Before Chiyo or any of the other women could process the fact that Endrian had disappeared from right under their noses, the door to the dining hall opened drawing everyone’s attention. Endrian and his mother had just stepped back in and momentarily paused under the pressure of everyone’s gaze. After the short pause Endrian started moving again while his mother waited at the door. He walked back up to Chiyo and the women of the church wearing a helpless smile on his face as he arrived.

“Why would you leave like that?” Chiyo asked him in bafflement.

Endrian paused for a moment thinking about his response. There were a lot of reasons for him to disappear like that. First it was a way to take the initiative from them so that he controlled the flow of the conversation, though he couldn’t say that to them as that would raise their guard against him. Second he wasn’t needed here since everyone was busy discussing what should be done with him without talking to either himself or his mother, though, he couldn’t bring that up either. Finally it’s always amusing for the person that everyone is talking about to disappear without anyone noticing at least for person being discussed. In the end, though, he decided to go with “I was just curious if I could vanish while you were all talking about me. Only my mom was aware which is a win as far as I’m concerned.”

Chiyo wasn’t sure how to respond to this. There was no apology for embarrassing all of the women in charge of the school and testing. There was no apparent motive other than mischief. The arrogance that he projected with that statement was on par with most of the noble male children. This made her feel like she needed to reprimand him but at the same time his talent other than martial skill comprehension was beyond amazing. So much so that even the schools in the capital cities would fight to have him. If his cultivation potential was even halfway decent then he would be possibly the best student this academy had ever seen. So she just stood there somewhat at a loss for words. However, that didn’t stop others from responding for her.

“What an arrogant, disrespectful and selfish child. I think Academy Head Chiyo should kick you out and ban you and your family from ever attending this prestigious academy.” A deep and overly cultured woman’s voice sounded out from the observation platform.

Turning to take a look at who was speaking out Endrian was not surprised to see Xerael’s mother standing at the edge of the platform looking down at him with so much disdain. Endrian’s lips couldn’t help but curl into a sneer as he looked at her. “If I should be kicked out on those merits then what should be done about your son?”

“What are you talking about you idiotic child? This has nothing to do with my son.” she responded.

Endrian couldn’t help but sneer even more as she responded as he had hoped and set him up perfectly. “Let’s see your precious son called me an idiot for asking about completing the test because no one had done it before. He mocked and disrespected me. Then during the martial skill comprehension he once again mocked and disrespected me because he saw that my performance wasn’t outstanding. Then his pride and arrogance were on display for everyone to see when he completed the affinity testing. The only thing he hasn’t shown to everyone is his selfishness. Though I’m sure that’s only a matter of time. So based on what you said that being arrogant, disrespectful and selfish he should also be kicked out and everyone from his family no longer allowed to attend the academy. Correct? Not to mention that if I am idiotic where does that place your son considering he couldn’t finish the same test I did.”

“This is not about my son! This is about-” before she built up a towering rage she was interrupted.

Chiyo decided to intervene and cut her off by saying “Tyrina that’s enough. I appreciate your opinion but this is not your home. Endrian if you and your mother would come with us we have some things to discuss with you.” Getting an acknowledgement from Endrian she continued on “I and the priestesses of the churches shall take our leave and the assistants and church deacons will continue to proctor your tests. The results will be given in a week. Thank you all.” She moved forward and ushered Endrian to follow her while glancing over to make sure that his mother was going to come as well.

Chiyo and the priestesses surrounded Endrian and his mother as they walked out of the dining hall and made their way across the campus.They came to a magnificent building that had multiple terraces. There were areas like parks on each of the terraces. Endrian could see other people walking around most of them were women and they were wearing robes of various colors however each of them had a silver cord acting as a belt. Unfortunately for Endrian no one bothered to explain anything as they walked briskly to a secluded room inside the first level. After entering the room he took a look around and didn’t see much. There were a few chairs and there was one of those crystal lotuses sitting on a platform. Next to the crystal lotus there was a black pillar that was a meter tall. Other than that there were no windows just those glowing rocks embedded in the wall that illuminated the room.

