Day of Satur, 9:03 a.m.
Female Dormitory, Temple of Priests Private Compound, Luxen City.
[Greater Origin Enchant].
Dark red lightning appeared on Vivian's hand.
[Halo].
The moment that the golden ring began to manifest on her back, the dark red lightning immediately crawled from her hand to her back and was being absorbed by the ring until it grew x4 its original size.
Knock, knock.
"Fuc--!"
Vivian's soul almost jumped out of her body when she heard the knock.
Knock, knock.
"Sister Vivian?" Lorei's voice called.
Vivian quickly deactivated [Halo] and glared at the door as she gritted her teeth.
What the fuck...?!
Knock, knock.
"Sister Vivian?" Lorie's voice called once again.
Vivian forcefully suppressed her anger and wore a calm expression.
"Hold on for a moment," she said as she got up, grabbed a bathrobe and then headed to the door.
Ka-cha!
She opened the door.
"Yes, sister?"
"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to be here," she said and then showed an envelope. "I was trying to slip this under your door in case you weren't here but it couldn't."
Vivian forced a smile.
"It must've caught under the rug."
Lorei nodded.
"Anyhow, I came to give this to you," she said and handed over the envelope.
Another letter…?
What the fuck is it this time…?
"Thank you, sister," Vivian said and smiled as she received the letter.
"Inside is a note about the Ranking Match this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.," Lorei said.
"4:00 p.m.?" Vivian said and then flipped the letter.
Lorei nodded.
"All of our Brothers and Sisters, regardless if they're going to participate in the matches or not, are required to attend. The venue is at the Training Grounds Gym. Please be there before 3:30 p.m."
Vivian wore an apologetic and weak expression.
"Sister, is this mandatory…?"
Lorei's brows knitted.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm currently on my period... As a matter of fact, I haven't stepped out of my room in the last 2 days… The only time I've stepped out is to go to the toilet…" she said and then stepped to the side as she pointed to her desk. "I even stocked takeout meals, Menstrals, napkins and tissues just so I don't have to go out…"
Lorei saw the three takeout meals.
"You can even ask Sister Melissa who is in charge of the group conducting the Feeding and Teaching Holy Mission here in the city… I had to stop attending since the Day of Thura…"
Lorei returned her gaze to Vivian. And after hearing Vivian's excuse, she just noticed that Vivian's hair was a bit messy and there was a faint odor of menstruation inside the room.
"Is it really that bad?"
Vivian weakly nodded.
"Ever since I was born, I always suffered from severe cramps that I could barely even walk…"
"Sister, it's not healthy to eat cold food if you're sick. If you want, I can order someone to deliver you fresh food at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. every day until you recover."
Vivian shook her head.
"Thank you, sister, but I don't want to overstep my boundaries…"
Lorei shook her head.
"No, it's fine. Remember, the core rule in training our Class Magic spells is to ease the pain and suffering of others."
Vivian nodded.
"I understand, sister, I truly do… However, I'm just not used to relying on other people… I wouldn't know how to face them after that…"
As a 24-year-old man in her original world, Vivian was not used to asking for help from others. In her mind, any man who operates with the mindset that the world owes him help and understanding is destined to face a sad and hard life.
"Sister, how about this? Why not just pay an extra fee for the delivery?"
Vivian thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
"Okay…"
"By the way, sister, I almost forgot to mention, in case you need some napkins, Menstral, tissues and wipes, there are some for sale at my office. As you already know, the Apothecary Shop opens at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 7:30 a.m. I've already informed Sister Jillian and the others about having an Apothecary Shop that's open 24 hours, especially in regard to dealing with this issue that we women face each month, but no one is willing to stay up the whole night because many would prefer to use that time to train or sleep. However, I'm only at my office until 8:00 p.m. because I have to go home to my family."
Vivian nodded once again.
"I understand, sister… Thank you…"
***
2:57 p.m.
Lorei was inside her office and arranging her desk. She closed a folder and then placed it inside a drawer before getting up and stepping to the side.
