The Ascension Of The Celestial Priest

Rexsi went silent for a moment before he directly spoke as he regarded the staff in Lukas's hand with an apprehensive look.

"That staff is a blood-bound artifact. Isn't it?"

Lukas immediately froze. With the recent events, he had quite forgotten what his sister had warned him about blood bound artifacts. They might not elicit greedy d.e.s.i.r.e in many but they were bound to attract unsavory attention especially when they realize a Mid-Mortal Mage was wielding one.

Hearing the ensuing silence, Rexsi visibly shuddered. "It is a blood bound artifact." He said it more to himself than anyone. "I have only ever read about them but to actually see one, especially a white ranked one. It's something I never imagined possible."

Seeing Lukas's wariness, Rexsi offhandedly waved his hand at his concerns. "Don't worry, I won't ask anything. I will just chalk it to many of the secrets you possess."

"Many?"Lukas asked a little amused.

Rexsi helplessly smiled, as he answered. "If someone pays attention enough, they would discover a lot of inconsistencies on that swirl around you in a cloud of mystery. "

He raised both of his hand and started counting." Your formidable spells that belied your own cultivation, your unusual mastery of runes, the fact that you posses a blood bound artifact and ..." he paused. "… the fact that you might be affiliated with the Divine Cathedral."

Lukas was now positively confused. "Why would you think I have connections with the Divine Cathedral?"

Searching his naiveté and finding it genuine, Rexsi had a sudden d.e.s.i.r.e to smash some common sense into him. "Back at the Catacombs, you effortlessly opened the tome from the Divine Cathedral. That isn't something you can just brush off..."

But Lukas had really forgotten all about it.

"The Divine Cathedral might be weaker in might than your Cathedral of Light but they make up for more than enough in their insanity and overzealousness. If the word gets out that there is a caster who can effortlessly open their tome and peer into their absolute secrets, they would surely hunt you down and find an answer in your corpse if you were still alive by the time they were done with you."

Lukas felt the weight of the warning, making a pointed mental thought to deeply check up on the divine cathedral the moment he returns back.

"If I were you, I would make sure no one finds out about it…"Rexsi paused before something occurred to him, "…but that might be too late as Representative Malten probably already knows. He had sicked a shadow to protect us. There is a good chance that he might not divulge such a thing carelessly but it doesn't hurt to be careful." Rexsi warned.

Lukas appreciated the concerned, "I will truly keep that in mind." He said as he thought deeply on what made him so special that he could effortlessly open that Tome back in the dungeon and if his previous host had any lingering ties with the Divine's Cathedral that he wasn't aware of.

Rexsi slightly fidgeted for a while before he added.

"Well that was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about..."

Taking a long breath, he said the following.

"I truly came here to apologize. I recalled my behavior was more than a little confrontational but you still saved my life. But this was all because I was misinformed before we even met…"

Lukas took his apology before he asked the most important question." Misinformed? By who?"

Rexsi's face scrunched up in anger and frustration.

"One of the people you previously quested with a rogue I knew by name from the Silent Assassin Guild. When he found out that I was taking the 3rd Qualification exam with you, he was quite angry and he painted a very bad impression of you in my mind. It was during this run that I realized it was all lies..."

The atmosphere suddenly got even colder and tenser. Lukas coolly stared at Rexsi, his face an indifferent mask, the previous mood that had marinated his whole evening with Geoff was destroyed in an instant.

"You do realize that they conspired to kill me, right?"

Rexsi directly locked eyes with Lukas as he answered. "Yes, by now I can probably guess what really happened."

As much as that guy was just an acquaintance, Rexsi knew that once in a while he involved himself in underhanded methods to obtain some extra gold. But the fact that he was careless enough to involve himself with a noble and a priest to boot, riding on the words of a mercenary, it left him wondering what kind of drug he had taken at that time.

"Saving my life is a grace I can never forget." He said it slowly. "And my actions were not justifiable in any way but I suggest you be careful from now on. That guy is not only the best at what he does but he also holds grudges very dearly. It might be best that you keep an eye out from now on."

With that he silently vanished from the patio almost as if he was never there to begin. Lukas stared at that very spot, his face forming a vicious smile. He might be a new soul in this world of might and magic but he wasn't about to cower against an invisible threat. He won't back down; in fact he will make sure he will be properly prepared for them of they dared to even show their faces in front of him.

It was a lesson he deeply learnt in all of his years when he was in his old world surrounded by antagonistic people who were against his lifestyle.

"I will wait for them." Lukas spoke to himself before he finished his drink and joined the throng inside. And maybe while they finally appear he can take revenge for his old host on the process, repaying some karma for the new life he was given.

It didn't take long for him to rejoin the very table he once left and thus enjoyed the rest of the evening away under the roof of the Slaughter Fest in the midst of music, laughter, celebrations and upcoming plans already laid for the future.