Chapter 308: Karhalantheel Island.

Chapter 308: Karhalantheel Island.

Karhalantheel Island was a small piece of land off the shore of Elyonda, protected by a barrier created by a magic object made from Aleistunum. A cage designed to imprison the SS rank leviathan this island was named after. Considering the peace and quiet on the isle, it was hard to imagine something capable of destroying nations was right underneath my feet.

A small community had grown around the shrine holding the beast asleep. From what the ship captain who sailed us over here told me, this place was home to a sub-faction of the Church of Yeostar, consisting primarily of warrior priests. Their duty was to protect this island, and they would only leave it for emergencies or events related to Yeostar, like the festival in three days. This was also where the next Champion of Yeostar would be knighted after the tournament.

Once our group landed on this island, we were immediately greeted by a group of armed, muscular, tanned human men in togas with metal gauntlets and boots, complete with scars peeking through their outfits and stoic expressions.These guys looked very much what I envisioned them to be. One of them, though, was wearing a white-gold priest robe adorned with some leather armor. This man came forward and introduced himself as the leader.

Going by the name of Jethro, he called himself a knight. From the look of it, he seemed quite advanced in age, probably past 50, at least going by the number of wrinkles and the amount of white hair on his beard. His demeanor and speech were quite refined, but there was a hint of roughness behind his actions. As if he wasnt comfortable speaking like this. Still, he gave off a nobles aura.

And surprise, surprise, he was one!

Sir Tehmrayn, I have read the letter you wrote for the request to enter this island. I presume you must be the Champion God Yeostar has sent to us! My name is Jethro Caimlace, a member of the Kingdom of Yeoss royal family. Uncle to our current liege.

Huh?!

But the more surprising fact was that, instead of addressing me, the actual person Yeostar wanted, he completely ignored me after his introduction and went over to the naga.

Tehmrayn. Well met. He gave a short bow and nodded. This is depth priest Kushlekzar, a newly inaugurated Saint of the Depth Goddess. We were both sent here by Her Wisdom to aid in the protection of the seal of Karhalentheel.

Yes, you had also stated he would be here as well. Although, there is something that perplexes me. He stroked his beard, looking conflicted. You see, good sir, the one who wears the crown of Yeos, and is accepted by it, is allowed to briefly commune with Yeostar at the level of a blessed. My nephew had received a Divine Message saying Champion. The church and the royal family had thought our grand ancestor had sent only a Champion here to help us, so we readily permitted you to come here.

Master Kush had mentioned Tehmrayn didnt want to divulge their status as blessed to people unnecessarily, as too much attention could lead to missed opportunities. He preferred to control word-of-mouth, and was more than okay if his success were only known to the gods. Quite admirable, contrasting my first impression of him.

But he was still extremely blunt of a person.

Then you have misunderstood the message to an extent. I am here on the Depth Goddesss command. The Champion you seek is this young lady here.

He then shoved me in front of him in front of Jethro, before retreating even behind Mother. It was as if he was saying this was not his problem so I should deal with it, since it was mine. Jerk!

Y-You? Jethro looked confused as hell.

Uhm, yeah. In the name of the Goddess, I, Hestia Atsuko, greet you on this auspicious RestDay. May the Goddess bless our meeting today with blessed light. I then raised my hand and cast [Prayer] on everybody, as it was custom for a blessed of Aurena to do to give thanks for their warm welcome. In addition, it proved my capabilities.

[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Major)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Wha-?! Alone? A single priestess cast [Prayer]?

There was a small commotion amongst the warrior priests as they clapped their hands together, praying in thanks to Aurena and me for this blessing. On the other hand, Jethra was dumbstruck as he looked me up and down, looking more and more conflicted the longer he took.

Uhm, okay? I felt unnerved by his rather weird reaction.

I do not know of a dragonewt Champion. And you are a woman at that, too. He frowned.

On the other hand, I went silent. I had not expected such a reaction. Never have I heard anybody say something like that to my face ever since I came to Peolynca. He was reeking misogyny.

