on which lay a closed book chained to the wall. So, of course, a book requiring such protection would be most interesting.
In addition to the usual four gemstones, in the center was a fifth, a white and blue crystal that looked like it was made of glass. This was something unprecedented, and although Wolfram guessed from the arrangement of the crystals on the cover that the blue and white one symbolized life, it was the first time he would have seen it. He didn't even know that the element of life had a stone representing it. Did that mean it also had its own patron?
The crystals symbolized their patrons as persons rather than the elements themselves, so they were often confusing to newcomers. Emerald belonged to the patron of fire, onyx to water, amber to earth, and amethyst to wind. Wolfram will have to find out what the crystal in the center was.
He opened the book and read the title written in ornate letters. The Book of Creation. It sounded like something serious. Perhaps the origins of their religion would be described there? No wonder then that this book was chained.
"Wolfram." His father called out before he finished reading the first page. He looked at him displeased, but the man only smiled cheerfully. "You will finish reading after the ritual. Now come with me."
Reluctantly, Wolfram got up and left the room, and his father closed the door behind him. They left the tower, walked through the temple grounds around the lake, and reached the stairs leading to the top of the hill where the temple was.
They climbed up and entered through a side door. The temple was built on a hexagonal plan, with a huge dome that could be opened during rituals that required wind. For this reason, most people came during them. Now it was open, and a gentle breeze flowed in.
On each of the walls were colorful stained glass windows with simple silhouettes depicting patrons, and the colored light coming through them danced on the marble floor and the pool of water in the middle of the temple. At its edges were torches lit on ornate pedestals. At the front of the temple hall was a slight rise with a simple altar, next to which stood a tall bowl with earth brought from a mound. Some soldiers who had already gone through the ritual stood to the side, drying themselves with towels.
His father brought him to the altar, on which stood prepared five bowls for rituals.
"Make an offering of maryoku. In this case, you may need a little more than usual," he instructed him and lifted the chalice standing nearby, whose contents were the difference between this ritual and baptism. Inside were red clumps of something formed during another ritual that the priests had probably performed earlier. They looked a bit like lumps of dried and crystallized blood, but it wasn't blood. Wolfram didn't know what it was or why it appeared during the ritual, but thanks to this, it was possible to break the connection.
His father put the clumps into the bowl intended for the maryoku sacrifice just before Wolfram did his part. After the sacrifice was made, the lumps had to be crushed and, in turn: burned, thrown into the water, buried in the ground, and released into the wind - as Wolfram learned, the same thing was done to the bodies of murdered people during crooked rituals.
Now he had to go down to the pool of water and wait for the priests to do their part. So he took a deep breath and moved toward the steps where he descended into the pool, positioning himself in the middle of it and closing his eyes.
Just like during his priestly ordination, the prolonged standing in the water made him start to feel sleepy. That day, he slept the rest of the day, which, according to his father, was normal for any priest. But now he had no intention of sleeping, so he tried to fight off drowsiness, which was quite difficult with his eyes closed.
He listened to the sounds of crushing strange red lumps and then throwing them into the water. The priests mumbled something quietly, their voices echoing through the temple. The wind gently stirred his hair and brought an earthy scent to him. Finally, his father announced that he could leave, so Wolfram opened his eyes and carefully left the pool. Someone handed him a towel, but instead, Wolfram used a maryoku trick to dry himself off. He raised the temperature of the air around him, and after a while, the water evaporated.
"Can I go back to reading?" he asked his father, who approached him.
"Aren't you sleepy?" he asked with amusement.
"I can go to sleep at night." He held out his hand, waiting for his father to give him the key.
"Take a walk first and see if you're okay. Only then will I let you lock yourself alone in a small room."
Wolfram lowered his hand and stared at his father for a moment, but the man did not relent. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at him as well, so Wolfram sighed and walked away. He knew full well that if his father decided on something, there was no way to convince him otherwise.
Arwin joined him as he left the temple, and they both returned to the temple grounds.
