The 1.000 year Great Sage ---> COMPLETED STORY

Seya and Rose went to the yard on the back of the Shipwright Shop, and while Rose was looking up to one of the ships, Seya was smiling and nodding in approval.

- These will do just fine. If you can have them ready after lunch, I'll come back to get them.

- Of course, Milord, leave it to me. Now, if you don't mind on following me, I'll guide you to my friend's shop.

Seya followed the Master Shipwright into the shop and Rose was still looking to the ships in the yard, wondering how Seya will transport them back. She rushed to the inside of the shop and Seya was waiting for her, with his arm at her disposal. They walked down the main street and two shops after they entered to a very similar Shipwright shop, with wooden planks everywhere, workers busy while shouting orders to each other and a lot of noise of sawing or nailing. The Master Shipwright introduced Seya to his friend and they all went to the back of the shop, to see the ships. Seya pointed to two of them.

- Those two are very similar to the ones that we just saw. If you prepare them so that I can come to get them after lunch, I'll pay extra for the speed.

- Of course, Milord. And what about transportation?

Seya looked to the Shipwright that he knew longer and smiled.

- Do you mind explaining your friend my terms and my payment? I hate repeating myself and I also want to have a look at the ships here, while you talk with him.

While Seya and Rose were walking in the yard and looking at different ships and small boats, the two Shipwrights were talking. After a quick tour in the yard, Seya and Rose returned, to face an extremely pale Shipwright.

- Milord… I… my friend explained to me your offer for the payment and the extra, for the preparation of the ships. I'll have them ready for you, after lunch, at least.

- That will be perfect. Now, if you excuse us, we have a lunch to attend.

Seya opened a Gateway to his Baron's house and a pale Shipwright had his mouth wide open when he saw the Baron already seated at the table, looking back at them. Seya and Rose crossed together. He did a little bow to the two Shipwrights and he dispersed the Gateway. The Baron called the CatKind servants to bring the food and he showed a list of items to Seya.

- Ok… Let's see, crystal glasses, porcelain tea set, silverware? Handmade table towels and napkins? All this seems expensive. I guess we need to trust them, they are used to work for the Queen. I think they know better than us what is more to the likes of the Nobles. If we don't have enough money on the City safe, tell me, and I'll pay this.

- That's not necessary, Milord, we have enough for this and much more. We are gaining a lot of money every day! Milord, what are your plans for this afternoon?

- Well, after lunch, I need to go back to the harbor to get some ships that I ordered. I'm going to deliver them to another village near the ocean. We need to increase the fishing fleet because with the freezer box, we can have more fresh fish for sale, so we just need more ships. And I also want to make some adjustments on those new ships because I had a very crazy idea, I want to see if it works. But after lunch, I don't have anything scheduled, except, going to the LizardKind to see how everyone is progressing.

- Milord, I was thinking that we could go to visit the Healing House. And mostly, the church. Milord didn't meet the Priest yet, right?

- Now that you are talking about it, I really didn't! Weird… And I didn't even visited the church! I always go directly to the back of it, to the Healing House. Well, it's just a room, we really should think about building a proper Healing House.

- I don't think it's necessary, Milord. We can continue to use that room and in case the need arises, we can use the entire church. The Priest likes to see that room used as a Healing House. In fact, I think he would be sad if it stopped being used like that. He often goes there, to talk to the Healers or the injured people.

- I see… what kind of a man is the Priest?

- Well, I don't know how the Priests in the rest of the Kingdom are, but ours is just a little older than me, is very friendly and kind. He didn't have a good relationship with the Empire Tax Collector, he was always protecting the people against him. One or two times, he even punched the Tax Collector! He couldn't do anything against the Priest to not offend the Goddess. And also because he would be killed by the people if any harm happened to the Priest. Milord remember the story I told you, about that young couple that was killed by the Tax Collector's Guards? He and his guards had to flee because the Priest went after them, to take their heads. He even went after them on a horse that I lend him, trying to catch them! That Tax Collector never returned here, he knew that he would be killed by the Priest. Our Priest may not look like it but he was once a fierce warrior in his youth. But during a battle, he gave up that type of life, after his commander ordered him to slaughter every member of a village nearby. Instead, he killed his commander and every soldier that tried to fight him, to get to the village. He then went to the village and warned them, they had plenty of time to escape. He settled here many years ago and became our Priest.

Seya was smiling, that was his kind of Priest!

- Now I must really meet him! Seems like a very interesting character! I bet the Goddess is crazy about him!

- Ahahah! Well, everyone that lives here or met him, likes him, eventually.

