"Nothing much," the Grand Cardinal turned to one of the Cardinals, and the latter started to move fast, even running at some point, "we'll bring the needed scrolls, and you'll sign them. You'll get a uniform, and your name will be written and announced to the entire Cult. As for other things and the business we have together, we'll speak about these after you win the contest."
"Ok," William waited while the Cardinal returned. And he didn't come back alone. He got a small team of twenty masters following him, all looking young.
William signed few scrolls with his blood and name and get one scroll that had his name with the new title on it, The Cardinal William.
"Here," the Cardinal tossed a ring towards the Grand Cardinal, and the latter gave it to William as if he was handing him a valuable thing or something, "this is a ring that expresses your prestige and position in the Cult. anyone who belongs to us will recognise it with a single glance."
The words of the Grand Cardinal looked light, but with the intense change in the young masters who came with the Cardinal, William took these words a bit seriously.
The only regret he had was that this prestige was only limited and known only to the people of the Cult. "It would have been better if the entire world could recognise this," he thought to himself while checking the contents of the ring.
And when he did, he found a huge space inside, one that wasn't any less than a few hundred metres in length and width. Inside he found tons of resources, many scrolls, and lots of materials that he knew came from the outside world.
"These are the essential supplies for any Cardinal," the Grand Cardinal said, before waving his hand, "it's indeed a yearly allowance. But as you will be quite busy in the next months, I decided to give you all of this in advance."
"Thanks," William didn't act polite and wore the ring on his left index finger. Then he turned towards the twenty young faces and without saying anything, the Grand Cardinal introduced them over.
As William expected, they were the ones who were going to join his team from now on. The twenty masters seemed a bit startled by all this, and their surprise told William how they were drawn here without getting informed by anything.
Yet most of their surprise came from him being a Cardinal. To them, being a Cardinal was the highest honour anyone in the Cult could dream of. And just seeing an outsider, one they never saw before, become one made them question themselves.
From what William knew, the leader of this team was called Alfred. This team was considered a collection of prodigies in the Cult, with masters expert in the Mystic Arts. As for normal techniques, they weren't half bad according to the Grand Cardinal words.
"By this, you are now part of us," the Grand Cardinal motioned towards the black ring William got from them with the red emblem of a space filled with stars, "if you ever faced any problem, or needed to relay any message to us, just leave a drop of your blood over it, and say what you need when the ring shines."
"Won't forget this," William was feeling great about having such a way to communicate with the people of the Cult. This way, he didn't need to move every time he wanted something and come here.
The Grand Cardinal accompanied William and the twenty others personally towards the grand portal area in this place. During which, William saw lots of people from the Cult, and all looked at him with puzzlement, admiration, respect, and envy.
He didn't care about them and kept following the Grand Cardinal. As William became part of them, the Grand Cardinal seemed more open to speak with William about the Cult and their ways.
During the one-hour walk, which the Grand Cardinal elongated by taking many detours to show off lots of places to William, the latter knew more about the Cult and its current status.
It was a bit surprising to know about the presence of a hostile organisation that belonged to the monsters. According to the Grand Cardinal, this organisation originated like them, from the outer world. And by what he said, the organisation arrived here first.
Yet like them, this organisation kept an air of secrecy about them. Even after all these years, they couldn't find bases that belonged to them more than what one could count on his fingers.
"Don't forget, these folks are really dangerous. Anywhere they go, they are followed with an air of black death. You can't see it, but Alfred and his team can. The moment you spot them, don't hesitate to spread the word using your ring, turn around, and run with all your might."
"Will remember that," William nodded while he and others were standing in front of a gigantic portal, the same one he used to come here before, "let's go."
William simply waved to the Grand Cardinal and reminded him to send any news about Leo's weird situation before leaving with Alfred and others. During this walk, Alfred and his team didn't say a single word, keeping their silence and distance from both William and the Grand Cardinal.
To them, the Grand Cardinal was the highest authoritative figure in the entire Cult. and William belonged to the highest gathering of power here. So, to them, they felt like they didn't deserve to be by these two's side in the first place.
The moment William arrived at the next side, they were received by a group of masters whose job was to stay around the portal and investigate anyone coming from the other side.
And yet when William simply raised his index finger, letting them see the black ring with the red symbol, they got shocked first, then they parted ways and let William pass.
"I want to go to the Novistic Kingdom's capital," William didn't walk in the path created by these masters. Instead, he directly stated his request, one that felt like sacred orders to these masters.
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