Pirating Divinity

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters in the story are consenting adults over
18 years of age.

Chapter 6: Changes

___________________________________________________________________

- Tet -

My mind blanked for a moment on hearing the word Saint.

What in the world did he mean by a Saint?

I had only wanted to check if I could use a Holy Sword out of curiosity. After all, Holy
Sword users are treated well and are always sent to places of importance which can
help me change things and earn points more easily.

At best I had expected to get a positive reaction, maybe get a chance to choose a
higher ranked, named Holy Sword. Those are always nice to have. But why on earth did
that damn Holy Sword go Excalibaaaa! all of a sudden? I didn’t even know that could
happen.

Even the bloody Durandal in the hands of Vasco Strada didn't shoot freaking Holy Laser
beams.

Not even the strongest Holy Sword Caliburn did that, then how come this no named,
second class, run off the mill, mass produced Holy Sword was acting like this?

I had never had such a reaction with my Blessed Sword or while using Holy Magic in the
past few months after eating the Holy Light fruit. So why did only this particular Holy
Sword cause such a huge reaction?

Did some random omnipotent being somehow throw Fate Excalibur in this world?

“Are you sure? I don’t… feel much like a Saint or anything close to that for that matter.” I
asked.
Saints… while the word might sound very grand and all, it was nothing but a huge collar
around the necks of the ones branded with the title.

Just look at Lucrezia. The moment she got the title of a Saintess, she was basically
locked up in a golden cage.

Same was true for Asia who was so ignorant that she healed a Devil without even
knowing what it was. How was it that a Holy Maiden like her didn’t even know such a
basic thing? And that Jeanne who actually ran off to the Khaos Brigade because she
was kept locked up in the Church all the time.

I didn’t want to end up like that. If that happened, I wouldn’t get any chance to interfere
in any plots of the world, which will result in stagnating my growth.

No.

I couldn’t let that happen.

Worst case, I will just disappear from Kuoh if they try to force it on me.

“Apart from a Saint, I don’t know anyone else who can have such great affinity with Holy
Power.” Touji said, shaking his head.

“Hmm… it could be some kind of Sacred Gear maybe.” Masaomi perhaps recognised
my stress and threw a helping hand towards me.

“Oh yes. I remember those things. Dulio had one and he got taken to the Church
Headquarters because of it.” I said quickly.

“Dulio? You mean Dulio Gesualdo?” Touji asked.

“Hmm. He was from my orphanage too.” I offered.

“A Sacred Gear? I… cannot put that beyond the realm of possibilities. Artifacts made by
God certainly have possibilities of creating miracles but still… this is still big news.”

“Tet.” Masaomi suddenly spoke up.

“Yes?” I looked at him.

“Do you… dislike the idea of being a Saint?” He asked.

I winced lightly.

At this, even Touji looked at me with a serious gaze.

“Is that true, Tet?” He asked.

“This… I… I don’t dislike the idea of being a Saint as much as I dislike what comes with
it.” I replied, thinking of a polite way to turn this around.

“What do you mean?”

“I… I have seen how people treat Saints and Saintesses. They are always surrounded
by people who expect too much from them. While no one cares about what the person
themselves wants. Take Luca… umm… Saintess Lucrezia for an example. When we
were in the orphanage, while she still kept that cold look of hers in front of others, she
always smiled when with me. We were the best of friends. But ever since she was taken
to the Italy Headquarters… she has always been so sad. I have never once seen her
smile. She wasn’t even allowed to meet me. People seem like they treat her with so
much respect but at the same time, she is not even allowed to go out and talk to others
her own age, make friends or do anything fun. How is that different from living in a
golden cage?” The more I spoke, the more bitter I became.

Perhaps I hadn’t realised it yet but I had plenty of bottled up resentment from the things
that happened to Lucrezia.

Especially when coupled with the fact about what happened to her later.

This feeling had only been bubbling underneath and became even greater with Lisa’s
story.

“I can’t imagine myself living such a life… ever. I would either go mad or run away.”

“Tet!” Touji raised his voice at the proclamation.

“What is it, Touji-san? Do you disagree with what I said? Can you put a hand on your
heart and say that you would want such a life for Irina-chan if she were ever to have
similar circumstances?” I snapped back.

He almost recoiled at the question, apparently not expecting such a comeback.

Masaomi sensed that things were getting too tense and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Calm down Tet. No one is forcing you to do anything. We were just curious about your
power and making a guess. The matter could be something else completely. I know you
are a bit nervous after everything that has happened. Go and take some rest. We will
talk after you have rested a bit.”

“I…”

“Just go and take a nap. It’s getting late already. Umm, Lisa, take him back to the
Church. The rest of us will return after taking care of things here.”

I nodded and left the place with Lisa.

We directly went back to the Church. There was silence on the way.

Lisa was worried but I didn’t want to speak. I was thinking of ways to get out of this
trouble.

Thankfully, Lisa didn’t ask too much either.

Everyone was at Toji’s house today so the Church was empty so we went directly to our
room.

“Tet.” Lisa finally couldn’t help and asked.

I too let out a loud sigh and fell back on my bed.

