Noone’s heart shook. The words themselves were not too shocking, but the intensity behind their meanings caused his mind to rumble.

On the next page, they both continued to read.

------

Fight the Greater Evil.

Faced with a choice of fighting my sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, I choose the greater evil.

No Mercy for the Wicked.

Ordinary foes might win my mercy, but my sworn enemies do not.

By Any Means Necessary.

My qualms can't get in the way of just extermination.

Restitution.

If my foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because I failed to stop them. I must help those harmed by their misdeeds.

Chant these words until they are implanted on your mind. Until they are etched onto your flesh. Until your tongue grows sore and your throat bleeds into your lungs.

When these words become a part of your being. A god in need of you will appear and offer you the power you seek.

TAKE IT.

------

These words echoed within Noone’s mind. Somewhere within the recesses of his being an idea began to form.

Although having some effect on Noone, the words flooded throughout Sarah’s entire being. Despite seeming vicious, to Sarah the tenets seemed incredibly pure. Yes, it was violent but... wasn't there a truth to the words?

At some point while reading Sarah stopped breathing. She sat frozen while staring at the black pages in front of her. The tenets of the paladin path of vengeance began to burn themselves within her.

With a sigh, Noone withdrew his sight leaving Sarah alone to pursue her own path. Although he was curious, Noone understood that everyone had their own destiny.

He continued to absorb energy from the space around him. Like an arrow knocked in a bow, Noone’s mind pulled the string back on the thought which had formed.

I adopted the will of a galaxy tree and used it to my own benefit. I absorbed the common heritage of the ancestor and used it for my own benefit. Instead of trying to forge my own way…

Noone’s eyes shined with energy harvested from the fabric of the universe. For the first time in a long time, a genuine smile formed from his lips. He had no doubt that there was a path to follow to cultivate his strength properly. However, he did not know what that was, and had no way of finding out.

So…

Why doesn’t he just adopt other’s strengths into himself?

“Raelith said that many of the magics in this world have similar skills – but are drawn from different power…” Like an arrow being released, his thoughts shot forward embedding themselves firmly in his mind.

“I just need to take those for myself.” His eyes glowed.

If anyone were there to see his smile, they would most certainly feel a chill. Although it was a genuine happiness – Noone’s smile was tinged with a malevolent aura.

The pendant which hung around Noone’s neck pulsed gently, going completely unnoticed.

…

That night after hours of absorbing threads of energy and circulating the power through his body Noone stopped.

Noone’s meridians were reinforced, coated in a root-like structure which allowed them to tolerate a much higher density of energy.

Ever since cultivating within the temple, the quality of the energy Noone was absorbing had increased. It seemed that whatever blessings their gods gave, caused a qualitative change in the space. For the first time since beginning proper cultivation, Noone felt that his body was beginning to reach the limit of the energy he could absorb.

This was a problem.

Theoretically there should be many stages left to advance to. Noone wasn’t sure how many, but he refused to believe he had reached his limit.

The only solution was to wait and see. If he did reach some limit, he hoped that there would be clues of what to do next.

Within his body the colored flame continued to burn softly, processing threads of energy into vapor and circulating it. As threads were sucked into it, the steady burn would flicker slightly but otherwise was unmoving.

The sun rose outside the temple, and the town began to bustle as people woke to go about their days.

Within the temple clergymen rose to complete their chores. Tobias, Raelith and Sally all went out into the town to gather supplies and offer help where they could.

There were three people within who did not stir as the sun rose.

Noone sat within his room, back against the wall facing the door. His eyes were closed, and his breath was steady. Within his core, energy was being aerosolized and sent coursing through his body. The white glow which shone from the power lines across his body slowly pulsed in time with his breathing.

On the other side of the wall in the room next to his – a young girl of twenty was mumbling to herself. Her body was completely still except for a minor trembling.

After reading through the book Jakobson gave her, Sarah grit her teeth in resolution. If she wasn’t welcome within the order of life, that’s fine. She will make her own way.

She sat in prayer for hours, repeating the four tenets written within the book. Her throat was sore, and her muscles cried as her limbs began to go numb. However, she grit her teeth and bared with it. Her mind had gone silent of all unnecessary thoughts. She would not stop until she found a god willing to favor her.

In a neighboring hall, there was another room with a closed door. Within it, Feylin sat at his desk, eyes red from studying.

Thanks to guidance from Sally, he was close to mastering a third miracle which would allow him to advance. However, he found himself troubled by unnecessary thoughts.

Feylin was unsure what to think about the conversation the day before. He tried repeatedly to put it out of mind, but he found that the brain was a hard thing to circumvent.

Feylin thought about Sarah. Ever since she came to the temple as a teenager, they had been closest to each other in age. They had spent a lot of time together. Feylin always felt he knew her fairly well.

She could be cold sometimes yes, but she wasn’t as uncaring as they made her out to be… was she?

Within Feylin’s mind, thoughts of the past rose unwelcome. Ever since she came to the temple, she had exceeded him in all studies. To him, it seemed she was simply more blessed by the gods of life than he. He always felt she was destined for greater things because of this.

But everything that occurred yesterday turned these feelings upside down. Suddenly Feylin found himself to be ahead for once.

HE was accepted into the Burian.

HE would be brought up in the Order of Life.

HE was now the one favored by the gods.

How was he supposed to feel?

Feylin understood that this pride he felt was unhealthy. One of the tenets of a cleric is humility. To have an open heart for all beings and things.

He sighed, closing the book in front of him and resting his eyes. He should talk to her, he thought. Make sure she’s okay.

No matter how Feylin felt about his newfound position, Sarah was his friend. He knew that she took what Tobias had said hard.

“Once I advance, I will go and talk to her. Maybe even if she can’t join the Burian, she is still coming to the grand-temple. There will certainly be other ways for her to advance.” Feylin’s breathing slowed, he finally could not hold out any longer and fell asleep in his chair.

No one disturbed the three throughout the day.