Only God-Chapter 576 - 492: Respect for History (Combined)_2
He didn’t know how long he had spent in that Sea of Souls, but when he returned from the Ascension Ceremony, he discovered that almost no time had passed.
When he returned, he suddenly felt his consciousness reenter his body, and his perception of his surroundings underwent an extraordinary change.
Belvan became even more attentive to the minute details.
The tiny particles of dust tightly packed on the wall, the two ants whispering to each other on the edge of the table, the droplets of water on the leaves outside the window that were about to fall but hadn’t yet... He felt that everything around him became clearer than before, and he also sensed, in an indescribable way, the connections and properties between things.
"How wonderful..."
Belvan murmured.
"Teacher! What happened to you!"
Prince Mura shouted.
Belvan turned around and asked,
"How long has it been since my soul left my body, how long?"
Prince Mura paused,
"Left your body, do you mean like rolling your eyes back? It wasn’t long, seems like less than a minute..."
Less than a minute...
"Mura, you don’t know how long I was there; it was definitely more than a minute, maybe even a few hours, yet in reality, not even a minute had passed..."
Belvan was initially astonished, but then he regained his composure. He firmly memorized this timeframe in his mind and walked towards the desk. This was an important piece of research data.
"Teacher, how are you, what did you experience?"
Prince Mura asked anxiously.
Belvan took a deep breath,
"Sorry I frightened you, Mura.
If you haven’t experienced it, you wouldn’t imagine what I saw.
There, I saw a sea that reflected the mind. Whatever you think of, it materializes, it led me deeper, to meet whom, and in the end, I found that it was me..."
Belvan did his best to describe what he had seen in the Sea of Souls. Like Kagu’s experience before, at the deepest part, Belvan saw a presence much like another version of himself and became one with it. Along with this integration were the tiers of ancient language from the Scholar’s Path.
"I have now... stepped onto the Path, in our classification... it is First Rank."
Saying this, Belvan tried to utilize this power.
He focused his attention bit by bit, concentrating it on a blank piece of manuscript paper. Slowly, other irrelevant sounds in his ears began to fade, until they were like whispers of flies.
"Sosnura Aus."
Belvan quietly chanted the Ancient Language, and in a moment, ethereal text materialized on the manuscript. He shouted excitedly,
"Look, Mura, look!"
But Mura appeared baffled,
"Look at what?"
Belvan was momentarily taken aback, then he understood that Mura had not undergone the Ascension Ceremony and could not see what he was seeing.
"He can’t see what I see, which means, he doesn’t know what I know... This might be one of the mysteries of the Scholar’s Path, to see what others cannot see, to know what others do not know."
Musing to himself, Belvan examined the floating text.
The text was hazy and ghostlike, it read: [This is a blank manuscript, with nothing on it, perhaps Belvan will leave some writing on it later.]
Belvan was startled; he indeed planned to leave some writing on it afterward.
"Perhaps Belvan will leave some writing on it later... Does this sentence count as a prophecy? Does the Scholar’s Path have something to do with the Prophetic God?"
While pondering in his mind, Belvan rapidly left some writing on the manuscript.
The manuscript before him, along with the vast piles of large and small manuscripts filling the study, would all one day be bound into books by his own hands, signed on the title page, and, of course, the book’s title would be written on the cover—"Path."
Belvan knew that this would embody the knowledge he had accumulated in his lifetime.
"Thank God, praise God, oh, great Hiris, and His Father."
After swiftly completing all his notes on the blank manuscript, Belvan put down his quill and exclaimed with excitement.
Beside him, Mura did the same, walking over to give his teacher a big hug.
"Teacher, I didn’t expect you would thank Hiris."
After the embrace, Mura joked,
"I thought, the Path of God Creation had locked your heart with His Father."
Belvan smiled and shook his head,
"I am a Dwarf, not a Three-eyed Ape Person, not a human, and certainly not an Elf.
Even though I once went to Danschel for further study, I have always remembered that I am a Dwarf."
Saying this, Belvan was reminded of distant, happy memories, and he spoke out,
"In that human empire, I’ve seen many people; I’ve encountered some corrupt Priests who were greedy and betrayed their followers, but mostly, I’ve met the good ones. When I first arrived in Danschel, I was worried about being ostracized for believing in Hiris, yet one of the Priests teaching the class told me something I’ve remembered for a long time."
Prince Mura asked curiously,
"What was it?"
Belvan said softly,
"Not everyone has to become a True Believer."
Prince Mura was taken aback, murmuring,
"That Priest was so enlightened; I have never seen such an open-minded person, not in the True Religion, nor in our Temple."
Belvan nodded and said, 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"Perhaps it was because there were quite a few people like me in that academy."
After the casual talk, Belvan began to attempt each Ancient Language of the First Rank on Scholar’s Path, recording every scenario and marveling at each as he did.
Originally, mastering Ancient Language required a great deal of time for comprehension, even Prophet Noen, who brought the Ancient Languages, was said to only have mastered three in nine years; yet now, he could actively use several Ancient Languages and integrate them seamlessly.
The only regret was that Scholar’s Path didn’t seem to have any Ancient Languages useful for combat or self-defense, but the various wonderful abilities it provided already left Belvan feeling greatly satisfied.
What Belvan didn’t know was that as he mastered the Ancient Languages, on the other side, the Dream God Laren also began His actions.
In the Temple where offerings were made to the Dream God, Priests dressed in vestment robes came and went, tending to the Dream God’s altar and Divine Statue.
One Priest knelt on the ground, chanting the lengthy Scriptures about the Dream God as usual.
Many hoped to have a pleasant dream, hence, unlike the tabooed Death God, the Dream God Laren, while not receiving abundant offerings on earth, still had a fair share.
The kneeling Priest, after reciting the lengthy Scriptures, was about to rise before the Divine Statue.
Suddenly, he felt a tremendous force on his shoulders, as if something was pressing down on him, preventing him from leaving.
In an instant, the Priest felt an irresistible overwhelming drowsiness, and the moment he closed his eyes and sank into the dream, a solemn voice echoed in his ears.
"Remain kneeling, for I have a decree."
The Priest shook all over; in his dream, the Dream God Laren outlined the magnificent Temple of the Country of Divines in front of him without reserve.
"Endless Dream God Laren, your humble servant is ever ready to receive your command."
The glorious sight instantly overawed the Priest, and his years of accumulated faith compelled him to shout out loud.
The Dream God Laren scrutinized the Priest carefully.
The Priest came from humble beginnings, merely a fallen Noble, neither ostracized nor esteemed within the Temple. Logically, he was to perform daily rituals until death, after which he would be sent to the Netherworld.
But Laren saw a quality in him far superior to that of his other Priests.
"Nelson, I will bestow upon you the grace of dreams, and you shall accomplish what I ask of you.
You shall leave your footprints on the way to Kaelonde, that Dwarf nation, and there you shall eradicate the great enemy of the Gods."