She swept her gaze around her surroundings for a moment and then nodded.
"I already watered the plants, I swept the floor, I wiped the desk, cabinets and windows, and I cleaned the bathroom and toilet."
She grabbed her purse on top of the desk and then headed to the door.
Click.
Ku-chud.
After locking and closing the door, she placed the key inside her purse and turned around.
She noticed two Brown Cloaks in their mid-teens walking in the hallway.
"Excuse me, sisters."
The two Brown Cloaks rushed to her and gave a slight bow.
"Good afternoon, Sister Lorei," they both said.
"Good afternoon, too. Where are you going? An announcement was made that all Brothers and Sisters are required to go to the Gym at 3:30 p.m. to attend the Ranking Match."
The two Brown Cloaks nodded.
"Yes, sister, we're going there after we change clothes," one of them said.
Since all of the Priests and Priestesses here in Luxen City, including the guest Priests and Priestesses from the Heisen Chapter Temple, will be attending the monthly Ranking Match, many of the Priests and Priestesses, especially the young ones, would like to look their best.
"Which room are you two staying?"
"At the shared room, Sister Lorei."
"I will be checking all of the rooms. And if the both of you are still here after I'm done checking, you know what will happen."
The faces of the two Brown Cloaks turned pale and they lowered their heads.
"Yes, Sister Lorei!" they both said.
"Carry on."
The two Brown Cloaks lowered their heads once more.
"Yes, Sister Lorei!" they said and then scurried off.
When Lorei was finally alone, she pressed her glasses and let out a sigh.
"Each year that passes, I'm only getting more and more infamous as the scary Head Caretaker of the Female Dormitory… How did it come to this…? All I ever wanted was a clean and quiet place…"
There was already an unspoken hierarchy between the Priests and Priestesses, one of them is through their Cloaks -- Lorei was a Gold Cloak while the two were Brown Cloaks. However, as the Head Caretaker of the Female Dormitory, there were things that she needed to do in order to make sure that the tenants, especially the young ones, behaved properly. The combination of being young, independent (they were earning coins through Holy Missions and their parents weren't around), and having Physical and Magic Force wasn't easy to deal with.
An image of Vivian and a few of the tenants of the Female Dormitory flashed inside her head.
"Well, at least there are some people who share my vision…"
***
4:09 p.m.
Gym, Training Grounds, Temple of Priests Private Compound, Luxen City.
There were several bleachers on the sides forming a large circle and were occupied by White and Brown Cloaks.
Meanwhile, for the Red and Gold Cloaks, they were all seated together at one bleacher. However, instead of the standard bleacher, there were special seats attached to them with the Red Cloaks at the front row and in the middle.
And at the middle of the circle, there were 35 people standing in 5 rows.
Standing on the 3rd, 4th and 5th rows were 22 people in their late teens wearing a shirt, pants and boots, and were armed.
Standing on the 2nd row were 11 White Cloaks between the ages of early 20s and late 20s. 10 were each holding a scepter with an Affinity Crystal attached to it and 1 was carrying a small basket.
And on the 1st row were Isaac, one of the Gold Cloaks of the Luxen Chapter Temple, and a White Cloak Priestess in her mid-40s.
The White Cloak carrying a small basket went beside the White Cloak Priestess in her mid-40s and presented the basket.
The Priestess reached inside the basket and took out an item.
It was a hexagon-shaped crystal the size of an adult's fist and it was engraved with Runes.
As the Priestess activated the crystal and brought it in front of her mouth, the White Cloak carrying a basket stepped back and returned to his original position.
"Good afternoon to all. For those who don't know me, I am Sister Briene and may the God of Light watch over you, brothers and sisters," the Priestess said with an amplified voice, similar to a microphone effect.
"May the God of Light watch over you as well, sister!" the crowd replied.
"Before we start the program, let us first show our devotion to the God of Light and honor the memory of all of our brothers and sisters, especially the first Priest, first Light Saint and the founder of the Temple of Priests, His Holiness Light Saint N'eua."
