Like the priests of the Church, the priests of War God Temple considered it as an organism that serves the God of War, Ares.
However, unlike the united Church that prays and serves only one Goddess, the War God Temple was a faction split from the Temple of War and Wisdom as the latter serves Athena.
As the Goddess of wisdom and war, Athena prefers strategies with minimum killing to win the battles. Despite being the goddess of war, Athena believed in peace. She believed in negotiations and when the fight between the two kingdoms emerged, she declared that the outcome will be decided by a death battle between the strongest warriors from each side.
So, a section of believers rose against the beliefs of the Temple as they believed that Athena can't represent the war. It was then, Ares' fame started to rose.
That made the Temple of War and Wisdom split into two. One is the Temple of War and Wisdom that still serves Goddess Athena and the other is the War God Temple that serves God Ares.
Notably, both Ares and Athena weren't True God born from the cosmos. So, according to hierarchy, the Church of light is considered in an upper position. With the ever-growing popularity in the masses, the Church was the target of envy of all the Temples.
Back to the Present, Ramiel greeted the old man who was trying to undermine him. "Elder Gedalya of War God Temple, I didn't know that your temple is interested in recruiting teenagers."
It was only then everyone realized his background. Until now, they could only wonder which organization he is from.
It was a surprise to others as no Temple has ever arrived at the feast except for the Fire Temple that enjoys the popularity second only to the Church mainly because of the renowned Blacksmiths.
And the appearance of a representative from the War God Temple after more than a hundred years surprised even Ramiel who sent the invitation to them. It made him wonder whether they are also here to recruit Azzy.
But, Gedalya's answer not only surprised him but also everyone around.
"Well, I would be lying if I say I'm not interested to recruit this kid who was suited for the real battlefield." He glanced at Azzy for a moment and then, continued, "But, my main reason is to acquire the relic. I heard that you are auctioning the Jewel of Life."
"Jewel of Life?" Many scouts looked at each other in confusion while the legendary realm experts stood up from their seats together. It looked like even Ark and Sia seemed surprised.
"An auction?" Azzy and others were more surprised about the auction rather than the item.
Sahara gave her students a detailed explanation to clear the confusion. "It is customary at the feast of Champions League and World League, three items will be auctioned off where anyone invited to the Feast can bid for it and claim them.
One can say it is kinda like a private auction where even the bidders know the items until they have been revealed.
Usually, ancient relics or top-quality items will be auctioned at the hosting academy where the College division tournament is taking place. As they are too precious, they were usually in the hands of a legendary realm warrior.
However, due to the earlier invasion, I guess Vice President Ramiel was forced to stay here and so were the items. Other items might have been auctioned at the Maple Academy."
Azzy nodded in understanding and then, turned his attention towards the old man in crimson robes and hood. Then, as Gideon asked about this Jewel, Sahara shook her head and told him that she didn't know of it either.
Meanwhile, Ramiel frowned as he realized the information was leaked. "How do you know about that?"
Once Ramiel gave confirmation, the others started to send messages to their superiors.
Gedalya shrugged his shoulders, "Your mighty organization is too big and complex to hold the secrets, anyway."
Previously, it was the King who shut his mouth, and now, it was Ramiel's turn to stay silent and proceed to walk towards a random empty table at the front of the stage.
Soon, the kitchen staff entered the hall with drinks on the platters. Some are wine, some are beer, some are liquor, and some are wine. There are also various fruit juices.
Because all the Champions are underage, Barton specially instructed the waiters to only serve the fruit juice. While almost everyone is kinda okay with it, Laura and Izetta, who already have a habit of drinking, were uncomfortable with juice glasses before them when they wanted to drink beer instead.
But, what can they do? They are only 16-year-olds and can't drink alcohol in the public. They could only follow the rule.
With a glass of wine, Barton stepped onto the stage and took the mic. After expressing his thanks for coming all the way, he congratulated the champions once again and raised the glass, "Here's to everybody, cheers."
Everyone raised their wine glasses slightly in response and took a sip. Azzy followed the same with pumpkin juice, his favorite.
Meanwhile, the waiters and waitresses also started to bring in the dishes. A waiter and a waitress were assigned for each table. One that goes back and forth to bring the dishes and the other that pours the alcohol.
"Principal Barton outdid himself in preparing this feast." Mia also couldn't help but comment as soon as she saw the first of the nine-course meal was revealed.
With the platter full of oysters, crabs, shrimps, and abalones, even Azzy wondered how this is an appetizer.
Sahara inwardly sighed as she thought, "we won't get an opportunity like this again in the future."
With the adults just sat at their table, having drinks together while chatting sometimes, Azzy decided to fill his stomach, considering he hasn't eaten anything from the morning.
Almost half an hour passed and Azzy saw around upon finishing his lunch. The hall was filled with murmurings. Some of the guests were trying out the dishes while some were still on their drinks, talking among themselves. Some of them didn't even finish a single glass yet.
It took another hour for everyone to finish with the feast. In this period, no one bothered Azzy and the latter didn't move from his spot either.
*Cling*Cling*
"Ladies and Gentleman," Barton attracted the attention of everyone as he stepped onto the stage once again. This time, the organizing committee head, Leroy Cobris followed him.
After saying a few words, informing everyone about the rules of the auction for formality, Barton returns and Leroy grabs the mic. "For today's auction, there are four items in total. Let me reveal the first one."
He took out a thick worn-out book that looks old. He showed it to everyone, giving an introduction. "We don't know its name yet and neither do we know what's written in it. But, according to our research, this was over a million years old. It means this book belongs to the pre-apocalypse age."
Azzy took a look at the book cover. Something has been written on it but he doesn't understand the language.
It has an image of a man sitting with his legs interlocked. Wearing strange clothes, His right hand held up with palm out.
Just by looking at the picture, somehow, even Azzy felt like his mind is calm and his heart is in peace.
"The only self-enlightened human ever existed who attained godhood with just the support of natural energy." The Reaper commented in his head. Azzy could feel the amount of respect the Reaper has for this guy drawn on the book.
"Who is he?" Azzy asked him as he was curious about his identity.
The Reaper answered, "Siddhartha Gautama or otherwise known as the Buddha. Acquire the book, Azrael. They must contain Sutras. It might not be much helpful back in those days where there's no soul energy but now, one can turn some of them into battle techniques by creating skill cards and also the sealing techniques that use the natural energy.
Sanskrit is a dead language and no one in this present world knows of it. This is where you have the advantage even if similar books appear in the future. I will translate them for you."
"Oh!" Azzy was excited upon hearing the Reaper's words. There were two things Azzy was extremely interested to improve drastically. One is the sealing techniques and the other is the skill card creation. Now that the opportunity has arrived before him, how could Azzy miss it…
It was then Leroy started the auction, pouring all the water on Azzy's hopes. "Our starting price, 50 million credits."
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