"How's your resistance to fire?" asked Wolfram as they walked down the steps.
"What?" Arin looked at him, bemused.
Wolfram sighed. Now that he knew where it came from, he wasn't sure if it would work on his people, but he could always try. At least now he had a goal - to find a way to strengthen the mazoku's bond with the elements. A good first step toward it was to find a place to charge the crystal in his bracelet. The unknown location on the map from his scroll was most likely in the Fire Mountains. He will have to set out there.
Helgard joined them as they rounded the lake. The rest of his soldiers were roaming around the temple grounds, patrolling.
"Where are you going?" asked Arwin as they passed the tree line and began to venture into the forest behind the temple.
"For a walk," Wolfram tossed dismissively.
"You're not the type who just goes for a walk like that." Arwin looked at him suspiciously. Did he always have to assume he was planning something? Well, he wasn't wrong, but he didn't have to look at him that way. It was as if he suddenly had a problem with it. After all, it always amused him, especially when Wolfram's actions caused anger in adults. And now, Arwin felt like playing the grownup and responsible one.
"My father told me to walk around and see if I was okay. And that's what I'm doing now."
"And coincidentally, the destination of your walk leads to the Fire Mountains?" Helgard asked.
"It's not my fault that the forest leads there. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Of course not. I'd love to watch as you push Arwin into the lava." He laughed, and Arwin stopped and looked at him accusingly. "'What? You should have guessed what he was planning to test."
"But I didn't expect you to approve."
"Why not? I'll take your place then."
"Now, suddenly you value your position more than your friendship?"
"You talk as if it would kill you," interjected Wolfram.
"You may not realize it, but yes. Pushing people into the lava usually kills them."
"I'm not going to push you anywhere." Wolfram rolled his eyes but then smiled. "But I won't vouch for Helgard."
They laughed at Arwin's indignant look.
"You guys are terrible." He sped up, most likely feeling like walking away from them, but after a moment, he remembered that he was still on duty and tasked with protecting Wolfram, so he waited for them and continued walking beside them, disgruntled.
The sun was still high in the sky, illuminating the greening forest. The wind blowing from the mountains, carrying with it the sour smell of sulfur, was pleasantly warm, although, testifying to the drops of sweat gathering on the foreheads and necks of Wolfram's subordinates, it was, in fact, scorching. The only downside to his immunity was that he couldn't quite tell how cold or hot something was. All he felt was a pleasant warmth or coolness.
The earthy path became more and more overgrown the closer they got to the mountains until they finally entered an area of a lava river whose banks were scorched, clearly marking the boundary between the forest and the mountains.
When they stopped near the bank, Helgard crouched down and leveled a piece of ground right next to the lava, ensuring it was properly stable. Despite what he said, he would not like to see anyone fall into the lava.
Wolfram crouched down and extended his hand just above the surface of the lava. It was as warm as a cup of tea. Perfect for warming up in the middle of winter.
"How was it?" Wolfram asked Arwin, who sat next to him.
"Rather none of it." He shook his head, and the amount of sweat on his forehead increased. So it didn't work after all.
Wolfram sat down on the ground and sighed resignedly. He'll probably get all black from this, but he didn't particularly care. The material of the robes was adapted to the harsh conditions, so it would probably shaking it off would be enough.
"Wolfram." Helgard turned to him, sitting a little further away from the lava river. "Are you going to continue testing this on the rest of the squad?"
"Well, it would be a little unfair if they missed it."
"You know they're not fire mazoku like Arwin's ten. Even if it were to work, what would happen then?"
"Surely something would happen; after all, it's not just fire mazokus who have cool stuff."
"Maybe you would be immune to having earth thrown at you," joked Arwin.
"That's not important for now anyway. I was planning to go to the Fire Mountains, but they're unlikely to let me go alone. I'll have to think of something else." He rested his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand, pondering and looking at the lazily flowing lava.
"First to the bottom of the lake and now to the land of fire? Lately, you've been choosing extreme places," Helgard said.