Im the newest Champion of the Light Pantheon, with my patron goddess being the Goddess herself, I announced clearly for everybody to hear. I was tasked with a Divine Quest to assure the blood of Yeostar is correctly given to somebody who is worthy for it. If you are a member of the royal family, and also the leader of this faction of the Church of Yeos, then I assure you, I am here to help.

He didnt seem any friendlier, but neither was he more hostile. Then come. Allow me to give you a tour and a little clarity on the situation. Sir Tehmrayn and Kushlekzar, please, I ask you to accompany us.

This nation sure has its problems

Master and Themrayn quickly agreed to the tour, asserting that it would do them well to learn more about the island. With them going along with it, I had to swallow my wish to shout and follow along with it. I honestly had no idea if I should follow right behind Jerkthro or behind Master.

[Are you sure you dont want to reveal your identity, Hestia?] Mothers voice suddenly entered my mind. I turned my head around to her, looking at me curiously instead of being angry.

I guess this wasnt something I should care about. Jethro hasn't said anything majorly wrong just yet.

[No need. My identity was already revealed at the gate. News will fly around soon enough. After what happened in the city today, I wanted to understand the stance of the royal family first.]

[Oooh, reconnaissance? Smart thinking. Although, from what Ive seen in the past, a country reflects the authority of the ruler. Even if the current prince is young, the efforts of his father took their toll on Yeos. Use your own influence, dont forget.]

[Yeah.] I nodded before walking next to Jethro, walking with him as if I was an equal. Looking at his face, it seemed he had a problem with it.

In any case, the Principality of Yeos, as Mother said, was currently ruled by a boy of the age of eight. According to the Murainas and Shatureins spy network, the previous prince of Yeos, along with nearly all his heirs, died fighting for the Empire against the demonkins. The only ones left were his only daughter and pubescent son.

Yeos had an Agnatic-Cognatic succession rule, in other words, women could only inherit titles if no eligible males were available. Apparently, due to their superstitious belief that only males were allowed to inherit, as it would bring misfortune to them otherwise. Further reinforced when a past princess almost caused the downfall of the principality until she unfortunately died from a sickness. Only if it was to maintain the bloodline may a noblewoman inherit anything in this nation.

Saori went on a field day to find all this information for me before she left for the Belzac forest. When it came to history, I could not possibly have found anybody better to teach me about it. It also helped that something like this was extremely common in Medieval Europe, so it was easier for me to understand.

Oh ho! Master let out a surprised noise once we reached a side of the island with multiple wooden rafts docked a bit further away from the beach. Multiple warrior priests were there, maintaining large fishing rods with metal lines. Mhmm, I presume fishing would be the best way to gather supplies on a lonesome island.

Yes, that is correct Saint Kushlekzar. Jethro replied, his tone formal with Master. As you should know before coming here, the mana barrier holding the leviathan back contains immense amounts of mana. Although its mana doesnt leak, at least as far as we can tell from years of staying on this island, my predecessors presumed all this mana attracts large amounts of merfiend. We hunt them not only for training, but also to protect the seal.

Merfiend was the general term for ocean monsters, as the majority were considered fish. Similar to how there was a distinction between garms and virigresses, despite them both being mammals, there were all sorts of different merfiends.

Us warrior-priests of Yeos are the protectors of this island, the greatest achievement of Yeos, and also of our faith. As such, we are to learn the arts of war as much as we must better our understanding of the gods. Unlike paladins or holy knights, we are more scholarly.

And this was their primary place to train the fishing area. They would fight against the surrounding merfiends, kill them for experience before turning them into products for their country. Their primary diet was seafood and the fruits they grew here, as all inhabitants on this island had taken a vow of abstinence, rejecting any food they had not grown or killed on the island. Any money they gained would be donated to the local church or used to buy equipment.

The only exception was the leader of this group, who would always be a member of the royal family. They acted as the link between the warrior-priests and the castle, and would act in the formers interest to uphold the value of Yeostar. It was an oath for life and prevented them from inheriting any titles or to marry, but was considered one of the highest honors you could gain.

Jethro was the current leader of the group. He was allowed to eat and act as a royal when he was called upon to the castle, but once he returned to the island, he was to follow the life of a warrior-priest.