After lunch, they went to the harbor, to get the new ships. Seya opened a Gateway to the first Shipwright Shop. In there, they followed the Master Shipwright to the back yard where Seya threw three dark dots that enlarged and took the ships into Seya's Compressed Dimension, before the surprised wide-opened eyes of Rose. Seya gave the Crystals to the Shipwright and they all followed him to his friend's shop. In there, Seya did the same, getting two new ships completely prepared, into his Compressed Dimension. He paid the Magic Crystals to a still dumbfounded Shipwright while Rose was rubbing her eyes, she was not believing that two more ships disappeared so easily. Seya opened another Gateway to one of his villages near the sea. He, Rose and the Baron, crossed it and Seya bowed to the two Shipwrights. Seya followed the Baron to find the fisherman to whom Seya wanted to deliver the new ships. They were at the beach, fixing some nets. While the Baron was talking to them, Seya and Rose went to the pier, and in there, Seya threw five dark dots to the water. Those dots enlarged and when they disappeared, five new ships were there. Rose fell to her knees.

- Hold on, young Rose, I'm not done yet. I want to see if I can make a very cool thing that I thought after talking with the Minister of Agriculture of the fallen Empire.

- But… Milord… those ships… they were in the shops… now they are here… but…

- Yes, this is one use of my Compressed Dimension Magic. It's the same Magic that's inside the belt purse that you have but on a bigger scale. But the principle is the same. Did my mother explain you anything about placing a Magical Program on a Magic Crystal?

- She did! I even managed to put one into a Crystal that could spread some fresh wind into our carriage in hot days, when it was activated!

- Cool! I had one to make a small tornado inside the carriage. And another one, for us to take a bath. Well, I'm going to put some Magical Programs inside these… here. Let me begin, watch closely but don't interrupt me, or else, I need to start all over.

Seya took fifteen small Magic Crystals and fifteen Big Crystals. He seated on the floor of the pier and he started to make some programs on the Big ones, with Rose watching. When he finished, he placed some more in the small Crystals, including some voice commands unfamiliar to Rose, like 'Speed 1!', 'Speed 2!, 'Speed 3!', 'Total Stop!'. After finishing the last one, he put them next to each other and he tested the Magical Programs of each, separately. Seya smiled, pleased at himself.

- All done. And since your father is already near the ships, let me put these Crystals in their place. Let's start with one ship and if everything is working, I put the rest of the Crystals in the other ships.

- But Milord, what's this for?

- Have you noticed that the ships have big sails? Which means that they need a lot of wind to move, correct? Well, these Crystals are for when there's no wind or for when the fishermen need more speed. Come, I bet you never traveled at this speed, you will either like it or be very afraid!

Seya went to the first ship of the pier with Rose and he called his Baron and the fisherman. Seya placed one Big Crystal on top of the higher mast, using his Wind Magic to put it up there and Earth Magic, to pin it in place. He then went to the back of the ship and pinned two Big Crystals. Near the helm, he made a stand at the size of his waist and pinned the three small Crystals in a line. Seya explained what was his idea with those Crystals and the fisherman smiled. A lack of wind in open waters and with most of them unable to use any kind of Magic, was their worst nightmare. That was the reason why in any crew of fisherman, at least one of them needed to be able to use some amount of Wind or Water Magic. The captain grabbed the helm and Seya warned everyone to hand tightly because if everything went well, they would start to move fast. After everyone was secure, Seya shouted 'Speed 1!', and that order was heard by the first small Crystal and was sent to the Crystals at the back, and they created two flushes of air that acted as air jets, pushing the ship forward. The speed was the normal speed at medium wind in the sails, but the sudden movement made the crew yell in surprise. Seya looked around and since everyone was safe, he told them to get ready for second gear. While they were still puzzled by the strange word, Seya shouted 'Speed 2!', and the air jets at the back, increased, pushing the ship at the speed of high wind in the sails. Again, the crew yelled, but this time, they were also smiling. After a while, Seya warned them again for the change to third gear. Seya shouted 'Speed 3!', and the air jets at the back, increased again, pushing the ship at the speed of stormwind in the sails. The crew was yelling, frightened by the speed while the Captain, Rose and the Baron were yelling in happiness. Seya shouted 'Speed 2!', and the ship slowly decreased its speed. The order 'Speed 1!' decreased it even more and the order 'Total Stop!' completely shut down the air jets at the back. The ship continued to move for a while, and it slowly stopped. When they looked around, they were in open waters, and the land was not even seen in the horizon. Seya scratched his head.

