I Became The Pope, Now What?
chapter-23

[A/N: Look at the para comment to see the rank chart.]

'A1 - Classroom for God's Favoured Ones?! I am not special?!'

Sylvester exclaimed in his mind. The extra 's' at the end of the last word didn't make sense. He thought he was the only one with that status in the world.

'I can't milk my status anymore?'

He opened the door and carefully walked inside. The classroom was big with benches and tables placed like stairs. But it was an ordinary room with no unique specifications or looks. Just at one end was the teacher's side, with the sizeable wide blackboard with a rank chart and a table.

On the table, however, was a clear crystal orb that seemed out of place.

The room was half full, with other kids his age or more sitting randomly. He tried to feel the air at first. But before he could even look at their faces, a sharp smell, and taste in his mouth. It was bitter and salty, along with a slight burning sensation on the tongue.

'So there's some jealousy and hate present already.' he evaluated quickly.

Sylvester did not know which god he needed to thank, but for some reason, he had some talents that none other had. For example, whenever he sings a holy hymn, the back of his head would glow and make a halo; the other ability was the simple fact that he could smell and taste the emotions of those around him.

He had always wondered what these strange smells were since he first sensed them, and it took him years to fully understand the different scents and what they meant. However, even now, he'd get to know some new scents from time to time.

Sylvester silently went to the third row and sat beside the kid from whom he felt the least unpleasant stench. The boy appeared to be around the same age as him, with black hair and equally black eyes. He seemed taller than Sylvester and had a faint hint of lost childhood on his face.

Then Sylvester started to look around at the other 'God's Favored' They all wore the same clothes as him, but the difference lay in their jewelry. Some had gold and diamond rings on their fingers, and others had a simple thin gold chain around their neck. One even had his arms covered with gold bangles all the way to his elbow.

There were redheads, blondes, ashen-haired and black-haired kids, and the most common thing was that all were boys. Not of a similar age, however. Some appeared to be taller and more facially developed than others. All this resulted in more confusion about this mix.

"May the holy light enlighten us." The lecturer entered the lecture hall with this standard greeting. He was a tall bald man with some wrinkles on his face.

In response to the lecturer, all the trainees stood up and greeted back. "May the holy light enlighten us."

"No need to sit down." the lecturer spoke in a stern, heavy voice. "I am Archpriest Edmund Gracia. Yes, I come from Gracia Royal Family. But remember, in the embrace of the holy father, none are lords and nor are peasants.

"I shall be your mentor for the next eight years. But sadly, not all of you will continue this journey beyond this moment. All of you may have been tagged God's Favored for one reason or another, but none of you has yet gone through the sorting process. It is the nature of Solis that all are not made equal.

"Some have more magic while others have none. So first, we shall have this procedure done. When I call the name, you must walk to this table and put your palm on this orb. It will prick you a little to read your magic potency. We will see a gold or silver color on the orb. Gold is for wizards, and silver is for knights. You will also see a colored dot in the orb that will depict your peak talent." He then unfolded a piece of parchment and read the names. "Henry Zartha."

A meek, young, black-haired boy quickly walked to the teacher's table and put his right palm on the orb.

"Ah!" he felt a prick on his palm and retracted it. With that, the orb started to shine in white light. It lasted a few seconds before it got fixed with a silver shade and a golden dot on the middle top. However, from the boy's expression, it seemed this was not the result he desired.

"Unfit for the class. Henry Zartha, you will make a fine knight. But to be in God's Favored class, you must have magical talent. However, do not be disheartened. You shall one day become a Golden Knight." Archpriest Edmund tried to dismiss him as warmly as possible.

"B-But Archpriest… my father!" the boy was on the verge of tears. "My father gave so much money."

Archpriest did not get angry at all. Instead, he warmly caressed Henry's hair, "I understand that, and your father is a good man for donating to the church. But son, this place is not for you. You are to become a mighty knight. It's all fate's decision."

The boy soon left while sobbing. The show then continued, and the Archpriest called the next name. "Louis Hermington."

The ashen-haired boy repeated the process, and the orb surprisingly stopped at 50-50 gold and silver, with a diamond-colored dot in the middle.

