Baptism of Fire

The two of them were just looking at each other's eyes.

A few minutes passed by like this.

"Sorry, what?"

Zen asked in disbelief.

"Slay the gods."

"You serious!?"

"I am."

After Zen became sure that Arthur really wasn't joking, he calmed himself despite being shocked at Arthur's lofty goal and asked seriously.

"Well then, since you are so confident, what makes you so sure that I can do what you said?"

"I have lived for many years, of course I trust my judgement. If not, then I wouldn't have saved you and risked exposing myself to the Temple of Light."

Arthur replied calmly as he crossed his legs and leaned his back on the chair.

Thinking that Arthur made sense, Zen pondered quietly.

"But I can't seem to absorb mana, there are limits to what I can do… so why me?"

"Don't think about that, that is not the topic of our conversation. I have my way, and rest assured that it will only benefit you."

Arthur replied in the same calm manner, he did not do anything to pressure Zen and instead waited patiently.

"Then will I be a member of the Temple of Fire?"

"Yes, but in order to keep you away from danger, even the fact that you met me must stay a secret."

"Your only duty is to help when needed and to not betray me."

Said Arthur as hints of flames appeared in his eyes.

Facing this, Zen had a neutral expression on his face. He nodded as he began to silently contemplate the decisions that he would need to make.

'I really don't have anything to lose, just him patiently waiting for my decisions is enough to show respect to me who had just descended upon this world.'

'The condition of not betraying and helping when needed is also a given, so it's really not that much of a condition.'

'And the fact that I can't absorb mana also worries me, I'm not sure if there are still others who are willing to accept me.'

'It seems that this is the best choice for my current self. And besides, the idea of slaying the gods makes my blood boil.'

'I might as well enjoy myself. At worst, I would just suffer the system's death penalty.'

As Zen pondered in his mind, he remembered something that needed to be addressed.

"What was that about the Abyssal World that you said earlier?"

Hearing Zen's question, Arthur explained patiently.

"Oh right. Earlier I told you the gist of the war that happened, which caused the fall of my temple."

"In recent years, a new world waged a war on us again."

Zen was startled.

'The fuck? Is it so common for worlds to wage war on this world!?!?'

Thoughts appeared in his mind as he listened carefully.

"Through my connections, I found out that it is called the Abyssal World. The home of the Abyssal Demons."

"As the war only started recently, not much was known about them. However, the information about them indicated that their threat wasn't as big as the Ancient Evil World."

"That was the reason why it was still manageable for the various forces of our world even though most of the forces of our world still haven't recovered much from the last war."

As Arthur finished speaking, he looked at Zen and asked,

"So, what's your answer?"

Zen carefully thought and considered the choices and decisions that he would make, he gazed at Arthur in the eyes and said in a determined voice, "Then I am willing to be your apprentice!"

Hearing Zen's decision, Arthur, who was playing with the shards of glass from the cup of coffee he shattered, looked up.

"I knew it."

He said as a grin formed in his mouth.

He stood up and a scroll appeared in his hand out of nowhere, which was followed by Arthur's chant.

[Space Isolation]

As Zen heard Arthur's mutter, a semi-transparent barrier appeared outside the training grounds which could prevent anyone from detecting them.

The scroll soon turned into dust as the spell within it was casted.

After that, his expression became serious and commanded Zen in a powerful voice.

"Kneel down."

Not having the time to think of the event that had transpired, Zen followed Arthur in an orderly manner.

He knelt and bowed his head in Arthur's direction.

Arthur raised his hand, placed it just above Zen's head and chanted.

"With the blessings given by the Fire, I bestow upon you the Baptism of Fire."

As Arthur spoke, wisps of fire formed around them and gathered towards his hand.

His eyes also lit up in flames as his voice became more powerful, as if caring fire within them.

Soon enough, a system window appeared in Zen's sight.

[Detected that the player is going through the Baptism of Fire.

Do you wish to proceed?

Yes / No]

Zen unhesitatingly chose yes.

Following this, the wisps of fire that gathered around the two of them became denser as time passed by.

As the wisps of fire became denser, it formed flames that surrounded the two of them. Making it seem as if they were bathing in fire.

Zen felt the flames bathing his body but wasn't burned. Instead, he felt warm and comfortable.

Minutes passed by and the fire that was bathing them became more and more active until…

Boom~

It exploded.

It caused a small explosion in the area where they are, causing both of them to wake up from their state.

Fortunately, the isolation spell was big enough and covered the whole area around the training grounds which made it so they wouldn't be detected by others.

Zen opened his eyes and saw that Arthur was a little pale, he walked towards him and helped him stand.

"Thank you…"

Arthur said as he breathed heavily, clearly exhausted from the ceremony he performed.

However, remembering that he still did not know Zen's name, Arthur's words came to a sudden halt.

He looked towards Zen.

Zen looked towards him.

An awkward silence filled the atmosphere.