Chapter 76: Ch76 – You Caught Me

“If the Twelve Gods are all evil liars… how come you worship one of them, Neptune?”

The sentence echoed around the empty courtyard, bouncing off of the dormitory buildings.

Eleanor stared at him for a long moment.

Then her lips curved into a smile. “Oh no, you caught me, Ryan.” Her voice was dripping with mock-drama. “I am a death cultist. A demon lover. A worshipper of the dark lord, Pluto himself.”

Ryan blinked.

“I’ve been secretly sacrificing horses on our journey,” she continued, completely deadpan. “Blood rituals every Tuesday. Didn’t you notice the smell?”

Despite everything, Ryan felt a laugh escape. “Eleanor—”

“Summoning circles under my bed. Dark incantations at midnight.” She gestured dramatically. “The whole thing. Very evil. Very heretical, the Sanctum should burn me alive.”

“Okay, okay—”

Her smile faded. The lightness drained from her voice. “I’m not a ’blood magicker’ or a death cultist.”

She held her breath, “And I don’t worship Neptune, Ryan.” Her tone turned cold, deathly cold. “I pray to him out of fear.”

Ryan’s laugh died in his throat. “Fear?”

“He’s the worst of them all.” Eleanor took a step closer, and Ryan could see the tension return to her jaw. “The others lie. They manipulate. They spread their myths across the worlds. But Neptune?” Her voice dropped. “Neptune doesn’t bother with the lies. He just destroys.”

Ryan felt a chill run down his spine.

“My world learned that lesson,” Eleanor continued. “When an entire continent drowned because we forgot to honour our god. Neptune doesn’t forgive. He doesn’t forget. The others might ignore you if you stop worshipping. Neptune doesn’t. And he punishes.”

She looked away, toward the dark sky.

“So yes. I pray. Every single day. Not out of reverence. Not out of love.” She met his eyes again. “Out of survival. Because the alternative is a pretty eventful death.”

Ryan couldn’t say a word, he didn’t know what to say.

Eleanor’s expression softened slightly. “The Twelve are tyrants, Ryan. Some rule through lies, like Ceres. Neptune rules through terror. Both are monsters. It’s just that… one of these monsters, has their jaws around my head.”

She turned away.

“Goodnight, Ryan.”

He stood there, watching her disappear into the dormitory.

—————

A few hours passed.

Ryan sat cross-legged in the center of his dorm, eyes closed, trying to clear his mind.

It wasn’t working.

How many weeks has it been since Earth now?

He breathed in slowly, drawing mana inward. Letting it settle into his core.

Three? Four? I haven’t been keeping count.

The mana flowed in, warm.

It was much less complicated back home. Much more boring though.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Well, apart from my webnovels, they were fun… Crap. I’m never going to finish them now, am I? And to think I read over four thousand Chapters of, ’My Young Master Is the Eternal Dragon King’ just to not see the ending…

The thought of his situation almost made him laugh. Here he was, in another world, learning magic, talking to people about tyrannical gods who drown coastlines for missing their prayers.

And he was worried about his unfinished stories.

Mom would’ve loved this place. All those fantasy books she read…

The warmth in his chest grew. Mana settling.

Eleanor prays out of fear. Every single day. What kind of gods demand that?

His breathing slowed. The thoughts began to quiet.

Gods who drown cities. Gods who burn heretics. Gods who…

The meditation pulled him deeper. Time lost meaning. The room faded away.

Just warmth. Just breath. Just the slow, steady flow of mana into his core.

When he finally opened his eyes, it was still dark outside.

There was movement from James’s bunk.

James sat up, yawning, running a hand through his hair. His eyes landed on Ryan still sitting cross-legged in the center of the room.

He blinked. “Did you… sleep there?”

“Meditated,” Ryan said quietly.

“You were meditating when we first got in, you haven’t stopped since?”

Ryan nodded. “And It feels like I have barely made progress…”

James stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. “Mages.” He swung his legs out of bed. “Training is in thirty minutes. You coming?”

“Are you kidding? Didn’t you say today was Saturday? A day off?” Ryan moaned.

“It is. But Great Knights train even when they don’t need to.” James said proudly.

Jared’s curtain pulled back. He looked unsurprised to see Ryan on the floor. “Morning.” He said with a gruff just-woke-up voice.

“Morning,” Ryan said, standing and stretching. His muscles felt loose, surprisingly limber despite sitting in one position for hours.

James grabbed his training clothes. “You look weirdly awake for someone who didn’t sleep.”

“Meditation’s a good temporary substitute,” Ryan said simply.

Jared raised an eyebrow. “Don’t do it for a week straight.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

James did a couple stretches, “You know, when I first met you I thought you’d be dead in a week. No offence.”

“Some offence taken,” Ryan said dryly.

“You’re still alive though, and you’re even catching up to us… maybe we should check if you are close to being a tier 1 knight today?”

Eleanor’s curtain remained closed. And deep snoring noises came from behind it.

“How do you check your tier as a knight?” Ryan asked inquisitively.

“Big rocks,” James grinned.

“Huh?”

“The more you can lift, the higher tier you are.” Jared put it simply.

James and Jared got ready quietly, pulling on their training gear.

“Wait are you seriously going out to train? Don’t you feel tired…”

“Never tired enough to stop myself from training.” James cracked his knuckles. “Come on, you are training with us, Hero.” James put heavy emphasis on the final word.

Ryan reluctantly put his training gear on.

The previous night’s tension had faded somewhat. Maybe James and Jared didn’t care very much… or maybe they just wanted to leave it behind them.

“Alright, let’s get going.” James said.

Ryan nodded.

They headed out the dormitory into the darkness of pre-dawn. There were a couple other students out having a morning walk.

After a short while they arrived at the sparring and duelling area. Arena 3.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep