Magic's Return: I Can See The Spirits

Chapter 218  Your blessing... they ate it...

"Ask." Once Vaan, Elara, and Orion were finally inside their Mansion, Orion glanced at his son and spoke. Just from Vaan's expressions alone, he could tell that Vaan had many questions in his head and although even he wasn't very clear about the situation, Orion decided to answer what he could. Vaan, momentarily stared at his father, his mind quickly sorting out his thoughts, then finally, he started, "Alaric started praying, invoking his God's blessing, correct?" "Yes." Orion nodded. "The blessing did not work, so he panicked, fell on the flames, and was then saved by me." "Why did everyone act like they did when he said the blessing did not work? Why was Alaric alienated at the end?" Vaan questioned and Orion sighed in understanding. It was just as he thought, in the matter regarding the Gods, the people from the Vesta Family were often found clueless, yes, the history books in the Vesta Family did mention Gods, however, since their own God had abandoned them, the Vestas swore not to involve themselves with the Gods and their future generations were clueless about how the churches worked. "He claimed that the God of Speed didn't bless him, however, when other followers of the same God tried it, they were blessed. That meant that he was the only one who wasn't blessed by the God of Speed. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The God of Speed abandoned him. A God abandoning his believer, it is a rare case that only happens when the believer does something blasphemous. Something that completely goes against the said God's teaching and its Faith. Being abandoned by God also meant being abandoned by the Church that serves the said God, not just abandoned, some churches will take it to the extreme and might even start hunting the said believer and anyone who associates with him. This is the reason everyone alienated Alaric, even his own teammate." Orion answered, Vaan's frown, however, deepened even further, "Why would you abandon him? The Blessing clearly worked, didn't it? After all, if it didn't work, that whirlpool of energy formed over his Head wouldn't have formed, no?" He questioned. The whirlpool of energy started to form right when he started praying, so Vaan could guess it was somewhat related to the blessing everyone talked about. That should have made it clear that God actually did want to bless Alaric, it was just that… Those little Spirits of his… sucked away that blessing energy… something that no one else should be able to see. Unless, that energy was supposed to be something else and it was not how blessing worked. This was the reason Vaan turned towards his father, the man who knew more about these things, to take his advice, however, "Whirpool of Energy? What Energy?" Orion frowned in confusion. "What?" "What?" Both men blinked in surprise. Elara, on the other hand, was silent the entire time. "Vaan, what energy are you talking about?" Orion questioned, wanting to know more about it. "The Energy that formed when Alaric started praying, right over his head. It was such a huge whirlpool, did you not see it? Everyone saw it!" Vaan answered and a ridiculous expression appeared on Orion's face. "Are you drunk?" He questioned. Then he turned towards his responsible daughter-in-law and, "Did he drink before the fight?" Elara shook her head. "Did you not see the energy forming over his head when he was praying!?" Vaan questioned as he glanced at Elara. As someone who was barely a few meters away from him, Elara must have seen it. However, The red-haired girl shook her head. Vaan's expression changed. Why couldn't they see it…?

He frowned in confusion. Then suddenly, he turned towards the three little girls who were currently sleeping on the table comfortably and thought of something else. "Father… how does this Blessing work?" He questioned. "You pray and depending on how strong your faith is, you receive the blessing." "So there is no energy involved?" "Why are you so stuck up with all this energy crap?" Orion was losing his patience. "Because if something increased your strength, then it must have a source, no? The source of our Spells is Mana, the source of you Swordsmen's destructive strength is aura. There is an explanation behind every single thing that happens in the world, a source of power to count every single increase in power, What is the source of that blessing?" Vaan questioned, trying to simplify this as much as he could. "Gods! Gods are the source of that power!" Vaan wanted to pull his hair out in frustration, he couldn't understand how his father was unable to understand this simple question. "How. Do. God. Strengthen. You. Through. Their. Blessing? What. Energy. Source. They. Use?" Vaan questioned, focusing on every single word he spoke. "Vaan." In the end, Orion calmed himself down and took a deep breath. Then, he glanced at his son, and, "Do not look at the matter regarding Gods using the rules of this world, they are called Gods because they have long since freed themselves from these rules." "Haaah…" Vaan sighed deeply. He felt like he was talking to some extremist who was hell-bent on proving he was right ignoring all logical words. In the end, he glanced at his father and decided to take it one step further, "Father, you pray to a God, correct?" "God of Strength, yes. However, my faith is not strong, so the blessing I receive isn't a great one." Orion nodded. In the end, even he was a part of the Vesta Family, the only reason he followed the God of Strength was that he wanted his blessing, he never completely devoted himself to God and since God sensed his thoughts, the blessing he received wasn't strong either. "Pray to your God, invoke his Blessing." Vaan spoke, wanting to test it out. "You want me to use my Blessing?"

Orion was taken aback. One couldn't just use the blessing just because they wanted to. The number of times you could invoke your Blessing was limited, after that, one needed to go into the Church of the said God, pray to the God for days, and only when the God feels your sincerity would a believer would be allowed to invoke the blessings again. For someone like Orion, it was even more complicated since he lived in the Vesta City where no church or their branches were set up. "The Academy has a branch of the Church of Strength, doesn't it? Why are you hesitating?" Vaan questioned. In the end, Orion just sighed, without any other choice, he closed his eyes, and, "Harken, harken, God of Might, Grant me strength and endless light. In my heart and in my veins, Fill me with unwavering gains.

Oh, Valorim, the God of Strength, hear my call, Grant me power, never to fall. Bless my spirit, fierce and bold, In your name, my strength unfolds.

With your blessing, I shall rise, An unyielding force within my eyes. Valorim, God of Strength, forever near, In your power, I conquer all fear." As Orion continued to chant, Vaan saw a similar whirlpool of energy forming over his head. It was just that compared to Alaric's whirlpool, Orion's was clearly weaker. "So you cannot see that whirlpool of energy over your head?" Vaan questioned as he pointed above Orion's head. Both Orion and Elara had confused looks on their faces, Vaan understood that they truly couldn't see the energy he could see, in the end, he nudged his little girls, and the moment the three woke up and saw the energy forming over Orion's head, They rushed towards it with excited looks on their faces and, "Krriii!!"

"Grruuu!" "Skiii!!" Just like how they did before, all the energy was devoured and Orion's eyes widened in surprise. "W-What did you do…?" He questioned as he glanced at Vaan. "I devoured the Energy I was talking about. I did the same thing when Alaric was invoking his God's blessing." Vaan answered. "What…?" Orion, of course, couldn't believe what his son was talking about, however, with the proof right in front of his face, he couldn't deny it either. "The God of Speed never abandoned Alaric, I simply devoured the Energy through which the God of Speed could bless his believer." Vaan revealed and both Orion and Elara were speechless. "H-How did you do it…?" Orion questioned. "Well, it technically wasn't me, It was my three little friends I told you guys about. At first, they only ate my Mana but…

I guess they found something else they could eat." Vaan shrugged. Then, as he glanced at the three little girls patting on their stomachs with satisfied expressions on their faces, he couldn't help but chuckle because of how adorable they were and, "And it seems they quite enjoy this new meal as well. To the point where I don't think they need me to feed them anymore." Vaan spoke and in an instant, the three fairies who never seemed to care that everyone was talking about them, quickly rushed towards Vaan, two sitting on his shoulders, one on his head, showing that they would always be by his side and buttering him up. Vaan laughed, his father, however, wasn't in the same jovial mood. "We need to discuss this with you Mother."