This seemed to have left the Archpriest in shock. His eyes widened, and his face slowly curved into a big excited smile. "MARVELOUS! A boy with talent on both sides. Wizard-Knight of the rank Grand Wizard and Diamond Knight. Go back to your seat, child. I have high hopes for you."

"Ludwig Ahgren." He then called the next name, and a dark-blonde boy confidently walked forward and put his hand on the orb. He smirked at everyone's face as if he knew he would be the Supreme Wizard.

"Disqualified! You have the knightly talent to be a foot soldier, Black Knight only, son. I do not know how you got here but leave silently now."

"W-What? But… I worked so hard. I calculated everything! How can this be?"

"Ludwig Ahgren, do you wish to be disqualified from becoming a knight too? Leave this instant." Archpriest Edmund took a stricter tone this time, which was enough.

"Charles White," a short, long black-haired boy, proceeded and put his hand on the orb.

"Hmm, good. A golden color with a silver dot. You shall be a Master Wizard someday. Return to your seat."

Slowly, he called more names. He sent some away, and a few were able to retain their spot. Among the top results, two boys, Augustus Steel, and Romel Riveria, had the talent of a Grand Wizard. And another boy, Griffin Blazekin, had the talent of both a Grand Wizard and Diamond Knight.

Then finally, when only 30 out of 100 were left, Archpriest called his name. "Sylvester Maximilian."

Sylvester didn't feel nervous about his result. He would stay in this class no matter what since he knew he had magic. The real question was how strong it was, but he reckoned it was decent enough considering the training and things he had done in the past eight years.

He put his palm on the cold round orb and waited for the prick. "Ah!" it was not very soft, and now it made sense why others squeaked. However, the pain was not his concern as he looked at the orb shine in white light—expecting great results.

It seemed to shine for a bit longer than all others this time. The white light would sometimes take the slight shade of gold and then show silver, but it would never stick to one side. He reckoned it would be both Wizard and Knight rank since he practiced a lot and remembered training from his past life.

TING!—The orb rang a bell for some reason.

This was new. The orb never made any noise in the previous sessions. Sylvester confusedly stared at it as it turned fully golden and showed a bright metallic-silver dot in the center. He felt a bit disappointed: 'Mediocre talent then, ha? A mere Master Wizard?'

Thud!—Alerted by the sound, he looked up and found the Archpriest Edmund stumbling back and finally resting his back on the blackboard. His face was plastered with shock and disbelief as his jaw stayed wide open, appearing to be saying something silently.

"Archpriest, what does this mean?" he inquired; his intuition told him there was more than what meets the eye.

"Y-You… Oh, the holy Solis has blessed us. The bard is graced. The Holy Father will be pleased to know this. I must go now! This is colossal, this is… AH! There is more?"

Ting!

But there was another ring. So Sylvester looked at the orb again and noticed that the golden color was gone, now replaced with the silver color. But the metallic-silver dot remained the same in the middle, emerging as a proud proclamation.

"Woah!"

"How?"

The other kids exclaimed and reacted, ranging from awe to straight jealousy or hatred.

This time Sylvester felt like sweating from the tension in the air. He could see Archpriest Edmund slowly slide down and fall on his buttock in utter disbelief. His eyes appeared as wide as his eyelids could expand. He kept staring at the orb, and it seemed the man would drool if not nudged.

'It seems my evaluation was incorrect.' Sylvester muttered and glanced at the rank chart to clear his doubts.

But Edmund Garcia appeared more fanatic than just amazed at this point.

"H-H-How? This is unprecedented! This is peak talent!. The church's future is as bright as the rays of Solis. Ah…this…May the holy light bless us!... No! We have already been blessed!"

"..."

Sylvester silently stared at the ranking chart as the realization slowly dawned on him. All of a sudden, he felt his shoulder feeling a lot heavier now. He deduced that his life got a lot more complicated from this moment. A whole lot more dangerous even.

'Should I curse or sing a hymn?'

NEXT GOAL! MORE STONES!

**1001 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**

(I shall bestow upon the bonus chapter soon, lemme edit it first.)

APE TOGETHER STRONG!