Winter is always cold, but the sacred mountain keeps the cold from the north, and even the northernmost part of Rosemary has not been exposed to the wind and snow.
The Pope stood on the steps in front of the Naga Temple, gazing at the huge statue in the central square from afar. It had been nearly 20 years, but the statue still looked as fresh as if it had just been erected, just like the gentle smile of a young man that had not faded in the slightest. The cold wind blew, and the Pope tightened his robe. After all, it was already winter. Even without snow, the wind was still biting.
"Your Holiness..." The Sith High priest stood behind him, wanting to speak but holding back.
"What is it?" The Pope showed no sign of moving.
"It's windy outside, your body..." Totally caring kindness.
"I'm old." The Pope chuckled self-mockingly and looked back at the Sith priest standing there respectfully. "Richard, I am going to redivide the classes of the church."
The Sith priest was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting the Pope to call his name, not knowing how to react for a moment.
"In the past, from top to bottom we only had the Pope, the great priest, the priest, the priest, the apprentice. The hierarchy is clear, but it is not suitable for management..." The Pope said this to himself, without caring whether the Sith priest was really listening.
Listening to the Pope talking on and on, the Sith priest seemed bewildered until the Pope handed him the script he had already prepared.
Carefully opening the first page, the Pope's position was marked with "Richard. The name of the Sith, the Sith priest raised his head in astonishment, worried whether his power could justify the title of Pope.
But when he looked at the Pope again, an ominous premonition suddenly arose in his heart.
"Your Holiness?" There is no response to the tentative call, "Your Holiness the Pope!" Going around to the front, he found the old man with his eyes closed, and on his calm face there was only a kind glow, "His Holiness..." With a mournful call, the old man, who was in his twilight years, finally finished his life.
With the departure of the Pope, a series of changes were initiated by the Sith Sacrifice within the Church, not just the church, but also the major guilds and confederations.
An era of change.
In addition to adventure guilds, magic guilds and mercenary groups, thieves, archers, swordsmen... All kinds of guilds have become independent and formed their own systems.
Change brings development, but it also brings turmoil.
Apart from the academic nation of Venier, wars broke out in other countries, tribes, alliances and towns became independent, and a new pattern gradually took shape.
Pope Sith stood on the steps of the Temple of Naga, just like the old Pope in the past. Behind him was his most favored disciple, Cardinal Paul, who was about to succeed him as Pope.
"Fifty years have passed..." "Thirty years ago, the former Pope stood on this step and watched that statue leave, and the truth of the war of the undead was gradually concealed by time," said Pope Sith.
"Teacher..." Paul was still very young, in his fifties, and looked no more than his thirties. He didn't know how to continue the topic because he was just an immature child at the time of the Undead war.
"Paul, you have to remember that what history records is not necessarily the truth, because those who write history did not actually see it happen." Pope Sith glanced at his disciple, "Do not attempt to guess what you do not know. The gods' withdrawal of their artifacts does not mean they have given up on us, and more often 'it is better to rely on oneself than on others! '"
"The disciple understands." "Paul replied respectfully, looking up but with a look of surprise. He saw his teacher's right hand trembling, and the person it pointed to was a rather young man.
Blond, sapphire-like eyes full of vitality, slightly thin cheeks and a strong body, he stepped up the steps one by one, with a wondrous rhythm between steps, everything in a delicate balance, a perfect balance, a balance that could attack or defend at any time.
"Gasha." A strange name came out of the mouth of the Sith Pope.
The young man came before Pope Sissi and bowed. "It's been a long time since we last saw Your Holiness." That was the standard pantheon guardian knight salute.
Paul was somewhat bewildered. By that etiquette he thought the young man should be a guardian knight, but he had never seen him before.
"Let me introduce you," Pope Sith smiled slightly, "this is my disciple, Paul. Xia, Cardinal, the future Pope. This is the sworn knight of the Landa Sacrifice and the former guardian knight of the temple, Gacia. Ken."
"Summer?" The surname reminded Garcia of an old sorcerer whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
"An orphan adopted by Simon after the War of the Undead, when Simon died, he entrusted him to me." Pope Sith explains.
"Is Mr. Xia also dead?" Gasiah suddenly felt a bit melancholy. Fifty years later, everything was different. Familiar people were passing away one after another, and the division of the country and the rise of various guilds left him somewhat at a loss.
Pope Sith nodded somewhat helplessly, "Just two years after that war, Simon died in a plague, he was old and could not bear the torment of illness, and neither could I. What are your plans for the future?"
Gasiah also did not want to continue this sad topic. "I don't know. I just came back too. I need to adapt to everything now. I'll probably travel around and maybe take on an apprentice."
"It seems you're recovering well." Pope Sith remembers the dejected look of Gasiah when he learned of LAN's death.
Because I could never believe that he would just die like this. "If he's still alive, he'll come back one day. All I have to do is wait, and I have plenty of time now," Gasiah laughed.
Pope Seth nodded, "To visit an old friend? I can give you the address. They may not be any worse than you."
"How are they doing now?" "Gasiah asked hurriedly.
