A small smile spread across Cel's face - the first genuine one in longer than he could remember.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLuFvY5Vjd
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The blessing. Finally.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASZ0KZphEQ
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After everything he'd endured, every nightmare survived, every wound that should have killed him - he was about to receive what he'd earned. What he'd bled for.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvlJJAsGE0
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The moon hung full and radiant above, its pale light washing over the cracked earth of his soul's landscape.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoCbeFPA82
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuC3e3Meyk
"Please follow me, Chosen One." Selina’s voice carried gentle warmth as she gestured toward the mist with graceful fingers.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uLe9948MY
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRsOXuuzkk
Cel's breath steadied, though his heart quickened with something that might have been anticipation. He nodded once, that small smile still tugging at his lips.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvWDr0H0uf
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpV9M83EUpH
She turned, white robes trailing across broken ground as she moved toward the mist with unhurried elegance. Cel followed, his bare feet padding softly against fractured stone.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjUzKvNIRh
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They walked in silence through the transformed landscape. Small flowers with bluish-white petals bloomed from the deepest cracks, reaching toward moonlight. Jagged stones jutted up at irregular intervals - ruins carved into the depths of who he'd become.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lJwkvngzK
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Cel's mind drifted toward what awaited him.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQA8ikM4qW4
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMGGLYfOlq
A blessing.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Z24a9hAH8
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Soon the goddess's power would be woven into his very being.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUndnuJh38Q
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcuG2UMrpl
This power had always been a part of his world - expected, almost mundane among nobles. Divine gifts granted to those called by the gods, transforming the Chosen into something more than human.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVR5Y5sNyC
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But he'd never truly considered what they were. What it meant to be bound to a deity.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqx0S5VR042
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7PSdnU955
Three factors shaped every blessing - the foundation that determined what a Chosen One could become.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCSVSpXTmx
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First: the nature of the god.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5E2573BeDy
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The Mountain God granted strength and endurance. The Storm Goddess gave lightning and wind.The Sun God's blessed were always strong, proud, radiant. Warriors who commanded fire and light.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdayyDc73D
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyEakJg4yA
He'd spent his entire life studying them, memorizing their achievements, listening to endless sermons about their legendary deeds.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0j0dR33fo4
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKd0KDknaZw
But the Moon Goddess?287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQEUA4TEUr
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She was different.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3O2IiCOGB
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Unlike other gods, each with an entire Clan devoted to them, the Moon Goddess had none. No bloodlines carried her favor. No buildings bore her name. She'd had few Chosen throughout history, and even fewer records of what they'd accomplished.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYrAiJj3Iz
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The reason was simple.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblGoSmumcY
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They had been weak.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRbdEyb2tT
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Where other Chosen reshaped the world - commanding tides, healing mortal wounds, razing plains with fire - those who served the Moon Goddess had left no mark. Their abilities - whatever they'd been - hadn't shaken the world. Hadn't carved legacies worth remembering.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCClADP1gto
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They'd lived and died as footnotes.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4wb6pciE2
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The irony might have made him laugh if it didn't make him so angry. Cast out by the people who raised him. Saved instead by the only deity he knew nothing about.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF88CMPFk2
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YOcCRx1OC
Selina's figure moved steadily ahead. The mist parted for her as though bowing in deference.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaACWqsVxC
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz4PGum9QJ
Cel watched her for a moment before his thoughts moved to the second factor: 287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADgqyMEcnO
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The rank of the priest.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXGtcUpu8E
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Unlike the rigid hierarchies found in most hierarchies, priestly ranks held no special titles, no formal order. A servant of the gods could be rank 1 or rank 100 - the number itself was all that mattered.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxOdvw1cXJ
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But that number meant everything.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64n0LAKAUx
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The rank indicated proximity to their deity. How close they stood to the divine.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMqoG7L0od
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7g6304GYIp
And which priest was sent to a Chosen One revealed how much the god valued them.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcERvGdyXoa
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnuEdQtGWw
The gods dispatched their most trusted servants only to those they deemed worthy. A newly Called receiving a high-ranked guide? That was a declaration of divine favor - a promise of investment and expectation.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNlYcaFcQz
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJ5SAiOHAC
Conversely, someone of lower standing suggested... less. Not rejection, but neither was it embrace.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3WGPUw6Zx
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Aw6sG6Zal
And this hierarchy directly influenced the quality of blessings bestowed.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqcIg0QjUd
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At lower ranks, the paragons and artifacts granted were functional but limited - straightforward abilities within the deity's domain. Useful, certainly. Yet unremarkable.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUxoxWZmp8
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Higher ranks yielded far more. Through a rank 40 priestess, a god might grant paragons that reshaped battlefields. Through a rank 10, they could forge legends whose names echoed through history.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwZ1yTzSqx
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At the pinnacle, the gods held nothing back. Paragons of devastating power. Artifacts of impossible grace. Blessings worthy of those they deemed truly exceptional.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSKJk1O0oH
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmE1702OCbP
Cel studied Selina's back as they walked. What rank did she hold? Her presence carried weight - certainty that suggested she wasn't newly appointed. But beyond that, he couldn't guess.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe66xQTBgkN
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcbtiDJEJ7
Priests only revealed such information after the first blessing - a rule dictated by the gods themselves for reasons mortals couldn't grasp.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCCHY9lt9O
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His fingers curled at his sides.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYO3ZjGqhoV
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And the third factor:287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MPN6aYlwW
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The compatibility between the deity and their Chosen One.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnRBtTObvW
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jETPQ1pu1
This was the part no one understood. Even the royal family, with their vast library and generations of recorded history, had no answer to why certain people were chosen.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO32bKbrbJt
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ810Utb6cen
Some claimed personality - that gods selected those who reflected their own nature. Others insisted on fate, predetermined and inescapable. And then there were those who believed it was arbitrary. That mortals were nothing but playthings for forces beyond comprehension.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoS25GnKVj
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8J9jzaKTEA
Cel wasn't sure what he believed. Maybe all those theories were wrong. Maybe they were all right.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudOm1IPiag
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYyCXfsuGy
In the end, gods remained an enigma. Everything humanity claimed to know was guesswork dressed as certainty. Fragments stitched together over centuries.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGuayEcXz5
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRAUja6joM
Only the priests could claim true connection to the divine. And even they spoke in riddles, revealing only what lay within their god-given authority.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGw5Hghwrl
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1d6vaDEZRL
This secrecy made divine knowledge one of the world's most valuable commodities. Kings, warlords, scholars would pay fortunes for even the faintest whisper of celestial truth.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxJ12cNRGB
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtjLsyDnUd
Everyone wanted answers. Few existed. And in that desperation, lies flourished.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIf5w9Zyys
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His stomach churned with familiar revulsion.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkJGpqhZRz
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGYoCau5CI
False doctrines. Fabricated revelations. Entire faiths built on deliberate misinformation. Humanity had drowned itself in deception.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCJm2ihhWE
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And every level of society fed the rot.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7WE08EbCZ
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The nobles controlled access to knowledge, yes - they dictated who was worthy and silenced threatening voices. Their monopoly turned belief into power, worship into currency, gods themselves into weapons.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnieeJefu87
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiY7BWycnM
But the common people?287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ab5JjLAmb
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They weren't innocent victims.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFeMpHD6aJ
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False prophets rose from peasant villages, claiming divine visions for coins. Sects multiplied like weeds, each convinced they alone understood divine will - demanding obedience in exchange for salvation. Merchants sold 'artifacts’ to the desperate - splinters of 'sacred' wood, water from 'blessed' springs, all fabricated for profit. 287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNj6n3aWuO
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Faith twisted by greed became poison that seeped through the entire kingdom.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFT5OoUHmiZ
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That was why understanding had stagnated. Why humanity, despite centuries of devotion, still grasped blindly at truth's edges. Because no one wanted truth - they wanted comfort, wealth, power, whatever lie served their needs.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡai62SFpLjh
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Almost laughable. People begged gods for salvation while ensuring their own downfall.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAs0SuUh7f
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And through it all, the gods remained silent.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDwx8plbNo
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Did they care? Or were they simply indifferent?287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbSYSen2NA