“Let us get the introductions out of the way first so that we can all discuss things openly.” Chiyo said to everyone. When Endrian heard what she said he quickly looked at the other 6 people in the room besides Chiyo, his mother and himself. He could see different looks on their faces most had complicated or blank expressions which made them hard to read. Though he did see at least one look of impatience but that could have any number for different reasons.

Endrian’s mom steps forward and introduces herself first and says humbly “My name is Allyce, fourth wife of Davian and mother of Endrian.”

Chiyo nods and responds “I believe my introductions have been taken care of earlier so allow me to introduce the priestesses with us. First we have Isahalne. She is the priestess of Azmera Goddess of Strategies.” Indicating a woman with long sea green hair with a few strands of grey mixed in as well. Her eyes were black and she was wearing a white robe with a symbol that looked like the silhouette of a raptor. She was overweight, and not the fighter type of overweight, but rather like someone who was complacent in their position and over indulged. Endrian wasn’t sure if this was attractive in the aesthetics of his new society or not but she did have some enormous mammary glands which he couldn’t help but stare at for a moment. Though his look wasn’t lustfull at all it was more just being stunned by their sheer size. While he was no expert those things had to be like JJ sized.

Chiyo’s voice pulled him back from his thoughts as she introduced the next person “Next we have Gisvae. Priestess of Joslena, Goddess of Life and Healing.” She was also an older lady with some grey in here sandy blond hair. She had hazel eyes and was fit but not toned. She was also easily the shortest woman here besides his mother. She wore a grey robe that was well made and looked like silk. The emblem on her chest was a Sun with 9 points spaced evenly around it kind of like a clock and there were 9 smaller points in between each of the larger ones. She also wore a kind smile on her face as she bowed her head in acknowledgement.

“Then we have Amelee. Priestess of Mophia, Goddess of Knowledge.” A lady with sky blue hair and violet eyes moved forward and smiled when she was called. She was heavy set but not obese about average height for the women Endrian had seen so far which put her at 1.8 meters in height. Her weight was also considered exceptionally attractive here. She wore a silver robe with white trim and a symbol of an open scroll.

“Aanys is the priestess of Ordises, God of Music and mate of the three previous goddesses.” She was a younger looking woman that had dark black hair with silver highlights. Her eyes were brown with shades of green mixed in. She had an average build and face nothing in particular standing out about her. Her robe was a light blue and had the symbol of a recorder or clarinette.

“Our final two are Esalana and Aubrin. Priestesses of Anos, God of Combat, and Emjir, God of the Forge, respectively.” Esalana was an imposing woman standing at 2.1 meters tall with red hair kept short. She had a scar on her face that went from her left temple to her left ear and looked like a bear had taken a swipe at her. This did not detract from her looks but rather added character to her stern face and made her black eyes stand out. The clothing she wore was not like the others instead of a robe she wore some type of dark red leather armor. There was some type of black clothing underneath her armor. She carried a sword on her hip and a shield on her back. The symbol she had was two swords crossed that were silver and looked embossed in the hard boiled leather chest piece. Aubrin was also an imposing figure but in a different way she was shorter but she was built like a brick shit house. Her arms are easily as big as her quads. Her chest must be 140cm in circumference. She had brown hair and red eyes. She also did not wear a robe but rather some leather pants that had burn marks on them and a tank top shirt that left very little to the imagination. On her arm was a scar brand in the shape of an Anvil.

Continuing on Chiyo said “Now that the formalities are out of the way there are a few things we need to go over with you. First of all we need to see what elemental affinities you have and the level of compatibility with each. Then we want to test you on the cultivation potential stone. One those are done the formalities of the entrance exam can be completed.”