Ahhhh, such nice weather. Its almost autumn, but its still pretty warm in Yeos. Taking a swim in the ocean doesnt sound too bad.

Summer. Swimsuits. Tropical island. Why couldnt everybody else be here with me? Haaaaaaa

I stared in wonder, only to be suddenly interrupted when one of the priests started shouting from the bottom of his lungs. Like a war horn, it jolted everybody into action as they anxiously ran over to the moving fishing rod, weapons in hand. The man who called began attempting to reel the catch in.

From the looks of it, the rods were manatech; by injecting mana into them, the rods reeled in the catch by themselves. Looking down, although the accumulated mana was high, I saw a single body of mana struggling against the fishing line, only to suddenly lose strength and quickly ascend to the surface.

Until an eel-like creature shot up from the water like a flying fish.

Serpentine Ripper Merfiend

An aquatic monster found roaming in coral beds, navigating through the tight area with its snake-like body. Once in combat, the eel hardens its scale, turning them razor-sharp to the touch. Able to swallow water and shoot out rays of water by using mana. Rank D

The priests reacted immediately with fervor. They shot [Smite]s at the creature before throwing harpoons at it. The beast rattled and fought back, too panicked to take notice of the damage it took from their attacks. Like a snake, it jerked his head around, almost biting one or two warrior priests.

However, once it began shooting water beams out from its mouths, the situation got a bit hairy, prompting Jethro to click his tongue and pull his armor off to swim over to the raft. Once he and his guards were there, he began issuing commands while joining the fight as a combatant.

He can fight, Tehmrayn commented. He has clear experience as a commander. Competent, good.

I nodded. There was a clear difference between Jethros combat experience and all the other priests. I hadnt checked his profile, for obvious reasons, but I guess with age did come wisdom and experience.

Through his participation, the warrior priests finally managed to slay the monster, but in the end, the damage dealt to the raft and priests was not ignorable.

At least nobody died.

I stood up and flew over to the raft, intending to heal them after the fight, but with a loud Stop! from Jethro, I froze in place.

Healer or no, your job is not to heal these men, Champion. They are to do it themselves to train their [Holy Magic].

I turned to the injured, noticing a multitude of the warrior priests riddled with wounds, either from getting hit by a water beam or being scratched by that eels sharp fins. Considering he was their leader, wasnt it too heartless to do that?

They are the new generation of warrior-priests. If they cannot become better fast enough, then they will only be a disappointment to everybody who died! Jethro then gestured to the beach, telling me to fly back before he readied himself to swim. Come. Leave them alone for now.

And then he dived into the water, swimming over at record pace.

Such a weird place.

The tour continued, this time without his guards as they had to attend to their wounds. Now that I thought about it, those scars littering their bodies probably came from living on this rather dangerous island.

Standard healing magic fostered the bodys natural regeneration. It wasnt a heal-all miracle like [Miraculous Grace]. Even [Major Heal] or my [Sanctified Blaze] could leave behind scars if I healed somebody too late into the recuperation phase.

However, looking at the priests, they could all use the minor and moderate healing spells from the System. They were even healing them right on the spot. This either happened a lot, or they werent very proficient even after all this healing. Even then, I had to ask, why was Jethro the only one who came out of that battle unharmed? They outnumbered that merfiend by 16 people.

The rest of the tour was pretty uneventful. He showed us around the different facilities of the island, including the armory, smithy, storage building, and so much more. It was as that ship captain said, this was pretty much a self-thriving community a village.

Only, there are no women here. I guess they are more like monks.

After we made the rounds, Jethro asked Tehmrayn, Master, and me to join him at the shrine. He wanted to speak with us in private, so he asked if we could tell our followers to leave. We didnt argue back, as there was no need, since the saurians and the wyverns had their interest locked onto something else already.

Wruuuoah! Catch, Beth! Krim-Slak shouted as he jumped out of the water and threw a C rank merfiend into the air.

[Caug Woah! Its moving around too much! Brother, freeze the fins!]

[On it!]

On the other hands, the twins were flying around in their dragonewt form, freezing and incapacitating whatever was thrown at them. This was their fourth catch, already.

