God of Assassination, Become the Strongest Healer - chapter 9

Following my father’s voice came my mother’s, and then little Emil, the youngest in the family, who was in her arms, and finally my sister, probably clasping her hands together and praying for me. Just a week to go.

“Faegan, are you ready?”

“Yes, Father.”

Beyond the long corridor, there was a shimmering glow. Time had rushed by, and now it was finally the “Day of Eternity,” and I was standing just a step away from the “Eternal Forest.”

Once I pass through the corridor and push through that glow, I’ll enter Claudius’s sacred ground, the Eternal Forest.

“Faegan, be careful and absolutely don’t overdo it! Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother!”

“Brother, you can do it!” Lana’s voice reached me.

“Master! We are praying for your safe and successful journey!”

“We believe in you, Master Faegan.”

I couldn’t see them, but my family and the main retainers were all probably gathered in the great hall, watching me through a large crystal orb.

With their voices cheering me on, I stepped forward slowly but with purpose.

Wooooooong.

As I got closer to the glowing light, I started to feel a strange vibration, and the entire corridor began to emit a powerful glow.

“Lord, Madam, look! The corridor, the one that will guide the young master to the Eternal Forest, is glowing blue!”

My lord! This is a good sign! How long has it been since we last saw the blue light?

The light was so blinding that I couldn’t make out its exact color from where I was standing, but from the voices I was hearing, it sounded like the corridor was shining blue. This was a pretty good omen, as the corridor’s color reflects the candidate’s potential, and blue meant I had the highest grade of qualification for entering the Eternal Forest.

Zzzzzzt.

Finally, I reached the end of the corridor. The glow before me was writhing and crackling, far more intense than I had expected.

Without hesitation, I stepped into the halo of light. As my upper body half-disappeared into it, I heard a voice.

“Hello, nice to meet you. You must be Pagan.”

It was a warm voice, like sunlight, something I’d never heard before. What? I’ve never heard of people hearing voices during the ritual. Surprised, I looked around, but the sound was brief. By the time I’d passed fully through the light and opened my eyes, the sweet voice that had lingered in my ears was gone, like a dream.

What I saw instead was an endless green field, dotted with dense trees rooted firmly in the ground. Sunlight poured in multicolored rays over the green expanse, and birds sang non-stop. Though no one was there to explain, I instinctively knew that I’d safely arrived at the sacred grounds of Espetara.

“Whoosh.”

Before I could get my bearings, the first guardian of the Eternal Forest appeared from the sky. Massive black wings that could easily envelop two or three grown men, claws that gleamed sharply as they reflected the rainbow light, and golden eyes that looked less like a bird’s and more like a wise sage’s.

“Aglaya?”

The sacred bird, guardian of Espetara’s skies, landed softly on my shoulder, which felt so small next to its big wings. People must be watching this. Since Aglaya finally showed up, Lana must be very excited. As if it wanted to impress her, Aglaya rubbed its head feathers against my cheek. That warm gesture made me hopeful that I could make a contract with it soon.

 Whoosh.

Aglaya showed its friendliness by nuzzling for a moment, but then it flew away. Just then, another visitor arrived with a low growl.

 This creature was about seven or eight meters long, with black stripes on its pure white fur. It was Protedas, the proud scout tiger of Espetara. 

Lana had often dreamed of meeting this tiger. I could picture her getting excited and hugging her mom’s leg in joy. Then came a quick

 lick.

But once again, Lana’s expectations were dashed. Protedas gracefully licked my cheek once, but that was it. With that lick, it disappeared into the thick forest, and naturally, making a contract was out of the question.

“Oink, snort!”

The third visitor was Belap, the giant boar known for its essential role in turning all of Espetara into fertile land.The third guest was Belap, the giant boar that played a key role in turning all of Espetara’s land into fertile soil.

“Oink!”

If Lana was watching, she’d probably be making a face, crying, “No! No! Brother, not Belap, please!”