“Before we start all of this what is it that all of you were discussing. I want to know what I am getting into before I do anything.” Endrian stated.

“Ender! Show some respect please you're embarrassing your mother. They must think you were never taught proper manners.” Allyce said with some irritation and embarrassment.

“I’m sorry mother but I will have to disagree with you this time. I know what I came here for and contrary to what most people think I am not here for the honor of our family, nor am I hear to meet a future bride or brides. What I want is the knowledge in the library and if that knowledge is going to cost me my freedom or the freedom of my family then I don’t need it. If that means throwing away a gold coin and biding my time until I can gather the information another way; then so be it.” he said with authority showing that he was not someone who would be led around by his nose.

Amelee decided to speak up at this point. “Child you may be here for those reasons but I believe that you were brought here for reasons even we don’t fully understand. So before we start fighting over detail which may not mean anything let me tell you a story first.”

“About 100 winters ago the priestesses of our god and goddesses each received a dream. This dream was a terrible dark dream that terrified those who had it. They ranted for many days and even many lunar conjunctions of time. Each one saying that the end of everything was coming. They spoke of beasts that were abominations. Things of great power, intelligence and evil. They watched the destruction of our world in this dream. After watching the fighting and destruction they could see our world filled with these abominations, and everything they knew and loved was either destroyed or defiled. After this they were given a message. A message which was the only hope for this dream to not become reality. In this message a champion was spoken of. A person of such talent that they could protect us from the abominations. There were three signs to watch for to find this chosen person. First would be a phenomenon in the sky this would signify that the awakening of the potential champion. Second would be the glowing red sky which would be the sign that the abominations were coming. This second sign indicated that the potential champion from the first sign was no longer a potential champion but the one and only champion of the gods. The third and final sign would be a talent that had at least 4 elemental affinities.” She paused for added effect and to gauge Endrian’s response. Unfortunately there was no discernible reaction that she could see. She was slightly disappointed but continued on.

“This brings us to you child. First off you came from one of the towns that was overrun by the beast hoard. The town you came from had a phenomenon appear in the sky a week prior to the beast hoard. Second by all reports the day after the phenomenon occurred a strange red glow appeared to the west. This meant that the champion had been sent and the forces of evil had arrived. When we realized this we started questioning all of the survivors from your town and although we checked with all of the surviving people no one admitted that the phenomenon occurred when their child went through their awakening. We had checked the affinities of all the girls from your town because we thought that a champion would be a woman. None of them had more than three affinities. We feared that she was lost or killed and that we had already failed our divine task.” At this point she looked pointedly at Allyce.

Understanding the implications Allyce said “Well priestess, the followers did come by and ask about the awakening with the phenomenon. What they had asked was did any of our daughters go through an awakening when the phenomenon occurred. Which we of course answered truthfully.”

Esalana spoke up at this saying forcefully “You intentionally misguided us! You could have easily said that your son went through the awakening at this time. Do you have any idea what you have done?”

Gisvae took this time to join the conversation “Esalana, accusing them of misleading us or hiding information is not going to help anything. We also have not determined if he is actually the one of the prophecy.”

Chiyo once again stepped in as the voice of reason “Endrian, as you can see this is very important so we would like to verify everything before we start making statements that cannot be unmade. If you would please step up to the testing devices so we can see the results.”

Endrian didn’t respond verbally but he did move towards the testing devices. He had a lot going on in his mind right now. First of all why should he worry about what some dream had dictated for him. It had nothing to do with him. At the same time he was having a conflicting thought that there is no free lunch so to speak. He knows that he was pulled from his previous world and life and sent here with full memories of his past which then leads to the logical conclusion that there is a higher power guiding him, be it a god or goddess or whatever. Then a thought pressed down on these thought saying that this would be very troublesome and he wouldn’t be able to do what he wants with any freedom. Then there was the chance that what the dream said was true which would technically make him responsible for the life and death of who knows how many people. Not to mention those that had already died.