Such a mess.

“What happened? Are they angry with you for destroying Touji-san’s house?” Lisa
asked.

I looked at her with a tired smile on my face. Is that what she was worried about?
“No. They are not worried about that. They… hah! They think I might be some kind of a
saint due to the reaction of the Holy Sword.”
​
“Saint!” She exclaimed. “That’s- that’s great!”

I shook my head. “Hah… unfortunately, it’s not as great as it sounds.” I explained.

“Why? Isn’t being a Saint a good thing? I have seen some Saintesses in the
Headquarters and all of them are treated with respect. They don’t have to go out to hunt
monsters and always have people giving them gifts and wanting to meet them.” She
quickly spoke whatever she could remember.

“And yet, have you ever seen any of those Saintesses going out to play with other kids
in the Headquarters? Have you ever seen them sitting together and eating with other
people? They do get gifts but all those gifts belong to the Church. They themselves,
they get none of it. In fact, they don’t even get decent food like we do. Just normal
bread and porridge, maybe some fruits as a reward. They can’t even leave the Church
or go out, having to remain inside the Church all their life. How is that being respected?
For me, that’s no better than living in a cage.” I spat out.

Lisa’s mouth opened wide as the words came out but unlike Touji, she didn’t shout,
instead, she became quiet and actually pondered over what I said. There was a
thoughtful look on her face.

Seeing her like that, I didn’t interrupt her either.

It was only after a minute or so that she spoke. “What do you want to do then?” She
asked me.

“I don’t know.” I really didn’t know.

“I will support you in whatever you choose to do.” She said almost immediately, her
voice sounding resolute.

“Thank you, Lisa.”

“Hmm.”

I didn't know when my eyes closed and I fell asleep.

- Masaomi -

“How could he? Does he not understand what being a Saint means? For him, for the
entire Church?” He looked while Touji walked to and fro in the room, continuously
babbling the same words.

“Touji… due to his usually mature behaviour, we all seem to forget that Tet is very
young. At this age, most kids run around in the park or play around with their friends.
Such heavy things, how can we expect anyone of his age to know or understand?” He
reasoned with him.

“But…” Touji opened his mouth but closed it, looking unwilling but also understanding
that he had no other solid reply to this.

To be honest, no one had expected what had happened in the party tonight at all.

When Tet had requested to see if he could wield a Holy Sword, they had all taken it as a
child’s curiosity. After all, which one of them had not imagined being able to wield a Holy
Sword when they had started working as an Exorcist? Or rather that has been one of
the greatest dreams of most if not all exorcists ever since they started their training.

Tet wasn’t different.

Moreover, he was highly talented. If he showed traces of Holy Sword wielder's affinity,
he would get better training and promotion.

As a teacher, Masaomi wanted nothing more than to see his disciple get the best
treatment for himself.

Unfortunately, the result was a bit out of their expectations.

The reaction of the Holy Sword was something none of them had even heard about let
alone seen or read.

“I think we were a bit too quick to jump to conclusions too. Sure the reaction of the Holy
Sword was very odd but that doesn’t prove that he’s a Saint or a reincarnation of one. I
have heard that the Church has found the reincarnation of Joan of Arc and she hadn’t
shown anything like this either. There could be other reasons for this.” He argued.
“Maybe. But he… hah! I can’t even imagine. I still remember joking to him about having
a hand in training a Saint when teaching him about Holy Light Magic the first time.
Anyone else would have been elated to be a Saint but he…”

“Would they?” Masaomi asked.

“Masaomi!”

“Don’t raise your voice. I noticed that you hadn’t replied to Tet’s question of whether you
would want Irina-chan to experience such a thing.”

“I…” Touji was caught off guard.

He understood his friend well.

While being a Saint might be a very great honour, the responsibilities which came with it
were far heavier.

Touji, someone who doted on his daughter more than his life, didn’t want that kind of
burden for her.

“When you can’t even answer that, what right do you have to question Tet’s choice?”
Masaomi asked, this time in a more serious tone.

As expected, Touji became quiet.

“Moreover, I know Tet. He is very talented. But he is just as stubborn. His willpower is
unlike any I have seen in kids of his age. Oh scrap that, I haven’t seen that kind of
willpower in many veteran exorcists as well. He is not one to blindly believe whatever is
told to him. No. That boy might nod his head and walk away but he would absolutely not
agree to something he is against. If we force him, he would snap back.”

After all, this was the kid who had stood in front of a beast, far stronger than him and not
taken a step back, deciding to fight to the bitter end. Many full time exorcists don’t have
such conviction. Not to mention that Soru technique of his.

Even now Masaomi was wrapping his head around the fact that he had invented
something like that on his own at the age of eleven.
He had tried to use the technique himself and it had taken him four months to even get
started with it even when Tet described everything that needed to be done step by step.
He could only imagine how difficult it must have been for Tet whose body was much
weaker than his to create something like this.

“What is up with him and the Saintess? I didn’t know that they knew each other.” Touji
asked, changing the topic again.

