บท 52: The Blessed

Livia stood on guard but did not immediately unsheathe her swords.

"He's quite young."

The boy in front of her looked to be no more than 15 years old, and seeing his visibly worn clothes and sword, she could easily deduce that this boy was not in a very good financial situation.

It was not uncommon for slum children to become mercenaries and risk their lives in hopes of earning money to eat.

Many of these children failed to survive their first mission, either because of their precarious physical condition or their inexperience, but there were some cases of talented children who were able to accomplish their missions and continue working as mercenaries.

This boy in front of her had to be one of those cases; he seemed to have experience handling that huge sword and looked abnormally calm in front of her.

"I wouldn't want to kill him."

She knew perfectly well how hard life was in the slums—to spend several days without being able to get anything to eat and, in the end, having to make do with a piece of moldy bread taken from the garbage.

Mercenary work depended a lot on skill to be able to get good requests. If one did not have the skill, the jobs that would pay best would be killing or capturing some thief or criminal, and those jobs usually did not exceed the small pay of a few copper coins and at best a silver coin.

That amount was usually not enough to be able to get good lodging or a decent meal, so many of the mercenary kids continued their lives in the slums where the prices were exponentially lower, working and saving tirelessly in the hope of someday getting out of that hellish place.

"He must have found the cartel and came in hopes of earning the money."

Desperation can drive people to do crazy things, and Livia thought that was the case with the boy in front of her.

"You still have a chance to leave."

"I don't plan to."

Woosh-!

The boy firmly planted his foot on the ground, causing it to crack; after that, he propelled himself, moving at a speed that was not appropriate considering the huge sword he carried on his back.

With a swing, he attacked Livia, but she easily dodged his attack.

Boom-!

The boy's huge sword impacted against the ground, destroying it and creating a large crater.

Livia moved quickly and unsheathed one of her swords, but she changed her form to transform it into a blunt weapon; her goal was not to kill the boy, but simply to knock him unconscious.

Clank-!

But to his surprise, the boy managed to pull out the sword embedded firmly in the ground and, as if it weighed nothing, managed to position it to block Livia's attack.

After that, he adjusted his grip and, swinging it horizontally, made a counterattack.

Woosh-!

Livia stepped back and away from the boy, but the sword that had missed its target generated a strong draft, showing the force with which the hit had been made.

After moving away from the boy, Livia began to analyze him more closely.

"His strength is abnormal."

The speed with which he moved and the ease with which he wielded that huge sword were not normal; in fact, once she moved away, she noticed something surprising.

The boy was wielding that huge sword with only one hand.

With a relaxed movement, he leaned that sword against his shoulder, as if what he was holding was not a sword of his size made entirely of steel.

His reflexes seemed top notch as well, as he was able to see and react to her attack in a split second, something that even the now unconscious knights couldn't do.

"And... there's that too."

After watching him more closely, Livia noticed something else.

The boy had no mana.

Or rather, she couldn't sense the presence of a mana circuit or heart, nor did he seem to be using any other type of energy such as touki.

That meant that the boy was wielding that huge sword using only his physical strength.

This was obviously impossible.

How could a boy of barely 15 years old wield such a big sword with no apparent effort without using mana?

His body showed no signs of having been modified, and neither could it be an enhancement drug, as these reacted to the user's mana, and the boy in front of her only showed the natural mana a normal person would have, which was not enough to activate the drug.

"... That's all that's left.

After thinking about all the options, Livia finally came to the one that seemed to be the right one.

But even that option sounded far-fetched.

So she decided to speak up.

"Hey, kid."

"My name is Raven."

"All right, Raven, can I ask you something?"

"If I answer you, will you tell me where my target is?"

"No."

"...Then I won't answer you.

He replied while pouting.

Livia found this a bit cute, but she had to make sure if what she was thinking was correct.

"In exchange for that, I'll answer any other questions you want to ask me."

"But I don't have anything I want to ask you other than the location of my target."

"Then, uh..."

Livia rummaged through her pockets, trying to find something to get Raven to agree.

After some rummaging, she found something in her inside pocket.

"What's this doing here?"

It was a chocolate candy. Apparently she had kept it in there by mistake while equipping herself with some smoke bombs, but it was the only thing she had right now, so she used it.

"How about this chocolate?"

"Deal."

Surprisingly, he accepted immediately.

Raven approached nonchalantly as if they hadn't been enemies just seconds ago. He took the chocolate from her hand and popped it into his mouth.

Livia could see his expression grow noticeably brighter as he savored the sweet.

"Cute."

Livia thought as she looked at him, and her hand involuntarily moved to his head.

Pat-

"What are you doing?"

"Uh? Ah... Sorry, it was involuntary."

She quickly withdrew her hand, and as Raven savored her candy, Livia asked what she wanted to ask.

"Tell me, Raven, did you get a blessing by any chance?"

"A blessing?"

At her question, Raven looked at her as if he didn't understand what she was talking about.

"Well... Has anything extraordinary ever happened to you? Like having a dream about a person you'd never seen before, some sort of encounter with a strangely intelligent animal, or that the sky had suddenly opened up on a cloudy day."

At this point, Raven was looking at her as if he were talking to a person who had gone insane.

But Livia ignored his gaze, as she was deep in thought.

"Just as I thought, he doesn't know... then there's only that last option left."

Blessed.