While all of these confusing and conflicting thought were going through his head he had moved to the testing device and wasn’t even paying attention as the device moved through his affinities. First was his lightning affinity which was showing 100% compatibility. Next his metal affinity which also shot up to 90% compatibility before moving to magnetism which was also 90% compatibility. Then his air affinity showed up at 70% compatibility. After air he showed fire, water, earth, light, gravity, wood, space, and a three other colors that they didn’t recognize and didn’t understand the feeling of. All of these showed up as 10-20% compatibility. Endrian was lost in his own thoughts and didn’t pay attention to the results of the test. When the colors stopped flashing he removed his hand and proceeded to the next testing device. He was unaware of what was happening and just barely giving any attention to instructions at least until he felt a sharp pain in his finger. He tried to yank his hand away but something was holding it in place.

“What the hell!!” He exclaimed. Now that he was paying attention he could see Chiyo holding his hand in place over the black meter tall column. Less than a second later a drop of his blood fell onto the column and Chiyo released his hand.

Cradling his hand he said “You could have warned me!”

“We did.” she said bluntly “All you did was grunt. So when we asked your mother she said that this often happens when you get focused on things and stop paying attention to everything around you. She told us to just go ahead.”

While they were talking the column started to light up. Gisvae also came over and quickly healed his finger. Endrian didn’t even notice his finger had stopped hurting because he was busy trying to decide if he was offended at them for slicing his finger without him knowing, offended at his mom giving consent for something like that or offended with himself for being clueless to it all.

Looking over at the column that was lighting up. There were now 6 thick lines with 9 thin lines between each of the thick lines. As everyone continued to watch the lines continued to light up. Until there were 8 thick lines wrapped around the column with 9 thin lines between each of the thick lines. There were also 9 thin lines extending past the 8th thick line. Endrian was watching this very carefully and was interested in it until he realized that he had no idea what it meant. So he looked at Chiyo and said “So what does this mean?”

Without taking her eyes off the column she said “This means that you are the most talented person, male or female, to ever come through this academy.” Right after she said that a 9th thick line started to become visible just before the column went dark. All of the women in the room were still staring at the column even though it was no longer showing anything. After a moment they all started talking at the same time. Some were taking to each other, others were talking to Endrian but none of it was understandable since they were all talking over each other. Though based on the looks of excitement visible in their eyes Endrian now knew what a piece of bloody meat would feel like in shark filled waters.

“Ladies! Let’s get ourselves under control please!” Chiyo said loudly. She waited a brief moment for the other women to quiet down and then looked at Endrian. “Endrian, while the answer should be obvious we should verify everything. You were the one that awakened when the phenomenon occurred over your village yes?”

Endrian briefly thought about lying but realized that ultimately it would be pointless. So he nodded his head yes. He still wasn’t sure how to feel about this. It was just too much to process. This was much bigger than he had thought it would be. He had understood he was not normal in many ways but he had no idea his level of abnormal had gone this far. He couldn’t help but think of the movie The Matrix when cypher was talking with Neo and he said ‘Je-sus. What a mind job.’ There were things going on so fast in his head he wasn’t even consciously processing them all.

The next thing he heard was Isahalne talking “...listening? Endrian you need to pay attention, time is critical. We’ve talked with your mom and she agrees that you should come with us to the church and study and prepare for your destiny.”

“Whoa, whoa. First of all I’m not going anywhere until I have more information. I do not work like ‘Oh goody there’s a prophecy about me! Do I get a sucker with that?’ If there are some abominations invading then grab your experts before they get here and destroy whatever is letting them in. This is not hard people. Hell, you’re the priestess of the Goddess of Strategies right? Here’s a phrase for you ‘The best defense is a good offense.’ To elaborate find out where they are coming from and destroy them before they get established.” Endrian started spewing out little pearls of wisdom punctuated with sarcastic comments so he could push the responsibility off to someone else as quickly as possible. This way he wouldn’t have to deal with the overwhelming possibilities. Off to the side Esalana could be heard saying “Ooh, I like him.”

