Inside a dimly lit room, the air was thick with suspicion. The village chief, the priest, and a council of elders sat in a tight circle, their faces shadowed by the flickering candlelight.
"I still find it hard to believe," the village chief muttered, his voice trembling. "Our shrine, the heart of our village... possessed by a devil?"
"It wasn't," the priest snapped, his eyes narrow and sharp. "The shrine was pure until those two arrived. Isn't it a bit too convenient? A blind boy appears, and suddenly a 'devil' manifests just for him to seal it?"
An elder leaned forward, his voice a low rasp. "So you're saying he's lying? That he staged the whole thing?"
"I'm saying he has a silver tongue and dangerous powers," the priest countered. "If we want to be safe, we should poison his food tonight and take his head while he sleeps."
"No," the chief argued. "If he is truly a saint, we would be inviting heaven's wrath. But if he is a devil..."
"Village Chief!" A young girl burst into the room, breathless. "The well! The Ancestor's Well! The water has returned!"
The chief stood up so fast his chair clattered to the floor. "That well has been dry for over a hundred years. You're certain?"
"It's overflowing!" she cried.
The priest's face turned pale. "It's a trick! He's using his powers to mimic a miracle!"
In reality, Rei was doing no such thing. He wasn't a god, but he was a genius of thermodynamics. The light entity—the "Goddess" Suez—was an existence of extreme heat. To freeze it, Rei had to create ice so cold it defied nature. As the entity fought back by raising its temperature, the outer layers of the ice pillar began to melt. Rei, anticipating this, had used his earth manipulation to carve a hidden underground channel. This channel diverted the runoff directly into the village's ancient, dried-out irrigation system, which led straight to the ancestor's well.
He knew that to these people, water in a dead well was the ultimate proof of divinity.
The chief rushed outside and saw the crystal-clear water rising. He turned to the priest with a look of pure disappointment. "For years, you told us the well was cursed because of our sins. Now, a traveler arrives, cleanses our shrine, and brings back our water. I've had enough. You let a devil rot our shrine under your nose. Leave this village. Now."
The priest's face twisted into a mask of pure rage. "You fools! You'll regret this!"
As he stormed out of the village, he passed the window of the house where Rei was staying. For a brief second, the priest saw Rei sitting calmly. The blind boy leaned back and offered a subtle, mocking smirk. The priest's blood boiled, but he kept walking, his heart black with a new, vengeful purpose.
A few hours later, the chief and the elders arrived at Rei's door, carrying platters of steaming food and bundles of gear.
Dell reached for a drumstick, his stomach growling, but Rei's hand shot out and gripped his wrist. "Wait," Rei said coldly. He turned his sightless gaze toward the elders. "It's a long journey ahead. We wouldn't want to get sick. Elders, would one of you mind tasting the food first? Just to be sure it's... prepared correctly."
The elders froze. One brave soul stepped forward. "I volunteer." He took a large bite and swallowed. Nothing happened.
Rei relaxed his grip on Dell. It's not a fast-acting poison then, Rei thought. If it's slow-acting, my Qi will burn it out before it takes root. After the meal, the villagers presented their gifts. Dell excitedly pulled on a set of heavy iron-plated armor and a pair of reinforced steel gauntlets. Rei, however, chose a suit of light, flexible leather armor dyed a deep forest green.
Then, the village chief held out a final bundle. It was a heavy, tribal-style hooded cloak, woven in patterns of stark white and light red.
"This," the chief said solemnly, "is the Cloak of Memoria. Legend says it belonged to a hero who traveled the world to find the truth of time and the concept of Fate. People across the continent have died trying to find this. It belongs to you now."
Rei draped the cloak over his shoulders. The moment the fabric touched him, the air in the room seemed to shift. The cloak didn't just fit him; it seemed to hum in harmony with his soul, giving him an aura of ancient, quiet authority. He packed away the extra white shirts and black pants they provided, took the map, and nodded to Dell.
"Let's go."
As they walked through the dense woods outside the village, Dell looked back. "You were a bit rude to them, weren't you? They gave us all this stuff."
"Those people were debating whether to poison us or worship us two hours ago," Rei said flatly. "They don't deserve my kindness, only my utility."
"Fair enough," Dell shrugged. "But that ice dome and the 'Seal of a Thousand Winters'... was that really just to trap a devil?"
Rei didn't mention that he had essentially used the light entity as a battery, drawing its own heat out to fuel the freezing process. "It was a restraint technique. Nothing more."
Suddenly, a searing beam of light tore through the trees, heading straight for Rei's head.
"Rei!" Dell roared. His tattoos flared red as he unleashed a bloodline-enhanced punch. The sheer air pressure from his fist collided with the beam, slowing it down for a fraction of a second—just long enough for Rei to put his chaos scepter tip onto the ground.
A thick Earth Wall erupted. The beam shattered the stone into dust, but by the time the smoke cleared, Rei and Dell were safely encased in a secondary Earth Dome.
As the dome crumbled away, they saw two figures standing in the clearing.
It was the village priest, his face distorted with malice, clutching a glowing holy staff. Standing beside him was a man in polished silver plate—a Paladin.
"So, you're still alive," the priest spat.
Rei adjusted his new cloak, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "I expected this. You priests are all the same. You can't stand it when someone else does your job better than you."
The Paladin drew a massive claymore, the blade glowing with holy light. "Heretic. Your journey ends here."