3:01 p.m.
Main Gate, Temple of Priests Private Compound, Luxen City.
Joshua stood outside the gate alongside 1 Gold Cloak and 9 White Cloaks.
If Vivian were here, she would recognize a couple of faces -- Isaac who was one of the Instructors at the Training Grounds Gym, Leo who was one of the people in charge of guarding the gate of the private compound at night, Gillian who was one of the secretaries of High Brother Lucius, Rhys who was one of the people assigned at the Mission Room, and Gerald who was assigned at the Temple of Priests Public Office building.
Rhys turned to the two people next to him.
"Brothers, who do you think is going to win this month?"
Gerald shrugged his shoulders.
"It depends on the will of the God of Light."
Joshua nodded.
"True, may the God of Light watch over all of them."
Rhys focused his gaze on Gerald and raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't your nephews or cousins joining?"
"You mean Crew and Zean?" Gerald said.
Gerald, Crew and Zean were all White Cloaks but Gerald was in his early 30s while Crew and Zean were in their late teens. And as for his relationship with them, they were both his nephews and cousins.
In order to make sure or at least increase the chances of passing down the Light Magic Art Affinity to their offspring so that their offspring could also join the Temple of Priests and the entire family could not only maintain their political power and wealth but also increase it, most Priests and Priestesses would choose to marry with fellow Priests and Priestesses.
Rhys nodded.
"Yes."
"Naturally, as their family member, I would like for the both of them to achieve all of their dreams and aspirations. However, that doesn't mean they're obligated to have all of their dreams and aspirations realized. Whoever wins this month's Ranking Match is the one who deserves it," Gerald said.
Rhys let out a chuckle.
"That's cold," he said and then turned to Joshua. "What do you think, brother?"
"I agree with Brother Gerald. Because if you really think about it, there can only be one winner."
Rhys nodded.
"That's a good point… Did any of you win the Ranking Match?"
Joshua let out an awkward smile.
"I only lasted on the Semi-Finals. And by the time I reached 20 years old, I stopped participating because I felt like I was already too old to join it."
Gerald felt the burning gaze of Rhys.
"I won 1st place back when I was 19 years old."
"As expected of the Straggler Family."
Joshua nodded.
"Truly."
The Straggler family was one of the established Priest families in the Luxen Kingdom and many of their family members served and made a name for themselves in the Infantry Division.
"I reached the Finals but only managed to reach 3rd place and I was 18 years old at that time," Rhys said and then turned to Isaac who was talking with Gillian and another White Cloaks. "I tried entering the next year but got defeated right away during the Preliminary when I fought Brother Isaac."
Joshua looked at him with an apologetic expression.
"Well, it is Brother Isaac."
Even Gerald who always had a passive or a serious expression on his face nodded solemnly.
If the Straggler Family was one of the established Priest families in the Luxen Kingdom, Isaac's family was one of the established families of the Holy Kingdom or in their entire Temple of Priests organization.
"You're in your early 30s and you're in your late 20s, right?"
Gerald and Joshua nodded.
"I'm 39 and Brother Isaac is 35 years old. At that time when he and I joined the Ranking Match, I was 19 and a White Cloak and he was 15 and a Brown Cloak so the two of you haven't yet joined the Temple at that time. But if you were there, you'd be shocked. Despite only being 15 years old and a Brown Cloak, he defeated all of his opponents with 1-2 blows because he was already Rainbow Steel or close to reaching Spirit Steel while all of us were still Silver and Mithril."
"Rainbow Steel at 15 years old?" Joshua said to himself and then shook his head. "God of Light, I couldn't even imagine what kind of training he had to do to reach that Grade at that age."
"I swear to the God of Light and all of the Light Saints, everyone was left speechless at that time, including the current Headmasters and the guest High Brother. It's a memory I'll never forget."
"They're coming," one of the White Cloaks said.
Everyone turned to the left side of the road and saw two large and long carriages that were each being pulled by a giant lizard animal with a long neck.
Both the lizards and carriages were about 8 meters long and 4 meters tall.
When the carriages finally reached in front of the main gate, one of the coachmen at the first carriage, a member of the Temple of Tamers, pulled the thick reins, ordering the giant lizard to stop.
The second carriage also did the same.
One of the coachmen on the first carriage jumped out from the front, rushed over to the side where a door was located, and then pulled a staircase underneath it.
The door opened and there was a dark-skinned woman in her early 30s with long white braided hair wearing a Red Cloak.
Isaac rushed over to the Red Cloak Priestess and offered his hand.
