The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

7; The Godly Statue.

Each of the three statues emanated its own majestic aura and Lukas was inadvertently drawn to one on his left. It felt as if he was seeing through a clouded screen as he couldn't make out its finer features, except that it seemingly had large wings that took half of the sky on its side. Its left hand held what seemed to be a sword of fire while its right hand stretched high above with a brilliant Sun floating on it. It was the source of light and warmth that shone on half of the endless expanse, completely illuminating it like day. Seeing the uncanny resemblance, Lukas named it an Angel Statue.

His left was covered with seemed to be a spread of night. It felt boundlessly deep and at its helm, a large figure stood above it in unending silence. It was huge the very same size as the angel statue, its finer features also obscured but Lukas deduced from its form what seemed be a figure of a half man; half a beast.

The top half had of a majestic form of a man with his hands cupped in front of its bare chest holding a soft shining light that gleamed under the starry sky. It was as if the silver light that shone in between its hands was a star, which possessed its own Pride and its own space under the dark night. The rest of its body from waist down was even further obscured and all Lukas could tell was that it was a long tail, possibly a tail of snake which confused him even further.

The last Statue, the statue that towered above them all, not just in height but in its majesty was just a vague robed figure that was even further obscured that Lukas had to squint his eyes just to make any spare details. It stood tall, its hands outstretched, almost as if it was praying to the heavens. Directly above it a halo of seven stars swirled and floated with their own light between the two worlds. Lukas's heart trembled and filled with awe looking at such a huge figure that he couldn't help it but call it a Godly Statue since only a God could possess such a holy inviolable authority.

Reaching up to here Lukas was bewildered as he wirily smiled to himself. Even if soul altars were meant to be shaped in various forms and they were influenced by many factors Lukas was sure he might be the very first human in the Continent of Lush to posses such grandeur within.

Thinking on it further, he was sure that such a thing was surely caused by his reincarnation though he wondered if the Godly Statue within his soul altar might be a mark, a sign or a clue to whoever had brought him to this world. His old world had no notion of magic or much less a soul altar so he didn't have any knowledge he could reference to.

Looking around he further reasoned that since his previous host was a mage of light then that might explain the angel statue on the left of his soul altar. Though what it really meant further than that he couldn't tell. He stared at the half a man, half a beast figure and instinctively felt that that might be own element, something that he brought over from his own previous life on Earth. Making further conjectures, he looked up further at the mighty figure and the only thing he was left with was that the Robed Figure might be the very God, the cosmic being who brought him here. He had no idea why it existed in his soul altar but somehow he knew that one day, after he survives long enough he might just get his answers. Thus when all conclusions were drawn, it might mean that he possess two elemental traits within his own body and a Godly statue of unknown origins.

Curiously he laid open his intentions and he instantly felt a closer connection to his Elemental Light, which might be explained by him possessing the previous host's body. But any attempts to connect to his elemental star fell down the drain. He couldn't feel any kind of connection or resonance. If it wasn't for the fact that he could feel the towering ancientness of the hybrid holding the Star in its cupped hands he might have thought there was nothing there. After trying for a few more moments, he had to give up. It was wasting time and he reasoned that he might not be strong enough to handle two elements at once since he barely understood mastered the one he currently possessed.

Getting back to his real goal in the first place, the meditation art gave instructions on how to enter his soul altar. Next step was to visualize it and then summon the image into his mind palace which will then be used in refining his body, recovering his mana and increasing his own cultivation. He then looked around. His Soul altar was huge. It had an endless expanse that had no end and the three giant figures that seemed to be the lords and the gods of the empty heavens. It might just not be possible to catch all this and then somehow keep an image in the mind palace to cultivate.

Then an idea crossed his mind. His meditation art wanted him to visualize his soul altar so if he only chose a part of it, it could also do the trick though the results might be way lesser than intended. He reasoned that it might be a good starting point for him especially when he was still getting used to the notion of cultivation.

His next choice was made almost immediately. The most notable thing in his soul altar was the Godly statue that stood above all else. And since it seemed to exist in tandem inside his soul altar he might as well start from the highest point.

The next thing he did was to cross his legs and sit on the mirror like surface in his soul altar. Taking a deep breath , he opened his eyes before fully focusing on the Godly statue remembering and following the adjoined instructions religiously, trying to imprint The Statue into his mind palace.

But he didn't expect for what came next.

At first he felt it was immensely difficult. He was trying to imprint a godly figure into his conscious mind so he did expect some challenges. But this was on level he never imagined. He wasn't even close when he felt as if a hammer was smashing into his head. He felt his mind getting pulled and stretched, an immense pain erupting inside of his dome almost as if hooks were pulling his brain apart from the inside. He gasped as he tried to hold on but he found that he was too weak and within five minutes he was forced to close his eyes. His mind was numb and he bet his heart in his body back in reality was racing like mad. This was torture on another level and he started having doubts on whether his decision was correct and it was just him trying to chew more than he could possibly handle.

As his eyes closed and he was taking some deep breath, his mind automatically tried to remember whatever he had tried to imprint in those few minutes and the results were very surprising. He didn't catch the Godly Figure of course but its awe and majesty was deeply imprinted and in his mind palace he could see a very hazy figure, almost like a mist or a faraway memory that with just a soft blow of wind it might blow it away but somehow it stubbornly stood. Taking it to a level further he got out of his soul altar, summoned the imprint in his mind palace and the changes were so immediate that it caught him by surprise.

He could feel the surrounding mana was instigated around him. It churned and then almost as if he was a vortex, it charged towards him, directly to his mind palace the moment the hazy figure was formed. He felt light headed, his fatigue fading away so quickly it almost as if it wasn't there. He snapped back to reality, checked himself in wonder and then feeling nearly fully invigorated he delved right in to imprint the statue again. If just a hazy figure could cause such noticeable effects then if he imprinted a clearer one the benefits it could bring to him would be endless.

For the next few hours he was like a mad man, the Intoxicating feeling of mana, power and authority was now beginning to radiate from the figure and in the process it also influenced him. All the years he had used to meditate in his old world were starting to bare fruits as it also brought such a laser focus that he continued the circle of imprint and visualizing countless times. As much as it brought immediate results he started noticing that his progress was extremely slow on how much longer he could imprint the godly figure. The next two hours only increased his time from ten minutes to fifteen and he could feel the subconscious warning signs from his mind palace and his body at the same time. He needed a lot of energy for imprinting and as much as visualizing helped him recover ultimately it couldn't save him from the mental exhaustion that accumulated within a few hours and the fatigue that had spread to his whole body.

He knew his mental fortitude was increasing alongside his mental power but he had to slow down. Pangs of hunger started to show up and it didn't take long for him to slow down, stifling his excitement and cutting off that incredible feeling of being connected to mana and his soul altar.

He was just about to think of his next step when a knock interrupted his thoughts and if he wasn't wrong he was just about to have a reunion with someone he kind of dreaded meeting in the first place.

The genius sibling who got to enter the Inner Court and a Chosen apprentice to one of the 7 Chromas of the Cathedral of Light; Ariandel from the House of Raydore, his current blood sister.