Roselle turned around with a stunned expression. Not of amazement but of concern. "The ghost house?" she asked.
"The... what now?" Derek seemed confused.
"The ghost house. The place that everyone is advised to keep away from. That ghost area?"
Derek was puzzled. He didn’t know how to reply. This was a rule he wasn’t familiar with so it made it even worse to understand.
"Does... this ghost house have... the sigil of a bird with four wings?" Derek’s lips twitched as he asked this. Although he wanted to be sure.
Roselle finished locking the door of the tavern and said. "Where else? The ghost building is the same place that has a raven with four wings."
Raven with four wings? Is the bird a raven? I thought for sure it would be a Phoenix just like the amulet... Derek wondered about this within. While he was still not sure if this was the same place his grandmother had told him to find, he decided to ask further.
"Is there any other building with the same sigil?"
Roselle looked at him sharply with one of her hands leaning on her hip as she said. "There is none. And that’s if you’re talking about this town alone. This is the only place I have heard of with a bird with four wings. So, tell me. Why are you looking for it? Is a noble such as yourself not wise enough to not mess with the unknown?"
Derek was taken aback by her question. He didn’t expect that she would go that far, but who could blame her? Curiosity takes people far.
"It’s not that. I just wanted to know where it was." Derek had a playful smile as though he was just casually asking and not planning on visiting. But, it wasn’t convincing.
Hearing his words Roselle stared at him for a while, then said. "You are such a weirdo. Are all nobles like this?" She didn’t wait for him to respond then continued. "I do know where it is. But I can’t take you there now. After the blessing ceremony, if there is enough time I will take you there."
Derek’s lips curved up into a slight smile. With this, I should understand why granny sent me here, right?... He looked at Roselle in the eyes and saw the curiosity in it.
Seeing this, Derek turned around, and asked. "Shall we go?"
..
It took only fifteen minutes for them to reach the tower of blessing. The tower was located at the west side of the town, a couple miles away from the tavern.
Before them stood a tall round stone tower stretching up toward the sky.
Young teens walking side by side towards the entrance, past two small turret, eager to go step inside.
"So this is the tower of blessings?" Derek asked plainly as if he was expecting more.
"Well it has been around for centuries. It’s normal that it wouldn’t be the same as it was back when it was first built." Roselle responded as though she had sensed the disappoinment in his tone.
While they were walking, Derek looked at his left side and noticed how majority of the teenagers were excited. He could see it in their faces and also in their conversations.
Then, he turned to his right and looked at Roselle. Hm... she had talked so much about getting a blessing. But now that she’s here, she looks less excited than I expected she would be.
Facing his front, they entered the tower.
The interior was built around a huge, round hall covered by a massive, hollow dome with a circular opening at the very top that lets natural light and view of the sky in.
Down below, tall stone pillars and decorative columns line thick round the walls, framing small cutout nooks where statues sit. Everything rested on a wide flat floor made of geometric colored marble tiles. The hall had a decent size that could fit nearly one hundred people.
"Every year the blessing ceremony is held for those that had just turned sixteen around the kingdom. And every year the total number of sixteen year olds that arrive are nearly a thousand." Roselle explained after they had entered.
Although Derek listened, the size wasn’t what caught his attention. What caught his attention was the statues around the hall.
These statues. Are they to represent the gods?... He wondered within and turned to Roselle.
"How many of this towers are in the Kingdom?" He asked.
"I don’t know, but I think there’s should be one at every major city in the Kingdom. Valley Town was one of the lucky towns to get one. My guess is that there may be even fewer in Aldridge Kingdom than you think."
At the mention of Aldridge Kingdom, Derek’s eyes widened in shock. He turned to Roselle slowly and said, his voice shaking "Repeat... what you just said."
Roselle turned to him to see the shock written on his face. In her mind, she had thought he was shocked because of the uncertainty at the number of towers in the Kingdom.
"I said there may be even fewer towers in Aldridge Kingdom than you’d expect." She repeated herself again and looking at Derek noticed his expression still hadn’t changed.