"High Sister Clementine, please allow me."
Clementine turned to him and then smiled as she reached out for his hand.
"Thank you, Brother," she said and then climbed down the stairs.
When she reached the ground, Isaac released her hand and she went to the corner. A group of White Cloaks with dark and brown skin climbed down as well.
After all of the Priests and Priestesses from the carriages climbed down, they all gathered behind Clementine.
Meanwhile, the Priests and Priestesses from the Luxen Chapter Temple gathered behind Isaac.
Isaac stepped forward.
"High Sister Clementine, and Brothers and Sisters of the Heisen Chapter Temple, on behalf of all of the members of the Luxen Chapter Temple, we welcome you all and we hope that the God of Light has blessed you with a safe Pilgrimage coming here. We also pray that the God of Light will bless all of us with a Ranking Match that would further strengthen the bond between our Chapter Temples."
Clementine stepped forward.
"Thank you for the warm welcome, Brother Isaac, and Brothers and Sisters of the Luxen Chapter Temple."
***
4:38 p.m.
Female Dormitory, Temple of Priests Private Compound, Luxen City.
Vivian was lying down on her bed and wearing nothing but a bra and underwear.
Her eyes slowly opened.
What time is it…?
Her gaze landed on the side of her desk and she reached out.
But after failing to grab what she was looking for, she stopped and quickly pulled back her hand.
Right…
I don't have a phone…
She shifted her gaze to the clock on the wall.
4:39 p.m.
She lied on her back and pulled her underwear forward, revealing her soaked napkin.
Is the Menstral really working…?
Yesterday around 8:00 a.m., she drank 2 teaspoons of the Menstral liquid but she still felt the pains of her menstruation and the bleeding barely stopped.
Last night around 7:00 p.m., she drank 1 Menstral Powder. Both of the pains and bleeding stopped a bit.
This morning, around 8:00 a.m., she drank 3 teaspoons of Menstral liquid. Most of the pains stopped but the bleeding only stopped a bit.
So I need to drink at least 2 Menstral Powders, huh…
She sat up.
But what if I drink 2 teaspoons of Mentral Liquid and 2 Menstral Powders…?
Would it completely stop the pains and bleeding…?
She glanced at the clock once again.
4:40 p.m…
9, 10, 11, 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
She counted with her fingers.
9 hours…
I can take Menstral because it's every 8 hours…
But I have to eat first…
She glanced at her half-eaten takeout meal that was on top of the desk.
Earlier, around 7:00 a.m., she went to the Cafeteria to eat breakfast and then ordered a takeout meal. She ate her takeout meal around 1:00 p.m. after training between 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m and then took a quick nap.
I want something fresh and hot…
***
6:12 p.m.
Vivian was inside her room. And as usual, she wearing nothing but a bra and underwear and was sitting on top of a piece of cloth laid out on the floor.
Okay…
Time to train again…
I'll train sitting from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to make sure I don't fall asleep…
And then train lying down from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 m.n…
[Greater Origin Enchant].
Dark red lightning appeared on her hand.
[Halo].
The moment the golden ring started to manifest on her back, the dark red lightning immediately crawled from her hand to her back and was being absorbed until it grew x4 its original size.
She deactivated [Halo].
I don't care anymore…
[Greater Origin Enchant].
I want to reach 200 points or close to 200 points before leaving for the Holy Crusade…
[Halo].
For insurance…
Deactivate.
The reason why she was doing this training combination instead of the [Greater Origin Enchant] + break finger + [Heal] was because of the Menstral she took. Willow, one of the sisters from the Apothecary Shop, informed her that [Greater Heal], [Heal], [Cure] and antidote potions could nullify the effects of Menstral.
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Hello guys, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I have a few announcements to make:
1) I received my new laptop around the second week of December but I was already in vacation mode with my family so I wasn't able to write that much.
2) Starting now, I will drop most of the gimmicks I've been doing.
I just want to focus on writing and posting.
Having said that, I will only be posting 5 chapters per week here at WebNovel. Meanwhile, at Patreon, it would be at least 5 per week.
As to why, that's because in the later chapters I'm writing around 2,000 words each chapter compared to the earlier chapters which were only 1,200-1,500 each.
On top of that, I also have two small businesses that I'm managing and other personal matters.
So yeah, my hands are quite full and I hope that you will understand.
By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…
• https://www.patreon.com/Immortal_Shades
There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 207-219 are posted there.
I would like to give my special thanks for this month's Patrons:
•
Thank you once again and I will see you in the next chapter.
Again, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!