But honestly, I guess it was lucky for her. Belap’s version of showing kindness was just rubbing his long tusks and snout against my body. At least I learned that even a massive boar’s lips could feel soft, but sadly, he didn’t seem interested in making a contract either.

“Roar!”
“Hiss!”
“Tweet!”

For the next hour, I stayed right there, and felt the presence of so many other spirit beasts. Wolves, peacocks, lizards, deer, hedgehogs, and even a fox. One after another, they appeared and vanished, all different in size and shape, but with one thing in common: they showed some level of friendliness, but none looked like they wanted to make a contract.

“Hey… are you guys messing with me?”

Maybe the shock of being turned down dozens of times in an hour was just too much, because I found myself mumbling in disbelief. Nothing changed, though.

Did I just get rejected by every single one of them?

Just when my patience—never that impressive to begin with—was wearing thin, an unexpected scene unfolded before me.

“Whoosh!”
“Yip!”

From the eagle Aglaya, who was the first to appear, to the last visitor, the fox Salphord, every single spirit beast of Espetara appeared at once. They all gathered with their front paws neatly aligned and heads slightly bowed. It was obvious that they held me in quite high regard.

What the heck? If this was the plan, couldn’t one of you have just made a contract with me? After leaving me high and dry, what’s with this now…?!

I took a step forward to try and figure out what they were up to, and the same halo of light I’d seen at the entrance to the Eternal Forest appeared and surrounded me again.

Wait, no, hang on!

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the empty corridor of the sanctuary, with no trace of the spirit beasts anywhere.

The meeting room was filled with shock as everyone tried to understand what was happening. 

“Did Pagan not succeed in making a pact?” Tiberius, the first to regain his composure, sighed in frustration. 

“Master, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” said an elderly man with a worried expression, shaking his head. 

This man was Abraham, an important advisor who led the council of elders, the top decision-making group of the Claudius family. 

“You saw the corridor turn blue when the young master walked in, right?” 

“Yes, that’s true, but…” 

“And as soon as he entered the Forest of Eternity, Agla appeared immediately. This shows that the young master has a strong connection.”

At Abraham’s words, the other retainers nodded in agreement. Given that Abraham, who was deeply knowledgeable about Claudius family history, spoke with such solid reasoning, they felt it would be premature to label Pagan’s actions as a failure.

But it was also a fact that Pagan had returned to the corridor without forming a pact with any spirit beast.

Faced with a situation where they couldn’t easily find a direction, the retainers were left speechless.

“Honey, I have something I want to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“When our ancestors formed pacts with spirit beasts, was there ever a time when every spirit beast in Espetara appeared all at once to show their goodwill?”

“No, there wasn’t.”

It was Melissa who broke the heavy silence. With a careful voice, she asked her question while holding Emile a little closer, and Tiberius, stroking his daughter’s head as if to comfort her, replied.

“Even our 17th ancestor, who was known for having the strongest affinity, only greeted nine spirit beasts on his first day in the Forest of Eternity. He didn’t receive a welcome from all of them.”

“Of course… I thought so.”

“As far as I know, this is the first time all the spirit beasts have gathered to greet someone like they did for Pagan. Though with Orpheus, the founder of our family, there’s no record left, so we can’t know for sure. Ha ha.”

Tiberius tried to lighten the tense atmosphere with a laugh, but no one else followed his lead. The shock from this unprecedented situation was simply too overwhelming.

So many spirit beasts appeared, yet he didn’t make a pact with any of them? That question filled the minds of everyone in the room.

For a spirit beast to reveal itself to a successor candidate was generally taken as a sign of sufficient goodwill to form a pact. Typically, two or three spirit beasts, or sometimes as many as four or five, would appear before a candidate entering the Forest of Eternity, and the candidate would then choose the partner they felt the strongest connection with to make the pact.