Akasht, get moving! Bring that merfiend onto the ice island already! Grazlahta ordered as he decapitated a shark-like monster with a single chop from his axe.

Krruuuuuaaaagh! And the large sarcosilian did just that, swimming like a jetboat before wrestling the monster, all while Rajah was on his back and capturing the merfiend with [Dark Tendrils] and mana threads.

[Go! Go! Big Bro Akasht! I can heal you!] my virgiress said before casting [Minor Heal].

Looks like they are having fun.

Goddess Aurena, can I please, please, reject this Quest! I want to leave the country!

Fuck!

I decline. That was not me, it was Tehmrayn. I am here to protect the shrine from potential interlopers while the festival is still around, and until you have chosen your Champion candidate. I will not leave this island. This is the will of Plesia.

He then turned to Master and me. Depth Priest, you may do what you wish, but I suggest for your party to train and stay here. I will need help with the defenses.

Master nodded. Of course, the sea underwater is ripe with enemies. However, I have not seen my two apprentices in almost a year. I wish to learn their capabilities. Training them is no issue? He was talking about Tasianna and me.

Tehmrayn nodded before addressing me, but I already knew what he wanted. Yeah, I can handle the tournament by myself. Am I allowed to win?

I turned to Jethro.

If you are that confident do whatever. We will find our candidates while you fight and after the tournament, we will grant them the blood. Expose or eliminate whatever threat you believe is necessary. I will inform the castle about what we talked about today.

Seems like the tournament arc is coming up~ But, first.

I went up to Yeostars altar and clapped my hands together in a prayer. I kneeled down and focused on the image of Yeostar before me.

God Yeo

And then something happened. My senses became wobbly, as if I was being moved somewhere. The moment I opened my eyes, the world was pure white.

star.

I turned around. There, in this vast cloudy world, a single furnished room occupied it. Sitting there wasnt one person, but three. And strangely enough, two of them I had never seen before.

Ooooh, look at the girl. Ha! The minimum required for being a mortal our impeccable Goddess had chosen to bless. A soul she had deigned the honor to speak with her personally! One was a woman in full armor with flowing orange hair, speaking with an especially pompous voice.

Still, I am surprised. Subordinate gods we may be, but it is still three gods she is meeting. The other was a woman in a white dress, looking more like a worriless noble lady who would rather enjoy a day at a tea party, than whatever this was.

And, lastly, the only person I recognized. An aged man with a full beard and a broken crown-like helmet sat on a chair. His armor was pristine, adorned not with fancy accessories to look impressive, but with the coarse materials of monsters. Still, even then, the craftsmanship it was made with was nothing to scoff about.

A warrior? A king? No, he was far more than that.

He was

Champion Hestia, the Pantheon of Light welcomes you to my domain.

Yeostar.

A note from AbyssRaven

A bit of sexism here. I apologize if anybody felt offended by it.

If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr!

For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.

Thank you for reading this chapter.

PayPal

Patreon

Previous

Chapter Fiction

Index Next

Chapter

RSS

About the author



1 Fictions 7 Posts 1 Threads

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 2:50:26 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

Achievements

























Comments(14)

Set Compact

Log in to comment

Log In

Load Comments

Log in to comment

Log In

Theme (Entire Website) Dark Light Dim background 0% 20% 40% 50% 60% 80% 100%

Font Size 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 28 32 Reader Width Max 90% 80% 70% 60% 50%

Font Family

Default Open Dyslexic Atkinson Hyperlegible Arial Roboto Open Sans OS Default Comic Sans Lucida Verdana Ubuntu Ubuntu Condensed Franklin Gothic Garamond Caslon Minion

Font Color

Indent

Color Scheme

Theme Default OLED Black Royal Road Dark Dark Gray Gray Light Gray Sepia White

Paragraph Spacing

Close

Points You can specify how many points you want to give (minimum: 0, maximum: 0).

Comment (optional) Why are you giving this user reputation?

Give Reputation Close

Royal Road is the home of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragement.

Royal Road is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Dark Light Create a support ticket

Contact Us by Email

Ads for Authors

Programmatic Advertising

Royal Road 2013-2022

Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Blog | Status

Tap again to scroll to the top!