“They were from the same orphanage. Tet told me that she used to take care of him
there. I didn’t know they were so close.” Masaomi lied. He didn’t want to bring up the
letter. To be honest, although he knew that the Saintess thought so much of him, he
hadn’t been sure Tet returned her feelings too.

Now it seems that they had been really close to each other because Tet was definitely
holding quite a bit of resentment against the Church for separating them.

“Seriously? The Saintess, the Zenith Tempest and now Tet. What was up with that
orphanage?” Touji asked, surprised.

It was understandable.

After all, it was just too big of a coincidence that such a group had come from the same
batch from a church’s orphanage.

“Whatever the reason may be, it’s best not to push him at this moment. To be honest I
have never seen him getting this agitated before. I even remember when he was facing
Cleria Belial for the first time, he was more worried about if he should say ‘nice to meet
you or would that be considered heresy.’” Masaomi joked at the memory. That was not
the first reaction most Exorcists would have at meeting a High Class.

Most people, exorcists or not, would be shaking in their boots in front of a High Class
Devil, actually two if Miyabi was considered but Tet didn’t know about her strength back
then. In this regard, Tet has always been unnaturally composed for a kid his age.

“Even right after waking up from that fight against Kyoso, he was still making jokes. But
today…” He paused.

To be honest, he was actually taken aback by his reaction. At first he thought Tet was
actually terrified due to the accident and worried that he would be scolded for the
damages caused. He wasn’t expecting the reason for his reaction to be that at all.
“Hah! How troublesome.” Touji sighed as he sat down on his chair. “In any case, such a
thing has happened. We would need to report to the Headquarters regardless. After all,
such a large commotion must have been noticed by everyone, even our neighbours.”
Touji said.

Masaomi frowned.

“I will manage that side. As for Tet… it’s more important to give him some space and
slowly explain matters to him rather than push him.” Masaomi explained.

Touji nodded.

__________________________________x___________________________________

He entered Touji’s office and slumped tired on the chair.

Touji raised an eyebrow to look at him.

“How was it?” Touji asked.

He first picked up a bottle of water and took a sip before speaking.

“Not really that difficult. I told them that we were teaching our trainees about the
Church’s Holy Power spells and due to Tet’s mistake, and the Holy Sword in the room,
the spell went haywire, destroying a part of your house. They accepted.”

“You told them about the Holy Sword?” Taoji asked, although his tone was not
accusatory.

“They already know. Her first words were to congratulate you for gaining the recognition
of a Holy Sword.” And he wasn’t even lying.

Masaomi hadn’t told her anything about Touji getting recognised by a Holy Sword or Tet
being suspected to be a reincarnation of a Saint. It was an untold rule between them.

Even if they found out about it one way or the other, they wouldn’t question him.

At best Cleria would roll her eyes and congratulate him sarcastically for being the
teacher of a Saint.
Similarly, if she doesn’t tell him about something from her side, he doesn’t probe her
either. That is how things have been between them from the very start. It was something
neither of them wanted to change either.

“Tch… they have eyes and ears everywhere. This information was known to very few.”

“I think keeping a Holy Sword like a show piece in your drawing room might have been
a bad idea.” Masaomi rolled his eyes.

He knew that Touji didn’t want to hide it either way. His reasoning was that if the Devils
knew that they had a Holy Sword wielder on their side, they would behave properly.

Too bad.

After knowing that he was acknowledged by a Holy Sword, Miyabi had wanted to spar
against him.

It was only due to Cleria’s words that she stopped or they would be facing a challenge
from her now.

Touji’s lips twitched a bit at the comment.

He was far calmer after a night of sleep.

“So, how is Tet doing? Did you meet him?”

“Not yet. I asked about him and found out that he was holed up in the church library
since five this morning. I have no idea what he is doing.”

“Probably searching more about Saints to prove that he isn’t one of them.” Touji rolled
his eyes.

At the same time, Masaomi saw something from the window behind Touji.

It was a streak of white light that passed by the window.

He would have completely missed it had it not been for his sharp senses.

What was it?

The next moment another flash of white light shot past the window.

Hmm?

What exactly was that?

Touji noticed his gaze and looked back almost at the same time as another burst of
white light shot past.

Both of them got up and went to the window to see Tet and Lisa in the training ground.

In Tet’s hands was what looked like a bow of white light.

He raised the bow towards the sky and pulled an invisible bowstring as a white arrow
appeared on the bow again.

After pulling back, he shot once more and another ray of white light whirled past the
window.

“That’s…”

He exchanged a quick look with each other and hurried down to the training ground.

There, Tet was already shooting at the targets in the distance.

Both the kids looked in their direction as they reached there.

“Teacher, Touji-san.” Tet bowed, Lisa following him.

“What is that Tet?” He asked, looking at the bow in his hands.

“A Sacred Gear. I think it’s called a Staring Type Sacred Gear. The book in the library
said that Staring Type Sacred Gears are named by their colour so this should be Staring
White.”

“Staring White?” Touji looked at the bow closer.

Even he looked carefully.

He had heard of Staring Type Sacred Gears.