But today, something happened that no one could have ever imagined.

All the spirits were present, but none had made a contract with anyone, thanks to Pagan, who was the first to do so. Ibrahim, watching closely, pointed at the screen and shouted that the entrance wasn’t fully closed yet. Everyone was amazed and expressed their surprise. The entrance that Pagan had used to enter the Forest of Eternity was still shining, even though it wasn’t as bright as before. Someone asked if the entrance was supposed to close immediately when the candidate came back, and another person responded that it used to, but now it was still glowing and not fully closed.

In the face of this puzzling situation, Tiberius and Melissa just let out a half-laugh.

“Haha, it seems like it would be hard to re-enter right now, but with a bit of magic, it might open again. It’s really strange. It’s almost like the entrance is saying, ‘It’s not completely over yet, so get ready and try again.’”

For a while after that, Tiberius and the attendants stared at the screen in deep thought.

But the entrance continued to glow, with no further changes, and in the end, Tiberius had no choice but to step back for a moment.
“Let’s call it a day. Fortunately, the entrance still isn’t fully closed, so we can assume Pagan has one more chance.”
“Ugh… Brother…”
Lana, who deeply admired her older brother, couldn’t hold back her tears at the trial he was facing.
“Uwaa… Abba!”
Seeing his sister cry like that, Emil also broke into tears.
“There, there. It’ll all work out in the end, so let’s not worry too much already. Dear, I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things a bit longer, so you go check on Pagan.”
Tiberius, lifting his crying daughter with one arm, asked Melissa.
“That kid Pagan must have taken quite a shock. No matter how mature and smart he acts, he’s still only 12 years old. He must have been deeply hurt by today’s events, so you go comfort him on my behalf.”

“Pagan, don’t think about anything today and just get some rest. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make all your favorite dishes, so sleep well and wake up to a nice meal. Got it?”
“Yes. I’ll shower and go to bed right away.”
“Brother! You really should get some good sleep! Oh! If you’re feeling lonely, do you want Lana to sleep with you?”
“Haha! It’s okay. I appreciate your kind offer, but I’ll sleep by myself.”
“Hoong! Abba!”
“Alright, alright. Emil, you go sleep too, and we’ll see you in the morning.”
As they walked down the hallway toward the bedroom, the three of them couldn’t help but feel their intense gazes piercing the back of his head.
‘They probably think I’m hurt from today’s events, and they’re worried about leaving me alone.’It wouldn’t be bad to stay a little longer with the three of them and ease their worries, but I quickened my steps toward the bedroom. Unlike my mother’s concern, what filled my mind wasn’t thoughts but questions, and the person who could answer them was probably in the bedroom by now.

Click.

―Phew, phew.

When I opened the door and listened carefully, I could hear faint breathing. I expected him to be on the bed, but he was asleep, buried in a cushion on the desk.

Rustle.

I unwrapped the chocolate I had brought and placed it right in front of him.

I had told my mother and Lana that I brought it in case he couldn’t sleep and wanted a snack, but the real reason for the chocolate was something else.

―Sniff, sniff. Huh! What’s that nice smell?

“Wake up already. I need to ask you something.”

I pushed the chocolate a little closer to his face, and he, intoxicated by the sweet scent, stuck out his tongue and licked the surface of the chocolate.

―Oh! This is delicious!

He immediately opened his eyes and started munching the chocolate, making crunching sounds. Watching him eat with his usual good appetite, I explained what happened today.

“Eat while you listen. Something exciting happened today.”

Before coming here, I stopped by the library and searched through every record passed down in the family, but I couldn’t find any clues that explained what happened that day.

Still, I had expected that I wouldn’t find anything useful in the library, so I wasn’t worried or anxious about it.

Crunch, crunch.

I explained in detail the strange events that took place in the Forest of Eternity today, and once I saw him finish the last piece of chocolate, I asked,

“Do you know why this happened? What’s the reason?”