The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

1; Prologue

He was dying and he could tell. His strength slowly waned as he run around, vaguely sensing the direction with his Medial Staff flickering under the dead of the night. He was right; his instincts told him something was wrong. He shouldn't have trusted his new teammates; they were too good to be true.

He crossed the woods as fast as he could, all aiming for the major road that passed through the Lone woods leading to his present home, his Institution the Cathedral of Light. He had a sister there, waiting for him to come back, waiting for him to revive their Family name.

He leaned on his staff for a moment to collect his breath before he leaned against one of the many trees that lined the forest. It was a dark night, with no stars shining above that could have helped to light the forest. The Wolves behind were unusually aggressive. Every time he was able to find a respite they were still able to track him down almost as he was visible to them, as visible as a beacon in the dark.

His face paled when a thought crossed his mind. He checked himself in a fluster, his white robe caked with blood and the smell of iron. But under his persistence he caught it. A whiff of the peculiar scent that was masked by his blood and sweats and he knew. He knew he had been set right from the beginning. His desire to make a name for himself, and make a living was even used against him. Someone had told those malicious warriors and mages to set him up perfectly under the guise of a qualifying beginner mission post all so they could fell him down without raising the ire of Cathedral of Light.

After all he was a just an Outer Disciple, a low ranking priest amongst the dozen that dotted the outer sector inside the cathedral and occasionally the deaths of such disciples were heard and news spread and that was almost all there was to it.

His anger flared, his mind imprinting the warriors and the mages that planned his downfall. By now he was sure there were mercenaries in a guise of adventurers and if he wasn't mistaken they must have reported his assumed death by now and the Cathedral will swallow up that lie without question.

He heard the wolves nearing him. He had a made mistake, his repertoire of spells were low even for a new Mortal ranked mage and all he could do was to kill the few of the hunting wolves with his psyche and the one spell that he had no more energy to cast with.

But he was a priest and he wasn't going down without a fight. Since it was the middle of the night he had nearly no hope of someone, even a straggler to help him in time. He looked at the starless night and silently sighed. He shouldn't have rested at all. He instinctively felt that he could no longer carry his own body anymore. The fact further proven by the blood that flowed out of his slashed chest even more.

He remembered his lonely mum, and how big the risk she took just so him and his sister could attend the Awakening Ceremony. His mind passed through the struggle, the emotional roller-coaster and the fact that her sister was found way more talented than him. And that finally they had a shred of hope against all of the darkness.

But what he really desired as he laid there dying, was that somehow, there was someone that was trust worthy that could take of his lonely sister. He knew that his death was also his fault, his pride and desire to prove himself, his silent ego that led him to try these extreme measures just so he could somehow feel useful against the shining talent of his sister. He truly loved his sister and protected her since they were young but now...now he felt useless and constantly being mocked for how his talent fared worse than his younger sister.

The wolves arrived in a heartbeat. They were silver barebacked wolves, still in their infant stage not yet Tier 1 demonic beast. But what they lacked in might they made it up with numbers and the wolves numbered more than five, their menacing eyes glinting under the night.

He had been betrayed and plotted against but he won't falter. His long and elegant staff started shining, a slow flickering glow that increased in intensity slowly, scaring the wolves and keeping them in bay. He looked at the starless night, and prayed to any god above that his sister survives the cathedral and that she finds a worthy person to protect her. He had already lost all hope of living and the most he could do was make sure he pulled the surrounding wolves down with him.

Almost on cue all of the wolves jumped on him, their lean figures silently streaking through the air for his life. While at the same moment, Lukas who had closed his eyes suddenly opened them and then shouted his spell with all the remaining strength he could muster.

"SOLAR FLARE!!!!"

BOOM!

An explosion of light and blood happened under the usual silent night. Whining, crazy laughter and growls scratched the air; destroying whatever calm the Lone woods was very famous for. The bright light didn't stop there still; it rose like a sun, and lighting up the forest like a beacon, before it ascended way higher from the ground, rising from the forest like a small sun.

Tired, drowsy and dizzy, Lukas never imagined that the Beginner spell Solar Flare had such might into it when used in such a tandem. His eyes could barely witness the c*****e he wrought and it brought a new kind of satisfaction to him. He wished all those who cursed priests as useless in a combat would see the result of his last ditch efforts. But his spell which should have ended by now lighted up his surrounding and then he saw countless red eyes inside the woods that seemed to be more than countless wolves, much more in number that he could have never imagined.

He despaired as he realized the very first group of wolves was sent as scouts, baits and sacrifice just so they could minimize the causalities to their number from his last minute efforts. He helplessly smiled to himself. He was bested through and through. First by his compatriots who betrayed him, and now by the cunning wolves. He knew this behavior could only be seen when a pack of wolves raised a Tier 1 Beast, The Wolf King. A conniving creature still ruled by instincts with a shred of intelligence , just enough to show such might in front of Lukas.

He closed his eyes fully accepting the fact that he tried. He tried his best and that's all he could do. The wolves that surrounded him sensed his despair and lunged at him swiftly, biting and tearing apart his robe. His Book of spells and his Medial staff were scattered beside him like broken dolls as blood splashed, staining the perpetual white with a visibly shining red. And they were fully feasting before a strange thing happened.

DONG!!!

It was a like a ringing of heavens, the sound reverberated through the woods, instilling fear into the wolves as they paused and growled around them. The Wolf King, hidden among the pack raised its head to the ascending spell which by now seemed as if it split the sky in two. And then the once starless night suddenly shone with a thousand stars appearing like fireflies all over the sky until one particular star descended like a shooting star towards the spell.

It connected with the spell in a heartbeat and before the wolves could collect themselves The rising spell shone like a brilliant sun lighting up the forest as if was day before shooting back to the now dead and broken caster with such a force that it was almost as if a meteor had descended from the sky.

With a bang, 100 meters around him was cleared in a second. But this time there was no whining, no screams and growls. All of the trees, leaves and bushes were silently burnt away into ashes. In a blink of an eye, all living things were silently disintegrated with nary a hint of fire in sight. It was almost as if they were melted under the star light, the only proof of their existence being a few flecks of ashes in what was now a barren patch of land in an otherwise green forest.

But most of all the once shining body, the one that was slashed by its enemies, and mauled by the wolves was nowhere in sight. The body and its belonging, including its Medial staff and the book of spells all have vanished without a trace leaving the patch of dry and desolate ground as proof of what kind of a supernatural event took place.