They were among the favourites of Exorcists for various reasons. First, they could use
Light based attacks which were basically poison to any Demonic Being and second,
they could help the user overcome the flight advantages of Devils and Fallen Angels to
a certain extent. After all, there was only so much you can do when you can’t even
reach your enemy.

Moreover, they had several different types of Balance Breakers.

One of his own instructors had a Staring Blue and had mastered its Balance Breaker
State which allowed him to fight against even High Class Devils, earning him the title of
a Senior Exorcist.

“Was that what you were looking for in the Library?” He asked, as he took another
closer look at the bow.

A pure white bow which pulsed with Holy Power. It looked sacred.

“Hmm. You said that last night’s… incident could be due to a Sacred Gear so I went to
check. Turns out that Staring Type Sacred Gears sometimes release a very strong
beam of light just like the one last night. After that I tried summoning it and it just
appeared.” He explained watching his bow once more.
​
“Where is that book?” He asked him.

“In the library.”

“What was its name?”

“Umm, I think it was Sacred Gear log volume two. Yes, volume two.”

“Lisa, could you please get that book?” Touji asked before turning towards Tet. “But why
would your Sacred Gear awaken suddenly? Normally, Sacred Gears require some kind
of trigger to awaken. It would have been more normal had you awakened it during that
fight with Kyoso.”

“Yes! That would have made the entire fight so much easier. Tch, I was injured for no
reason.” Tet clicked his tongue making Masaomi’s eyes twitch.
“Awakening a Sacred Gear requires a trigger, sure. But this is not always true.
Sometimes, Sacred Gears awaken naturally. Sometimes, they awaken with age. Every
individual is different so the awakening conditions for their Sacred Gears are different
for everyone. The same Sacred Gear can awaken in different ways for different people.”
Masaomi explained.

He had studied a bit about Sacred Gears.

Actually, he had seen that book in Cleria’s collection and read it while waiting for her
one day.

“Hmm, then maybe it was the Holy Sword which did something to awaken this? After all,
this Light Arrow and the Bow itself is made of Holy Light and not regular Light Magic.”
Touji said observing closer. “A resonance of some type. I am not an expert with Sacred
Gears to explain more.”

“A resonance? Hmm, that does sound probable. It would also explain the power behind
that attack. Holy Swords are known to enhance the Holy Power of the user. If there was
a sudden outburst like other Staring Gears, it would also be amplified by the Holy
Sword.” Masaomi said, still in thought. It did answer most of the questions.

“Hah! So all of that was just a coincidence?” Touji sighed.

Masaomi ignored him and looked at Tet, “How long have you been using it? How does it
feel? How many arrows have you released? Are you tired? How much longer do you
think you can hold on? How many more arrows do you think you can release? Does it
consume magic to keep the bow summoned?” He asked.

“Hmm, yes. Keeping it summoned does require some energy. If it didn’t I was thinking of
bashing my enemies with this.” Tet raised his bow with a smile making his eyes twitch.

“As for consumption. I have kept it out for fifteen minutes. In that time I have fired thirty
five arrows. I was experimenting with the arrows. Turns out that I can control how much
power I want to push in an arrow. Normal arrows have a strength greater than a Light
Gun’s bullets. I think the target was pierced through by the arrow while Light Bullets just
make a dent at best. As for full power, I was testing the range in the sky. The first two
arrows fizzled out after a distance. As for the last arrow, we couldn’t see how far it went
due to the sunlight. But yes, I am feeling a little bit of strain now. It’s like running twenty
laps around the ground.”
Masaomi processed the information Tet had given.

Tet’s physique was beyond that of most kids his age, reaching a level where several full
fledged exorcists would find it difficult to contend. That said, he was still growing and
was using his Sacred Gear for the first time so this level of strain was normal.

He then instructed him to complete several other tests to see the limits of this Sacred
Gear and Tet.

They stopped after two hours when it looked like Tet could no longer keep the bow
summoned. His arrows started losing power after a hundred and fizzling out by the time
he reached one hundred and twenty five.

“We are going to focus more on your Sacred Gear and Marksmanship training after I
return from the Vatican. Till then, you will be increasing your stamina training. Our goal
is for you to be able to fire two hundred and fifty arrows at full power. Do that and I will
apply for your promotion to an official exorcist in two years.” Masaomi promised. While
he wanted nothing more than to keep Tet with him and train him, at this point, Masaomi
had come to realise that he would probably be unable to give Tet the guidance he
needed.

“Really?”

“Yes. So train well.”

With that he left the kids to rest.

- Tet -

Time passed.

Masaomi left two days after that disaster of a party.

On the bright side, I was now the owner of a Staring White Sacred Gear… or so
everyone thought. That meant I could now use my Holy Light Devil Fruit powers openly
although in a much more restricted way. It was still better than hiding and practicing.

This showed as my proficiency in the Skill increased by a whole level.

It was also thanks to Touji.

I don’t know if the guy was feeling guilty about that argument and my question about
Irina being a Saint or whatever, but he actually gave me extra lessons on Holy Magic
whenever he had time.

In fact, I was exempted from almost half my patrol duty since then and was instructed to
focus all that time into training my Sacred Gear.

So, in the end, the whole debacle turned into an advantage for me.

