Cullen dev2

[22:47:50] Cullen was still dazed by the recent blow to his mind. He was still himself, he was still alive, but he was hit. He was damaged, after all, and that might have been working of the Umbral Lord. The paladin himself had no idea what to do regarding himself, and as such, he decided. That year and half that he's been away have been enough.

More importantly than anything, it wasn't the darkness looming in that destroyed his heart and shattered his mind, but the fact that he was all alone for over a year. And as such, he finally decided what he had to do.

Cullen, for the first time in a while, considered going back to Valmasia. As he was about to cross back to the borders to Gehenna, after several months of meditation, he missed everyone. Magnolia. Juliette. Nemain. Everyone, absolutely everyone, was now a hole on his emotions.

However, as he looked towards the Ezmaran lights on the distance, he remembered why he had to go back to Gehenna. Sonnas was there. Remington was there. And as much as he thought it was weird, Masika was the most warming memory to his mind.

And it made total sense. Armor, clothing and shield battered by the constant fighting with wild animals, the Valmasian-made-Ezmaran was going back to where he belonged.
(Cullen Edderlin)
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[23:25:23] Cullen was... Different. His beard was uncared for, apparently grown through the whole year, and he exaled an odd sadness for what he used to be. The smile was still on his face, but his eyes were tired. Even as a magi, meditating every day and getting the same feeling of looming darkness was tiresome for him, it demanded too much of his psyche.

And the feeling of dread caught up to him. His enlightened veins were pulsing still, but a dimmer tone than ever before. However, under his thick clothing and armor, something was hidden.

His subconscious mimicking the arts from Valmasia, he decided to get himself a tattoo of his new Faith. Old studies, and severe meditation revealed something.

Cullen had a vision, one that linked himself to the world, in the middle of the journey. On a dream, he felt light. He did not feel the good emotions tied to it, or see a flash. He felt the light, the same way it's possible to feel the darkness within.

And a vision of what he thought was the creation of Eternia. Kraus' blessings upon the whole human race, and the visions of the order of light. Artor was there, and one symbol was incrusted into his mind. If someone else was there, they'd see it -- The lights from his body shone brighter than ever before.

And they wrote upon his skin. A cross was slowly carved into his skin, following the same hue of his body. It would not appear when he was not flashing his aura, but it was evident should the light on his body grow stronger.

The tips of the cross were at the base of his neck, all the way down to his waist. And on the sides, instead of a rigid line... Wings were carved. This, all, caused by a simple idea.

The idea of attuning to Eternia, and hereby attuning to Kraus. He had not stopped to notice, nor cared to remove his armor to see. And, even to his bad luck or maybe not, he didn't bleed on his fights. His armor was hit, severely scarred, but one more thing was done on that very night.

His blood, the only part of his body that remained human, was not human anymore. In essence, it was infused with holy essence, now acting together with his leylines.

And the paladin exaled, even asleep, power. Raw, uncontained, and yet so pure and unharming that it was almost a tranquilizing sensation. He felt, more than anything, his mind linking itself to the world. And yet, he did not choose to test his powers. That kind of thing was second nature to him.

In fact, he did not care for growing closer to Eternia. He cared only for his friends -- most of which he was going back to now.
(Cullen Edderlin)