As soon as the sky was bright, the night sky in the west was still starry, and a touch of fish belly white had been hung in the east, and a ray of morning light had crossed the mountains and mountains with difficulty, and began to shine on the east of the Icadia continent, and a new morning arrived as promised.

In the northern part of the Holy Empire, the people here did not have the opportunity to enjoy the honor of being the first to be illuminated, and due to the geographical limitations, this honor was surrendered to the eastern provinces, but the people living in Richelieu never felt inferior to it.

Because in this city, there is the unique St. Augustine College in the whole continent, and in addition to the glorious cathedral, which is known as the "rest place of the gods", it is undoubtedly the most desirable holy place for all believers and monks in the whole continent.

This dormant academy in the city of Richelieu has been dormant for hundreds of years, and in terms of age, it is older than Richelieu itself.

Located on a thousand-meter-high mountain south of Richelieu, the Academy is made up of a series of buildings, large and small, with dozens of monasteries large and small forming the torso of the Augustinian Academy, and its heart, beyond the torso, is located in the cathedral in the center of the city of Richelieu.

The morning light shines on the mountain road, in the hazy morning mist, a young man wearing a simple monk's robe, looking about sixteen years old, bends down slightly, holds a scripture, and walks on the winding mountain road.

"The Lord came into the world as light, and everyone who believes in the Lord does not abide in darkness. The young man carefully recited the proverbs in the scriptures, no matter from the standard degree of pronunciation or facial expressions, the young monk in front of him was impeccable, like a pious shepherd, but the next sentence was enough to make the devout believers fall through their glasses, "What nonsense, according to this, such a ghost place that is so dark in the morning is actually embarrassed to claim that it is the first monastery in the mainland, and the god of light must have taken a nap in the morning." ”

Before he knew it, the young monk had reached the top of the mountain, sat down on an exposed rock that had been weathered for hundreds of years, and quietly watched as a bright color rose in the east.

Even though he had seen it more than a hundred times, the magnificence of the sunrise still made him feel refreshed, and it was one of the few things in his life that he could enjoy.

"How wonderful you are in life. The boy muttered to himself.

The outline of the sun gradually became clear, and the morning mist halfway up the mountain gradually dissipated, and the boy stood up and came to a tree at the top of the mountain.

In medieval legend, it was under this tree that the saint Augustine meditated and enlightened, and wrote the famous work "The Shining City" in the history of theology. This tree is also regarded as a holy miracle by the academy, and every year I don't know how many believers come to worship by trekking through mountains and rivers, risking falling off the cliff to worship this sacred tree.

Stretching out his hand to brush away the dust on the trunk of the sacred tree, a series of shocking shallow scratches were revealed, and the young man took out a knife from his pocket, like a sculptor, with a solemn and holy expression, and gently traced a straight new line on the trunk with the knife.

This picture is very ordinary, but it is enough to make an old priest who has been in the academy for most of his life faint in anger, but the blasphemous boy is still pious, doing things that are spurned by believers all over the world.

"More than 700 Dao, two years, really fast. Counting the scratches on the tree, the boy looked at his work and let out a long breath.

"Goodbye, old man, I hope to see you again in my lifetime. The boy patted the trunk of the tree and said kindly.

It was a circular hall, the hall was very empty, there were no extra ornaments, the noon sun laid a golden carpet through the glass windows above the hall, the angels and the Holy Spirit patterns painted on the ground looked extremely sublime in the light, and behind the square mahogany table at the end of the hall, three old men sat upright, and on both sides of the hall, two rows of priests in snow-white robes stood on the side.

Gently pushing open the wooden door, the young man walked into this place filled with holy light, his face was solemn, and his fingers crossed his chest, "The light is above." ”

At the same time, he looked at the old men in front of him who were about to decide his fate, and sitting in the middle was an old monk with glasses, dressed in a clean priest's robe, and the young man recognized this as the dean of the seminary.

On the left is an arcane in purple robes with the Golden Scales Badge of the Magic Guild on his chest, symbolizing his status as a high-level spellcaster.

On the right hand side is an elusive old man, silver-white robe, sleeves dotted with transparent gems, and a layer of glowing Mithril plated at the neckline, anyone wearing this outfit will be a small moving vault, and this outrageously terrifying old man is now holding his chin with one hand, his eyes closed, and he is sleeping as if no one is around.

"The brilliance is on top. The old monk spoke slowly, also drew a cross on his chest, and lifted his glasses, "If you are humbled, you can still say that you will be exalted, and the Lord will save the humble." ”

The young man paused for a moment, and immediately understood that this was the dean's test of himself, so he humbly bowed his head and replied respectfully: "The Book of Job, chapter 22, verse 29, this passage reveals to the world that all beings must be humble before the light, and the arrogant will be forsaken by the Lord. ”

"Good. The old monk nodded approvingly, and continued: "The king made oak for the walls of the house of the Lord of Radiance and the palace of the king, and for the singers the harps, and the king made a throne of ivory, and wrapped it in emeralds, and the throne had seven steps, and the back of the seat was round, and the armrests on either side had guards standing.

