Wayne said with a grave expression, "The earliest Life Alliance had more than three faiths; the Goddesses of Darkness and Death also had a share. To become a Perfect Elf, one must learn the magic of these two faiths."
This secret was of great importance, and he warned Philomena not to spread it elsewhere.
Philomena was shocked to hear this, initially disbelieving, until Wayne demonstrated his ability to communicate with nature. Then, she became somewhat skeptical and furrowed her brow, "The Life Alliance is hostile to the Goddesses of Darkness and Death; a part of history has been erased."
The two exchanged their speculations and boldly hypothesized, each expressing their own views.
Philomena gave a bitter smile and shook her head, "The greater the capability, the more new knowledge one can learn, the more perplexed one is about faith. You shouldn’t have told me all this."
Then change your faith, how about mine?
You could worship me in the future, too, it doesn’t weigh you down...
Uh, this might weigh you down, but as for faith, worshipping one is the same as worshipping two, it’s always better to worship more.
Wayne almost let it slip out, but thinking of Saina’s struggling dilemma, he didn’t dare let Philomena follow in her footsteps and changed the subject, "Let’s not talk about upsetting matters today, just about magic. Do you want to learn? I can teach you right now."
"Darkness and Death..."
Philomena admitted she was drawn to Wayne’s body and wished to become more perfect, but the education she had received since childhood made it hard for her to accept the hostile faiths.
"No need for faith, this is called learning by reference. The Goddesses are generous; they don’t care if your faith is devout or not."
Wayne took Philomena’s hand, transferring to her the powers of Darkness and Death, a vaguely familiar scene. Philomena easily accepted these two powers.
She was puzzled, having never delved deeply into the faith magic of Darkness and Death, why she had learned it so quickly.
It wasn’t that she had learned it instantly, but that she could easily accept the knowledge Wayne taught her. Whether it was her body or her mind, there was not a hint of rejection.
Moments later, she realized that it had to do with Wayne’s Protogenos Bloodline. Although something still felt amiss, she thought...
A little boyfriend couldn’t harm her, could he?
One daring to teach, the other daring to learn, Philomena quickly mastered the formula, and her body’s balance was reset, temporarily unable to release magic.
"These formulas... they integrate all the ones I knew before. The solution is very ingenious. The story you told just now didn’t include this person, did it?"
Philomena raised an eyebrow, "Tell me, what’s the deal? Why did you intentionally leave out that legendary mage? Who is he, no... who is she?"
She emphasized her words heavily, expecting Wayne to give an explanation.
Wayne rolled his eyes, "I knew you would overthink, that’s why I deliberately didn’t mention it. Look at you, not even trusting your own man."
"I don’t care, you must make it clear today."
Philomena huffed, feeling a little upset, which mattered to her. Otherwise, there were plenty of men out there, why didn’t she get upset over them?
"The formula comes from my teacher’s teacher. Her name is Saina Kaslana, a legendary mage and also the Divine Oracle High Priest of the Naturalism Church."
"Is she good-looking?"
"That’s not the issue here, she was my teacher’s teacher!"
"Is she good-looking?"
"Not sure, she didn’t say, but I guess at least a hundred years old."
Philomena huffed in satisfaction, as the woman was the teacher of her teacher, she figured there was nothing to worry about. She assumed that the woman treated Wayne as a grandchild and due to their mentoring relationship, she took great care in her teaching.
"There is another matter; my selection as the Saint Heir failed unexpectedly." Wayne spread his hands.
"It’s normal for you to fail; you are a man, how could you possibly become the embodiment of the Nature Goddess on earth? Even if the Goddess could accept it, the believers would not," Philomena commented, amused and happy to poke fun at the Naturalism Church.
"But the Great Prophet took note of my exceptional aptitude and nearly made me his successor."
"There was someone even more powerful than the Great Prophet, and I became his successor instead. The Great Prophet left with his tail between his legs." Wayne said mysteriously.
"Who could be so powerful?"
Philomena took the bait as expected, guessed it was the Pope, received denial, and urged the riddle-solver to speak up and not keep her in suspense.
"The Naturalist Knight, Mula!"
"Mina, say something!"
"How could it be the Naturalist Knight? You barely made it as a Saint Heir, let alone a God-chosen Knight..."
Philomena giggled behind her hand, her fingertip tapping on Wayne’s chest, "Your talent is indeed great, but your heart is too wicked. You can’t possibly have fooled the Goddess by simply deceiving women, right?"
"Nothing of the sort; I haven’t met the Goddess, but Mr. Mula said I was strong, handsome, young, and polite, and I passed his examination," Wayne said, omitting countless details and speaking earnestly.
Time to come up with a new joke, this one is too ridiculous and makes the Goddess seem shallow.
Philomena was rolling her eyes when suddenly she saw Wayne reach into the void, pull out a white two-handed sword, and with life’s energy spreading out, he completed the transformation into the Naturalist Knight.
Philomena :=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞(Ő‸Ő|||)
Strong, handsome, young, and polite are enough to become a God-chosen? The Nature Goddess is too shallow!
What about the Moonlight Goddess she believed in?
Wayne, holding the Elemental Mantra and striking a pose with one hand on his hip, looked rather impressive.
Philomena’s shocked expression was just as he expected, nearly identical to Chris’s and Vivi’s. If he was right, self-pity would follow.
"Bastard, that woman, she snatched away the Moonlight Church’s God-chosen Knight!" Philomena was visibly indignant. She didn’t specify who that woman was, giving Wayne the benefit of the doubt.