Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 141: Indoctrination

With the cell’s gate open, the cloaked figures entered the cell. Taking out metal chains from inside their cloak, they used them to bind Adrian’s hands behind his back.

Adrian made sure not to resist in any way.

One of the cloaked figures turned to him and spoke in a cold tone.

"Boy, this will be your first and last warning; don’t try to pull anything like you did during the ritual, or we’ll make you wish that you hadn’t. Now come with us quietly."

Saying that, they brought him out of the cell.

One cloaked figure walked in front of him while the rest of them walked behind him. They made no effort to hide just how ready they were to react the moment he attempted something.

’I need to be extremely careful from this point forward.’

He wasn’t foolish enough not to understand the gravity of his situation. It was clear to him that the people who had abducted him were some kind of cultists.

And based on how casually they were offering living beings as some sort of sacrifice in an unknown ritual, their sense of morality was questionable at best. Adrian couldn’t predict the bottom line of such people.

So he needed to think it through before taking any step. He couldn’t afford to be reckless or make mistakes.

Because the cost of doing so could even be worse than death.

He glanced at the robed figure walking in front of him.

’If this is a cult...’

Adrian remembered what Sir Joran had told him back when he had awakened his Origin ability. Sir Joran had told him about the cult that worshipped the grey sun.

Were they that same cult?

Moving through the narrow corridors, they soon reached a room with a large metal door. The cloaked figures positioned themselves beside the door while one of them opened it and nodded while looking inside.

In the next moment, Adrian was suddenly pushed inside from behind, and the metal door behind him was shut the moment he entered the room.

He quietly looked around.

The room was rather spacious, with not much inside. Just like the rest of the places here, this room was also made entirely of dull grey stone. It didn’t have a window or ventilation.

And the only thing that existed in the room was a rectangular table and two chairs, one on each side of the table.

A single candle was placed at the center of the table, dimly illuminating the entire room.

And Adrian was not alone here.

An elderly man with long white hair and a long white beard was sitting on one of the chairs, calmly looking at Adrian as the candle’s glow illuminated his wrinkled face. It was the same person who had stood near the altar during that ritual.

Meeting Adrian’s gaze, the elderly man smiled kindly and spoke in a light tone.

"Welcome, child. It is finally time that we talk." He gestured to the empty chair. "How about you sit down?"

Adrian sat down on the vacant chair. Seeing this, the elderly man’s smile deepened.

"So quick to comply, huh? What a good child. Now, shall we begin?"

***

Observing the young boy looking back at him expressionlessly, Kodam couldn’t help but smile.

’He really is different.’

The nature of the cult forced young children to grow up quickly; no child among the believers or the priest candidates was childlike and innocent. Still, looking at the boy’s composure, as well as the fact that he was already a Phase Two at such a young age, Kodam wondered what this child had gone through to have become like this.

He opened his mouth and calmly asked.

"Now, child, what is your name?"

The child’s reply was quick, delivered in a dull tone that lacked any hesitation or fear.

"It is Adrian Caelis Ravenshade."

’Ravenshade? I believe I’ve heard that before... Well, it matters little.’

After Kodam was done, the boy’s past and his connections would matter little. Observing the boy for a bit, he spoke once again.

"Now... take off that coat and that shirt you are wearing and give them here."

The boy paused as his eyes narrowed. But after a while, he slowly removed his coat and his white shirt, revealing his bare upper body. Taking the coat from the boy’s hand, Kodam rummaged through its pockets and found a bronze nail covered in black rust.

’As expected.’

He turned to the boy and showed him the nail.

"Child, I have found this in your pocket. Would you mind telling me what this is?"

"..."

"Seeing as this nail is releasing mana," Kodam’s smile deepened. "This must be a fragment relic, a Grade Two one at that. Tell me, child, what does this nail do?"

"..."

The boy’s face was still expressionless, but Kodam could spot hints of tension in his gaze. The boy was not as composed as he made himself appear.

"Well, no matter." Kodam rubbed his beard. "I believe I can find a use for this nail."

Saying that, he put the nail’s pointed tip into the candle’s flame and continued holding it in that position.

Kodam released his mana, thickening his presence a bit. The boy’s eyes twitched as Kodam’s presence grew in size. He must’ve been feeling a strong pressure pressing down on him from above.

The two of them looked at each other in silence as the pointed tip of the nail in the candle’s flame slowly turned red from heat.

Seeing that, Kodam stood up from his chair and came to stand behind the boy. The boy tensed his muscles but didn’t move. Kodam moved his face closer to the boy’s ear and spoke gently.

"I will ask again. What is your name, Boy?"

This time, the boy’s reply was not as quick as before, but he eventually answered.

"...It is Adrian Caelis Ravenshade."

Kodam’s smile deepened as he gently grabbed the back of the young boy’s neck. And—

"Wrong!!"

He suddenly lifted the boy and slammed him into the wall.

"Agh-!"

The impact was so significant that the boy began bleeding from his nose. Pressing him firmly against the wall with one hand, Kodam used the bronze nail he was holding in his other hand and began carving something on the boy’s back.

"Ugghh!! Aaagghhh!!!"

The boy let out muffled screams as the searing tip of the rusted bronze nail dug into his skin, but Kodam disregarded that noise and continued. Moving his hand, he carved a letter onto the boy’s back.

It was a letter from the world’s ancient language.

A letter that meant ’Truth’

That letter was burned into the boy’s skin.

"Agh... Ugh..."

Kodam brought his face closer to the boy’s ear once again and spoke. But this time, his voice was not gentle, nor did he have a kind smile on his face. He spoke in a stern voice lacking any warmth.

"Remember, your name is no longer Adrian Caelis Ravenshade. It is only Adrian. Now let me ask again, what is your name, boy?"

The boy gritted his teeth and spoke.

"It’s... ugh... Adrian..."

Kodam’s lips stretched into a satisfied smile.

"Good."

And then, he asked something else. Something that was most important.

"Child, tell me. Who is it that you worship?"

The boy opened his mouth but didn’t speak, looking at Kodam tensely.

Seeing that, Kodam’s smile disappeared from his face.

"I asked you a question!"

"Aaaggghhhh!!!"

He used the nail and began carving on the boy’s back once again.

And so, the indoctrination continued.