"The Book of Kings, from chapter 10, verses 12, 18, and 19, contains five obvious errors, that the king used sandalwood instead of oak for the balustrade, that the material for the throne was pure gold instead of jade, that the steps of the throne were only six levels, and that there were lions and not guards standing beside the king. The young man replied in a loud voice.

"I am amazed by your knowledge of the canon, Constantine, I think that when I was your age, I was often left speechless by the dean's questions. The old man smiled.

"The dean praised. Constantine bowed his head slightly, his eyes calm, but he didn't know what to feel in his heart.

The old man asked a few more questions about theological doctrines, all of which came from difficult and obscure theological treatises, and to his astonishment, Constantine was able to answer them fluently, and from time to time mixed with his own opinions, even the senior priests standing on either side of the hall showed a slight discoloration.

"Congratulations, child, you have passed the Lord's initial test for you, and I wish you to be a good shepherd who will lead the faithful out of the wilderness of ignorance and lead them to the kingdom of eternal life. ”

"Thank the Lord. Constantine drew a cross again, secretly relieved, it seems that his efforts in the morning reading of the academy in the past two years have not been in vain.

"Young man, I have heard from Bishop Cicero that you usually seem to have a distinctive interest in magic in addition to theology, and that the vast majority of the books you usually borrow from the Library are on magic and arcane, and to a lesser extent theology. The arcanist on the side suddenly spoke, "Why?"

Constantine said calmly: "The Lord created all things in the world and formulated the laws for the operation of this world, theology is the study of God, and magic is the knowledge of the world, the study of magic can make us more close to the will of the Lord, understand what the Lord thinks, a shepherd who has no understanding of everything in the world, can only mechanically recite the teachings will still be lost, how can he lead the lambs astray?"

"So, can you describe what magic is, and what do you know about magic?" said the Arcanist slowly.

"I'm sorry, my honorable Arcanist, with my limited knowledge, I can't answer such a grand proposition, and besides, even the Magic Guild has not yet developed a unified textual definition of spells. Constantine bowed slightly, carefully sifting through the words in his mind.

To borrow an ancient and subtle metaphor from St. Ingres, all human knowledge about magic is like a towering tree, on which six different branches protrude, representing the six major realms of magic, namely the elements, the arcane, the alchemy, astrology, the natural magic, and the black arts, which form the territory of the wizarding world, and the rest of the side branches are just extensions of these six realms. ”

"To quote His Excellency Ingres, it seems that you are indeed not a layman who is happy to hunt for a moment. The Arcanist commented, "However, theory and practice have always been two different things, can you cast any spell in any realm other than the dark arts?"

Constantine frowned slightly, and just when everyone in the audience thought that he couldn't do it, the young man suddenly spread out his right palm.

A small dark red flame appeared on his thumb, and then, his other four fingers also appeared in different changes, a cloud of condensed mist floated on his index finger, a small arc of electricity jumped back and forth on his middle and ring fingers, and finally a small earthy yellow ball on his tail finger, seeing this scene, even the calm high-level arcanist could not hide his surprise for a while, and he grabbed the arm of the chair hard to prevent himself from standing up because he could not suppress the shock in his heart.

"It's the four elements, and it looks like you're really getting started. The Arcanist calmed down, "Being able to present the four different elemental powers of fire, frost, lightning, and land, I have to say, young man, I am amazed by the speed of your learning, but it's a pity that you have learned too much, otherwise, with your talent, if you specialize in any of the disciplines in the elemental realm, you may have already entered the threshold of a spellcaster." ”

"Thank you for the compliment, but as a shepherd, I'm more interested in the vastness of the wizarding world itself, and I don't really care how high I can reach in magic. Constantine replied verbally, wondering if he would faint if he let the old fellow know the truth.

"I don't have a problem anymore. The old arcanist replied.

Constantine turned his gaze to the last old man, who had remained asleep until he had shown his magical talents, and then barely opened his eyes and yawned, and he was the only person in the room who Constantine could not see.

The silver-robed old man looked at the young monk standing in front of him, and suddenly laughed, this inexplicable smile made the young man shudder, and his intuition told him that this old man, who seemed to have always been the weakest in his sense of existence, was most likely the most difficult examiner in this room.

"Child, stare me in the eye. The silver-robed old man spoke, his voice was very gentle and kind, making people feel like a spring breeze.

Constantine did as he was told, and the old man's eyes seemed to be two pure and immaculate gems, reflecting the pupils of the young man's delicate face.

Just when Constantine was a little relaxed, he saw that in the depths of the old man's pupils, countless colorful starlight gushed out, forming a magnificent starry sky, and he felt that he seemed to gradually lose control of his spirit and completely merged into this starry sky.

Constantine suddenly saw that he was standing in the middle of an endless galaxy, and the dazzling stars in the distance shimmered, revolving around him rapidly, making the boy dizzy.