Derek turned his head away slowly. So I didn’t hear wrong? Aldridge Kingdom. That’s the same as in the game; Chronicles of Aldridge Kingdom Mages. Hold on. Mages? Magic? Blessings? It’s all like in the game. No way was I transported into the game world?
Derek couldn’t believe it. He raised his right hand to cover his mouth while he thought about it.
Meanwhile, Roselle was looking at him with a puzzled expression. "He’s such a weirdo." She murmured.
At this moment, all the teenagers had already entered and gathered before the pantheon when an old voice echoed throughout the hall.
"It is now time for the blessings of the gods! If your name is been called out please step right into the center of the hall. I would be calling in pairs!"
As the voice spoke, murmurings among the teenagers began to rise. Some looked around in search of where the voice came from, while others whispered among themselves anxiously.
After hearing the voice speak, Derek placed his hand down and stared at the center. Him and Roselle had already picked a spot by the walls to stay which few did the same.
Hearing the instructions, everyone backed away to the walls, giving a lot of space at the center.
"Armstrong Nwayne and Eric Neil!" Without given them time to adjust completely, the old voice spoke again.
Upon hearing the names been called out the entire hall fell silent. Then two young boys opposite each side of the hall walked out of the crowd.
"Step right up to the center." The old voice commanded.
At the center of the hall was where the opening of the hollow dome passed light down. It was already evening and the sun was setting. However, at the very moment both individuals stepped under the light their bodies illuminated in a golden light.
These actions baffled everyone around, some having their mouth open in amazement while others looking closely as though they were in a dream.
Both Individuals at the center had their entire body wrapped around this strange golden light and after a few seconds, the light began to dim before suddenly disappearing away.
However, in their palms a different light with different colors stayed, glowing. The first a red light while the other a blue light.
"Huh? There’s something drawn on my hand!" One of them spoke out.
"Me too!" The other confirmed.
"Yes. You have both received a blessing. The pattern or drawing you see there are relating to the aspects of the gods that has blessed you."
"I see a... fire symbol?"
"Mine is a... water symbol!"
"That means you have both been blessed by the Sun God and the Ocean God. So you can either have fire or heat magic and Water or Tides Magic. Find out yourselves. You can step away and let the others come."
Derek turned to Roselle after hearing what the old voice had just said. However, Roselle didn’t take her eyes off the center.
And just like the first two individuals. The others were called the same way, in pairs to the center. Sometimes a pair of both a boy and a girl. Other times both being girls and vice versa. This continued until nearly everyone was called.
"And lastly Roselle Hall and Ariel Modric!"
Hearing her name, Roselle walked to the center and stood, while the girl name Ariel did the same. They both had golden lights shine upon them, then afterwards it disappeared, leaving a different light on their palms.
"Hold on. Am I seeing wrong?!" Someone murmured but was audible enough.
"No, she has a golden light. She’s the only one!"
"Does that mean... she has been chosen by the god of light?!"
On Roselle hand there was a golden light which seemed to cause a stir among the crowd leaving the other next to her unnoticed.
As Roselle walked back to her original position, the old voice echoed. "That would conclude the blessing ceremony. You can all go-"
"Hold on! There is still someone left!" A voice among the crowd yelled.
"Um... who is it? I’m sure I’ve covered everyone!" The old voice replied.
Standing opposite one of the stone pillars, a young boy with blown hair pointed at Derek and yelled. "That one!"
At that moment, everyone turned their head to where Derek was standing.
"Um... Who are you? I don’t think I have your name in my register here." The old voice echoed once again. "Well it doesn’t matter, step up to the center."
Every youth preceding him had stood before the sacred pantheon and received their blessing.
Now, Derek stepped into the center of the hall, standing alone beneath the gaze of the divine.
No light came. No voice echoed.
What should have taken a single breath, dragged into an eternity, as seconds turned to minutes.
The gods were aware. Yet, they played dead. Silent and deliberately ignoring his very existence.
At that moment, a heavy silence gripped the hall as the absolute judgement was passed down without a single spoken word:
He had been rejected!