"I found a treasure map." Wolfram smiled at him.
"If it's nothing that will help us in this situation, you should let it go for now," Arwin said.
"Unfortunately, there's a good chance it is." If they're dealing with gods, any power they can muster will come in handy. Maybe Yuuri didn't have much of a problem defeating this demigod, and if it weren't for the intervention, he probably would have killed him, but it still managed to destroy the entire city before it happened. In addition, they had no idea what the difference between a demigod and a god was. Not to mention the fact that it is probably now taking action to rise in power. Since there have been so many murders in Shin Makoku, how many people have been killed in human territories for this purpose? In such a vast Shimaron, probably no one would notice if a village in a remote area was completely slaughtered. Wolfram doubted that they would care in any way about the lives of their followers. So it would be best to get rid of them before they get too strong.
Just why did they pick on Yuuri and Wolfram?
"Are you all right?" asked Helgard when Wolfram didn't speak for a while.
"Yes, I'm fine. Let's go back. I have a book to read." He began to rise slowly, but as he looked back down at the lava, a thought occurred to him. It wasn't anything important or that he could use right now, but he had wanted to try it since he was a child. It was similar to standing over the edge and thinking about jumping. Except that now he didn't have to worry about getting burned.
He leaned over the lava and put his hand in it. Arwin and Helgard shouted in shock, but Wolfram didn't care too much. It was like putting his hand into warm water, only thicker and orange in color.
"You really know how to give people a heart attack," Arwin said, falling back to the ground and leaning toward him. "Are you okay?"
Wolfram held out his hand and showed it to him. It wasn't even red, but Arwin grabbed it anyway and looked at it carefully.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" he muttered and let him go.
"I'm guessing it's because of that bracelet." Wolfram touched the lava again. "I have an even stupider idea." He laughed.
"What? Are you going to swim in it?"
"Have you ever wondered what lava tastes like?"
Arwin looked at him uncertainly for a moment, but curiosity was clearly painted on his face. They exchanged glances with Helgard, who moved a little closer to them.
"To be honest, I'm curious about Otwin's face when he finds out you tasted lava," the older of the two said.
"Knowing Wolfram, he'll probably bring it to him in his hands."
"You complained about him, and now you're giving him ideas?"
"If it involves this donkey, I don't mind his stupid ideas."
Wolfram snorted with laughter and had to hold onto the edge to keep from falling into the lava.
"Be careful. You may be immune to fire, but I doubt your clothes are." Helgard lifted the edge of the bank, forming a low barrier.
Wolfram held onto it and wiped a tear from his eye as his imagination suggested a picture of a donkey with Otwin's face on it. He would have to paint it when they returned.
He breathed deeply and scooped a bit of lava onto his hand. Arwin moved away from him when he did so.
"Are you seriously going to try this?" he asked in disbelief, and Wolfram did just that in response.
He contemplated the taste of lava in his mouth for a moment and then hesitated, wondering what to do next. Swallow it? Will something happen to him after that? Sure the heat won't do anything to him, but won't the sheer composition of the lava harm him? After all, it was like eating a handful of rocks, only melted.
Arwin and Helgard noticed his consternation and began to chuckle at him.
Wolfram scolded them with his eyes, spit out what was in his mouth onto his hand, and then poured it back into the river.
"And how?" asked Arwin, holding back a laugh.
"It tastes like oatmeal from a stone." He sighed and leaned back, supporting himself with his hands. What did he expect, anyway?
"Well, they are stones," commented Helgard.
"Are you going to take something for later? You know, as an after-dinner snack."
"I'm not fond of stones." Wolfram leaned over the lava again, scooped some into his folded hands, and then got up with it, carefully so it wouldn't spill out. "But we can ask Otwin if he has a taste."
They walked back along the forest path, slowly to avoid spilling lava. Wolfram's two friends tried to keep their distance from him, smiling with amusement the whole way. When they came out of the forest, Helgard went to see where Otwin was while Wolfram and Arwin waited for him near the trees. The other soldiers who spotted them stared at them with consternation but seemingly preferred not to approach.
