Book Restoration System: Savior Of The Forsaken Legends [BL]

"O Soleia, Supreme Goddess of Light, I beseech thee..."

Auri gripped the side of his chair as the healer began his prayer. He knew he should be thankful for this act of kindness, even though it was only a part of Captain Kaleo's show. But as a foreign entity who had no knowledge about the gods of this world, he didn't know what to expect.

Bastian stood in front of him with the codex cradled in one arm while the palm of his other hand rested on its hard cover. The surrounding air seemed to shift as he reached the end of his prayer. Speckles of light appeared, floating around him like tiny fireflies. The golden glow gathered to a single point—his heart—and then it expanded into a blinding sphere.

The reaction of the crowd was just as he expected. Multiple gasps resounded, followed by hushed, excited exchanges with one another. Some even wept, dropping to their knees as they sang praises to the heavens with raised hands. Despite the ephemeral light, however, there were still skeptics, questioning the source if it's truly divine power.

As for Auri, he simply sat there and basked in the warmth that enveloped him. It was quite an experience, but not as calming as the energy he had felt at the old temple in the mountain. Thankfully, it didn't bring him any pain or discomfort, just as he initially thought.

Slowly, the light scattered into tiny, glimmering speckles.

Auri moved his leg, only to flinch in pain. He looked at his thigh and found that the deep punctures of the wild boar's teeth were still there—it didn't heal.

People saw it too, and words of doubt soon replaced their reverence.

"What happened?"

"His wounds didn't heal..."

Someone scoffed. "I should have known it was just another trick."

"But we saw the divine light."

"Not everything that glimmers are the work of the divine."

The noise of the skeptics grew louder.

Auri dared himself to glance at the mastermind of the flopped performance and found an expression devoid of its usual jest. But it was only for a moment. When the pair of cold, calculating eyes met his stare, the captain's smirk returned, but it appeared more sinister than before.

"Now, that's quite unexpected," Captain Kaleo hummed in thought as he turned to his subordinate, his eyes demanding an explanation.

Bastian stiffened, his eyes growing wide with panic. "I-I swear, I did everything right, Captain. I don't understand..."

"Then do it again," Captain Kaleo said, his voice dangerously low. "I trust you wouldn't put us to shame the second time."

Bastian gripped the codex tightly, looking almost desperate. "G-Give me a moment, p-please. I will make this right, Captain."

Auri gulped as divine light floated in the air once again. It was more intense than the first, as if the healer was pouring more than his heart into this prayer. When he finished, Bastian looked up to his captain with a reverent expression. If he wasn't praying to their goddess just now, Auri would assume Bastian was worshipping his captain instead.

But once again, divine healing had failed.

"T-This can't be." Bastian stared at his trembling hands. "Why is it not working? I have never failed before, not even once!"

This was getting dangerous. He had to find a way out of this mess.

"How unfortunate," Captain Kaleo said, shaking his head. "It appears our dear friend isn't someone the Goddess would want to bless, hmm?"

Auri shuddered as the captain's icy fingers hovered close to his nape. It brushed dangerously against the vein on his neck before it settled back on his shoulder, stopping him from ever leaving. He turned to the healer, but Bastian's benevolent expression had morphed into something ill-natured.

"You..." Bastian rose from the ground with a spiteful glare and pointed a finger at him. "You are a heretic."

The fuck?

"There is no other explanation other than that."

"Are you for real?" Auri gasped in disbelief. "You failed to heal me as you promised and suddenly it's my fault?"

"I didn't fail! I have never failed. It only failed because you are someone unworthy of the Goddess' blessing. You have strayed too far from Her light!"

Auri scoffed. "Well, maybe it wouldn't have failed if you were actually praying to your goddess and not worshipping your captain in other ways!"

There was a collective gasp in the crowd.

"The healer of the inquisition team was having illicit feelings towards his superior?"

"That angelic face, Bastian?"

"Oh, my. How scandalous!"

Taken aback, Bastian staggered, his face blossoming into a deep shade of red. "T-That's not true! I am a faithful follower of Goddess Soleia. How dare you accuse me of such blasphemy!"

"Blasphemy, my ass! You've been eye-fucking your captain since earlier. Your goddess probably stopped listening to your prayers because you are filed with perverted thoughts."

"Y-You! I'll kill you!"

"Now, now." Captain Kaleo stepped in. "That's quite enough."

"But, Captain, that man is a heretic! How can you take his side? You didn't believe the words he said just now, did you?"

