III/ Viet’s Imperial Reverend
If you wanted to talk about one-of-a-kind treasures and magnificent landscapes, you must definitely talk about Viet Kingdom.
Among the seven lands, Viet Kingdom with its rugged terrain was located separately from the mainland. According to the map, Viet Kingdom lied in the Southeast, the nearest neighbors were Chi and Sheido. Viet territory resembled a giant nautilus shell, with large mountain ranges spreading across the forbidden kingdom and seven different large and small islands surrounding the land. Thanks to its natural advantage, Viet Kingdom’s defense system was highly complex, making it extremely difficult to penetrate.
If you wanted to visit Viet Kingdom, the only way was to take a boat. There was no direct bridge connecting Viet Kingdom to the mainland. The Viet also forbade foreigners to freely row boats into their country, so only a Viet boat could cross the seven islands of the kingdom.
The Wise Men of Remus in the Temple of Wisdom wrote in their books, "Viet Kingdom is full of sacred forests, poisonous waters, and steep cliffs, where ten of thousand spirits reside and hide countless treasures. The Viet people are flexible, agile, able to hang upside down on the mountainside like bats, and can easily cross the swamp like a crocodile. On Viet land, there are two most valuable ore mines, roughly translated as Ferrum Lunae and Tenent Terram in the ancient language. These two mines are believed to be the place where a large piece of the Rainbow Pearl and Quietus' body fell. That is why we can mine many precious gems and minerals. The Viet hold these two ore mines as precious as their sacred bamboo forests. Although much of the country is hidden in tropical forests, the Viet make weapons out of bamboo. Currently, the location of the bamboo forest has yet to be determined precisely. Every year, Viet people hold sacrifice festivals for ore mines and bamboo forests. The Viet Queen is required to keep a virgin body to perform spiritual rituals to worship the Sun Goddess.”
Viet Kingdom hid many secrets while remained closed off to foreigners, making conquerors from all over Sedrah curious, each of them carried an undisguised admiration and desire. They were constantly in search for ways to get to Viet Kingdom, but a seemingly simple thing was overly complicated: It seemed that the Viet land had different wharfs that appeared at different times of day to take guests to random places within the kingdom, and the locations were never repeated. Therefore it had prevented people from drawing a map with a clear path, destinations, and clear directions to guide the next generation to Viet Kingdom.
Such a unique place, but rumor had it that the new Viet’s Imperial Reverent was a foreigner!
“Reverend! The Sun Goddess has finally answered!”
A young Viet girl as pure as the morning dew spoke up - at first glance, she had not yet reached the age of sixteen. The girl dressed in pure white silk and wore no precious jewelry except for a small pearl necklace. She was barefoot, getting down to her knees and respectfully facing the sun, both hands offering a rose lotus.
Behind her was a shrine. From the day she devoted herself to serving the temple, the young girl had never dared to look up at the respected Reverend, in whom the Queen trusted so much, entrusting everything from astrology to national affairs. Sometimes she saw the legs of the Imperial Reverend passing by, even though the girl told herself not to think about the face that "only God can admire", she could not contain her curiosity.
Not hearing a reply from the Imperial Reverend, the girl secretly tilted her head and peeked behind.
In front of her was a young woman with brown skin like the molasses cakes the girl usually had at festivals. The woman had a blossomed and feminine body, allure dripped from every body curve. The thin and exposed silk dress made the young girl blush. She had short and jet black hair, revealing a long neck and the collarbones so thin like two small snakes on her shoulders.
And she had the most incredible eyes that the young girl had ever seen. One pupil was terracotta brown, the other was an opaque yellow snake eye. The Reverend's face left a strong impression, both infatuating and cold.
"Reverend Osahar! I…I don't dare to be rude! I'm just…”
The Imperial Reverend did not show any emotion at the disrespect of the young girl: She was not angry nor in a hurry, just gently reached out and pulled the veil over her ears. In her hand was a cobra ornament made of pure gold. She approached the trembling girl, took the rose lotus, looked closely at the red petals, and then her eyes seemed to be smiling. “The day we have been waiting for has come!”
She cast a cold glance down at the poor young woman who was trembling in fear, and said:
“Just in time, I did not know how I will take care of my new spirit today. And it always seems like when I just get used to and start to get along well with someone that the person would let me down.”
She lifted the vase she was holding in her lap, her eyes smiling but without a trace of warmth.
“The Queen shall not be angry if she knows you have dedicated yourself to the greatness of the Gods!”
Before the young girl knew what was going to happen, the Imperial Reverend reached out to open the lid of the jar, and a pile of sand poured out, taking the form of a human face but disgustingly black that howled in lament. The human face rushed to embrace the young girl who was horrified at the image in front of her. In the blink of an eye, the young girl disappeared, leaving only the pearl necklace on the cold ground.
Reverend Osahar closed the lid of the jar, cautiously watching the vase change color continuously from red, to white, to black, then back to normal, a little bigger and darker than before.
Her whole composure changed: She seemed pleased and satisfied. Her newest spirit was more mature now. The Imperial Reverend carried the vase along with the rose lotus and headed towards the palace.
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