"He is with Lord Adelhard in his office," Helgard announced upon his return.
"Do you want to go to him when your father is there?"
"Why not. He'll probably find it amusing." Wolfram shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be able to ask him for the key to the library right away."
They went to the part that housed the temple offices, including the office of the high priest, where his father handled matters of temple management and also received visitors from outside the temple. It was probably the only place where Otwin could talk to him now. Wolfram was sure that he was arguing about not being allowed in the priests' section, and his father was happy to explain to him that these were the rules. After all, Otwin, as a great advocate of strict adherence to the rules, shouldn't be asking for special treatment now. What would it look like?
He stopped in front of the door, hoping to overhear something, but unfortunately, the door didn't even let a rustle through. So he nodded at Arwin to knock for him.
His father opened the door and immediately noticed what Wolfram was holding in his hands.
"Should I consider this a gift for a perfectly executed ritual?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, and took a step back to let him in.
"What do you imagine you're doing?" asked Otwin sharply as soon as he noticed the lava in the hands of Wolfram, who smiled with satisfaction. His teacher was displeased, almost furious, but he restrained himself from approaching him and yanking him by the arm, as he was in the habit of usually doing. The lava was probably scaring him away.
His father walked over to the bookcase, took out a silver chalice, and then approached Wolfram with it and placed it under his hands.
"It's made of platinum, so it should hold up," he said.
So that's how they were able to transfer the lava to the fire shrine, Wolfram thought, pouring the lava into the chalice.
"I recall only asking you to check that you were okay." His father set the chalice down on the desk as if its content was ordinary wine. However, Otwin continued to stay away from Wolfram. Did he think he had more of it tucked away somewhere or something like that?
"And I checked. I continue to have total immunity to extreme temperatures." He showed the underside of his hands to his father, who shook his head but smiled. "Can I get the key now?"
"All right. But don't bring any lava there."
"You don't think you can let him do whatever he wants after what he did?" protested Otwin.
"And what did he do?" his father asked curiously, removing the chain with the key from his neck.
"He brought the lava to the formal office!"
"And there is no rule forbidding it."
"This is extremely irresponsible behavior!" Otwin tensed up, and Wolfram had a feeling he was about to stomp his foot.
"It seemed to me that he handled it quite efficiently." His father finally handed him the key, and Wolfram tucked it into the pocket of his shorts.
"I can't believe you're so nonchalant."
"My son discovered that he could touch the lava without any problems and came to his dad to show it. I find it quite adorable. Besides, it will be useful for my rituals."
Wolfram squirmed when he heard how his father put it, so he decided to back off before he could say anything more. He had obtained the key and angered Otwin, so he had accomplished everything he wanted. His teacher's angry voice quieted as he closed the door.
"Let's go," he said, and they set off for the library tower.
There was no window in the small room, but Arwin and Helgard, stationed outside in the corridor, informed Wolfram that it was already dinner time. He was in the middle of reading the book at the time, and although fatigue didn't bother him while he was concentrating, he felt terribly sleepy when he got up from the hard stool. He doubted whether he could stand after dinner and read anything else today. He will have to return to reading when he visits the temple again.
Just as he assumed, the book described the genesis of their religion and perhaps even the first history of the Mazoku. Their various clans had their own patrons, the fire clan the fire patron, the water clan the water patron, and so on. At first, these clans lived isolated from each other, rarely maintaining any contact, but the water patron decided to unite them all. For this reason, he was always considered the supreme king, being the leader of all the patrons.
However, according to the book, there was another patron, that of the element of life, and each individual element was derived from him. Therefore, ultimately it was the patron of life that stood at the very top of the hierarchy.
Of course, there was also a clan of life, specializing in healing. Probably Gisela's distant ancestors. After unification, the various clans began to mix among themselves, and it then became apparent that the ability to heal could be possessed alongside the ability to use other elements. Not surprising since they originated from that. For Wolfram, it worked in a similar way to undergoing specialized training in the military. Everyone could only go through one type, but each specialist also had the same basic military training, despite their different specialization. Wolfram went through training in using the maryoku, by the way.