When Constantine felt like he was about to faint, a gentle voice pulled him out of the starry sky, "All right, child. ”

Constantine came back to his senses and saw that the old man nodded to the two beside him, and then Bishop Cicero, who was sitting in the center, took out a parchment scroll and a quill pen, and the ink soaked the paper in clear handwriting, "Congratulations, Constantine Diges, you have successfully passed the examination, and now you have become a full-fledged priest, contributing your wisdom and strength to the spread of radiance." ”

After the boy walked out of the examination hall, Bishop Cicero picked up a handkerchief and wiped the top of his head, bowed respectfully to the silver-robed old man beside him, and then said: "It's really terrifying, I can't imagine that such a young priest will appear in the Augustinian Academy one day, hehe, the Pope was only about twenty years old when he walked out of the academy, what do you say, Your Excellency Laplace?"

Hearing his words, the old man came back to his senses, straightened his sleeves, and said with a smile: "But when Innocent left this academy, he entered the City of Dawn in a few years, and that young man may not have such good luck. ”

"His talent is acceptable, even if he is placed in the Royal Academy of Magic, he can be classified as an upper-middle level. The old arcanist spoke, he himself was the arcane instructor of the Royal Academy, and the vice-president of the Richelieu Magic Guild, so he was qualified to say this.

"However, the vastness of the magical realm is unimaginable to ordinary people, even many of the true geniuses I have seen have only circled in a few fields in their lifetimes, and if they are greedy, they will only get half the result, in my opinion, although this young man's talent is good, but even with the glorious favor, the greatest achievement in magic in the future may be just a golden scale, destined to stop at the crown badge. ”

"That's not in our minds, and since Laplace's seniors have affirmed his potential, let's rest assured that he will not let us down. Bishop Cicero rubbed his head tiredly, "The incident happened suddenly, and the entire northern diocese was not prepared, so I had to trouble this old bone." At this, the bishop frowned, paused, and motioned for the priests and the old arcanist in the room to leave first.

"Ten years ago, the Gate of the Heavenly Realm, which had not been encountered for a thousand years, suddenly appeared, and then disappeared in the sky above the kingdom in the north, and the entire continent was shaken, and afterwards, the prestige of the Holy See on the continent was unprecedentedly impacted. Bishop Cicero said heavily.

"The Church has thwarted the plots of those forces who are not willing to submit to the light of the Lord, but once the seeds of ambition sprout, they will not cease to grow, and the wolves and vipers who hide in the shadows may one day show their fangs. ”

"The appearance and disappearance of the Heavenly Gate back then was very strange, and afterwards, Innocent also came to me to inquire, but even I couldn't see through it. The silver-robed old man said lightly, his eyes as deep as the sea of stars, exuding a wise light, "But when it comes to the gods, the trajectory of fate will become chaotic, and that is beyond the scope of astrology that can be predicted." ”

"Don't you even know?" Cicero sighed, his heart was filled with infinite awe for this old man, the old man in front of him was known as the number one astrologer in the continent, ancient astrology has always been considered the most profound and obscure bell tower in the temple of magic, which discouraged countless magical geniuses who tried to explore the mystery alone.

But Laplace, when he was less than 100 years old, became the first "prophet" of the Icadia continent for thousands of years, the highest level of astrologers. Legend has it that those who have reached this level can peek into the flow of fate from the slightest detail, and the word "subtle knowledge" is far from enough to express the wonder of this ability.

"The trajectory of fate is unpredictable, and every moment there are small changes, but these changes are so small that sometimes even the astrologer himself is difficult to observe. Laplace stretched out his palm, and countless points of light floated from the sunlight from the dome, gathering in his palm, "But even if there is a disturbance, in most cases, the trajectory of fate is complex and changeable, and in the end it is still the same path, I remember that when I was in the City of Dawn, Innocent asked me to predict his fate, and finally I saw him enter the temple in Olympia Square and put on the crown of the Pope, but when I told him this, he thought I was telling a bad joke. ”

"What about the young man, and where will he go in the future?" asked Bishop Cicero, in distraction.

"I didn't look that far, I only saw that he would successfully complete the task you had given him. Laplace said indifferently, "The astrologer's own consciousness also influences what he observes, so I only see some fragments of what happened to him, and others, I don't know for the time being." ”

"Thank you for your cooperation, and I will tell His Majesty the Pope that it is a great honour for the Diocese of the North to have your friendship, and thank you again for your contribution to the glorious cause. Bishop Cicero made a cross on his chest, his expression unusually respectful. "In the future, if there are any requests from the Star Tower, we in the northern diocese will do our best to meet them. ”

"I've been having some trouble with my research lately, and I need to borrow a few ancient books from your college's library. ”

The bishop readily agreed.

Walking out of the hall, Laplace took the key given to him by Cicero and walked in the direction of the library, suddenly looking up at the sky and sighing softly.

He unconsciously remembered the images he had just seen: Winterfell was burning in flames, the tall gates of the heavenly realm were floating in the air, awe-inspiring and sacred, and the next moment, countless angels turned into golden snow in the sky, and in an inconspicuous corner of the picture, a little boy stepped into the magic circle without looking back, leaving behind an extremely resolute back.

For some secret reasons, he did not tell the archbishop and the discourse, and if he really said it, it was very likely that the mainland would set off a bloody storm because of his words.

Thinking of the fist clenched tightly in his right hand when the young man left the hall, Laplace couldn't help but smile bitterly, wondering what kind of big game of chess fate was playing?