Name: Tet

Physique: Level 4(2/4)

Spirit: Level 4(2/4)

Mind: Level 4 (2/4)

Magic Power: Level 4(0/4)

Swordsmanship: Level 3(2/3)

Martial Arts: Level 3(2/3)

Holy Magic: Level 3(2/3)

Marksmanship: Level 3(1/3)

Soru: Level 3(2/3)

Holy Light Logia: Level 3(1/3)

Points Remaining: 48

Devil Fruit Synthesizer

Gacha [1 Point per Roll]

Inventory
Today Touji had gone to the Japan Headquarters for the regular quarterly gathering for
the Church members.

Masaomi’s replacement hadn’t arrived due to some delays and Touji was there to ask
for additional support for the time being.

After all, with one of the two strongest exorcists in the place gone and the third
strongest, that is me focusing on training, we were kinda shorthanded.

Thankfully, everything had calmed down after the death of Kyuso.

From what Masaomi told me, the second supreme commander of the Nura Clan, Rihan
Nura was actually a very amicable man. His mother was a human princess and his wife
was also a human woman. For this reason, youkai were prohibited from ever actually
harming humans in his territory.

They could pull pranks on humans or scare them to get fear as that was their
sustenance but seriously injuring and killing humans was a punishable offence.

It is said that due to a special technique he had developed, his strength was even
higher than his father, making everyone who didn’t agree with his philosophy bear his
orders even if they didn’t want to.

But with him gone and the reports of Nurarihyon’s power having supposedly declined
after several centuries, some of these same youkai couldn’t hold on anyone and
decided to test the limits.

That’s when Nurarihyon came out of retirement after his son’s death and took command
of the entire Nura Clan.

What followed was a bloodbath.

He showed everyone why a single vagabond youkai like him could become the leader
of half the youkai in entire Japan once more.

Everyone who had rebelled were culled by him and his commanders. The night parade
of the hundred demons marched through half of Japan thrice and anyone who
challenged them faced war.

Under such ruthless measures, all cries of rebellion were suppressed one-sidedly.
There were even rumours that the leader of the Shinra Clan of the five Principal Clans
had actually intervened during one of the night parades and was severely injured by
Nurarihyon in return.

After that no one, human or youkai, intervened.

Even the Church members were instructed to stay out of the territories of the Nura Clan
during this time so as to avoid escalating the matter further.

No one wanted to test the patience of the Lord of Pandemonium.

I didn’t remember any such thing from the Nurarihyon Manga. After all, the events after
the death of Rihan Nura were completely glossed over. It only showed the side of
Nurarihyon as a retired old man who was having fun playing around.

This world however was different.

Leaders of factions like the Nura Clan who spanned over a country didn’t play around
when it came to such things. None of them had gotten to their positions by playing
around. So treating them as characters of a manga or a novel would be foolish.

With Touji and Masaomi gone, I was officially the strongest exorcist in the Kuoh Church,
although it was Agatha who was temporarily in charge. She thought it was funny to
make me a temporary deputy and I wholeheartedly agreed.

As a temporary deputy, my first order was for myself to go out and chill for a day.

So that’s what I did.

I took Lisa and both of us went out to play today.

By the time we were done, it was evening. We sat on the swings in Kuoh Park, eating
ice cream.

Lisa has been training hard this half a year too.

While her progress in martial arts and other physical activities was still the same as
before, we discovered that she was very talented in magic. Unfortunately, the Church
prohibited the study of all magic except Holy and Light Magic so she was doomed to not
be able to explore this talent of hers as long as she stayed in church.

However I was not satisfied with this.

This was strangling her potential and also her chances of survival in this world.

Even if she learned basic human magic used by the magicians of the various Magician
Organisations, it would greatly increase her chances of survival in a profession as
dangerous as that of an exorcist.

It was infuriating to me.

She however, didn’t even know of this possibility.

The thought of ever learning other magic never even crossed her mind.

Lisa has been very loyal to me.

With over half a year of probing, I was very sure of this.

That’s why I didn’t want to see her stagnate. I wanted her to be stronger. The stronger
she was the better.

After all, two hands cannot do the work of four.

I needed someone to rely on and right now Lisa was my best option.

With this thought in mind, I spoke. “Lisa.”

“Hmm?”

“Say… I have a question for you.”

“What?”

“If one day, hypothetically speaking, not that serious.” I explained.

She looked curiously at me.

I continued. “So if one day, hypothetically, if I were to… leave the Church then…”

“I would go with you.” She spoke before I could ask anything.

I looked at her, my mouth opened without any words.

She looked at me like that and repeated again. “I would go with you.”

I looked at her again, closely this time.

There was no lie in her eyes.

Every word she had said was from her heart.

I turned to look forward and nodded. “Okay.”

She too became quiet. “Hmm.”

Well, since that was the case, I was going to do everything in my power to make her
stronger. I had an idea just for her.

- Masaomi -

Two weeks had passed since he came to the Vatican for his promotion assessment.

The assessment went great and he passed with flying colours within the first week.

What came after was training.

After passing, he was permitted to apply for a Holy Sword.