- Oops, it seems we traveled a little too far. Well, I need to explain some things. The Magic Crystal on the top of that mast is collecting the wind as we travel and the Magic inside of it sends that Wind to the Crystals at the back of the ship. It can even store some wind to be used when the ship is stopped so that it starts moving. It's the same principle as the Sun Light Crystals. These three small Crystals are the ones that convert the order to increase or decrease the speed, into a flush of wind at the back of this ship. All these Crystals, don't need to be refilled with Magic, the wind around us refills them. Like the Sun Light Crystals, but those use the Sunlight. Captain, can you turn this ship around by using the first gear so that we return to the pier? I need to put Magic Crystals on the other ships.

- Yes, Milord. I need to practice with these Magic Crystals so that I get used to travel at this speed. And we didn't open the sails, until now! Amazing!

The Captain shouted the order 'Speed 1!' and by turning the helm, he pointed the ship to the same direction from where they came. He confirmed the direction with his personal compass and when he was satisfied with the course, he shouted 'Speed 2!' and they sailed to the pier again. He didn't use the third speed, his crew didn't like the first time and by now, they were screaming that speed was more than enough. When the pier was in sight, the Captain shouted 'Speed 1!' and they slowly went towards it. With the order 'Total Stop!', the air jets at the back of the ship stopped pushing the ship and the crew prepared the ship to anchor at the pier. As soon as the ship was secured, Seya got off and he quickly placed the Crystals in their place on the other ships.

- Well, all done. Captain, make sure to teach the use of the Wind Crystals to the crew of the other ships. See if there's any problem or things needed changing so that I can take care of it. If everything is ok, some days from now I will put some Wind Crystals in the ships in my other village.

- Of course, Milord, leave it to me.

Seya said his goodbyes and he opened a Gateway to the center of his Capital, to meet the Priest at the Church. Seya wanted to visit the Healing House first, and the Healers were there, practicing Magic Control. Seya spent a while, to give some pointers to them so that they could increase their gathered Magic. When Seya found the maximum level of Magic that they could control and they become used to it, Seya, Rose and the Baron left, to check inside the Church if the Priest was there. They found him at the back, using a wet cloth to clean a real size statue made of rock, of the Goddess. When Seya approached it and looked up, he noticed that the features of the statue's face and the long dress were poorly made, without any accurate details, like if the artisan was not experienced. Seeing Seya still looking at the statue with a worried look, the Priest approached him.

- Yeah, I know, Milord, not one of my best works, that's for sure. But the people like her. We have some good artisans here and they offered to make a new one some years ago, but there were a lot of people saying that they are used to this statue.

Seya smiled and he looked at the Priest.

- Yeah, I understand. But I think that for your actions during the years, protecting and guiding the people living here, you deserve some kind of recognition.

- That's not necessary. Being granted the honor to be a Priest in here is enough gratitude for me.

Seya did a little bow.

- That's a very good attitude, and I'm honored to have such kind of person as a Priest in my lands.

The Priest smiled and he also did a little bow.

- Thank you, Milord, but the honor is all mine.

Seya looked at the statue again and he had an idea.

- I want to try something, to see if it works… Let's see… My beautiful Goddess, are you there? If possible, a more grown-up form, if you please?

The Priest looked at Seya, a little puzzled. Then from behind the statue, a bright glow appeared and a woman came, smiling, in a long white dress, a faint light around her, long curly hair that reached the floor and deep blue eyes.

- You know that I'm always everywhere, my young Seya. I heard you and I agree with you. I should have appeared to the Priest years ago, and thank him for being my voice for all these years. I may not appear to anyone that calls for me but I'm always in this church when you do services, my kind Priest. I like to hear your sermons. You always have a different point of view for everything and I always found that refreshing.

Seya looked to the Priest, and he had his mouth wide open and he kneeled in slow motion. The Baron and Rose were doing the same. When Seya looked to the Goddess again, she was watching him closely and she poked his nose.

- And you, you rude brat, you don't kneel in front of your kind and beautiful Goddess?

- Oops, sorry, I got distracted with your beauty, my cute and kind Goddess whom I love deeply!

- Knnya… knnya… knnya… always the smooth talker… Now kneel, you brat, don't change the subject!

- On it, my Goddess! Do I also need to look down and be scared?

- For what? Did I ever frighten you?

- It seems that someone forgot what she did on my endorsement…

- Yeah, that was not one of my best decisions, that's for sure. Now, my dear Seya, what was your idea? Because everyone else is getting puzzled by our friendly conversation and I need to take a look at other things.

Seya looked at his companions, and they were looking back and forth between him and the Goddess and they seemed really surprised. The Goddess smiled and she explained.