The 10 White Cloaks who were each holding a scepter with an Affinity Crystal attached to it spread out and headed to the bleachers, letting the Priests and Priestesses sitting at the bleachers touch it one by one. No one was exempted, even the Red and Gold Cloaks.
The Affinity Crystals were infused with the Chaos and the Lesser Chaos Affinity. To be specific, 5 had Chaos while the other 5 had Lesser Chaos.
After everyone inside the gym was done touching the Affinity Crystals and not once did any of the Affinity Crystals shun, the 10 White Cloaks who were each holding a scepter with an Affinity Crystal attached to it returned to their original position.
"Brothers and sisters, rejoice, for there are no demon-worshippers among us! All of us here have shown our devotion to the God of Light and honored the memory of all of our brothers and sisters, especially the first Priest, first Light Saint and the founder of the Temple of Priests, His Holiness Light Saint N'eua! May we continue to do so and may the God of Light continue to watch over you!" Briene said.
"May the God of Light continue to watch over you as well!" the crowd replied.
Briene nodded.
"We can now start the program.
"I would like to thank you all for coming and attending the long tradition of the monthly Ranking Match between the Luxen and the Heisen Chapter Temple. This tradition has lasted since the year 2,701 A.M. and it signifies the close ties between the Luxen Chapter Temple and the Heisen Chapter Temple."
She turned to the bleacher where the Red and Gold Cloaks were seated.
"Let us give a special round of applause to Headmaster High Brother Lucius, High Sister Grana, and our special guests High Sister Clementine and the rest of our Brothers and Sisters from the Heisen Chapter Temple for coming."
Clap, clap, clap.
Briene and the crowd gave a round of applause as Lucius, a man in his early 50s with long white hair, Grana, and Clementine, stood up from their seats and waved.
When Briene stopped clapping, the crowd followed, and Lucius, Grana and Clementine returned to their seats.
"High Brother Lucius, may we ask you to do the honors?" Briene asked.
Lucius nodded.
The White Cloak who was standing in the middle of the gym and carrying a basket rushed over to him and presented the basket.
Lucius reached inside the basket and took out another crystal which was the same as Briene was holding. He stood up once again, activated it and brought it near his mouth.
"I hereby announce the Ranking Match between the Luxen Chapter Temple and the Heisen Chapter Temple for the month of Julus 3023 to commence! May the God of Light watch over all of you!"
Isaac stepped forward and then turned to 22 armed people who were on the 3rd, 4th and 5th rows.
"Brothers and Sisters, the Ranking Match begins now. The first two participants, step forward."
As two men stepped forward, everyone except Isaac left the ring and the crowd began cheering in surprise.
"Brother Crew and Brother Zean are going first?!" someone from the crowd said.
"BROTHER CREW, WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!!" a group of Brown and White Cloak Priests in their mid and late teens cheered.
"BROTHER ZEAN, YOU CAN DO IT~!!!" a group of Brown Cloak Priestesses in their mid and late teens cheered.
Before the program, all of the participants did a lottery on who would go first. And the first two participants were Zean and Crew from the Luxen Chapter Temple.
Crew was a White Cloak in his late teens. He had blonde hair styled with a buzz cut, he had 2 Magic Art Affinities, and he was carrying a mace, a shield and a Magic Item Necklace.
Zean, on the other hand, was also White Cloak Priest in his late teens. He he had short black hair, he had 3 Magic Art Affinities and he was carrying a two-handed sword engraved with Runes.
Isaac, who was standing in the middle, looked at the two fighters.
"Brothers."
Both fighters got into a fighting stance.
"Remember the rules:
"No use of [Halo].
"Only one Magic or Elemental Item is allowed per fight.
"No True Death.
"And if your opponent taps or says surrender, you will stop.
"Is that clear?"
The two fighters nodded.
"Begin!"
Vooom!
Zean charged forward and then thrust his sword.
********************
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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!