Chiyo spoke up, after Endrian finished speaking, saying “My sister has already sent a scout to determine the origin and potential cause of the beast horde. Assuming that the prophecy is valid we thought that the place where the beast horde originated from might contain clues as to who or what our enemy is and if nothing else give away their location. We have not heard back from them yet.”

“Okay then until we hear back from them we are going to pretend that those dreams never happened.” when Endrian said this every single woman in the room, his mom included, glared at him.

Aubrin decided to finally join the conversation though what she said was short and sweet “Pretending something didn’t happen when it did is about as smart as going to war with a wooden training weapon and no armor.”

“But it’s just a dream, there’s no proof, no solid evidence…” before he could finish his statement the glares silenced him once again.

Aubrin continued to hammer home her point. “Every single high priest or priestess of the different gods had the same dream with in the span of a few days. It’s possible if it was only 1 or 2 people having the same dream it could be thought of as coincidence. In this case there were 6 people in positions of high respect, located in different churches and in different parts of the world, all having the same dream with the same warnings. This is no longer just a dream but a divine prophecy.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about this prophecy but 6 people in different locations all in highly respected positions would not likely just up and start spouting nonsense. Still this was not a decision he was ready or even willing to make just based on such little evidence. If there was a problem then he could switch his footing and move forward. This would also give him time to stabilize a cultivation path, determine threats if any, and settle family matters. So he decided to take a step back for the sake of moving forward.

“Okay so the goal is to train me so that I am fully prepared to face this threat correct?” he waited until he received nods from the women present excluding his mom. “Okay so then regardless of if the threat is real or not,” he pressed on despite the new wave of glares “as long as I am training and increasing my cultivation then there should be no problem right? On top of that even if I did agree to train with you in the churches I would want my family moved with me or at the very least to a centralized location so that I can know they are as safe as possible. Which would require logistics and costs which means time. So here is what I would propose: I go to school here, I study with whatever instructors you recommend, no one knows about my supposed existence as the saviour, once we have information on the current threat then we can reevaluate what needs to be done. This is a win-win since I can start training immediately and there is no need to relocate my family again.”

Esalana chuckled and said “That works, it matters not where I beat you to a pulp.” she grinned at Endrian.

“Okay. New rule: she’s not allowed to be an instructor.” Endrian deadpans while pointing at Esalana.

At this Allyce couldn’t help but giggle. Though it didn’t last long as Isahalne started to get upset. “This is not acceptable! There are resources and experts that have been set aside to guide our champion. We can’t just throw all of our preparations away. You need to come with us.” Though Endrian felt it was obvious that she was only cared about him going with her.

“You follow the Goddess of Strategies correct?” Without waiting for a response he continued with a smile. “Here’s some more advice for you. No plan survives first contact the only thing that matters is how fast the person can adapt. I’m not seeing much adaptability here.”

“You infuriating little child!” She yelled. “This has to do with the survival of our world and all of our people. I will not let some foolish child risk everything because he doesn’t want to follow orders.”

Hearing this Endrian put on a serious face. “Are you the saviour and champion Isahalne? If not then the decisions about what will happen to your champion do not fall to you. Until we have sufficient information to make a proper decision jumping to conclusions is always a bad choice.”

Amelee couldn’t help but smile at Endrian’s last statement. It almost felt like the core beliefs of her religious order spoken in such a simple way. Chiyo, on the other hand, once again felt the need to step in as she could see there would not be a decent outcome if this continued on “For now let us let him train here. We will all stay and notify the various people and factions behind us that we have found a person who may be the chosen champion of the gods. Bring whatever resources you feel are necessary so that we can help him advance while we determine all of the information.”

