Returning to his granny’s cottage, Derek found her preparing dinner. By the time he was washed up and had set the table the meal was prepared and the two settled in to eat. The old lady once again used this opportunity to lecture him on topics related to his classes. After their meal they met with Reginald and joined the others at the Cathedral.

Derek once more felt the calming effect of the Rites of Sunset and as the service came closer to its end, he heard a soft whisper, “Good child, you have performed admirably. You have my blessing.”

As he heard those words, he felt a warmth grow within him that seemed to fortify him and he felt as if a strain on his psyche that he hadn’t even noticed had been reduced. He could tell by the remaining effect that the strain wasn’t completely gone, but he felt much better and his mood improved.

She continued, “Child, you now have the tools to defeat your enemy. To grant you more would be to deny you your own agency in your immediate struggle. This struggle will be the first of many for you. Let your struggle be a mirror of the struggle of all life caught in the balance between Order and Chaos, Light and Darkness. Your's is the Unholy Seal of the Hell's Gate mountains. I expect your struggle will be greater than that of any of the other remaining Seal Bearers.

“Now focus your mana, boy. Settle it into your Talisman. Reach out through the connection within it to your other Patrons so that they might collaborate with me. Good, I can sense them, their gaze is settling upon you.”

A matronly voice cut in, “Oho, what’s this? Has our precocious boy also caught your attention, Aine.”

“Canti, it is always a pleasure. I will need you and your husband’s aid to reforge this Talisman.” the Sun goddess replied.

“Of course, dear girl, of course. Come, old man, assist us.”

Derek felt their presence. The dusky light coming through the west wall's stained glass windows seemed to settle upon him as his talisman heated and rose from his chest. He focused upon it and heard their whispered instructions. He raised his hands around it and channeled his mana into the little sprites that assisted with the intricate work of intertwining the runes. He felt as if the complexity was almost beyond him but with the assistance of the three gods he was able to overcome the hurdle and even glean insights for his own runecrafting.

As the piece neared completion, he felt the heat from the piece absorb into it. The surface cooled and the Talisman dropped into his hand. Now a many-rayed sun shone upon the hearth in which the hammer rested. He touched it, tracing the lines of the work and marveling at its intricacy. He could sense the heat from before seeping into the center where the greedy little sprites were eating it up.

As he held his new Talisman, he heard the voices of his Patrons. The first to speak was the Forge god, “Congratulations boy on your new Patron. Remember our pact and be well.”

The matronly voice was next, “Child, I have been most pleased with you. Stay healthy and continue to make me proud.”

Finally, the sun goddess spoke again, “Finish your current conflict and prepare yourself. I will have much need for you in summer. The future conflict will be a crucible, but I expect you to come forth from it all the stronger.”

He felt their presence receding. Looking up, he saw the light coming from the western windows climbing up the eastern walls and the rest of the cathedral was now bathed in candle light. The congregation was all looking at him. Embarrassed, he turned to his granny to see her smiling at him, “Congratulations boy, the Goddess has marked you as her own. As long as you bear her blessing you will be considered part of the Church.”

He turned to look around and saw the looks of approval from the various members of the congregation. Even the petite priestess had clenched her fist in his direction and was mouthing “so fierce” in his direction. On the dias he saw the Priestess smiling down at him, seeing that she had his attention, she spoke, “It is wonderful that the Goddess has chosen one of ours to bear her blessing this day. Everyone, let us finish with the closing Rite and consider this auspicious event in our preparations for tomorrow...”

With that, she led the conclusion of the service, releasing the congregation for the evening. Derek followed his granny back to her cottage, where she delved him, “Hmm, indeed, you have been blessed by the Goddess. Her Blessing will improve your abilities with fire, order, and light magic. Naturally, your grasp of Holy and Wrath magic will improve as well. It is only natural for you to familiarize yourself to her Blessing with ease as your first ancestor was once an Archpaladin of our Goddess. He served her all his life and the techniques of your Clan were techniques derived from the sacred teachings of the Goddess.

“Tomorrow, we will practice Holy and Wrath magic to ensure your adaptation to the Blessing so get some sleep, boy. I am very proud of you.”

Derek went towards his room but paused in the doorway, “Granny, what’s a Seal Bearer and why does being the Seal Bearer of the Hell's Gate mountains mean my struggle will be somehow greater than others?”

The old woman looked troubled for a moment before speaking, “So She mentioned that, did she? Derek, a Seal Bearer is one who is bonded to a Seal. These Seals form a part of a greater Seal that spans the continent. This greater Seal is known to your Clan as the Demon Lord’s Seal. The Seal is empowered by the dedication of those that maintain it and the individual Seal Bearers are focuses for their portion of the Seal. Their mere existence empowers it, while the Seal itself empowers them.

“There were originally eight seals, of which only five are now actively maintained. Yours is the Unholy Seal of the Hell's Gate mountains. It is one of two Unholy Seals, the other being the Unholy Seal of Gate Spire Keep. While the Seal of Light and Seal of Order were the keystones to the formation and corruption of those would lead to the eventual collapse of the whole Seal, the two Unholy Seals sit upon the two places of greatest Unholy power on the continent. They could be said to be the foundation of the Seal. Loss of even one of the two would lead to a Demonic Incursion that would likely cause the deaths of millions before it was contained.

