Rei soon awoke to find himself in a tent. Beside him were Tenko, Eugene, and Bart, all bearing light injuries, mostly bandaged. Seeing him stir, Tenko gently touched Rei's chest. "You woke up! I'm so glad," Eugene exclaimed. "Thank God you woke up," Bart added. Rei slowly sat up, his mind replaying the pain of the recent attack. He yearned for a happy, peaceful life, but realized it was no longer an option, not with gods like Athena targeting him. He pondered, "Whom can I trust who won't kill me?" He looked at Bart, Eugene, and Tenko, a flicker of suspicion crossing his mind. "They could kill me. Anyone from the streets could kill me. Even my own organization, the revolutionaries, could be mind-controlled and turn on me. But who is this Athena?"
"Everyone, can you tell me what happened after I fainted?" Rei asked.
Bart began, "As far as I know, we came to save you, but then I went blank. I woke up when Tenko was fighting Eugene. I saw Eugene acting odd, fighting alongside an enemy, so I stopped him. Then Eugene and I went to where that girl was going."
Aria interjected, "I found you lying on the ground in the forest near my tent, so I took you and used holy magic formations to heal you. But then that girl suddenly came. She had a very hostile look, and I started fighting her."
"During that time, we came and fought her again," Eugene added. "But some unknown whirlwind swirled around her and threw us all away. Then a man came and said something, and she went away." Tenko barked, seemingly adding to the account, but Rei understood he couldn't verbalize it.
"She might have mind-controlling techniques, that's why she was able to control you. Don't worry about it," Rei said. Tenko looked at Rei, but Rei remained silent. Rei believed these people didn't deserve to know the truth about the gods, at least not yet. Otherwise, the gods might silence them. This was deadly information, not to be shared freely.
"But why the Mystic Church?" Eugene asked, bewildered. "Mystic Church is where I belong! Why would they attack you?"
"The Mystic Church operates on the motto that magic is holy and magic is everything, right?" Rei probed.
"Yeah, that's it," Eugene confirmed. "They worship magic, knowing that it is sacred."
"What if a force that counters magic, known as sorcery, came out?" Rei suggested. Eugene immediately understood. "So the sorcery you and Bart used is seen as heretic by the Mystic Church?"
"Yes," Rei affirmed. "Additionally, they see my teachings of sorcery as heretic and want to kill me and erase sorcery from the history of the world."
"Then was that girl a Paladin?" Bart asked.
"She held sacred sentient weapons, which means she was a Paladin," Eugene confirmed.
"Sacred sentient weapons? Are you kidding me? That's my sister," Rei revealed, shocking Bart, Eugene, and even Tenko. Tenko knew about Hanna joining the Mystic Church but hadn't seen her, so he hadn't realized the girl was Rei's sister.
"Why would your sister try to kill you?" Eugene asked, baffled.
"Why would my sister try to kill me?" Rei echoed. "The reason is simple: the sacred sentient weapon, as you call it, contains the mind of someone else, something not living. And non-living things have much darker desires than living things. It slowly takes control of the user's mind until it completely takes over, and then it indulges in its darkest desire of killing and repeating." Eugene was terrified. "How do you know?" he stammered. "You don't even have sentient weapons."
"I have a sentient weapon, my Chaos Scepter, and Tenko has his Nyx Scepter," Rei clarified. "They were sentient until I caged the sentient being of my weapon, and Tenko just killed his sentient being." Tenko barked in affirmation. "If you still don't believe it, try to touch it," Rei offered, holding out his Chaos Scepter. Eugene hesitantly extended his hand. The moment his finger touched the scepter's handle, he felt the immense anger and hatred of Chaos. He recoiled so violently that he crashed against the tent's cover, his eyes wide with dread and fear. Aria, surprised, also wanted to touch it, and upon doing so, she felt the same terrifying presence and collapsed. None of them, however, saw Rei's mind realm, as it existed only within his mind.
"Don't worry, I don't want to touch it," Bart quickly interjected.
"Sure," Rei said. "Well, let's talk about the future." Bart carefully moved Aria to a sleeping position on a mattress and sat down next to Eugene.
"I am going to tell you what we will do," Rei began. "Bart, you will be going to make a scepter." Bart was surprised. After witnessing the terrifying reactions to Rei's scepter, he didn't want one. "No, I am fine without a scepter," he protested.
"A scepter is needed if you want to become a true wizard," Rei explained. "Wizards don't only carry power; they also gather the knowledge of years. A scepter helps in not only focusing power but also in knowing more about yourself you don't know. If being a mage is to show light in the darkness, a martial is to become the strongest man, then a wizard means to be the most knowledgeable person in the world." Bart gulped. "Fine, I will do it."
"You always talk about sorcery and wizards. How are those two words different?" Eugene asked.
"They are as different as magic and mage," Rei explained. Eugene understood: magic is a concept, whereas mages are people who wield it. Similarly, sorcery is a concept, and wizards are the ones who wield sorcery.
"While we wait, I will show you how you can make a scepter," Rei continued. "Then we will leave this town and travel around the country. When we part ways, you two will spread how to create scepters among the blacksmiths."
"But why can't you do it yourself?" Bart asked.
"I have some more important tasks to do," Rei replied. Initially, Rei had planned to spread the news about making scepters on his own. However, now that the gods who could control people had revealed themselves, Rei wanted to minimize contact with others to protect himself, thus assigning these tasks to someone else. Nevertheless, Rei would still continue his recruitment process.