He wondered why this was rarely mentioned, but perhaps no one thought it necessary. After all, according to the book, whenever one performed a ritual, even with one element, at the same time, they also used the element of life for it.
During dinner, Wolfram thought about what might have been in the rest of the book. Maybe something about human gods? Or how the disintegration of the kingdom created by the united clans came about.
He propped himself up on his elbow, slowly finishing his food. He'll probably go right to bed after that. Maybe if he gets up before dawn, he can still manage to read something.
"Do you want to come with me to destroy the crystals, or are you already unable to do so?" His father stopped next to his table, looking at Wolfram studiously.
He immediately straightened up and pushed thoughts of being tired to the back of his mind. There was no way he was going to miss this. He was even ready to drink coffee to stay awake, even though he hated it.
"I'm coming with you," he said, getting up from the table and trying to pour as much determination as possible into his voice.
For a moment, his father appraised him with his eyes but finally nodded and ordered him to follow.
First, they went to the high priest's office, where Wolfram's father took the casket with the crystals. The chalice with the lava continued to stand on the desk, still whole and unmelted, but the lava seemed to have cooled a bit, darkening in color.
Then they went to the library tower, in front of whose entrance Liudger, one of the priests who took part in the rituals today, was waiting. Wolfram didn't know him very well and had only seen him in passing, but judging by his light gray sash, he was the mazoku of the wind who would be responsible for charging the stones.
Once inside the tower, they climbed the spiral staircase to the top. The wind point had earned its name really well - although Wolfram didn't feel the searing cold, he did feel strong breezes, and he barely restrained himself from hiding behind a stone balustrade. But the view was amazing.
To the south stretched the fire mountains, with black earth and glowing orange lava. To the north were the Great Highlands, with one of the most fertile soils in the country. The sun slowly sank over the fields and orchards, enveloping them in a warm orange glow. The colorful hills of the highlands formed an idyllic picture as if from a painting. And in the midst of them, like an ink stain on a shirt, the town of Blomberg stood out, with its buildings made of black stone brought from the Fire Mountains, which attracted masses of tourists.
Wolfram's father opened the casket and handed the crystal to the priest, who placed it on his open hand and raised it upward. Wolfram observed, but nothing happened for a long time.
Finally, after several minutes of waiting in silence, interrupted only by the wheezing of the wind, the sound of breaking glass rang out. The crystal split in half, then into smaller and smaller pieces, until it finally turned into dust carried away by the wind.
"I expected more," Wolfram said with disappointment and leaned against the railing, glancing down at the temple grounds. The soldiers still patrolling them looked like ants. But he stepped back after a few moments. He wasn't too big a fan of heights either.
"Such things rarely look impressive," his father commented, handing the priest another crystal.
"Do you use your maryoku for this?" Wolfram focused back on watching the whole process, but it looked exactly the same.
"The crystals absorb maryoku directly from their elements. There's no need to use your own," his father replied.
"So all you have to do is stand there for a moment with your arm outstretched, and the crystal will recharge? Sounds like an inexhaustible source of energy," he said anxiously. Who knows what other uses they might have. If their creator could use them like a mazoku uses his maryoku, it didn't look good for them.
"There is only a certain amount of maryoku in a given place. There will be more of it at such a point of wind than at others, but it, too, will deplete over time, and you will have to wait for the maryoku to gather there again."
"So I hope that these people haven't found their own point of wind." Wolfram sighed tiredly as he watched the crystal.
Well, that was all he wanted to find out, so there was no point in standing here any longer. It was time for him to finally get to bed.
He said goodbye to his father and the priest and descended from the tower. At least when he wants to recharge the bracelet, it won't be so complicated. But is it really not enough to put it in the lava for a while? Was it necessarily a specific place with enough maryoku to make it work? Just in case, he'll go to the river again in the morning and check it out.