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🕑 Added 2024-01-29 19:28:23 +0000 UTCPriest Pray For Us
Chapter 9: Obligations as a Priest
"[...Name: Anton ShadowBane
[Occupation]: Exorcist
[Faith Strength]: 6,502
[Overall strength]: 32
[Spirit]: 190
[Talent] 2 <>
[Featured Skill]: Hand of God
Mission pending: Say a prayer in the church of his choice.
...]"
The road was much quieter; Anton had recovered from the mental fatigue that comes with exercising and kept a more serene expression afterward. As a man who didn't like to be expressive, people normally considered him a somewhat uninteresting guy, but in reality, he had a big heart.
He liked gambling and could fall for a unique woman, but now he had no mindset for those issues. His mind was fixed on his goals, so unless he figured out how to live a more normal life without neglecting his duty as an exorcist, there were few things he wanted to do outside of work.
The church he was responsible for as an exorcist priest was considered the central point where many nearby communities gathered, and it was at some distance from the Rossi family. This church was Christian, so most of those living in its surroundings were Christians. Truth be told, there were other religions, but at least in the area where Anton was, there wasn't much presence of them, so he assumed that in the place where he lived, other religions were not as famous. At least, it would make things easier for him. He also didn't know much about diversity among religions, and for traveling, it's better to be focused on one place.
The bag containing the lunch they were given was heavy, so Anton suggested parking near a park where he and Rafael both enjoyed a good breakfast before going to church. Aside from everything else, Miss Lucia's prepared food seemed to be quite tasty, so both were interested in having breakfast. At least Anton was not at all finicky, especially with gifted food.
Opening the lunchbox with several layers of blankets, Anton was a little surprised, and then, as if he hadn't understood what he was seeing, he asked Rafael next to him, "Am I seeing correctly what is under that blanket?"
"Money. That's money." Rafael was also surprised and then burst into laughter along with Anton, who didn't know what to do.
On top of the food, there were several scattered bills, so they immediately knew that this was intentional by the Rossi family, which was actually unnecessary.
"Should we return that money with a gift?" Rafael knew that they couldn't accept money, so he made a very interesting suggestion.
"We will do that; I'll take care of it." Anton stored the money without even knowing how much it was and focused on the food. The Asolation of Light took care of funding all his tools as an exorcist priest, so money was not necessary in his day-to-day life.
"Let's eat better; at least we'll forget many things." Anton handed a baguette to Rafael, who was next to him, and both ate in silence.
In that moment of peace, the system, attribute panel, or exorcist window appeared again before his eyes with just a thought. Anton hadn't given a name to the thing that only he could see, so he gave it several nicknames every time he addressed the most supernatural thing that came with him to this world.
In some TV series he has seen in his past life, some people obtain something after witnessing an important event in their lives, and he is no exception.
Although he can say with exactitude what Wisdom Springs is like, similar to a combination of New York and London in their most rural areas, this was a parallel world, and in his mind, he has the memories of another person entwined with his as if they were his own. That's why he can say that Wisdom Springs is like London and New York, but in a not-so-modern era, something more rural and less industrialized.
The world was divided by three major governments, and wars ended after World War II, when three powers were established. But forgetting things that didn't interest him, the exorcism system only told him his personal statistics, gave him certain missions with no consequences for not completing them, and notified him of certain jobs that he could take or not.
Missions weren't daily; weeks passed without any appearing, and from one moment to another, there were things he could complete to obtain some more special rewards, like his ability, which is the Hand of God.
Anton accepted them all as long as they were related to his work; on the other hand, he spent his time taking care of the trees in his private nursery.
Looking at all those numbers, Anton didn't know how strong he was. He wasn't aware, but the general strength was related to everything physical; the strength of faith was focused on his energy to exorcise and unleash certain abilities like prayers, blessings, and mandates. As for his spirit, he supposed that was the armor of his soul against more special entities.
In the beginning, Anton had thought he could be very powerful, but besides the increase in his physical strength, there was nothing remarkable about his abilities; he remained a human like any other.
"A human like any other," Anton thought as he watched pigeons walk a few meters away from him, illuminated by dawn.
After finishing their breakfast, Anton and Rafael returned to the church. This place was not the base of the Light Association but a borrowed site for operations in this part of the city, so Anton had to come occasionally to make his presence known.
While assisting in this place, he spent his time in the nursery, not because he didn't like it, but because he was more visible to people.
"Well, Rafael, another day as a psychologist..." Looking at the familiar church in front of his eyes, Anton walked towards the open entrance.
When he came to this place and had nothing to do, he would usually sit with other priests. Some believers came to pray every day and occasionally sought advice from him, despite his young age. He didn't look like he was only seventeen, but that was indeed his age.
Anton, a non-believer in any religion other than the God in his heart, respected the thoughts of each person because one never knew which of the gods they had created was the closest representation to the Almighty God.
For Anton, dealing with believers as an exorcist priest meant identifying the identity of each of them. Some were rich, others were killers; most were ordinary, but others had strange behaviors that made him suspicious.
All believers were mixed, and it was complicated to identify them. Being a priest had a lot of power, but at the same time, it was a struggle with oneself upon discovering certain things while listening to certain very dark confessions.
While Anton walked into the church, he wondered if he would really be considered a priest based on his thoughts and looked around.
This church was not as bright as others in more populated places, but it had its charm and was certainly ancient. What he discovered is that, no matter how beautiful a church is, as long as it is a church, there will be believers dedicating their prayers.
"Good morning, priest!"
"Good morning!" Anton greeted an elderly parishioner who gave him a sweet look, and after talking for a while, he walked towards the main building of the church.
He didn't know why, but he was taking his role as a priest more seriously each time. It was something really strange.
This church was no different from those in his original world. There were huge rows of chairs, many statues of angels and saints, and, of course, Jesus nailed to a cross.
Under the candlelight, the overall light tended to be dim, intentionally done this way to give more respect to this place.
Anton walked to the front and stopped alone when he saw a huge statue of Jesus. He looked at it with respect, then moved his hand over his chest, made a cross, closed his eyes, and said, "Amen." After this, he began to offer his own prayer to the world.
If you don't feel represented by a god, that's okay. But if there's one thing everyone should agree on, it's that the mind creates everything known and unknown; science itself says this.
"I know you're listening somewhere in the universe... I'm not yet aware if what I'm doing here is seeking forgiveness, but I won't stop until I know I've done enough."
"I'm imperfect, but through my hand, I will exorcise as many entities of darkness as I can, and when the time comes, I'll be ready to leave this world."
Anton, who finished these words, felt a vibration in his body, and soon a message appeared in front of his eyes.
"Congratulations on making a deep prayer; you have gained 5 Spirit points."
"That's an amen..." Anton murmured as he opened his eyes and looked at those points that added to his spirit's strength.
After giving his last glance to the statue, Anton took the backpack he carried and walked to the right to wait for the arrival of some believers who would seek someone to talk to. In the end, he also needed to talk to someone to feel useful for a moment.
Although he is not a priest, and this is not his obligation, he might as well fulfill all the duties a priest does in this church. But because that would be too much, he only limits himself to talking with people and exercising.
Who knows? Maybe he can meet someone interesting. Things can happen that way, so he looked forward to the day when something much more interesting would happen that would lead him a step deeper into the darkness.
