Although it is rare for someone outside a mage family to develop magic circuits, it does happen occasionally, although these tend to be of greatly inferior number and quality. What is more rare is for one to be born with circuits capable of meeting the minimum requirement for conventional magecraft. But a set of circuits capable of dwarfing those of long-standing lineages despite coming from nothing is truly noteworthy and unique.
Simon was born as the third child in a large but poor family in a small town about one-hundred miles from Rome. Ever since he was a boy, young Simon repeatedly claimed to his family that he could hear voices that would always lead him toward his goals whether it be a lost toy or the best hiding place in the nearby woods. His father, being a very religious man, believed these voices to be a sign from God, and sent him to Rome to join the Church when he was ten years old in the hopes of giving him the best life possible away from their impoverished family. Simon, despite missing his family, was more than eager to join the Church, as it was what the voices told him to do.For the next several years, Simon was instructed in the ways of priesthood. Being both diligent and bearing an unwavering faith, he advanced very quickly within the Church’s ranks. As he did so, the power from his naturally potent circuits began to express themselves in increasingly overt ways. Water would ripple in his presence, wind would blow around him in closed rooms, and candles would spontaneously ignite as he walked past them. Eventually, the more magically inclined members of the Church began to take notice of his affinity for the supernatural. At one point, an executor approached Simon to recruit him into their organization and instruct him on how to utilize his abilities. However, Simon turned him down having long ago convinced himself that his powers were not inherent but rather granted to him by an outside source, mainly from the angels of the Lord.
Upon reaching the age of twenty-five, Simon decided to become a missionary and spread the word of God to those who have not heard it. He traveled to an impoverished island village in the region of the Philippines who had refused to adhere to the rest of the region’s heavily Christian beliefs. Upon arrival, Simon was treated with indifference by the natives for the first few years. Nobody would attend his sermons, and most people would ignore him unless he addressed them directly. Simon was in a crisis; despite his best efforts, nobody was willing to listen to what he had to teach.Things continued this way until one evening when a man from the village came to him desperately requesting his help. The man’s daughter was afflicted with a strange illness that the doctors couldn’t seem to identify or properly treat, so the man had come to Simon as his very last resort. Simon was lead to the man’s house and into his daughter’s room. Despite being a hot summer day, the room itself was unnaturally cold to the point where a thin layer of mist had begun to congeal on the floor. The girl was sleeping restlessly on the bed with her body covered in sweat. Her arm from the elbow down was swollen beyond belief with the flesh beginning to warp and split open under the strain. It was no ordinary swelling however, as it seemed that the underlying bone structure itself grown and deformed beneath the flesh. Although he had never seen it before, Simon could identify that this was a demonic possession. Upon attempting a baptismal sacrament, the girl’s eyes opened, and she began to attack Simon with an inhuman degree of strength and agility while eyes and claws began sprouting from her deformed arm. After exhausting nearly every sacrament in his repertoire, Simon made a last-ditch effort and prayed to the archangel Raphael to purify the demon from the girl. As he prayed, the wind began to blow around him with the strength of a small cyclone as an indistinct shape began to form bearing four heads and multiple feathered wings. As the wind beat upon the girl, a black mist was torn from her arm and dispersed into nothingness. After the figure faded and the winds died down, the girl had returned to unconsciousness, and her arm had returned to its normal size and shape albeit horribly scarred. Regardless, the exorcism had been successful.
In the following days, news spread about the miraculous feat of Simon Benedictus. Bit by bit, the entire village came to hear his words and request favors from him. They even went so far as to build a church for him at the top of a hill within the village’s boundary. Simon, now awakened to the true extent of his abilities, began assisting the villagers in any way that he could by invoking the names of angels to assist him rather than relying on the Church’s traditional sacraments. Within a few years’ time, word of the miracle-working priest had begun to spread beyond the boundaries of the island. After several years, his feats gained the attention of the Association, and they began an investigation as to the legitimacy of such claims. Upon the confirmation that his miracles were in fact genuine, the Association sent several of their sealing designation enforcers to apprehend him. Not only were his miracles a massive breach in their cover, but they also wanted to determine why someone without any significant lineage to his name could be capable of such feats of magecraft without even understanding their fundamentals. However, Simon knew ahead of time that they would be coming for him, and the night before they were appointed to apprehend him, Simon bid farewell to his followers stating that the archangel Michael would protect him. The next night, the enforcers came for him in his church. The villagers don’t know the specifics of what happened that night, but some eyewitnesses claim to have seen a massive pillar of fire at the top of the hill near the church followed by the unfurling of six massive fiery wings unfurling like the petals of an orange flower before fading into the night.
Originally Posted by FSF 5, Chapter 14: Gold and Lions I
Though abandoned, forgotten, and scorned as out-of-date dolls, they continue to carry out their mission, unchanged from the time they were designed.
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