Chapter 282: Favor of Two Gods
“Uh, so what happened?” I saw Lorna with a sour face and Jayad looking very depressed and troubled. Had they argued?
“That, Parul, yesterday when I was being drained of blood, a Holy Flame erupted from me, right? Then you asked me to ask Lorna what was going on,” Jayad said.
“Mm-hmm, so what happened then?” I asked confusedly.
“Miss Leo Man said this isn’t the ability of a Holy Knight, but a Paladin’s,” Jayad said.
“Huh~?” I didn’t understand what he was saying for a moment.
“Uh, simply put, after Miss Leo Man examined me, she said I now hold two professions simultaneously, being both a Holy Knight and a Paladin,” Jayad said.
“What?!” I was even more surprised. Two professions, how was that possible? What’s the difference? Moreover…
“Isn’t that a good thing? Why is Miss Leo Man angry?” I asked, puzzled.
“It’s not a good thing at all!” Miss Leo Man couldn’t help but interject, “He received divine favor from two gods, which is why he has two professions. Do you know what the favor of two gods means?”
Wait? Favor of two gods, since when?
Ah! I remembered, Jayad went to the Temple of the Lord of Dawn to get Holy Water for free. He originally wanted to learn Holy Light, and then…
He said at the time that while listening to the sacred song, a power surged into his body. The Holy Light almost couldn’t be contained and was about to gush out. He quickly hid in the restroom and didn’t dare to come out until the sacred song was over.
That new power back then, was it the Paladin’s power? Was he favored by the Lord of Dawn? No way, that’s too casual. It was one thing to become a Holy Knight by reading scriptures, but how did he directly become a Paladin just by listening to a sacred song?
“But, what’s bad about it? Isn’t having two professions stronger?” I asked confusingly. This was a good thing, it meant Jayad would possess even greater strength.
“This is heresy! Believing in two gods at the same time! Halfhearted devotion is no devotion at all!” Lorna shouted excitedly, her voice even drawing the attention of passersby.
Ah, I almost forgot she was religious. To Lorna, Jayad’s actions of first receiving favor from the Heavenly Father and then seeking the power of other gods was utter blasphemy.
“But, Older Brother Jayad never said he wanted to believe in the Heavenly Father from the start. He just accidentally gained power by reading scriptures, he never even received a proper baptism from a priest, nor did he attend Mass, he didn’t even make the sign of the cross,” I defended Jayad.
“Uh!” Lorna was stunned. It seemed that was indeed the case. Jayad wasn’t even a believer. She had let her ingrained assumptions get the better of her and realized she had spoken out of turn again, and her attitude was problematic.
The Grand Tutor had told her to try and get Jayad to join their side. That meant her goal was to get Jayad to join the clergy, so she should have approached him with an attitude of spreading the Lord’s gospel to lost sheep.
It was just that Lorna lacked experience. Preaching was the job of ordinary priests. She hadn’t directly interacted with commoners before. Lorna had to adjust her mindset again.
“That’s not the point. Do you think this is a good thing? What do you think will happen when one fish is targeted by two people?” Lorna said.
“Ah!” I imagined a plump fish being eyed by two people, being fattened up for no reason. Were they going to eat him?
As the saying goes, unsolicited kindness often hides ulterior motives. Another saying is that the will of the gods is unfathomable; you can never truly understand what the gods are thinking. Jayad was favored by two gods just by casually reading scriptures and listening to sacred songs, which was definitely not normal.
“Listen carefully, being noticed by a god is a very dangerous thing. Even being noticed by just one god can lead to disaster at any moment, let alone two noticing you at the same time. You’d best pray it was just a coincidence that you received their favor, and you haven’t truly caught their eye,” Lorna said.
I felt a shiver run down my spine and quickly asked, “What will happen?”
“In an Eastern island nation, this situation is called ‘kami-kakushi’ (divine hiding). In that ancient Eastern empire, it’s called ‘ascension.’ We believe it means being by the gods’ side, serving them. But who knows the truth? No one ever comes back anyway,” Lorna said.
In other words, it’s being taken away by the gods, and for what purpose is completely unknown. Perhaps they find him delicious, or attractive, or entertaining, but serving the gods is entirely out of the question.
Unfortunately, I am someone who has truly seen a god and returned. The experience was worse than death, more agonizing than dying. I never want to go through it again. Anyway, I only know it’s definitely not a good thing.
“So, you’d best be low-key and careful from now on, don’t attract the gods’ attention again, otherwise, I can’t guarantee what fate you’ll meet. Of course, the real risk is not just this,” Lorna said.
“What other dangers are there?” I quickly asked. This was related to Jayad’s safety, and I had to take it seriously.
“Miss Leo Man already told me. She said having two divine powers of different origins within your body is extremely dangerous. It could lead to exploding and dying due to divine power conflict, or it could accelerate mutation. She suspects that my rapid mutation is due to the two divine powers,” Jayad said.
“That’s very possible. Having two divine powers within your body will almost certainly lead to conflict, and accelerating mutation is also almost certain,” Lorna said irritably.
Is it that terrifying? I quickly asked, “Have there been people with dual divine powers in their bodies before? What happened to them?”
“Yes, but most of them were from the same Pantheon. For example, if you received favor from both Lord Gabriel and Lord Raphael, or blessings from both Great God Odin and Thor. That would be relatively safer, and only relatively. They either fought hard against madness or gave up and sought blessings from more gods,” Lorna said.
“Wait a minute? Is it possible to seek blessings from more gods?” I asked. She had already made it sound like death was certain with two, what about more?
“Of course it’s possible. As long as they are from the same Pantheon, it will be relatively more stable. But they were all from the same Pantheon! Yours is completely different from your brother’s situation of believing in two completely different gods! The risk level is not the same!” Lorna became agitated again.
“Miss Leo Man, please calm down, calm down. Older Brother Jayad didn’t believe in them. The gods forced it upon him, or rather, he stumbled upon it accidentally. It wasn’t his subjective intention,” I explained for him.
Lorna’s expression was complex. Many people spent their entire lives devoutly only to pursue the favor of the gods. Yet, Jayad, by casually reading scriptures and listening to sacred songs, received the favor of two gods.