Captain Kaleo rubbed two fingers against his right temple and sighed. "Ah... how troublesome. This has become circus-like. People must think we are a bunch of fools. Is this what you mean when you said you'll be of use to me, Bastian?"

Bastian's face turned pale. "N-No, Captain. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—!"

Auri grabbed his crutch, pushing himself to stand. He was getting tired of their theatrics. If he hung around longer, things may escalate further and he'll get caught in trouble with the Holy Empire.

Unfortunately, the inquisitor captain wasn't done with him.

"Not so fast, my friend." Captain Kaleo grabbed his arm. "Where are you going? We aren't done with your treatment."

"What more do you want from me?" Auri shook the hand off of him. "Your divine healing has failed. Twice. So how about we stop now before you embarrass yourself any further?"

"My, I'm afraid I can't do that. If I let you go now, we may lose face."

Auri shrugged. "I don't really see that as my problem. Now, if you'll excuse—"

"How about we do it again one last time?" Captain Kaleo said, offering his hand once again. "As they said, the third time is the charm."

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

"Not when my integrity is at stake. "

"Tch. Whatever." Auri dropped back on the chair with a huff. "You better not put the blame on me if this fails again."

"Worry not. I will make sure your wound is healed, no matter what."

Auri's brows shot up. "You sound so sure it's going to work this time."

"It will work." Captain Kaleo unsheathed his sword, almost driving Auri into panic, until he dropped on one knee and drove the sword's tip onto the ground. "I swear upon my honor, I will take away your pain."

"Captain!" Bastian had a horrified look on his face. "You are not thinking of doing that, are you?"

"Bastian, if you had performed your job properly, then I wouldn't have to use this method, don't you think?"

"Then I'll do it again. No, I'll do it now!" Bastian dropped to his knees, put his codex on the ground, then clasped his hands together. "O Goddess of the Everlasting Light, hear my call..."

"That's enough, Bastian," Captain Kaleo said, removing one glove from his hand. "It seems you are still lacking in experience, so I'll take it for here."

The look on the healer's face resembled that of a kicked puppy. Auri almost pity him, but he almost got painted as a heretic because of this man's shortsightedness, so he only had one word that came to mind.

'Deserved!'

"I will now begin," Captain Kaleo said, laying out his palm once again. "Give me your hand."

"We're supposed to hold hands now?"

"This method is unorthodox and requires a direct contact. Now, if you would?"

Auri stared at the captain's palm before he placed his hand on top of it. He didn't need to look behind the man to know someone was already boiling with jealousy.

For a moment, he considered using the skill [Life Memoir] to get a glimpse of what kind of person Captain Kaleo was, but he digressed. The man was an inquisitor captain. He wasn't ready to see memories of blood bath and cruelty.

When his focus returned to the man knelt in front of him, Auri noticed the change in his aura. The golden light around him was more refined like mist. It swirled around him, until it crawled to their linked hands and engulfed Auri in it. The energy pressed on him, prickled his skin, as if it were trying to penetrate his body.

Then, a system notice suddenly appeared.

[Notice: an influx of divine energy has been detected in your body. Attempting to assimilate...]

[The condition to unlock ??? is still yet to be achieved.]

[Restoration level required to process divine energy: Expert.]

[Warning: your level is too low for safe integration. Implementing Emergency Adaptation...]

Auri felt a sudden jolt. He tried to pull his hand from Captain Kaleo's grasp, but the overwhelming rush of divine energy paralyzed him. He stared at the floating parchment in a frozen stupor and watched as more of notices appeared.

[Emergency Adaptation has been implemented. Initiating force activation of high-level skills to assimilate divine energy...]

[Energy Integration Skill: Force-Activated!]

[Energy Conversion Skill: Force-Activated!]

[Energy Regulation Skill: Force-Activated!]

[Automatic Self Restoration Skill: Force-Activated!]

[Stabilizing...]

Auri gasped for breath as the burning sensation in his chest dissipated. He felt as though he was a car battery that had been overloaded with electricity. Any more of it would cause him to overload.

Captain Kaleo flinched, reminding Auri that he wasn't alone. His back straightened, as if he was trying to suppress his pain. The grip he had on Auri's hand kept tightening, just as the wound on Auri's thigh slowly mend itself until no trace of injury was left.

Divine healing—it finally worked. Or was it the system?

[Emergency Adaptation has ended. All force-activated skills have deactivated. Preparing for backlash...]

Auri's vision spun, and before he could even ask the system what the backlash was, his entire surrounding went dark.