Now that Emery was already out of the cultivation mess he got himself in, added the fact everyone had gathered and stopped their training for the same reason, the group decided to take a little break from their cultivation to have a discussion with the two esteemed elders.
After seeing Emery's skill and transformation, Fjolnir appeared to be more excited than before.
"This third generation is much better than I thought." said Fjolnir, nodding as his eyes locked on Emery.
Apparently, Fjolnir had been staying in the temple for the last three months not just to teach Chumo his skill, but also because he was interested to know the strength of Emery and the others, or rather, the so-called third generation acolytes.
Gathered and sat under the sacred tree in the temple, the two elders began asking them questions about the Magus Academy, to be exact, how they passed their lives there.
Discovering the entire group had managed to gain enrollment in the elite class certainly gave the two elders a huge surprise. Even the calm Abbot suddenly became more talkative, as question after question came out of his mouth.
"All five of you managed to enter the elite class?! Really? How is that even possible? I remember it was impossible to enroll in the elite class without help.... Unless the rule has changed." said the Abbot quickly, looking at Emery and the others, while saying the last sentence. "Is my guess right?"
Emery explained it was actually with the help of Lord Izta, who was supposed to be the first generation acolyte from Earth, that they managed to do so.
Hearing that, a look of surprise appeared on the Abbot's face. It seemed he didn't expect the mighty Gilgamesh to become an instructor in the Magus Academy.
Unfortunately for him, Lord Izta hadn't become an instructor yet 1000 years ago. Otherwise, things would probably end up differently with him and his brothers.
This fact and comparison left Emery and the others feeling very fortunate and grateful to those who have helped them on their journey to date. Having Lord Izta as their mentor back at the Magus Academy and now the Abbot helping them; they realized how lucky they were.
Hearing about Lord Izta, Fjolnir's expression also changed. He actually became quiet when the discussion hit this topic. His odd behavior made Emery and the others realize the man was able to follow their discussion on the academy, which should be impossible because of the restriction imposed upon those unrelated to it.
Faced with the inquisitive look coming from everyone except the Abbot, Fjolnir eventually decided to reveal his part of the story.
2000 years ago, the first generation of acolytes chosen from Earth were: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, the Eastern Sage, the Western Beast King and the Northern Shaman.
Fjolnir told the story with a nostalgic expression on his face, as if he was among them at the time, which was strange in the eyes of Emery and the others. After all, the man was the known king of the Scyfling kingdom and the descendant of the Northern Shaman. There was no way he was there at that time, right?
Hence, the next words he spoke completely shocked the group.
"It was I, Fjolnir, the one known as the Northern Shaman."
This revelation meant the man sitting in front of them was of the same generation as Lord Izta. However, that was difficult to believe, because the man was only at rank 9. How could a rank 9 cultivator manage to live up to 2000 years old?
Knowing what kind of thoughts were going through the group's mind, Fjolnir added.
"The West Beast King, Enkidu, and me, the Northern Shaman, died 2000 years ago."
This new information only brought the group into another cluster of confusion instead of out of it. Imaginary smokes even appeared above Thrax's head, as he gradually found himself unable to comprehend anything.
"That's right, I already died 2000 years ago. Fortunately, I am a Vanir, a descendant of the old god and master of the spirit realm. I was able to reincarnate back to a new body right in the middle of the war happening 1000 years ago."
For Emery and the others, reincarnation was another concept they honestly could understand, but found very hard to believe. However, it appeared the man in front of them was one such exception. Besides, the Abbot didn't seem to deny his story.
"Unfortunately, when I reincarnated, I also lost a few fragments of my memory. My cultivation also dropped together with it. Hence, the reason for the current situation."
Fjolnir then continued on his story. Apparently, out of the first generation acolytes, the Eastern Sage had created the Xia dynasty before going missing.
As for the Beast King, Fjolnir turned to Emery and looked at him with a stern gaze.
"I can see that you are his descendant. The Fey Beast is the Beast King of the West. He was the guardian of the western sacred tree and his descendants were able to create a protection spell that secluded them all. I assume you know exactly what I mean, don't you Emery?"
Emery nodded his head at the question. The Forbidden Forest had always been secluded from the outside world and had just opened itself again a hundred years ago. Hence, they had been secluded for 1000 years or more, which was consistent with the timeline Fjolnir said.
This was the first time Emery could relate the history of his bloodline with the Magus Academy. Then, he wondered why the High Priestess seemed to have no knowledge about this at all.
Seeing the affirmation, Fjolnir then said, "Emery, you should come with me to my kingdom. I definitely have something that you need."
"Something that I need?" Emery asked, confused as to what he might be referring to.
"That's right. The legacy the Beast King left behind for his descendants; it's there in my kingdom."
This was actually something that intrigued Emery, very much. Although he really wanted to continue to deepen his understanding of the Divine Dao Technique, he didn't actually need to be in the temple to do that.
Besides, he realized the last time his cultivation went awry and this time just now - all of them caused his transformation to go out of control. This could be said as proof that his bloodline had many things to do with his cultivation.
Thus, he looked at Fjolnir and said,
"Yes, I am very much interested"
-----------------
Author Note
You will see many connections between this Fjolnir, the old god, where they come from in the Blood Elf Monarch novel. Come and support the novel, It's the last month of the spirity award.