The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

9; The Hand in the Darkness.

And so he told his new sister Ariandel almost everything, from how his previous host led himself, his suspicions and how he was finally betrayed by the very same teammates he once thought were friends. His deadly skirmish with the wolves after a day of running and surviving and how he nearly died before he found himself beside the main road to the Cathedral where he got a helpful ride back home having no idea how he had survived such an ordeal.

His sister listened very carefully, her face wound with such a grave expression that Lukas sighed .he knew that baring everything might mean putting her in danger but hiding it might put her in even more danger considering they weren't around each other most of the time and anything can happen in the world of magic and might.

A period of silence passed before Lukas took a deep breath and told her of his own thoughts.

"From what I can tell is that this was planned from the very beginning and its spear was pointed at me. I still have no clear clues on whom or how they were able to pull such strings but they will surely be very unhappy that I survived." He snorted before he continued "Something tells me this might just be an inside job which might also mean someone in this place means for me to die since if there is one thing The Cathedral of Light frowns upon is for their mages to be deserted during missions. Even though I am just an outer disciple, if this matter is known than it will almost blow up for sure."

Aria shuddered in anger "Then we have to report this as soon as possible. Abandoning a priest during missions will force those Discipliners to take heavy action against them"

Lukas shook his head, "Have you forgotten what I just said? If it is an inside job then they will almost oppress us immediately and even though we will be able to raise a few hairs we might just end up embarrassing ourselves. In turn this event does allow me a right to take a stance to never associate with them ever again”

Aria frowned upon more thinking before she sighed too. "Brother why do you risk your life like this? I can provide everything for us now that I'm an inner disciple and no one will dare say anything towards my face"

Lukas stared at her pale eyes before he slightly shook his head "it's not a matter of inconvenience that I'm saying no, it's a matter of pride and matter of survival. In the past I used to protect each of us before the awakening and I still intend to do that. But I can't grow if I'm under your shadow. If this latest event taught me anything is that I have to depend on myself and grow even stronger in order to protect both of us in the end."

He then smiled before taking his sister's hand with an assured and calm gaze, "I wasn't kidding when I said I aimed for the inner sect by the end of the year."

His sister took a breath before she also smiled. She had worked so hard and for so long just so she could finally repay his brother in the end. And even though these odd changes she had noticed made her brother seem almost like a stranger but his silent determination and the utmost sincerity could be felt from his heart and that was good enough for her.

It meant that her brother hadn't lost his drive. The same kind of drive that allowed them to survive after the Awakening Ceremony changed their lives.