“There is nothing to determine or figure out. We have verified the signs that our gods have sent us. That is all the information and details that needs to be determined and anything else is just wasting time.” Isahalne said with religious fervor. It was obvious that the other priestesses agreed with this statement as well.

‘See this is why I hate dealing with religious nut jobs. It wouldn’t matter if the sky was blue and the trees were green if they were told that it was black and white then so be it the sky would be black and the trees white from then on.’ Endrian thought while trying to figure out how to deal with people that didn’t follow logic. It was like talking to a wall no matter what you said they wouldn’t listen unless it matched up with what they decided was right. “Okay let’s meet halfway then. Let’s say I am the chosen champion, yay me. That still doesn’t change the fact that I have no intentions of leaving here at this point. Nor do I want others to know who I supposedly am because this would cause other irritating complications. Not to mention my own over inflated ego. That being said then that leaves us with the result of: if you want to help me then you will have to do so here. Anyone trying to force or manipulate me into doing something I do not want, can just expect to watch the world burn.” thinking for a second Endrian realized that this wasn’t really meeting them halfway but giving a mental shrug he just let it go because he didn’t really care about meeting them anyway.

This left all the women stunned. Some were infuriated with his blasphemous tone and talk, others were thoughtful and others seemed to have no reaction at all.

After letting the words sink in Endrian followed up with “Now let’s all take a step back and think about what benefits everyone the most.You all want me to be strong and powerful and lead the world to overcome the evil. I want to gather information and if possible remove the problem before it needs me to be powerful so. Let’s gather the information while I train here for now. If it is proven that I am not progressing fast enough or that resources are not sufficient out here then after a year we can reevaluate where we stand. This allows time for my youngest sister to go through her awakening at which point moving is no longer an issue for me.”

Chiyo latched onto this like a life preserver in a stormy ocean. “I think we can agree to this. We can determine what needs to happen a year from now at the latest. This gives us time to start your training and gather information on the enemy. This also keeps the politics away from Endrian so that he can focus on becoming stronger. Can we all agree to this?”

After she received nods from all of the women she continued “Endrian the results of the entrance exam will be posted in a week. Your name will not be on there, though, I dare say that it should be obvious that you will still attend here for now. All school fees for you shall be waived. School fees for your sisters shall be waived as well but they will still need to pass the testing next year if you are still here. While school for everyone starts in one lunar conjunction you will start here the day after tomorrow. Do you have any questions?” she paused waiting for him or anyone to voice any concerns or problems. Hearing nothing she said “Then let us adjourn here and we will meet with you the day after tomorrow, please get your affairs in order as you will be here most of the day and will have little time for personal affairs. Take this token and show it to the guards at the gate when you come back. I will expect to see you at the gate by sunrise.” She said this while escorting them out of the room. The priestesses following behind and moving off in different directions probably to notify their church and to start preparing a training course.

On the way home both were quiet. Endrian thinking about the implications of the prophecy and put together with what he knows the probability of it being for him was exceptionally high. He wasn’t dumb enough to ignore all of the facts in front of him pointing to this conclusions. That doesn’t mean he wanted to accept it either. So he kept quiet and pondered the responsibility the work and the benefits versus the potential costs. Not to mention the implications of being reborn in this world with memories from his previous life. There had to be a reason for it beyond just being lucky.

His mom on the other hand was more like the walking dead, at least from Endrian’s point of view. How do you react to finding out your child is the saviour of your world. Pride, fear, excitement, disbelief, anger, joy it was like a tornado went through her emotions and different ones kept surfacing. Sometimes there would be a faint smile on her face other times she would grip Endrian’s hand tightly. She just looked overwhelmed which probably explained why she didn’t jump in during some of Endrian’s more outrageous statements and arguments with the priestesses.

After they arrived back at their new home they went inside. Ethese was the first to notice their return. Dropping what she was doing she ran over “Big brother did you pass?” At this question Endrian could only smile.