The Time Keeper

Chapter 80 - Entering Winter

Upon entering the busy Church, I took a seat in the back row of pews next to a few others.

The previous times I had been to the church, it had been either during the day or after the regular visiting hours and was nowhere as busy as this. This evening it was packed, having almost every seat filled.

While more guests were cramming into the hall, a familiar voice asked if I could move over so they could sit down next to me at the end of the pew.

It was Jean from the Huntsmen.

"What are you doing here Eli?" Jean asked as he sat down next to me.

"Well, what does it look like?" I responded.

Jean chuckled. "I just didn't take you as the religious type is all, and I haven't seen you here before. I've been going to the weekly services for as long as I can remember."

I knew Jean was religious, as were most people within Leode.

It was quite common to worship at least one of the gods, though seeing that there was only one church in this area, The Church of the Keeper of Time, most would gravitate towards this god of the supposedly many.

While travelling over to Araway previously, I had been able to check out another church, The Church of the God of Domination and Will.

And the Church that worshipped one of the Gods of Space was located within the capital, Goldeen. But that was only three areas just within the Ercadium country.

With a space church and a time church, there were bound to be churches of the fate faith in other areas, thus aligning with the three different authorities of an Arcanist.

Everyone was getting into their seats as the service was about to start. Turning over to Jean, I replied. "I'm just interested, seeing as... You know."

Jean knew what I meant and he nodded. We were Arcanists and our profession was directly connected to the churches, especially The Church of the Keeper of Time, as we were both of the Time authority.

It was only natural for an Arcanist to be interested.

As Darius had mentioned, Jean was the only other official Arcanist amongst the Leode Huntsmen along with me, and as religious as he was, it wasn't surprising that he was of the Spirit domain.

Finally, the service started and the priest wearing his white cassock came up to the altar and raised his hand in a gesture of silence.

The room fell hushed as he began to speak.

"Brothers and sisters," the priest began, his voice resonant and filled with a quiet authority, "we gather here tonight for our weekly ceremony to honour the Keeper of Time. To seek wisdom in His eternal gaze over eternity, and to humble ourselves before the vastness of the hours that stretch before us."

The congregation responded with a murmured "By your will," and the priest continued, reading from a book laid out in front of him.

After the service had concluded with a final prayer, the congregation began to disperse, murmuring their farewells and exchanging pleasantries with one another. Jean and I, however, remained seated as the pews around us gradually emptied.

"Ever since I got involved with the other world, coming here has never been the same," Jean said, breaking the silence between us. "I'm sure you understand that much."

I nodded, understanding all too well. The world carried on around us, people going about their daily lives, blissfully unaware of the hidden forces at play. But for us, for those who had crossed that threshold into the unknown, everything was different—connected in ways the ordinary could never comprehend. Especially since us Arcanists were directly connected to the churches and vice versa.