Chapter 3 Conversation
After tossing and groaning drowsily on the hard bed all night, his back ached as if it were broken. Nova gasped for air and limped to his feet. The sunlight filtered through the cracks in the window, shimmering dust and making the young man's naked skin appear exceptionally pale and clean, making the tiny scratches glaring.
He habitually reached for his glasses at the bedside, only to find nothing before he remembered he wasn't in the teachers' dormitory. The dark-haired young man squinted wearily, standing barefoot on the floor. Then he realized he had tossed his clothes under the dusty bed. He grumbled in frustration and was about to bend down to pick them up when he heard a faint cough from behind him.
Then, another person in the room saw the black-haired young man tremble like a frightened cat, and turned his head to stare at him.
This was completely different from what he had expected - but if it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, he would have wanted to laugh.
"Good morning, stranger. I hope you slept well last night." The visitor said gently and calmly.
The other party spoke in the common language. Nova even forgot for a moment that he shouldn't be naked in front of others, but his clothes were wrinkled and lying under the bed -
"...The sheets are clean, and someone will give you a new set of clothes later."
The other person politely turned his eyes away slightly, until the other person pulled the sheet to cover his body, he raised his eyes and looked into Nova's eyes.
The stranger wore an indigo sleeveless robe over a loose, snow-white inner garment, and a cloak of the same color with wide folds and strange golden patterns draped over his shoulders.
He possessed a face too exquisitely beautiful for a man, even revealing a divine quality that made it difficult to distinguish between male and female. One might glimpse a similar sense of wonder in the works of the greatest artists of all time—but he was serene and majestic, possessing a presence that made one hesitate to gaze directly at him, something completely at odds with his youthful beauty. Sitting in the dim morning light, one might even suspect he was the greatest of the great beings in the magnificent and bizarre ancient epics sung by the bards.
"Good morning, sir. Nice to meet you." The professor came back to his senses and replied expressionlessly, "But your wish cannot be fulfilled. The bed is too hard. I had a terrible sleep last night."
He acted as if the embarrassment just now had never happened.
The other party was silent for a moment, but still promised gently: "As long as you cooperate and everything goes well, you will get a softer bed tonight."
"What do you need me to cooperate with?" Nova frowned, thinking that the other party might say something like "I need your flesh and blood" or "I need your heart" in the next second.
"honest."
The visitor said lightly.
His eyes were an extremely deep and clear blue, with a strange and dazzling circle of gold around the edge of his irises - Nova was a little dazed, but he couldn't remember where he had seen similar eyes.
At this moment, there was no softness in those beautiful eyes, which were sharper and colder than the curve of the other person's lips.
Without warning, a strange air current surged through the room. An invisible force lifted his scattered clothes and brought them to the controller, unfolding them as if a transparent figure were holding the shirt.
Nova: “…”
He was sure that he was stunned for a moment, as if he had been hit hard in the chest by the giant bell hammer on the bell tower of Baita University.
There was no chanting, no spells, no magic tools; everything just happened naturally. The black-haired young man slowly opened his eyes and looked at the other person with an unprecedented eagerness, as if he were looking at a rare and protected animal.
——The person in front of me is actually a person favored by God.
As everyone knows, after the long and bloody divine wars of the last century, the gods have either fallen or fallen into an ageless slumber. With the gods' grace gone, the vast continent of Ambrose has seen only one divinely favored figure in centuries: His Majesty Cassius II, ruler of the Silver Iris Empire. This is one of the key reasons why, despite His Majesty's absurd actions, the Silver Iris Empire continues to dominate two-thirds of the continent with unrivaled force.
And now, what he saw in front of him was a genuine one favored by God, alive, moving, and talking to him.
"A noble..." The one favored by God pointed at the shirt that was almost ravaged and scrapped. The corner of the shirt was embroidered with thorns with silver thread.
"And a group of sailors whose strongest fighter is a senior waiter." He raised his eyes and commented in a cold tone: "An amazing combination."
Going out to sea means facing unpredictable sea conditions, difficult navigation directions, and terrifying monsters from the depths of the ocean. How could a nobleman who cherishes his life travel with a group of poor sailors with low power?
"What are you doing here in Asachi?"
The other person was even more surprised than him. His cold and serious face became more lively. "Is this Asachi Peak?"
Azach, meaning "the place where the sun rises and sets," is a name that all those who go to die—followers of Samuel, the god of night and death—add to their names. But if it refers to a place, it can only be Azach Peak, a snowy mountain within the vast Andorhal Mountains that is the highest point on the entire continent.
No one has ever climbed Mount Asaqi, but legend has it that behind it lies an endless, empty abyss. Some scholars even believe the abyss is closely related to the fall of the gods, being the resting place of the gods and a place untouchable by humans.
For a moment, Nova seemed to see countless papers flapping their wings and flying past him.
The other person seemed to have anticipated his change of mood, his face expressionless. The God-Favored One appeared gentle, yet remained unquestionable.
Nova forced himself not to stare at the other person with that impolite eager look: "No, we just got here by mistake."
"The Explorer's destination was Graybridge Harbor. I was invited by the Holy See of Light to attend the Dawn Celebration. However, we encountered a storm at sea and deviated from our course..."
