Chapter 168 - The Norse People

  “I’ve been a teacher at this academy for 25 years and a refugee on your ti since I was 23. I’m a former priestess of the Holy Church of the Theocracy.”

  These words caused a stir among the students. The tension in the air alpable. The Theocracy was one of the greatest threats to our people, even more so than the Song Dynasty. While the Song Dynasty wao quer the entire world, the Theocracy sought our plete eradication. To them, we were demons that o be exterminated.

  Maybe ing to this academy is more iing than I thought…

  “Because I’m a former priestess of the Theocracy, even though I’ve been granted refuge on your ti, I’m forbidden from leaving the city of Apsalon without authorization. If I cross the gate on my own, the guards are authorized to kill me,” Natasha tinued, pag in front of the css.

  Chloe leaned in and whispered to me, “This is different from what we did with Sifu…”

  “Remember that Sifu hardly ever leaves our territory, and when he does, he’s always apanied by someone from the duchy to avoid misuandings due to his appearance,” I replied.

  Sifu ecial case. He had been taken in as a young man, after fleeing persecution from the Human Empire decades ago. My grandfather personally went to the king at the time to request Sifu’s adoption into our family, risking itting a crime by sheltering a True Human. With permission granted, Sifu was raised as an equal in our castle. He told me that, before his arrival, my grandfather had crossed the border to sabotage a True Human pn. At that time, my grandfather, ah bat Mage, found Sifu’s monastery utack by soldiers of the Song Dynasty. He mao save the young monk and brought him to our ti. The monastery’s inhabitants had beeeo death after refusing to share the secret of fog Aura in the hand with the Song Emperor of the time, making Sifu a fugitive.

  Natasha picked up a book, holding it before the css, and said:

  “This is the book of my religion, the foundation of the Theocrad the reason why they hate all of you.”

  A book? How could a simple book be the reason for so much hatred?

  The students began to murmur, intrigued.

  “To my former people of the Theocracy, you are demons of a race called the ‘Norse,’” she tinued, opening the book and quickly flipping through its pages.

  “This book tells the story of my people, chosen by the Illuminated Ones.”

  Illuminated Ones?

  In my race, we didn’t have gods, only sacred cepts. Family was the foundation of the Evenharts, so to us, family was the sacred harmonicept. Our prayers were directed toward the well-being of our family, and we used the word ‘Sacred’ to bless. For example, we could request a ‘Sacred Rain’ or a ‘Sacred Harvest’ in our prayers food crop.

  “The Theocracy follows the words of the Illuminated Ones written in this book, which is why they persecute your people,” Natasha expined.

  I quickly raised my hand, something I rarely did.

  I o know. I o uand what these Illuminated Ones are.

  She looked at me and smiled. “Go ahead.”

  “Professor, who are these Illuminated Ones?” I asked, eager.

  “They are beings who, a long time ago, gave knowledge to my people. They were the ones who warned us about the demons called ‘Norse,’ who would e from the sea to invade our nds,” she said.

  Beings that brought knowledge? This reminds me of Prometheus from my old world. Could there be deities in this world?

  I o know more about these Illuminated Oo discover what they truly were and where they might be.

  Before I could ask more questions, the Headmistress approached Professor Sincir.

  “Now it’s my turn to add to the lesson,” announced Headmistress Victoria.

  Wait! I still o know more about these beings!

  The Headmistress waved her hand toward the board, which dispyed an image of our ti.

  “Uhe Theocracy, we don’t believe iies like the Illuminated Ones,” Headmistress Victoria began.

  Deities! She really used that word!

  Suddenly, my head began to throb with an intense, almost unbearable pain. It was as if something inside my mind was awakening, something I knew y dormant deep within my sciousness.

  Stop! I screamed internally, trying to trol the pain that seemed to want to spread, as if the guardian within me was stirring. My senses began to falter, growing hazy as I struggled to maintain trol.

  “We here are more like the Song Dynasty in this regard. Our belief is focused on goverhe Dynasty believes in the leadership of the Emperor and his family, while ihree kingdoms, we believe in the leadership of the Ducal families and the kings who goverhe closest we e to a spiritual belief is in prayers food harvests or a raise…” the Headmistress cluded, ughing lightly at the st line.

  She tinued maniputing a book, ging the images on the board.

  “The three kingdoms are governed by the founding families, whiclude even the ducal families. These families led their tribes at the beginning of our history. Elves, in particur, are the most ‘religious’; they believe in their royal family to the point of being willing to give their lives for them. To them, the royal family is the living memory of their people. To harm someone from the royal family is to guarahe fury of their entire people,” the Headmistress expined.

  I g Syvis, recalling how I had called the Elven princess an idiot when I first met her.

  My aunt and mother had already expined a bit about the history of our Evenhart family. I learhat our aor, along with some families, settled in the wild nds, creating the ‘Evenhart Legacy’ and founding our territory. But whenever I asked about the ins of ical people, no one could give me a clear answer.

  “This is where the knowledge of our ti meets Professor Sincir’s. Acc to her culture, we are sidered invaders. For them, there never was a magical ti. To them, our ti simply appeared," revealed the Headmistress.

  WHAT!?

  My mind colpsed with this revetion.

  How could aire ti simply appear?

  The headache returned with full force.

  Damn it!

  I tried to focus on the lesson, but a strange sound echoed in my mind, and I saw the white serpent slithering in the shadows of my sciousness.

  Professor Sincir spoke again.

  “To my people, you simply appeared on our nds, like demonic beings who bend nature to your will. You were sidered a bsphemy. The Illuminated Ones warned us that the demons would have the power to imitate nature, creating water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, pnts, and light. Your appearance was also seen as heresy, with some of you having pointed ears, others resembling animals, and the most demonic of all were those who looked human,” Professor Sincir expined.

  The Headmistress then showed an image of a drawing in a cave. On the cave walls, there aintiing the o, with a gigantic white-scaled line.

  “The serpent…” I murmured, incredulous, as I reized the creature.