"Sothing like that? Is that even possible?" Daniel raised his eyebrows sharply after hearing Malrik’s words.
What he had just heard was far beyond what he imagined or expected—living for several centuries, and that too as a mortal?
As far as he knew, only the blessing of the World Tree could grant such a long life, and even then, those benefits were usually exclusive to the elves.
"That’s right. People are always shocked when they learn about the power of our faith. But I guess now you understand why, even though we’re newer than most religions, we’ve been growing at such a fast pace."
"I get it. Longevity has always been sothing humans long for. A religion that can offer sothing like that will naturally grow quickly." Daniel nodded, then added:
"Can you tell more about your prophet?"
"The Great Prophet? Not much is known about him, not even much about his past. But there are so rumors."
"They say the Great Prophet was born sowhere remote, in the abandoned southern lands near the Gulf of Sur. It’s said his parents left him when he was a baby, and he was raised by the natives of that area."
"Though, demons attacked their tribe and killed them. The prophet escaped by jumping into the Pit of Silence." Malrik was about to continue when Daniel suddenly asked:
"The Pit of Silence? Is that a well-known place?"
"Well, the Pit of Silence has been known since ancient tis, but I honestly don’t know why. So say it’s where the first demon appeared. Others say it’s where a god ascended. No one really knows. The only thing that’s certain is this: anyone who’s entered that place has died—except one person..."
"Prophet Zirham..." Daniel muttered to himself.
"Anyway, where was I? Right—the prophet is the only person who ever ca back from the Pit. They say that when he erged, his eyes had turned divine, and he could speak the Primordial Language."
"From that point on, he walked across the entire world. From the farthest east to the farthest west, across all continents and among every race, he gathered many followers and founded the Faith of Eternity."
"He chose the Book of Eternity as the holy scripture of our faith and declared the region where the Pit of Silence lies as the sacred land of the Faith of Eternity. That’s where he built the first church," Malrik finished his explanation.
"I see. So we’re actually heading toward the Gulf of Sur," Daniel’s eyes glead slightly.
Up until now, he had only heard of the Gulf of Sur from Eva, and even that was because of her Wanderer friend who had supposedly gone there.
He had no idea what the Gulf of Sur was like at this point in history, but from what he rembered, it was in complete chaos in his own ti.
"I don’t even know what exactly caused the chaos in the Gulf of Sur during my era," he chuckled inwardly, deciding not to think too hard about it.
Right now, only two things had caught his attention: the Pit of Silence and the speech of the Prophet of Eternity.
To be honest, he was really intrigued by this religion—a faith that could grant centuries of life even to mortals was definitely worth investigating.
Especially because he wanted to find out what had caused the destruction and disappearance of this religion in the future.
Not long after that, dinner was ready. As expected, it was roasted at. Everyone took a skewer and ate quietly.
"This is really delicious," he said as he took a bite of the kebab—tender and easy to chew.
It wasn’t like those tough ats that were annoying to eat. But it wasn’t just the tenderness that caught his attention.
It was the spices. The seasoning was truly waking up his taste buds.
"You like it? That’s three-horned sea cow at. Actually, it’s not traded much because it’s poisoned. But if you know how to cleanse the poison, it’s one of the tastiest ats out there," said the man who was grilling the kebabs after seeing Daniel’s reaction.
"Where can I buy this at? And how do they cleanse the poison?"
"You’ll have to go to the coastal cities around the Gulf of Sur to buy it. As for how to cleanse it—if you’re really interested, I can teach you," the man laughed and replied.
"If it’s possible, I’d love to learn."
The man nodded and gestured for Daniel to sit beside him. He then spent about half an hour teaching him the thod to cleanse the poison.
Singing and voices carried on until late at night, just before sleep. After dinner, people started packing up and putting out the fires.
All the pilgrims headed back to their tents to sleep. But Daniel didn’t feel at ease. The whole ti, he’d been trying to locate the other players, but there was still no sign of them.
He also had no idea when the pilgrims would be attacked—or by whom—and that made him feel uneasy. It was like everything was out of his control, and he hated that feeling.
"Is sothing wrong, fellow brother?" Malrik asked as he washed his hands and saw Daniel looking around like he was searching for sothing.
"No, it’s nothing," Daniel shook his head and entered the tent. Still, he kept his spiritual senses active just in case anything happened.
An hour passed—nothing. Two hours—still nothing. He couldn’t keep his spiritual sense going any longer and was forced to shut it down.
He turned his head and stared at the top of the tent. Minutes passed slowly.
"Hm? That sll?" Suddenly, sothing made him jump up. He started sniffing the air—or at least the particles mixed in it.
"Slls like fuel!" He rushed out of the tent and saw that several tents were already burning in flas.
"Help! The tents are on fire!"
"Help us! We’re under attack! They’re attacking!"
He could see the pilgrims running from all directions, trying to put out the fire.
Boom!
Suddenly, a huge explosion occurred, sending a massive shockwave and tearing apart many of the pilgrims. Screams and panic echoed everywhere.
Flas spread everywhere, smoke filled the sky, and yet the pilgrims were still looking for ways to save their fellow brothers and sisters.
Malrik and the others from Daniel’s tent rushed out imdiately.
"What happened?! Oh god, what was that explosion?!"
"Move quickly! Help the fellow brothers and sisters! Hurry!"
But right then, Daniel raised his hand.
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