"Alex is the current court astrologer, but he is old and the state affairs have worn him out, but his little grandson is very lovely. He is only twelve years old and is called Hahu. He is a restless little fellow." Saying this, Pope Sith paused, "You would never have imagined that he married Emilia, but Emilia also died in that plague, and when she died, their son was not yet a month old."
"Is Amy gone too?" Gasiah sighed.
"Orfel and Kashuda went to Pisan with what LAN left them, but they have returned a few years ago. They are much more mature, and now the two of them are in charge of Kotter Academy. Spassy and Ossirena now live in the villa in Freeman City, where Spassy is now the duke, and it is their family's territory. During the split of the country, Spassy and his son, who had been wounded in the war, took the surname 'Berudendi', but his son was disabled in that war, and now he has a little grandson, younger than the Mages' little kid. His name is Meloda."
Gasiah smiled faintly, "How time flies..." Old companions have grown old.
"By the way, Oselena has a little granddaughter called Beria, a naughty girl who always bullies her brother. If you want an apprentice, you might as well choose one of the three little ones." As the Pope of the Sith spoke, he suddenly sighed, "The children have grown up and I am old. It's time to abdicate and rest..."
"Teacher, you are not old." Paul, who had been listening quietly to their conversation, suddenly chimed in.
"The former Pope lived to be 250 years old. I'm not as good as him. I'm already satisfied to live to be 150." Pope Sith looked at Paul, and Garcia saw the former Pope in this former high priest.
"Teacher..." Paul didn't know what to say.
"The responsibility for the future will be shouldered by you." The Pope of the Sith suddenly said solemnly.
"Yes, Sir." "Paul replied respectfully.
While Paul was telling him about the current situation, the Pope also bestowed upon him the title of training advisor for the temple's guardian knights.
It was a very nostalgic thing for Gasiah to watch the training of the guardian knights and give them a little guidance from time to time, though at that time it was himself who was being trained and LAN who was giving him guidance. But what surprised him was that the overall level of these guardians was much higher now than he was back then.
Paul said it was due to the plague, after which the level of all the surviving warriors suddenly rose, but the level of the magicians as a whole declined.
Of course, the new hierarchical system is also stricter, and the previous one has been completely abandoned. Gasiah doesn't care about this. For one thing, martial artists no longer need to show their ranks. For another, with his current abilities, it doesn't matter whether he has a rank or not. After all, he will definitely not be the one who loses out in a fight.
Another thing that Paul had told him was a matter of concern to him. After the war of the undead, most of the divine arts were no longer responded to. Even for the most widely believed god of Light, nine out of ten attempts failed. Everything foretells the collapse of the deity.
"What would happen to this world if the god of light, Venor, died?" Gasiah suddenly began to think about this.
"It will keep running," Paul smiled, and it was hard to imagine that the young cardinal would say such a thing, of course this youth was relative to the person sitting in the position of cardinal. "The teacher once said that the human heart always hopes to have a place to rest, even if there are no gods, there can be faith, but people's prayers will no longer be answered by the gods. But one's own problems should be solved by oneself. Why ask others for help?"
Gasiah suddenly understood why Pope Sith had chosen Paul. It was a kind of awareness, an awareness that could embrace all changes and bear any consequences. It was because of youth that one had the capital to venture; older people are always too conservative.
"May I ask you a question?" Paul was very fond of the young man before him.
"Huh?" Gasiah didn't care what he asked. During the time he went to the void plane for training, his character didn't change much, except that he was more mature and sensible than ever, after all, no one could influence him.
How long have you known the teacher? It's not convenient to say." Paul asked, somewhat embarrassed, that he had been by the Pope's side since the day he came to the temple, but had never seen the young man, though he knew that when martial arts or magic reached a certain stage, one could maintain one's appearance and live a long life, he had never seen it with his own eyes, and even the two current directors of the Science Academy, who had visited the Pope before, were already in middle age. Though he doesn't look old, he has no connection with youth.
"I grew up in the temple." Gasiah smiled and said he didn't mind answering the question. "My appearance hasn't changed since the War of the Undead. It's been about sixty or seventy years, I guess."
Paul's face was somewhat incredulous, but remembering that the Pope had said he was a sworn knight of the Great sacrifice, it was about right.
Gasiah laughed and saw a little head sneaking out from a distance. He reached out and grabbed the little one in his hand.
"Little Master Maghe!" Paul was startled, but it was because of this move by Garcia to take the "man" from a distance.
"Is this the little grandson of that fellow Alex? It seems I should go and visit an old friend." Gasiah watched with interest as the little fellow ran far away when he let go.
When he heard that Garcia was leaving, Pope Sith gave him a bag of magic ore. "This is what LAN left back then. He said gold coins would depreciate, but this kind of thing would appreciate. Take it with you."
Gasiah thought for a moment and took the ore. He had indeed only a few dozen gold coins now, and he knew very little about prices. To avoid sleeping on the streets, he was no longer polite.
"A new fate awaits you, boy." "Pope Sith said.
"Is this God's will?" "Asked Gasiah, who had gone through the war of the undead, no longer believed in any deity.
"No, it's the intuition of an old man." "Believe me, you and he will meet again one day," said the Sith priest.
Gasiah smiled and nodded, then turned and walked away.
A new destiny is about to begin.