The black-haired young man suddenly felt a terrifying pressure, and his knees almost gave way and he fell to his knees. Cold sweat slowly seeped from his forehead, and his skin felt like it was pricking him, as if the entire ocean was pressing down on his back.
"Honest, sir." Another person's indifferent voice sounded clearly in his ears: "I warned you."
"...I didn't lie. I have been honest with you." Nova raised his neck with great effort. This action made him almost hear the cry of his spine. He began to feel a little impatient.
"Why would the Radiant Church invite a nonbeliever to the Dawn Celebration?" The God's Chosen One stared at him expressionlessly. "When did the Radiant Knights of Zephir become so friendly to heretics?"
Zephir, the god of light and glory, and his followers called themselves the Knights of Radiance. As the God's Favored Ones said, the Church of Radiance was not a peaceful and tolerant sect. On the contrary, they had an incomprehensible - especially incomprehensible to Nova - enthusiasm for promoting and defending the glory of the gods.
To this group of fanatics, pagans could be tolerated, but heretics without faith must die. Nova had seen the way they dealt with heretics—to be honest, it was disgusting.
The black-haired young man said with a cold expression: "...I don't understand what you are talking about. This is a very serious accusation."
An accusation that would have resulted in death by hanging from the gallows if reported to any church.
The God-Favored One smiled softly. He stood up and slowly walked over to the black-haired young man. Nova noticed that he was tall, even taller than himself. But in stark contrast to the terrifying aura of a superior being around him, he was still quite young, looking no more than a young adult.
But no one could look down on him because of his age under such heavy pressure.
"You don't have the scent of any god on you," the God-favored One said coldly. "Any reliable priest would be able to discover this. I'm curious, how on earth have you managed to survive to this day?"
What he said was actually quite disrespectful to the gods, just like telling wild animals to mark their territory - but Nova didn't hear it at all, he just frowned and pondered the word "smell".
Then the God-Favored One looked at the black-haired Unbeliever before him and raised his head. Even though his face was pale, he still looked at him fearlessly: "What do you mean by smell? Some kind of marking pheromone?"
“…”
The God-favored One raised his eyebrows subtly and stared at the other person for a while. He was surprised to find that this guy didn't seem to be joking, but really understood the literal meaning.
…and what are marking pheromones?
"I think you've misunderstood. The Glorious Church didn't invite me alone; they invited the entire seminary at White Tower University." Another person calmly explained, "My family has fallen on hard times, but I'm a newly appointed professor. I can't afford an expensive escort ship, so I'm traveling with a captain I know. As for the accusations of being unbelievers—"
The divinely favored one's pupils shrank suddenly. The cold, salty air from the ocean assaulted his nostrils. He swaddled himself in a sheet and leaned forward without hesitation, lowering his head to inhale deeply from his collar. Then, in the sudden, deathly silence of the room, he distanced himself, raised his arm, and carefully sniffed his wrist, oblivious to the fact that his fragile neck was only a hair's breadth away from snapping in two.
Then the audacious unbeliever looked up, his face expressionless but eyes filled with curiosity as he stared at him. "Aside from the sea odor on me, I don't smell anything out of the ordinary. Could it be that your vomeronasal organs and those of those 'more reliable priests' haven't yet degenerated to a high degree? I hope you can smell it more carefully, or describe the specific odor to me so that I can make a more accurate judgment."
The one favored by God was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed.
He ignored the arm raised in front of his nose, and the terrifying feeling of oppression on his body instantly dissipated - he smiled beautifully, with the brightness and vigor unique to young people, and his beautiful eyes were like the shimmering shallow sea under the sun, which made people feel trust.
"...You are not what I imagined." The voice of the God-favored One became soft and gentle again, and sounded as if it meant something.
"I think we can start by introducing ourselves again." He stared at Nova intently with his beautiful eyes, lightly pounded his chest, and a strand of golden hair woven with red coral and turquoise swayed in his ear: "Azuka, Natalin's Azuka."
"...Nova Brody." Nova blinked, retracted his arm, and finally remembered that he should introduce himself. "How should I greet you?"
He knew that he probably wouldn't get an answer right away, but because of the other party's seriousness, his education made him willing to give the same respect.
"Natalin people don't have many specific etiquettes. If necessary, just beat your chest." Another person patiently explained to him, "We greet strangers like this and hope to receive a friendly response."
"...I saw them salute you like this." The professor said slowly and gestured on his forehead.
The devotion and reverence were truly impressive.
The one favored by God slowly smiled.
"No, you don't have to salute me," he said calmly.
The author has something to say:
From Baidu Encyclopedia:
The vomeronasal organ is a pair of blind sacs located at the front of the nasal cavity, opening into the roof of the mouth. Through research, scientists have determined that the organ that senses pheromones is called the vomeronasal organ, a cartilaginous structure located at the base of the nasal septum. Human pheromones have also been confirmed by the scientific community, but the vomeronasal organ, which receives pheromones in humans, is highly degenerate. Only in fetuses and newborns does the vomeronasal organ structure remain distinct.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