One of the reasons he had to wait so long was because his aptitude with Holy Swords
was above average level which gave people hope that he might succeed in getting the
recognition of some named Holy Sword. But arranging such assessments needed time.

During this time, his mind was still back in Kuoh.

Both of them occupied his mind whenever he was free.

He missed Cleria but unexpectedly, even that little gremlin disciple of his occupied a
large part of his thoughts.

During his time here, Masaomi was allowed access to the Vatican’s library.

He took this chance to explore all the information he could about Hero Descendants and
Sacred Gear he could find.

The Vatican made such information available for every Senior Exorcist. First was so
they could easily identify Sacred Gear users or Hero Descendants in their territories and
bring them to the Church and second was in case they met them in a fight.

Information can play a very major role in such fights. The difference between knowing
and not the weakness of a Hero Descendant or the details of a Sacred Gear was
equivalent to the difference between life and death.

To be honest, he had even tried to find information about Saint Reincarnations but those
documents were beyond his level as he was now. Still, it was not all bad.

He had found out many useful things during this time.

First was that Tet currently didn’t match any Hero Descendant’s information in the
Church Database.

There was however a hint.

His powers increased in bursts sometimes. Such things were rare but when they
appeared, they were generally seen in reincarnations of famous heroes. It was not a
hundred percent certainty but there was a great chance that he could be the
reincarnation of a hero.

Even Reincarnations were divided into many types.

In some cases, the new body inherited most of the memories from the previous life
while their power slowly increased and caught up to their previous life. Such
reincarnations were very rare and generally had the hand of a God behind them.

Second was when the soul of a hero reincarnated without any memories. They would
retain their potential from their previous life and could grow to such heights given proper
training. This was the same type of reincarnation as the current Jeanne.
Third was when the person slowly gained their powers and memories in the new life at
certain points, due to various reasons, including but not limited to emotional shock,
physical trauma, etc.

In all these cases, only the first type had the chances of the new life’s personality being
similar to the previous life otherwise heavy changes in the personalities from the
previous life could be seen.

Maybe Tet was the third type of reincarnation which made it both easy and hard as such
people could or could not awaken their powers depending on how their life went.

That meant he would have to push Tet more so that he could excavate the potential
hidden within him.

On a side note, he also found out about the Staring Type Sacred Gears.

As it turns out, there was a Sacred Gear called Staring White but from what he found
out, the appearance of the Sacred Gear was slightly different from what Tet was
wielding. Second, Staring Type Sacred Gears could only fire regular Light Arrows, not
Holy Light Arrows like Tet’s.

That meant, Tet’s Sacred Gear was different, a mutated, Sub-species Type Sacred
Gear. Such things were not unheard of.

As the creation of the Almighty, Sacred Gears had immense potential and could
sometimes change their forms.

Saintess Jeanne’s reincarnation was said to have a Sub-species of the Blade

Blacksmith Sacred Gear.

It was debated that her soul had caused the mutation in the Sacred Gear.

So was Tet’s case the same? Did his own power cause a Mutation in the Staring Type
Sacred Gear enabling it to use Holy Light Arrows?

There were very few Sacred Gears which could use Holy Power and each wielder was
an asset for the Church.
Thankfully for this very reason, the Church has a very detailed research on how to train
such Sacred Gear users.

This was something he needed urgently to help guide Tet in future training.

As he was reading, one of his colleagues called him over. The Cardinal and Archbishop
had arrived.

They were going to be given a chance to select a Holy Sword for themselves.

He walked to the meeting hall and in front of the crowd, on the stage stood two figures,
both famous enough for every exorcist in the room to know them.

One of them was a gentlemanly figure dressed in a black priestly garbs, Ewald Cristaldi,
one of the most famous Holy Sword wielders in the Church.

He was someone who could wield three of the six Excalibur Fragments currently in the
Church’s possession. He was a veteran who had taught an entire generation of
exorcists all over the world.

The second man needed no introductions. Standing a foot above everyone else in the
room. Those priestly garbs did nothing to hide the insanely muscular physique which
could make even veteran body builders ashamed of themselves.

Even at this distance, Masaomi could feel the power radiating from the man.

It wasn’t some kind of magic or holy power or any other such thing. It was his presence
alone that felt like that. It made one realise the difference in their levels even without
him doing anything.

Vasco Strada really deserved the title of the Strongest Exorcist in the Church.

“Welcome young ones. I am very happy to see such talents in the Church once more.
The future of the Church is in good hands.” Cardinal Strada spoke.

Next Ewald Cristaldi took the stage and called the exorcists who had passed the
assessment for the Senior Exorcist position one by one. They were all given a stole as a
sign of their promotion.
Apart from this, every one of them will also be provided with a new set of equipment
later for their new position.

During this time, Masaomi noticed some of the relatively famous faces in the hall too.

One of them was a man a few years older than himself.

He had dark brown hair, slicked back in a rough beard. He had a good build, even
among other exorcists.

David Cerro, one of the rising stars of the Italian Branch of the Church.

Masaomi had heard that he was also among the people who had shown a good
aptitude for wielding Holy Swords.

