It was only when the massive shadow of the enormous diving-bird flock covered the entire church area that Kale noticed what was happening. He came to his senses, face hardened, because if they all crashed down, discarding their own lives, the stupid boy in front would turn into an Eldritch fleshly horror.
Before he could command the suicidal wave of birds to stop, one of the three Deacons waved his hand, and a visible pulse of bronze power spread out from the mark on his forehead, aka the soul sigil. The falling rain of rainbow birds stopped mid-motion in the air. As if held by an invisible net.
Collectively, all of their eyes turned bronze as well. In that instant, Kale felt his connection with all the birds snap away. Though he wasn't exactly controlling them, as it was a mutual two-way communication, a companionship of sorts. But now, in the sense of his ability, he felt nothing, as if something foreign and extremely powerful had forcefully taken over their minds.
Kale's intuition screamed in warning that it was something extremely disturbing, something that was not supposed to happen. But he was helpless before that supernatural power. Not that he had any intention of going against the Dragon church in the first place. He was never such a saint, even in his first life.
The wave of countless birds slowly dispersed, each going in a different direction. The church Deacon had accomplished it quite easily. But Kale did not fail to notice that this man showed no regard for the wildlife. These birds were definitely migrating, according to the seasonal change.
It was part of their life cycle, something they had to complete to live on. But the flock was now forcibly disbanded in such a manner. Most, if not all, of them would eventually die out.
After that, everyone's eyes landed on Kale. There was a trace of deep-rooted fear in them now when looking at him. Especially, the arrogant kid named Felix, he literally fainted. One of the church trainees had to come and wake him up.
The Deacon, who had displayed his awakened might, looked at Kale with squinted eyes; it was hard to say what he was thinking. The other Deacons also observed him with caution for a moment. Eventually, they did not speak a word, just continued what they were supposed to.
An uncomfortable silence descended upon the noisy grounds of the Dragon Church.
Something that was greatly appreciated by the three Deacons, as the process moved faster from then on.
Eventually, it came the turn of the 9th group. Kale's group. Under the watchful gaze of the church Deacons and the trainees, they stepped inside the cathedral. Felix now stood at the farthest distance from him. Unable to hide his fear. Kale naturally ignored the stupid kid.
The inner area of the cathedral was much larger than he expected; there were a few roughly made Draconic statues in the four corners. In the center of the cathedral, there was a massive circular flat stone slab on which stood a tall curved structure.
Kale observed the structure radiating a silent hum of power, with an energy signature similar to that of the Dragon Priest standing beside it, as well as the bronze power used by the Deacon who stopped the bird wave's descent.
The Dragon Priest had his palm resting on the tall, curved structure. Muttering incomprehensibly, he almost seemed to be praying piously. The older man slowly turned towards them and spoke in a solemn tone, "Get onto the Dragon Altar with empty feet. Stand in a circle on the edges."
The priest provided a few more specific instructions. They had to bend one knee onto the dragon altar, cupped one fist, and placed it on the altar's floor. Their heads were slightly lowered toward the tall, curved structure.
The horned priest nodded, his gaze turned reverent, pointing towards the central unknown structure as he revealed, "This is the Horn of a Mythical Dragon, and it contains a trace of their ancient and unfathomable power. Due to the passage of time, the once-fragment of the deity's very body now looks more like a stone structure than an actual bone. But I have read in the records. They were once glorious."
"This is the catalyst through which your awakening will be completed. You must remain in this posture, while the process is ongoing, there will be great pain, but if you move from this position, your awakening will not be completed. You will remain a mundane human."
"For each of you, the time necessary to awaken may vary. Until the soul sigil appears on your foreheads, you must hold on through sheer will. No matter how terrible it may be."
"As long as the process is ongoing, you must pray continuously towards the world dragon for his blessing. To ease your burden. Hope for better. The Guardian deity shall answer to your calls as long as you are genuine enough."
All the participants were both scared and encouraged by the priest's speech. They gazed at the vestige of the Dragon with great reverence. The Dragon Priest began chanting in an unknown language, his palm on the Dragon's Horn.
A pulse of ancient power flowed from all over the priest's body up to the small horn on his forehead. The power flowed from his small horn like a curved energy stream, pouring onto the once-mythical Dragon's Horn, which triggered a resonance that released the stored power within the ancient structure.
The participants all lowered their heads instantly, beginning to pray to the dragons, as instructed. Kale was also in the same kneeling position, his head slightly lowered. But his gaze was not that of a pious believer of the Dragons; his eyes were cold, filled with ruthlessness.
He didn't know if kneeling in such a humiliating manner was necessary for the awakening process, so he could only endure it. As for praying towards the Dragons?
He could only sneer silently at that notion. Though he was grateful for his rebirth, which was likely due to the so-called World Dragon. It didn't mean he would lower himself to the degree of worshipping them, like these fanatic fools.
Kale erased those thoughts and focused on the bronze colored energy that was seeping onto him through the circular stone slab of the Dragon Alter. Just as the priest had stated, his body did not react well to this foreign energy seeping inside.
Unbearable pain coursed through his veins, and he could only clench his jaws hard enough to make them bleed. Compared to the brutal pain of having your life snuffed out, slowly bleeding out. This pain was nothing.
Though the same couldn't be said about the rest of them, they were already howling like mad dogs, barely able to keep their position and vomiting blood from their mouths.
More than half of them had passed out. A few had a strange symbol carved into their foreheads. For each of them, it glowed in a different light.
Blood droplets came out from Kale's orifices. He was holding on, better than anyone else on the altar, for that matter. The foreign energy was ravaging his insides, transforming him, turning him into something fundamentally superior.
Despite the immense pain, Kale felt the profound transformation in his very bones. His special senses and unique body became something even greater. The energy then travelled up to his forehead.
Producing a fiery burning feeling, as if someone was carving something on his forehead with a rough pen, and the ink of that pen was the hottest of lava. Even he could not completely endure that horrendous pain, letting out a pained grunt.
But in truth, the pain wasn't really coming from his forehead, but from his very soul itself. His soul was being carved, reshaped into another form, a superior life form, with the potential to evolve even further continuously.
The sensation of intense pain eventually slowed to a crawl. His eyes opened wide, feeling a new sensation overflow in his spirit. His ability allowed him to have harmony with almost all wild animals. Melding into the world itself, his green eyes flashed brighter.
Countless streams of untold new intents rushed at him, overwhelming him, he could feel it, for almost a kilometer wide area, every single small and big beast. That had a certain level of base intelligence. His mind connected with all of them.
Due to the overload of the incalculable amount of information rushing at him, he was barely holding on. But at the same time, a rush of excitement filled him. He was moments away from succeeding, so with tremendous willpower.
Kale pulled back his expanding consciousness, tugging on all the threads of his scattered spirit, eventually bringing it all back into the confines of his small skull. And thus his awakening was completed. The soul sigil mark on his forehead turned light green.
Filled with vibrancy and a profound connection with nature. His eyes snapped open, his face was filled with blood, but his eyes were so much more different than before, and he could not help but grin. With such a stupidly powerful mind, was there any creature he could not tame?
His mind raced in passion, in possibility, for even the dragons would soon be under his control. He would tame the very race of creatures whom the people of this world treated as nigh invincible deities.
But unknown to Kale, his awakening was noticed by an unfathomable entity, the strongest existence that governed this world. The World Dragon's eyes snapped open as it sensed the ill intent of the corrupted foreign soul. Its body, which was coiled around the very core of the planet, stirred for the first time after many millennia.
And the world trembled in its awake.