“And you, boy, are the Bearer of one of them. For now, it is suppressed, your body is too weak to safely contain the energies within so you must grow stronger. Your path will be one of struggle. The Seal Bearer must be strong and that strength must be his own. You may acquire strength from Patrons, but the core of your strength must be earned because in the end, the Seal Bearers are the guardians of their Seals.

“But that is a problem for you to consider later. Tonight you must sleep, because you have a more immediate battle to fight.”

He nodded to her, doubt and insecurity crossing his face before determination took its place, “Ok, granny. I will do my best.”

“I know you will, boy. Do not let it bother you too much. You still have us here to guide you and protect you until you are strong. Now go to sleep.”

“Goodnight Granny,” He smiled at her and entered his room to change for bed. Laying down he felt warmth flow through him from his Talisman and quickly fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself back at the entrance to the cavern he and his cousins had faced the demons in. He was equipped with his armor and weapons. He glanced down to see the Talisman shining brightly on his chest. He touched it lightly and felt his confidence bolstered by the warmth radiating from it.

Inside the cavern he heard the screeching and howling of demons. Taking a moment before entering, he cast Righteous Fury upon himself at seventh level. This was the spell that had injured him greatly just a few days before, but now with the enhancement to the Talisman and the Blessing itself he was able to cast it without worry.

As the spell settled upon him, he felt his body grow stronger, more robust, and lithe, while his mind became clearer and thoughts became quicker. He sensed his Light, Order, and Fire attributes improve, pushing through the eighth level and into the ninth. A flaming shield formed around him, providing protection while charring the immediate area around him.

Sensing the improvement, and calculating the formula for his next spell, he cast Righteous Blessing, the first of the two spells Belany had cast that injured her so gravely. Successfully casting it at level nine, he felt his base attributes improve once again, along with his light and order attributes. Along with the empowerment came a more solid holy shield that overlapped with the one from before.

Striding forward, Derek clasped his glaive and entered the cave complex where he had almost died before. This time he felt more confident. His skills had improved since the last time he had fought this demon, his knowledge had improved, and he had even taken a portion of the demon’s power as his own.

The Demon on the other hand, had diminished. It had expended much of its strength attempting to overpower Derek’s psyche and while Derek’s injuries had been healed by his elders, the Demon’s had not. Derek could sense it, the dread coming from the Demon as he took his first step into the cavern where his party had been ambushed. There, arrayed before him, was the army of Demons he had faced before.

Derek smiled, “In this place, you almost killed me and my cousins. It did not happen then. It will not happen now.”

He then finished his spell. Empowered by the enhancements of the two spells he had cast before, this was the most powerful Sanctuary spell he knew how to cast. At level ten it more than filled the cavern, enhancing his body still more while greatly weakening his enemies. The light rain of holy mana from the spell struck the tightly packed Demons on the other side of the room and quickly the Least Demons were immolated and falling to ash on the ground.

The Lesser and True Demons lunged towards him, but as they entered his range he blasted out with a level ten Holyfire directed in a cone towards them all. Nothing but husks were left of the Lesser Demons that had been caught in the blast and the one True Demon caught was greatly burnt but continued to rush forward with the others in tow.

Derek backpedaled blasting out six more level ten Holyfires before the last Demon was also crumbling to ash before him. He recognized them for some form of construct within this space, their forms in reality having been destroyed the first time he was here.

He called out, “Demon, I am coming for you. Do not think to hide.”

He strode forward towards the Demon’s throne room. This time he cast another level ten sanctuary into the room itself to give himself as much advantage as possible.

Firming the grip on his glaive and walking in, he found the Greater Demon hunkered on it’s throne. There were claw marks on the backing and armrests as if it had been thrashing in place. The Demon looked at the collapsed gate and ruined alter on the other side of the room, “You have closed the gate and sealed me off from my source of power. You have destroyed my body now you seek to destroy my soul. I, who have lived for eons would be ended by you? Is that what you seek boy?”

Derek looked at the Demon and remembered the pain from the Demon’s attempt to crush his own mind and turn him into an Abomination. He remembered the fear and pain from that night when the Demon had almost killed them in that ambush. He remembered a thousand other instances of the predations of Demons from the Sword Ceremony. He smiled grimly at the Demon before him, “Yes, it is.”

The Demon snarled and lunged at him seeking to use what was left of its once considerable power to lash out at him. Derek cleanly sidestepped, before lashing out with the strongest Smite he could muster, cleaving the creature in half at the abdomen. The two halves of the body started to turn to ash just as the others had. The Demon looked at him as its body scattered, “You think you have won, boy, but I will now be a part of you. Always watching. Always waiting for that one chance to seize from you what you have taken from me. I, Panklethu, will always be here. Remember that name boy and tremble, because one day I will return this favor.”