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That question haunted him more than any other.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKc9Vg8wGz
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eNCRux4pC
What if the gods saw exactly what he did? 287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgC6Z9LgSFf
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk0POFNl7u
Every lie, every corruption, every twisted doctrine - and remained silent because humanity had earned its ignorance. Not punishment. Just... consequences. 287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGb71YYAP9p
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoyAC46XQG
And Cel, no matter how much he wished otherwise, was part of that same corrupted race.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzkTGHRxza
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Would he be any different?287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52xnipX4HR
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A bitter smirk pulled at his lips. He wanted to believe so.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5PfuIaORa
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNL4kqtZoE
But he knew better.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uDaa9H57Z
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEG27eV5jHi
Lies weren't just tools of the powerful. Sometimes they were the only way to survive. If he returned to civilization, he'd wield deception as readily as those he despised.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9X4S8KGW5g
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He had to.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAowvchofkF
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Ahead, Selina stopped.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2S5aXefrtX
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsj3DsOoKd
Cel nearly collided with her before catching himself.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6lLyN5enx
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She turned to face him, white robes trailing through the mist like they were woven from it.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uDUPVrZje
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSFBeMTE80
"We are nearly there, Chosen One."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIEfVc2vYs
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUK9Hcwsa5a
Selina gestured forward into the mist, but Cel remained still.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSOmQz8crO
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlT1NHiPH1
She paused, waiting.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrha3mH8XAc
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"I have questions," he said. "About the trial."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJNtHdgbx6
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTNHloQiwb
After a moment, she lowered her hand and faced him fully. "Of course. Please, ask."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfyEcVzSQn
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUa2xZf4uN
Cel studied her masked face. "When I was dying in that cavern, I heard a voice. Female. Sharp and commanding - telling me to get up." He paused. "At first, I thought it was you. But the tone was different. Harsher."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGuBnUYQSQ
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Silence stretched between them.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nAac7vkml
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"Who was it?"287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd57ZVcauls
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAUoi1lBQJ
"I am sorry, Chosen One. This does not lie within my authority."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsG8gEdBOq
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvxrfKrc1i
He was silent for a moment, then moved on. "The moon appeared right as I was dying. No trigger I could see - unless dying itself was the trigger. Was the trial simply to survive long enough? Or was there something else I was supposed to do?"287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaBZSQuLdi
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mDsYmAf7Z
"That, too, does not lie within my authority," Selina said, her tone carrying something that might have been regret.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtT7xBaNJn
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GleTJyuyX
Cel hummed softly - half-amused, half-resigned. "Can you tell me anything about what I just went through?"287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9CwPVPU2w
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBEKEy5d6O
"Only what you experienced yourself. The trial's purpose belongs to the goddess alone."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsq6LuHlOXZ
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzdvR7E8z8
He let out a quiet breath. 287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBjZgBDm71
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He expected as much, and he didn't really care. The trial was over. He'd survived. Whatever secrets it held, whatever meanings he'd missed - none of that mattered anymore.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkO3e4aFXc
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNf0wrVJ7u
"Alright," he said finally. "I'm ready."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja3mxO9fVZ
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnAYciU5Dq
Selina turned, gesturing forward once more. "Then let us continue."287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIg1cljY2v5
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7PigdYpLu
They walked in silence, moonlight breaking through the mist in shifting rays. The air grew colder. Thinner. Each step felt lighter, as if the ground beneath his feet was becoming less real, less solid.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrWe0Q5xjm
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Then the mist parted.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTL0F7s3BL
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Cel stopped.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGwuC3bMAT
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zG77AhkkB
The ground was carpeted in bluish-white flowers that swayed gently through the mist, their petals drawing in moonlight and releasing it in steady pulses. At the center, a focused beam of moonlight descended - so strong and concentrated it almost seemed tangible.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zDMeZ0GuR
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At first sight, he knew that this was a sacred place.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTWDWATXoq
287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqs1YfNHAP
Selina stepped forward.287Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HWZX42dma
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"We have arrived, Chosen One."1234 copyright protection283ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjUlWfBEfA 尼

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