He was also going to be among the batch who got tested for the approval of a named
Holy Sword in this batch.

The second was actually even more famous.

He looked at the blonde girl with blue eyes who looked in her late teens and wouldn’t
have looked out of place in a model agency.

Griselda Quarta, was a very famous name among the exorcists nowadays.

After all, it took some serious talent to be certified as a senior exorcist at the age of
seventeen.

When the award ceremony was completed, five people including Masaomi were told to
stay back while the rest were told to return.

They were then led to a separate room within the Church’s vaults.

The room was guarded by over a dozen exorcists, each armed to the teeth. Even the
walls were made with enchanted metal and carved with holy symbols to prevent any
kind of teleportation or spatial movement inside.

This was the room where the Holy Swords of the Church were kept.
Actually, from what he had heard, they were only kept here temporarily. Their original
place was in the main vault.

They were only brought out here for cases like today’s where someone had to choose a
Holy Sword for themselves.

Cardinal Strada stopped in front of the door and looked back at them.

“Inside this room, there are the Holy Swords in the Church’s possession which are
currently lacking wielders. One by one, you all will go inside and test your affinity for
them. If you feel a connection with any, bring them out and you will become the sword’s
wielder.” Nothing else was said.

“Umm, Cardinal, how do we feel this connection?” One of the people asked.

“Just hold the handle of the sword you are attracted to and channel your mana inside.
You will know if you are accepted.” He said.

And just like that one by one people entered.

The first guy came out looking dejected. Second to go in was David Cerro who stayed in
for fifteen minutes and came out with a sword in hand.

“Hmm, Excalibur Galatine. How interesting? Did you get a response from it?”

“Yes.” The man nodded and raised the sword, pushing some mana into it. The sword
hummed in response, radiating Holy Aura all over.

“Great! It seems we have a new wielder of Excalibur Galatine.” Ewald looked elated.
“Come to me if you have any doubts. Although I haven’t wielded this sword myself, I
hope my experience with the rest of the Excalibur Fragments might help you.”

Suddenly, the pressure on Masaomi became heavier.

The next person also failed and it was finally his turn.

Inside the room, there were several display platforms, each with only a sword’s handle
visible. He went around, checking the blades one by one but just didn’t feel any
connection with any.
He was about to give up when he suddenly felt a response.

This blade’s handle was blue in colour with a golden ring-like structure above the
handle. When he passed his mana inside, the blade hummed with holy power and
Masaomi felt his both energised.

He pulled the blade and found a golden blade with ornate designs in his hand.

Surprisingly, he didn’t recognise the blade and yet it felt quite comfortable in his hand.

He took it out.

“Oh, another one. This is quite a surprise. Which one chose you?” Ewald asked.

“I… this…” He raised his sword.

“Hmm, Crocea Mors. A less famous and yet just as exceptional blade. It was the sword
of Gaius Julius Caesar. Unfortunately, the man himself was said to not use the sword
much. What a waste of such a good sword. Now that you have it, I hope that it can see
real use in your hands.” Cardinal Strada said.

“Thank you.”

He waited for the last person to get checked and unfortunately that guy failed too.

Finally, all of them were led out to register the swords with their names.

__________________________________x___________________________________

A week had passed since he had gotten the recognition of Crocea Mors.

It was an unusual blade, quite finicky but he was getting used to the sword’s
temperament with time.

Today he had finally gotten an appointment to meet the man he wanted to meet since
he came to the Headquarters.

He knocked on the door of the small house in front of him. A voice came from inside.

“Come in, it’s open.”

“Please excuse me.”

He entered the house to see a modest room in front of him that wouldn’t look any
different from that of a normal salary man. It definitely didn’t look like the house of the
strongest exorcist of the Church, the Wrath of Heaven, Vasco Strada.

The man himself was sitting on a couch.

“Would you like tea?” The Cardinal asked.

“No no. I couldn’t impose.”

“It’s nothing.” The man smiled and started making tea. “You wanted to meet me in
private. Was there any reason?”

“This… it’s actually about my apprentice.” Masaomi began. “His name is Tet. He was
from a small Church-run orphanage in Arpino, Italy. You had once visited his orphanage
and given a sermon and he was inspired by that to become an exorcist.”

“Oh. How fortunate that my words could move the heart of a young one. Arpino. Hmm, I
remember that. Isn’t it the same orphanage where Dulio Guesaldo is from?”

“Yes. Tet was in the same batch as him and Saintess Ricci.”

“Oh yes. I remember now. Tet, you say. Yes. There was certainly a child like that. It was
actually my second time visiting the orphanage. The first time was actually due to a
child called Tet, eleven or twelve years ago. Apparently, the nuns found a child in the
Church one morning. The door was locked and even the guards hadn’t spotted anyone
going inside the whole night. It was a big mystery how the child got there. The whole
incident had caused a very big sensation and I had gone there to see if the child was
special in some way or not.” He said, looking in the distance as if remembering
something. As for the ‘special’ he mentioned, it was probably reincarnation.

