Divine System: Land of the Abominations-Chapter 322: The Trials Begin (3).

Nero shakes his head and says,

"No, I don’t. I apologize for even suggesting something like that."

In his mind, he can’t help but think how naive he was to expect to receive something as crucial and important as sorcerous knowledge.

Suddenly, the tension surrounding Arthur dissipates like it was never there in the first place,

"Sorcery is a gift from the gods, Nero. It is my personal belief that it should be shared amongst the masses, damn the church’s beliefs!"

Nero chuckles nervously as he glances in the direction of the supervising sergeant. Seeing the man still staring emptily into space with a bored expression on his face, he breathes a sigh of relief.

Arthur continues, placing his hands on Nero’s shoulder,

"Listen here, my good friend Nero..."

’We are friends now? It’s all moving s quick.’ Nero tries his best not to roll his eyes.

A strange grin suddenly appears on Arthur’s face,

"An because we are friends, I believe no one wants to take advantage of the other."

Hearing this, Nero’s eyes narrow.

’What could he possibly be getting at?’ he thinks to himself.

A moment later, he gets his answer,

"How about this— all the knowledge on sorcery that I currently possess, I shall grant onto you. In exchange however, you shall give me a couple years of your life in servitude. What do you say?"

Before Nero can say anything, Jacob guffaws and interjects,

"The men of the house of Koh are freaking Devils, I tell ya. The spawns of Mephistopheles himself! Right out his devilish balls! They’ll get you to sell your soul in exchange for a tub of ale, or a few scrolls. Damned bastards, the lot of them!"

This time, Arthur cannot hide the rage on his face. He turned and roars at Jacob with spittle flying out of his mouth,

"Shut up, you fucking brute! I’m having a conversation here!"

"Heh!" Jacob spits out, although his expression tells he is rather belated to get a rise out of Arthur.

Arthur lets out a sigh then turns back to Nero, his expression much less tame than it was just moments ago.

"So? What do you say?"

This time, it is Nero’s turn to chuckle,

"I believe it is quite unfortunate, but I must decline the offer."

Arthur grimaces, "And why is that?"

Nero slightly averts his gaze as a playful smile appears on his lips,

"My lord, don’t you think poaching other candidates before the trials even begin is rather dirty?"

"Ha! The men of Koh are swine in the mud pools in that case!" He says with a loud laugh.

Nero’s smile turns wey when he seems Arthur’s swiftly darkening expression.

He quickly attempts to smoothen things over,

"Besides, I do not own my life anymore. It is no longer mine to wager or use to settle debts."

Arthur raises a brow.

Seeing his confusion, Nero sighs and says,

"I am under Commander Strut’s trust. He... saved my life, I guess."

Arthur is silent for a while. Then he hums,

"Is that so?"

His eyes narrow briefly,

"You are rather intriguing, Nero. Plus, you have ties with a powerful man like the Commander. It will surely do me good to make friends with you. Surely, you wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of becoming friends with me, right?"

Nero’s face falls as he shakes his head,

"I couldn’t possibly even think of that. You are of high nobility, and I am just a—"

"Enough of that nonsense talk. To celebrate this friendship, I’ll show you something really cool. Do you wanna see?"

’This young Lord is indeed very willful.’ Nero thinks to himself with a bitter smile on his face.

But he decides not to fight it. There’s nothing he can do against this young Lord.

Rising from where he is seated, Arthur unbuckles his sword and sheath from his waist and drops it down onto the tree root.

Then he walks a few steps forward before turning around to face Nero,

"Magic does not have morality." Is the first thing he says.

Nero looks in confusion.

Arthur clears his throat then he says,

"The wisdom of the old gods is said to be the origins of the corruption. However, I believe the situation is far more nuanced than that. But let’s not jump into my personal philosophies..."

He slowly brings his palm up and speaks with a mellow voice as Nero watched with bated breath.

"Hazai."

Nero feels the instant move of energy surrounding Arthur.

It is soft as a wisp of morning candlelight before the day breaks. But it is there. And he can feel it very clearly.

Nero watches as a gust of flame bursts out of Arthur’s palm, his eyes wide with wonder.

He thinks to himself, ’Is it like the flame Bishop used?’

Then he slowly shakes his head,

’No. It’s not the same. The incantation Bishop used is ’Shemhazai’. If that is the case, then...’

His eyes widen as he gets to see the gust of flames turn into a brilliant blazing pillar of immolating fire that gushes out at a tree, igniting it and burning it into cinders.

"That, is magic, Nero." Arthur says with a proud smile on his face.

"Are you trying to burn the entire damned forest to the ground, you bastard?! What if your ruckus draws the attention of som vile creature from Malady’s depths?!" Jacob growled at Arthur, but he did not pay him any mind.

Instead, his gaze was fixed on Nero,

"The name of fire is "Hazai". It is represented by the runes of "heat" and "destruction". It is a dangerous tool, one that can be used to eradicate life..."

His expression turns serious,

"But it is also used to warm. To drive the cold away and to nurture life. It is neither good or evil."

Nero sucks in a deep breath.

However, Arthur is not finished,

"The same goes with the corruption. I do not believe it is fundamentally evil. Perhaps it is our misunderstanding of the element from which it spews forth."

A sudden uh of bloodlust and terror instantly cuts their conversation short.

Nero’s eyes widen when he realizes he is completely transfixed to the spot in fear.

Complete and utter fear.