They are those individuals who, after performing a certain feat or action, attract the attention of a god, and in some cases, this god may even bless that person.

In the mythical age of the gods, when they could roam freely throughout the mortal world, blessings were not so uncommon. Many of the heroes of old and various other people received such blessings.

It is said that the gods can no longer descend to the mortal plane due to the decay of the world.

People stopped praying and giving offerings. Nature was consumed by mortals, and the mana became increasingly impure, causing the gods to no longer be able to manifest on the mortal plane.

Although the gods are still prayed to and venerated, the intensity is much less than thousands years ago, when it could be considered that people had a fanaticism and blind faith towards the gods.

But despite all these circumstances, the gods are rarely attracted to a small number of exceptional mortals, to whom they choose to give blessings.

There are records of blessed people today.

Orvyn Pendragon, the current leader of the Pendragon family and who has the blessing of Ares, the god of war, is said to have obtained this blessing after winning an impossible battle against an army of 10,000 demons that threatened to invade the empire, but Orvyn Pendragon managed to exterminate them all using only a small battalion of 1,000 men.

Liadwyr Freihem, the king of the elven kingdom, with the blessing of Freyr, the god who created the elves.

Then there is Fredwig Hilditri, the leader and founder of the Tower of the Full Moon, the one known as the most powerful mage tower; it is not yet confirmed, but it is said that he has the blessing of Odin himself, the king of the Norse gods.

These and a few more cases are those of people who obtained blessings in this era.

Since the gods are not able to descend to the mortal world directly, they decide to do it in other ways. Either through dreams, controlling animals, or doing more extravagant things like opening the heavens and letting a divine light illuminate whoever they want to bless.

So she asked Raven if he had experienced any of these things, but since he doesn't seem to have, there was only one last possibility left.

Something that is so extremely rare that not even in the mythical age of the gods were multiple cases made known, and not to even mention in the present day.

And that is to be born with a blessing.

The gods do not see the world as mortals do. They are able to see things beyond the naked eye.

The flow of the world, the lines of destiny, the hearts of living beings, the past, present, and future. The gods were able to see all these things, some to a greater or lesser extent.

That is why, on very rare occasions, there are gods who notice a mortal who has not even been born.

Because that person is different from the others, it is not yet known what exactly it is that makes them different from the rest of the people, but that'something' that makes them different greatly arouses the interest of the gods.

These beings are rare to find even for the gods, so if a god comes across this type of anomaly, he will want to give them a blessing immediately.

Why? You might ask.

Because the gods are hungry for entertainment.

After centuries of living an immortal life, you naturally run out of things to do.

Before, they could quell their boredom by playing with mortals, perhaps kidnapping some woman they found exceptionally beautiful or guiding a mortal with a promising destiny to forge a legend.

But today, unable to descend into the mortal world, the gods naturally ran out of things to do other than watch from afar.

Such an anomaly would naturally seem exceptionally interesting to them, like having found an oasis after spending weeks wandering in the desert.

Those blessed from birth were born with exceptional abilities as children: strength equal to that of several adults, reflexes and senses better than those of a beast, and usually a special ability bestowed by the god who blessed them.

This could be a natural talent for combat, magic or even being able to communicate with animals.

"While I don't have the means to verify if he has a blessing, it is the only thing that could explain his unusually high qualities for his age."

After a while, an idea crossed Livia's mind.

"This child could be a very useful ally for us."

She hesitated, though.

After all, this boy didn't look a day over 15. It would be too much to drag him into their affairs.

But she was also aware that Arthur needed as much help as possible; while she knew he had several plans ready, extra help never hurt.

So, she finally decided to speak up.

"Hey, Raven."

"Hm?"

"How about working for us?"

"No."

But the answer came immediately, however.

"Can I at least know why?"

"...If I leave, who's going to save her?"

"What?"

Woosh-!

Crack-!

Raven suddenly charged at Livia, but Livia easily dodged his attack and moved away from him.

"You already asked me what you wanted, didn't you?"

His tone was more serious than before as he rested his sword on his shoulder and resumed his low stance.

"Then it's my turn to get answers."

His purple eyes looked at her with a seriousness that, until a few moments ago, it didn't seem possible for this boy to have.

"Where is my target?"

"I can't tell you."

"I see."

Woosh-!

Raven instantly lashed out at Livia, but he moved at a much faster speed than he had before; even Livia had a hard time keeping up with his movements. But she was still able to step aside and dodge his attack.

But something impressive happened at that very instant.

When Raven's sword was inches away from hitting the ground, it stopped abruptly; then, with tremendous force and speed, Raven changed the direction of his attack towards Livia.

Livia, taken by surprise, could not dodge it, so she chose to block it.

Clank-!

Boom-!

But that didn't seem to be the best idea.

The instant their weapons collided, Livia was sent flying, crashing into and through multiple buildings.

"Agh..."

Shaking off the debris, Livia struggled to her feet.

"That force is monstrous."

Looking down at my numb hands, I finally understood why the blessed ones were so special.

Not only did he stop that huge chunk of metal before it hit the ground, he even managed to redirect it without apparent effort. Not even someone with mana could accomplish that.

Closing and clenching her hands, Livia got rid of the numbing sensation.

She looked ahead and could see Raven approaching as he dragged his massive sword behind him.

"Looks like this is going to be harder than I thought."