Nobility and Powerhouses

My days as a baby were what any grown-up would describe as boring; they mostly consisted of waking up in the morning, taking a bath, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as some boring lessons taught by Maa.

By lesson I meant mainly how to greet people depending on the circumstance. The thing was that it was customary in the noble society, upon meeting or parting ways, to greet each other by praying to the entity's authority under which the other person was baptized under. So my lesson we're all about learning how to properly introduce myself, greet people, and all the mannerism that goes with it.

A task I was given to by Maa was to memorize all the Authorities there were out there under which nobles could be baptized under. There were of them, and I, Ronandt, was baptized under the authority of Djeem the accursed. Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like the kind of authority one would want to be baptized under. But, according to Maa, it was just a name and had no ill-meaning behind its ominous sounding.

"Just pray, and be honest in your prayer," she advised, expecting me to genuinely believe in all of this, I might be young but with a mind like mine there was no way such a cheap brainwashing, as early as it might be, would work on me.

Maybe having noticed my scepticism and reluctance toward these strange and foreign she was teaching me. She came up with a new brainwashing program, one that was particularly cunning.

Reading.

I was placed under her lap twice a day, while she would read the same thick and boring book over and over to me.

I didn't like the idea at first, but as a wise man once said, "to attract good fortune to oneself, one must seize every opportunity that presents itself." Thanks to Maa's indoctrination session, I learned how to read in less than 3 months.

I was in my room, laying on bed, while Maa was just sitting on a chair, embroidering on a corner of the room. “Old die hard” was it? But I guess at least she knew diverting her attention onto something other than solely me.

I was reading the same thick book that she used to read to me.

The book was titled "Nobility and Powerhouses," and based on the title alone, it was close to impossible to guess what it has to do with belief and religion. However, after reading some of its contents, it became clear how deeply the book was linked with them.

First things first, this place, this manor, was within the human continent. An immense territory that is said to be only a small portion of the entire world.

Two peculiar characteristics distinguish the human continent from the rest of the world.

First, the human continent is the only place where mankind could be found; the rest of the world, which is just the Monster Continent, was inhabited by monsters. And second, the Church’s barrier, a force field barrier, was covering the Human Continent in its entirety.

Before I go any further, I suppose I must first define what humanity, mankind is.

First and foremost, Humanity represents the human race as a whole, but the human race can be divided into two groups: the nobility and the common man.

Commoners account for the majority of humanity. If I may say so, they are just common and simple people you could find anywhere, besides that there was, about them, nothing else to comment about.

Next was the nobility. They were a minority that made a very small percentage of overall humanity. They are the one who have ruled humanity, as it is now known, from its very inception to this day. Nobles have the ability to generate mana, and thus use magic.

With that established, we can move on to the human continent's powerhouse. There were four of them.

First, there were the ErsteMensch Theocracy, which was a country ruled by a council of Seven Great Nobles Factions. Every decision made by the council must be reviewed by the church before being adopted. They are also the world's oldest country.

Then there's the Meilen Empire, which is ruled by Anne-Lorie Meilen. There are two reasons why the Meilen empire is well-known. Their recurring bloodbath for the title of emperor, as well as the fact that they have the largest territory of any country on the human continent,

Then comes the Altaira Kingdom, which is where I am now; to be more specific, I am in the Duchyof Beaumont, one of the Altaira Kingdom's eight duchy parts. The Aubrechts are the current rulers of the duchy. And the current head of the Aubrecht family is the one said to be my grandfather. My father is the Duke's only son, Luke Aubrecht. making me, Ronandt, the Duchy's most important person's grandson. It was no surprise they could afford to provide me with such a lavish lifestyle.

Last but not least, there is the Cult of the Seven Apostles, or simply the Church for short. The most powerful of the four powerhouses. The Cult of the Seven Apostles is currently led by the 49th Pontiff. It is the richest, oldest, and most influential religious and political organization on the human continent. The church's headquarters were in ErsteMensch Theocracy, but its influence extends throughout the four corners of the continent.

It was said, thousands of years ago, the church ruled solely over the human continent, but eventually decided hundreds of years after, to delegate this duty to the organization now known as the Three Nations.

The church itself was also divided into two branches, each led by seven representatives appointed by the Pontiff.

First, there was the Paladin Order, led by the Seven Holy Paladins. They were humanity's armed hand. Their main task were to expand the territory of the human continent, which entails fighting and slaughtering every monster that occupies the invaded territory. Only nobles may be referred to as paladins. When a commoner joins the Paladin order, he receives the title of legionnaire. Needless to say, there is a significant distinction between the two titles.

Then there was the clergy, led by the Seven ArchBishops, they are known as the shields of humanity; unlike the paladin order, every member clergy were of noble origins. Their main responsibility is to maintain the upkeep of the barrier that spans across the Human Continent. Their works also entails diplomatically dealing with various nobles from the aforementioned Three Nation and spreading the cult of the Seven Apostles, to that end members of the clergy were dispersed across the Continent performing various ceremonies, such as baptism, the ceremony in which a noble receives his namen.

Being a religious institution, it made sense for the Church to have entities to believe in. The Church’s teaching propagandize that ages ago, an ancient Goddess bestowed upon seven humans the power known as magic.

These seven people were the one the church refers to those seven humans as the Seven Apostles. And those descending from these seven are the ones commonly referred to nowadays as "nobility."

The seven apostles were:

Kine the Flamboyant

As one of the seven apostles, she had complete control over her mana. Nobles who want their child to grow into a competent fire-magic wielder can baptize their child under her authority.

Aurora, Child of the Storm

Extremely gifted with wind-wielding magic, as her title suggested, Aurora and her authority were for parents wishing for their child to excel in wind or lightning-wielding magic, the best choice to baptize their children under the Authority of.

Solomon the Loner

Solomon is said to be the only one of the Seven Apostles to not have noble descendants for he was known to be a seclusive individual, and that some years after having received the blessing from the ancient Goddess, he embarked on a pilgrimage in search of true strength, from which he never returned. With what the Apostle was known for, very few nobles choose to have their children baptized under his authority, but depending on the said nobles' circumstance it does happen.

Kiady the Eternal

Famous for his immortality, legends around Kiady had it that he lived to the age of 1000. Those wishing firstly for their children to live a long and fruitful life, over anything else can choose to baptize them in his Authority.

Sora, Daughter of the Mountain

Apostles known for representing prosperity and fertility, those who wish their Children to excel in earth wielding can baptize them under her protection.

Djeem the Accursed

Born with white hair, pale skin, and red eyes, Djeem was what one would call an albino. Nobles who gaves birth to a child born with a deformity of any sort were to be baptized under his authority in order for them to live a long and fruitful life.

When I asked Maa about why they had baptized me under Djeem Authority, since as far as I’m aware I have nothing one could call a deformity, she revealed that it was because I wasn’t crying enough for a baby. So apparently they had assumed that I was mute or something.

Well, well, if that isn't the result of my own actions, I don’t know what is.

Huye, the First Pontiff

Devoting his life toward his and his fellow Apostle’s mission to protect humanity from its natural enemies, monsters, Huye was know to be the precursor whom deed and actions would eventually led to the creation of the Church as it is currently is known, made him bear the title of First pontiff, even he was never a Pontiff himself. It was only later after his passing, as the "Cult of the Seven Apostles." was born when he became known as Huye, the First Pontiff.

Those seven- or to be exact, six apostle's descendants were now those referred to as the nobility. Back in their eras, the apostles swore to lead and protect humanity; years have gone by and that duty has now, for millenials, been taken over by the Church and Nobility.