Chapter 64: Tabula Rasa - Part 2
"Thank you, Lord Luna!" As soon as Clemencia expressed her gratitude, the rest followed as well. It was a good thing that the area was large enough to fit thousands of them. After the five <Life Trees> were merged, a huge majority of the area was basically turned into a lake. It was to the point that Luna was forced to abandon making this area into an Academy, and expanding the area a bit. While the decision wasn't made lightly, he eventually decided that it would benefit everyone the most.
The <Life Tree> was a very mysterious tree that seemingly defied all laws that humankind had learned beforehand.
Clemencia and the others stood by the shores while the others waited behind them.
"The trees that Lucifer burned and caused our exile. To think it would be the same tree that would rid us of that form." After her soliloquy, Clemencia who was given clothes beforehand, undressed yet again, and slowly walked towards the water.
Luna was prepared to stop her, but Elder Aran and Sura told him not to. He was afraid the water would be contaminated, but they assured him that the water from the <Life Tree> wasn't the type of water to get contaminated, it was the type that could at the very least, purify anything from their world. Even if a filthy animal or person swam in these waters, it wouldn't change the quality of the water negatively, in the slightest. In fact, it would eliminate the bad and the life tree would personally absorb the good, all without changing the taste, so unless you knew, you wouldn't even suspect that anything happened.
There wasn't much use trying to figure out why it was that way, so they just decided to accept it for now.
Of course, this information couldn't be made public. It didn't matter how miraculous the properties of this water was, if you had the knowledge that someone bathed or took a dump on your drinking water, you'd probably be hard-pressed to accept that fact.
As they all started to dip themselves into the water, each person would be surrounded by two, as they proceeded to recite an incantation before they put their palms on top of the person's head and slowly submerged them.
This was very similar to people were baptized in the Bible, with the difference being the incantation, it actually triggered some activity with the water.
As they were underwater, the roots of the <Life Tree> shot forward, impaling them in the middle of their chests, and raising them above the water.
What was even more surprising to Luna and the others, was that the expression of pain didn't appear on the Manananggal's faces. What appeared was a peaceful expression, and a gentle smile on their faces.
Tears flowed down the faces of the ones that were being held up by the tree's roots. The dense energy in the area became even more rich. It seems that the <Life Trees> were absorbing even more energy from the atmosphere. One could see the energy being injected into the women, and after nearly five minutes, they were let down.
Joy could be seen on their faces, and the ones who hadn't gone through the ceremony, became even more excited.
Clemencia put her clothes on, and walked towards Luna and knelt down on one knee. With her fist on her left chest, she saluted and said. "Lord Luna, we will never forget the grace you've given us today. You've rid us of the fetters of our curse, and we can once again walk proudly. We might never be welcomed by any of the Gods, but even if we were, we will still honor our pledge of allegiance towards you."
"I never really quite know exactly what to do in these situations, but I'm glad you're on my side." Luna replied.
"Miss Clemencia, you have become a Blank Slate?" Elder Aran suddenly said. After scanning them, Luna noticed they were level 1 as well.
"Mn. Before, I'm sure you could see our level, so you thought we gained the same powers of evolution as you did. Truth be told, you could do that for anything, but that doesn't mean we were blessed by the Agimat of Attribute as well. But now, thanks to your grace, we have gained the ability to evolve endlessly like you, as well." She explained.
"Good! I'll assign some men to help power level you until you're at least capable of leveling yourselves. As you are now, a single ETZ could breathe on you and you'd die." Luna said.
"Oh, and here, Lord Luna." Clemencia placed her palm on her chest, as a bright light shone and then disappeared. She held out her palm and and a crystal, shining with divine light, floated towards Luna.
"What is this?" He asked.
"My heart."
"This... I'm sorry, but, as you can see, I'm quite taken." He replied as he pointed with his thumb, behind him, indicating that him and Sura were together.
"Pft! Hahahaha!" Sura couldn't help but break out in laughter. She obviously understood that a proposal wasn't Clemencia's request, but she forgot that on Earth, offering to figuratively "give someone your heart" was considered a confession of love. It was normal for him to be caught off-guard in such a situation. Especially when
"L-lord Luna, I.. This heart is for you to claim so I can officially recognize you as my master. As long as it's alive, I can keep coming back even if my body dies. The caveat is that anything we die with, gets left behind, like equipment for example. If you wish to end our lives, you merely have to crush it. We usually leave it in a safe place so we can resurrect, but during our time as Manananggals," Clemencia explained.
"Oh..." Realizing his mistake, he accepted her heart. "I appreciate your sincerity. What about your previous forms?"
"We can go back to our Seraphic forms now." Clemencia said as six wings sprouted from her back.
"Seraph? You're a Seraph?!" Luna was shocked. From what he knew, Seraphs were the highest ranked of all Angels. Now that there was no more cap in their evolution, just how far can these beings go?
"As of right now, just in form." Clemencia replied. "Hopefully we can some day get back to, if not surpass our previous strength. Inanna from before was also a Seraph. The rest of the women here are Cherubim."
"I see. How many of you are there, exactly?" Luna asked.
"A little over 5,000." She replied.
"An Air Force of over 5,000. Not bad."
"We also don't have to wait until nighttime anymore, and we've rid ourselves of our previous forms. As soon as we're able, Lord Luna, we'll individually share our EXP with you, so half of it always goes to you without taking anything from your own kills." Clemencia promised. It was something they agreed upon earlier, and now, with the gift of continued evolution and being rid of their previously shackled forms, they were more than glad to fulfill their end of the bargain.
"I appreciate your sincerity, but before I assign some men to help you level, I still have some questions I wanted to clarify from before."
"If I know the answer, Lord Luna, I'll be sure to tell you everything I know."
"Alright. Everyone follow me to my home. We'll let the rest of the Cherubim finish their rites. This will be broadcast throughout the whole Nation. The people have a right to know." Luna said.
Apple who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up. "It'll be good motivation for everyone to keep evolving as well. Lately I feel as if the soldiers have been too complacent and careless. Just because they've stayed ahead, some of them think they're invincible. If they know the truth, then they'll finally be aware of how lacking they truly are."
With that said, the officials who were with them, and the others who weren't there, were summoned to Luna's residence for an official meeting.
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