Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 222: Sky Touched

The next day, Sol received good news while eating breakfast with his squad.

Aron took a bite out of a large sausage and, while chewing, gave an update on the job he was assigned.

"So... I just got confirmation that the Rathian blood will arrive in two days."

Nataly almost jumped out of her seat. "Really?!"

"Mhm."

Rathian blood was the final ingredient on the list of materials Sol had tasked Aron to acquire. With its arrival, they would have just about everything needed.

"Thank you, Aron. You went above and beyond for this," Sol said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Not only had Aron managed to source all the missing materials in a matter of days, but he also did it faster than expected by almost an entire week.

Duncan turned to Sol. "There’s still one thing missing."

Sol sighed. "Yeah, the blood of priests."

It was something he had been procrastinating on since he didn’t really know how the church would react to such a proposition. He had enough gold and had been given implicit permission by Zaman to trade merit shop items if needed. Still, he hesitated, not wanting to risk angering the church of the most powerful god in the world—at least from what he knew. According to the book about Ophis and his legacy, he and Neitarel, the God of Supremacy, both perished, leaving Caela as the most powerful god. It was no wonder their church was one of the most influential in their kingdom and many others.

’Can’t delay it any more. Guess I have to go today.’

With the self imposed deadline approaching, he didn’t want to delay Lapis’ revival.

...

An hour later, Sol stood outside the Church of Caela.

’It looks similar to the one in Kerman, but twice the size.’

The structure was nearly identical, with an open air design that looked like a giant staircase to the heavens. Each step was one story tall, and inside the steps were the non prayer related facilities. Most visitors didn’t truly enter the building but used the human sized stairs to climb the steps and pray closer to the skies, which was Caela’s domain.

Entering the church, he found the nearest unoccupied priest and approached him. The male priest smiled and welcomed him.

She nodded, knowing what he was going to ask.

"The harbinger is still on the loose. And he knows where you are."

"What?! How?"

Sol didn’t understand how that was possible. Not only had Diana and her paladins been unable to catch one goblin, but it also knew where he was and was still actively after him.

"We... aren’t sure. A little over two months ago, it was still searching the area and interrogating people, but one day, it began to travel southeast. Initially, we thought it was expanding its search radius, but it headed in a straight line towards the capital. We did our best to intercept it, but its ability is too well suited for hiding and running away. The best we could do was delay it and force it to take detours."

’A little over two months... Isn’t that around the time I entered the city? How did it know I was here? I spent most of my time in the dungeon?’

Sol didn’t understand how that was possible, but he thought out loud about what he could do.

"If it can somehow track me, there’s no point in running... my best chance is to stay and fight here. At least here, I have Commander Zaman and Grand Knight Lawrence for support."

Though Sol didn’t say it, he also felt confident in his chances against the harbinger with the help of the Tynamo Cannon. At least with it, he had a method to retaliate.

Diana interjected. "Don’t forget me as well."

"You too?"

She nodded. "Of course. It’s my duty to deal with harbingers, and though I have failed miserably in that department, they would be unable to harm you while I’m here. Also, to better prepare you against the harbinger, I will teach you what we know about them and how to reach A-Rank."

"Ah. About that... I already know about law techniques."

"Well, that’s even better. How’s your progress?"

"Making good progress. Should be soon."

Though he couldn’t put an exact date on it, his testing with the A-Ranker had greatly accelerated his progress. He felt he only needed more practice and to take the final step.

"Excellent." Diana was glad, as it meant there was a good chance he could ascend to A-Rank before the harbinger appeared. "I will give you the details of the harbinger later. There’s still time before they arrive. You came here for something else, right?"

Sol nodded. "It’s a long story..."