“Unfortunately, the child seemed nothing out of the ordinary back then so I had to return.
I revisited the place and even then the child hadn’t shown any changes. Did he become
your apprentice? How is he doing?” The Cardinal asked.

“He is doing well. In fact, he is doing too well.” Masaomi said after some thought,
making the Cardinal raise an eyebrow at him.
“Tet is… one of the most talented individuals I have ever met. He is sharp, polite and
hard working. He has maturity beyond his age. Moreover, he is always ready to help
others. He is… almost perfect.”

“Sounds like you like your apprentice a lot.”

“I do… and that’s why I now feel that I am holding him back.”

“Hmm? You are a Holy Sword wielder and I have seen your results. I doubt you will hold
back a child, especially one of that age.”

Masaomi however shook his age. “Tet is… he is different.”

He went on to explain everything about Tet. From him being the top of his class, even
ahead of Dulio Guesaldo to being one of the top rankers in the Italian Headquarters
trainee program, creating a movement technique all by himself, all the way to his fight
against the Kyoso youkai.

“Tet defeated that monster all by himself. Although the Kyuso was injured, he wasn’t
someone any kid should be able to defeat. Even veteran exorcists would struggle
against such a youkai, especially when he was using his fear to enhance his abilities.
And yet… Tet had done it.”

By now the Cardinal was quiet and listening to his words with a serious look on his face.

“And recently…” He hesitated but continued anyway, explaining the incident at the party
to him. “Although it turned out that the Holy Sword had reacted to his subspecies
Staring Type Sacred Gear, I still haven’t seen such affinity for Holy Swords in anyone
else. It was so dazzling that for a moment we thought that he might be the reincarnation
of a Saint.” He sighed.

“What’s the matter? You don’t look happy at the progress of your student?” the Cardinal
asked.

“I am happy. I am happier than anyone else. I am as happy as a father would be to see

his son doing well but…”

“But?”
Masaomi sighed and explained Tet’s reaction to being a Saint to him.

“We were all taken aback by his reaction that day. It was the first time he had reacted
that way about anything.”

The Cardinal poured tea into his cup and placed the kettle to the side. “That’s…
normal.”

“Hmm?”

“That’s quite a normal reaction.” The Cardinal explained.

“I don’t understand?” Masaomi asked, surprised.

“Tell me, how do you think the kids who are selected as Saints or Saintesses react? Do
you think they jump in joy from happiness? Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In almost
ninety nine percent cases, their first reaction is fear. The title of a Saint is not something
light. The seriousness and weight of that title is enough to intimidate grown men let
alone kids. If anything, his reaction was much better than most others.” The Cardinal
explained taking a sip from his own cup.

Masaomi looked at him in confusion so the man continued. “Moreover, you are looking
at the whole thing from an adult’s perspective. For you, if he became a Saint, he would
be a pillar of the Church. It would be such an honour for him. But since when did things
like honour and fame matter to kids? You said he was close to Saintess Ricci, correct?
And after going to the headquarters in Italy, he wasn’t allowed contact with her.” The
Cardinal asked. He nodded.

“Look at things from his perspective. For him, the title of a Saint or Saintess took his
childhood friend away from him. How can a kid like that title after that? Saints and
Saintesses go through strict training. They are expected to see everyone with an equal
eye as they represent the authority of the Almighty in this world. In the future, they
would become key figures of the Church. Them being close to anyone in particular and
having their opinions becoming biased is not something which can be allowed. That’s
why they are kept in semi-isolated states. It’s not something I appreciate but neither is it
something that I alone have the power to change. I am just a soldier of the Church. All I
do is follow orders.” The man sighed.

“So, what should I do?” Masaomi asked.

“Nothing. You seem to be very close to him. The fact that you came here and are talking
to me about him proves that you care for him a lot. He is lucky in that regard. As for him
being the reincarnation of some hero of other pantheons? While there are certainly
some people in the Church who have… their own opinions regarding such matters. For
me it’s nothing. As long as he follows the teachings of Almighty with a true heart, he is a
child of God and God doesn’t differentiate between his children. Go and teach him with
a clean heart and he will do well. In two years' time, if he is ready to be promoted to a
full time exorcist, I will recommend that he be allowed to select a Holy Sword like you.”

“Thank you, Cardinal.”

“Hmm. You said you were going to be in charge of the town after your former chief gets
promoted, right? So you will need someone to take your deputy position.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… in that case, I have a recommendation. Someone who is very good with bows
and arrows, perfect to guide your little apprentice too.”

“Who?”

“Griselda Quarta.”

__________________________________x___________________________________
__________________________________x___________________________________

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Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated, a first Tier will
not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.

Beta Reader: @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian

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Author’s Note:
I am back with another chapter of ‘Pirating Divinity’.

So, Tet narrowly escaped that fuckup and now has a convenient excuse to use his
Holy Light power without anyone branding him with the title of a Saint and
locking him up.

This chapter was mostly from Masaomi’s pov as I wanted to show what others
were thinking and what was happening in the background more as these things
will affect the story a lot going forward.

The next chapter will be more focused on Tet again.

Oh and maybe in the next chapter, Lisa might get a Devil Fruit too.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.