Inside the dimly lit room, there is a strong herbal smell everywhere, and some kind of strong incense. The mixed smell makes people dizzy.
On a bed covered with delicate brocade and silk blankets, a dying scholar reaches the last stage of his life.
The atmosphere in the room was very dead, and there were a few slight sobs from time to time, which were suppressed again.
Wearing a black dress, Leylin stood expressionlessly among the guests, staring at the old man on the bed.
At this time, his face was completely gone from the youthfulness before, and he was a little more mature. He was already a young and handsome guy.
And the old man lying on the bed was Anthony.
After all, this scholar is an ordinary person. He had already shown signs of exhaustion in his vitality before, and it was beyond Leylin's expectations to be able to support him until now.
However, when Leylin came here, besides his obligation as a student to see the teacher off, he also had more important things to do.
At this moment, Anthony, who was lying on the bed, convulsed, his throat heaved and heaved, and even a blush appeared on his face, which was obviously to the point of returning to the light.
"Priest! Call the pastor!"
His wife and screamed, and the children next to him burst into tears.
"The gods are watching you in the kingdom of God!"
The crowd parted from both sides, revealing the pitiful face of Bishop Tablis.
"Thank you! Thank you! Bishop!" Anthony's wife cried. As the bishop of the God of Knowledge, Tablis undoubtedly has a high status on Faolan Island. Give Anthony enough face, although Leylin doubts that this is due to the strength of his Faolan family, but no matter what, it is always good, isn't it
"My whole life...started in Sicily..."
Tabris waved and sprinkled a piece of holy light, which stabilized Anthony's condition, and then the other party began to pray or recall for the last time.
"Leylin, my student, I hope to see the day you succeed. Even in the Kingdom of God, I will silently bless you!"
"I understand! Teacher!" Leylin hurried forward two steps, the detection capability of the chip has been turned on to the maximum.
After talking about the will, Anthony was able to mention Leylin, which made Tabris a little touched. It seemed that the other party really cared about this student, and his investment this time was not considered a mistake.
"I... saw the light of the gods..."
Anthony struggled in the end, stretching out his palms, but the light in his eyes dimmed, and his arms fell limply to the edge of the bed.
"Woo... Anthony... dear Anthony..." Many cries came out together.
The expression on Tabris's face was more pitiful, and he was saying a eulogy for Anthony: "...he is a wise scholar and a good person who is willing to help others. As a believer in the God of Knowledge, Anthony Brandon, he He has practiced the teachings of the gods all his life, and after his death, the gate of the kingdom of God will be opened for him... "
"Appeared!"
There was a touch of excitement in Leylin's eyes, and through his amazing sensing power, he saw a golden door of light.
The door opened slowly, and a piece of divine light shone down, and in the divine light, Anthony's soul involuntarily emerged from his body, and finally, after slowly gazing at the mortal world, he resolutely plunged into the kingdom of God.
"The divine kingdom of the gods... is located in a higher space above the main material world..." Leylin sighed inwardly.
"Also, the souls of ordinary believers must first fall into the underworld, and then be promoted to the kingdom of the gods after being identified by the god of death, but Anthony's soul seems to have omitted this step. Is this the prerogative of the bishop..."
Leylin thought thoughtfully.
After the believer's soul reaches the Kingdom of God, it theoretically turns into a petitioner, and has since escaped from life, old age, sickness and death. As long as the gods do not fall and the Kingdom of God is not destroyed, they can basically be with the gods.
To a certain extent, this can be regarded as a kind of longevity, although it cannot withstand any external force.
"According to the rumors, high-level petitioners can even obtain the leap of the soul level and become the existence of the holy spirit... Each of these holy spirits is the most precious wealth of the gods, but unfortunately the number..."
According to Leylin's view, the existence of the holy spirit, which is immortal in the state of soul, is obviously very similar to the materialization of soul.
That is to say, the soul of every holy spirit can theoretically be compared to the true spirit of a sixth-level Xiri wizard.
"Although the formation of the Holy Spirit is entirely dependent on external forces, it also has the advantage of being attached to the gods and not suffering from life expectancy. After a long period of time, the defensive power in the Kingdom of God should be terrifying..."
The endless number of petitioners, the Holy Spirit, and the power of the highest authority in space make the gods' combat power in the kingdom of God almost invincible.
Even a powerful divine power would have to pay an unbearable price if he wanted to kill the opponent in the kingdom of God with weak divine power.
As for the fate of those wizards who broke into the Kingdom of God more recklessly, Leylin didn't need to think about it any more.
"Obviously, Teacher Anthony's soul is far from meeting the standards for promotion to the Holy Spirit, and the great God of Knowledge, Oghma, obviously won't make an exception for him..."
After the divine light subsided and the pulling force disappeared, Leylin's tense body also quietly relaxed.
"However, with the bishop opening the back door for him, his situation must be much better than ordinary petitioners..."
"Leylin!"
At this time, Bishop Tablis, who had finished the ceremony, also came to his side.
"My lord bishop!" Leylin saluted respectfully. After all, he is still a believer of the God of Knowledge in name.
"Anthony is a devout believer, and he must be well taken care of in the Lord's Kingdom of God, so don't worry about him..." Tabris said comfortingly, and there seemed to be more to come.
Leylin and Tabris left the room and walked into the flower bed, while other people who came here automatically gave up this area to them.
"If I remember correctly! Your coming-of-age ceremony has already been held. From now on, you will be a real man!"
Bishop Tabris shifted the topic to Leylin.
"Yes, it was just held last month..." Leylin replied very humbly. According to the customs of this world, a boy can be regarded as an adult at the age of fifteen, and he can also marry a wife and have children.
"I was next to you when you were born last time. At that time, you were still a baby in a swaddling baby. I didn't expect to grow so big in a blink of an eye..."
Bishop Tablis smiled, as if lost in memory, and the tenth-level priest rank made it impossible for the years to leave marks on his face. In fact, he was much older than Anthony.
"It's just... I don't seem to see you very often at the celebrations of our temple. Baron Jonas may be busy, but Madam Sarah is a devout believer..."
There seemed to be a hint of dissatisfaction in Tabris' voice.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! My lord! I often conduct magic experiments with Ernest, and I probably forgot the time..."
Leylin quickly apologized, while Bishop Tablis had a helpless expression on his face.
The beliefs of mages are always the least pious, and many of them are only general believers. He had expected this result a long time ago.
In fact, although the entire Faolan family is a believer in the God of Knowledge, they have never completely turned to the side of the gods.
In many places on the mainland, the secular power and theocracy represented by the nobles are in open and secret struggles. Even Baron Jonas also led the new God of Suffering, Irmat, into his kingdom after the Church of Knowledge entered. Territory, but also wants to continue to build the Temple of Wealth, so that other gods can come and divide the believers of the God of Knowledge—for nobles, this is simply instinct!
And Tabris obviously cannot accept this, and it is his plan to win over the next generation of the Patriarch of the Faolan family.
But it was a pity that Master Leylin seemed to be the same as his father. Although he never forgot his donations and offerings to the temple, he rarely participated in fanatical religious ceremonies.
Moreover, the other party was a mage with the help of a mentor... Tabris' eyes darkened a little.
"I'm sorry for my rude behavior before, Bishop Tabris! Please allow me to donate ten gold coins to the church to repent of my sins. In addition, please notify me when the next celebration and cultural salon is held!"
When it comes to religious issues, Leylin has long made up his mind to be a soy saucer, but since the other party has mentioned it, Leylin can only deal with it first.
Anyway, he had already planned to go to the religious celebrations from time to time and pretend to be a believer.
"That's great! The 'Holy Baptism' after seven days is the day to commemorate the achievements of the God of Knowledge in enlightening the demon Angmani. Our temple will also hold a grand celebration on that day. We look forward to meeting you..."
"This is my honor, and I will definitely come when the time comes!"
Since it was Tabris' personal invitation, Leylin readily agreed.
"Very good!" Tabris nodded, and was immediately asked away by anxious people who had been waiting on the side—he still had a lot of things to do on top of Anthony's funeral arrangements.
After the bishop left, Leylin stayed in the garden, looking at a white rose behind the wooden railing, with a playful expression on his face.
"You want me to go there in person? What does it mean? A warning?"
In fact, with the protection of the nobles, the deterrent power of the church is not as great as imagined. If Tabris dares to do something out of the ordinary, he will be resisted by the entire Dambres nobles.