Seeing his body melting down, didn't cause Fen any pain. As surprising as it could get, it was the process of his body healing to keep up with its decay, that almost made him lose his mind!

Returning to his senses within the sacred pond, the young man could only powerlessly watch as the fires eaten away at his flesh. Yet, as if sucking the flames inside and using them as a building material, his soul continued to recast his body from the flames. Even without a single test, Fen could feel that his skin became way more resilient than it was before… At least, before melting down and the entire process repeating once again!

This kind of situation would startle anyone else out of his mind, including old Fen. But he could no longer allow himself to remain passive!

'Accept the pain and toughen it through, huh?'

As if the voice of his old village master resounded in his mind, Fen's mind suddenly stalled. Focused on this one phrase, he continued to notice all the moments in his life, where he actually applied it.

When the orphanage decided that Galia would become the church's sister. When they had to break their budding relationship up because of this. When he secluded himself in the hunts, as to free himself of the burden of his broken feelings back in the village.

Every time, Fen was so fixated with this mantra, that he never actually dared to stand up for what he wanted! But now, it would change.

Rather than lamenting over the torture, Fen focused his mind on deciphering the entire situation.

'That someone… Was most likely the revered Draconis… There is no doubt about it.'

With his thoughts straying away from the hell that was his body, Fen's mind suddenly started connecting various dots. Many different elements of what someone said, what was suggested and what was implied.

'That would mean I'm from the Phoenix tribe instead.'

This part was as obvious as it could get. Even with the Draconis only Implying the race of his "ancient friend", all the other events that Fen took part in, clearly indicated at the cult that was eradicated from the face of the continent nearly two hundred years ago. Yet, the last words of Fen's master would mean that it wasn't as dead as everyone thought it to be!

After all, for Draconic priest, anyone who dared to either worship or outright belong to another tribe, whose Guardian actually competed for the resources with their Icon? That would be a plain example of the highest heresy! But just like that, the situation would reverse for the Phoenix tribesmen, finally revealing the true meaning behind Fen's master last words!

'But what did this mention about potentially creating a new enemy for me, supposed to mean?'

Suddenly stumbling upon this unanswerable question, Fen's mind went into disarray. In this moment of clarity, facing an obstacle instantly broke the young man's immersion. But quite frankly, it was only for the good.

Because the fires that surrounded him, turned from looking like a dome, to constantly shrinking whirlwind of extremely condensed flames, circling right around him!

With enough effort, Fen could even notice the hazy figures of his two companions! But as he noticed their presence, so did he notice the state that his body appeared in!

Losing the fight against the continuous onslaught of the fire, even the insane speed at which his body continued to heal, wasn't enough. At the same time, just a single look at his own exposed flesh was enough to bring back the train of pain.

Yet, despite of all that, Fen just knew that he wouldn't die to those flames. It wasn't like he didn't fear his own death. Even though he already went through this process once, it didn't mean he was willing to become a frequent visitor of this path!

But at the same time, it just didn't make any sense for him to die here! If he wasn't wrong about Draconis words, then he was one of the last descendants of the Phoenix tribe. Maybe the only one whose talent has awoken! Even if it would be a clutch, then no matter what would happen, later on, he should still be able to bank at his incredible situation to escape from this palace and slowly cultivate his own power!

With this thought appearing in the young man's mind, it seemed as if the fire reacted to it. Or rather, it most likely reacted to how Fen stopped resisting its touch, relaxing his entire body. At first, a wave of extreme heat swept through his entire presence, appearing as a way worse end than the death itself… Only for everything to calm down in the very next moment!

In this one moment, all the flames that still danced on top of the blood pond, suddenly infused itself into the young man's body. Yet, in the very next moment, the entire pool exploded with a new wave of this time thin fires, that instantly started to vibrate.

"I hereby claim him to be my apostle!"

A powerful voice appeared from the flames before all the energy within the room vanished all at once. Just a single look at his own body was enough for Fen to confirm that he was back in exactly the same state as from before he entered the pond. Yet the same could be said about the pool itself.

All the redness of what appeared previously to be a thick gathering of blood disappeared without a trace. Only some kind of strange liquid remained, lightly caressing Fen's reconstructed body with its warmth.

"What was that…"

With everything happening all at once, it took a moment for Fen to recall that he wasn't alone in the room. A quick glance at his companions revealed a face of overwhelming shock on his saviour's face and a look of astonishment in Hekarion's expression.

"I… We…"

For the very first time since Fen has met this old guy, he saw him so exasperated that he was unable to formulate a single sentence. Just this alone was enough to underline how insane the recent events were even for those who didn't get to experience the talk with Draconis!

"NOT A WORD!"

Overcoming his momentary inability, Hekarion suddenly shouted.

"Not a word about what happened here to anyone! Not even Nadia can know!"

Turning his head to Mark, Hekarion nailed the point, accenting every single letter of his last message.

"Boy, I don't know how much you understood, but you need to listen to me now. We can't let anyone know who you truly are. If the words get out about prime arcanist appearing out of nowhere, your life will turn miserable and dangerous."

While following Hekarion's words was easy, actually connecting their meaning to what Fen already knew was the challenge of this task. It was obvious that something big happened, but wasn't it supposed to be at least some sort of secret? If Draconis really could read Fen's mind, then he should know that being in the centre of the attention was the worst that could happen for this young descendant of the Phoenix!

"For now, let's get out of this place. As for the pool…"

Taking a long look at what appeared to be just your normal bath in a somewhat fancy room, Hekarion audibly swallowed his spit.

"I will somehow take care of it. Just stay behind the two of us. Are you feeling okay now? Enough to move?"

With all the seriousness in Hekarion's eyes, Fen simply couldn't refuse. And in fact, despite everything that it went through, his body didn't report any faults! In fact, this young man felt as if he was never in better shape than now!

"I can. I see that we are in a hurry, so let's go."

Rather than wasting the time to linger in this place, it would be far better if they moved outside of the church's influence. With how the Sacred Pond turned into something akin to a normal bath, risking a meeting with that sister that bothered them before was simply stupid.

"Good. Then follow me, and let the two of us do the talking."

In one instant, as if nothing special happened in the room, the trio moved towards the gate and rushed towards the stairs. With the changes occurring in the chamber resulting in that repulsive force disappearing without a trace, nothing could stop them on their way out.

Outside of the aforementioned woman.

"Quickly! Find where it happened!"

As soon as the group of males finally climbed back to the surface level, the reality appeared in front of their eyes. The entire cathedral was in an upheaval!

"Respectable sister…"

Knowing that there was no point in hiding or trying to sneak out anymore, Hekarion reignited his determination and approached the woman. Comparing her current state to how she looked before, would only bring shame to the image of a mischievous but still beautiful female. Standing in the middle of the local alley, she commanded a crowd of priests that rushed around the entire place.

"What?!"

Instantly lashing out at the disturbance, the head priestess moved her head away from Draconis figure, casting a furious gaze on Mark, before actually moving her eyes over to the old sage.

"About what happened in the pond, it seems that my disciple failed. We will timely pay the reparations, so please give us a schedule…"

Rather than speaking from the position of authority like he did before, Hekarion was actually covering! He looked as if he could only put his own fate in the merciless hands of the female, and her raging expression didn't seem to give him any hopes.

"Can't you see I'm fucking busy? Get the fuck out of my sight! We just received the news that Great Draconis introduced a new apostle! Get lost!"