- I understand that you are somewhat surprised by our conversation, but I know Seya for many years as I know all of you. But in his case, I've been watching him closely, making sure that he doesn't die on me before helping my people. And sometimes when he calls for me, I come to him and we talk for a while. Other times, I punish him for one crazy blunder that he does. Knnya…knnya…knnya…

The Priest was finally able to speak. The shock of having the Goddess appearing in front of him, made him lose his voice.

- My Goddess, for all these years that I pray to you, I never once doubted that you heard me, but I never guessed that you followed my services and I never saw you in person… it's… wonderful… and also frightening!

- My dear and kind Priest, I can't appear to every Priest in this world, I wouldn't be able to have any work done. But I could have appeared like this or spoke to you sooner, that's for sure. I think Seya is influencing me too much, always calling for me or nagging me to present myself more, to my people. I've met you before and we talked many times like I often do with my people, but I always disguise myself and I don't reveal who I am. But let me see what Seya wants to ask from me, I'm sure it's something crazy!

- Well, it's nothing strange as you may think. I thought that maybe you could make some fine touches on that statue over there so that it looked more with your form right now. And also, infuse the statue with your Healing Magic, one that could make the people feel good and calm just by being near it and with a faint light glow as you have right now.

- I see… and like that, you'll also have another touristic spot for people to visit, right?

- I… didn't think about that… I was just thinking that it would be a good reward for our kind Priest over here… but now that you said it, it sounds like a very good idea! People from all over the world will want to come here, to see the statue that the Goddess made, a statue that has her Healing Magic! That sounds like a very good idea! Yeah, and if you appeared here from time to time to the people visiting, it would be even more wonderful!

- Knnya… knnya… knnya… I knew it was another crazy idea! Ok, I can do that. Even the appearing from time to time, like a rock star! Can I use the 'Bum!' and the 'Flash!' style? And what do I gain from that? What will you do for me?

- If you don't scare the people too much, it's ok. As for what I can do for you, you don't even need to ask, you know that I wouldn't doubt on dying for you.

The Goddess approached Seya that was still kneeled and she also kneeled in front of him. She gently caressed his right cheek.

- I know that, my kind and gentle Seya. I also saw the surprise that you got today with that LionKind baby girl. I'll explain everything to you later this evening, ok? Together with some things that I think will interest you. Or better yet, my young girl form will explain. Not my teenager one, that one is difficult for me to control, do you understand?

- Yes, I understand. I think…

Aria got up and she approached the statue. She looked at it and a small dot of light appeared on top of its head. That dot enlarged itself and covered the entire statue, making it glow in bright light. When the light faded, the statue was an exact replica of the grown-up Aria, and it was also glowing in a faint light. Aria turned to face the Priest.

- My kind Priest, I must leave now, but my statue will stay here to keep you company and if you want to talk to me, it will serve as a mean to contact me, like any statue in this world. I'll come to visit you from time to time and as always, I'll come to your next service. But you won't know that it's me, of course. Baron Frank Macleod, of the Clan Macleod, please continue your amazing work, I've always appreciated the efforts that you made over these past years, to make the lives of my people a little more bearable. Send my regards to Teacher Margaret Macleod, will you? I love her classes, and the stories that she reads for the students by making different voices and all, are very amusing. My beautiful young Rose, I knew that I was doing the right thing when I gave you the Light and Healing Attributes. Seya did a very good thing, introducing you to my sweet Anna Hinamoto. I know that you are learning a lot with her. One day, you will be an amazing Great Healer, maybe one even better than Anna, if that's possible.

With a 'Bum!' sound and a 'Flash!' light, the Goddess disappeared in front of three people very surprised for knowing that she was watching them. Seya got up and he approached the statue, looking at it from all the angles.

- Yeah, she did a good job, this statue looks amazing. And I can feel her Healing Magic, calming me and making me feel good. Thank you, my sweet and kind Goddess!

Seya looked back and the other three were still kneeled in silence. The Priest slowly got up and he approached the statue, with tears in his eyes.

- Yes, it's really a very beautiful statue. And since I just saw the Goddess, I know that it's her exact image.

- Yeah, I know this doesn't pay for everything that you have been doing for the people that live here, but it's a start.

- Milord, this is more than payment, this is recognition for my work that the Goddess granted to a simple Priest such as myself!

- Yeah, maybe you're right. I wasn't sure that she was going to appear, but I had to try. At least this time, she didn't appear to scold or punch me! Sometimes I push my luck a little too far and she gets angry at me. Now that I think about it, I don't recall her appearing just to congratulate me!

Seya took a final look to the statue and he bowed with a smile to the Priest before leaving. Rose and her father bowed to the Priest and they accompanied Seya.

- Now, I think it's time to join the others. I want to see their progress and maybe Ryn is already there.