The Compound

Vivian stepped outside the Temple of Priests' building and was accompanied by another person.

It was the kind-looking man who recruited her.

The sky was already dark and the street lamps were lit. There were still many people walking around and some shops were already preparing to close.

The man looked around and saw a horse carriage a couple of meters away. However, instead of a horse, in front of it looked like a cow and was covered in red fur that was neatly trimmed.

The man and the coachman made eye contact.

Whip.

The coachman whipped the animal with the reins and the carriage went over to where the man and Vivian were.

As the animal got closer and saw Vivian, it started to become restless.

Fortunately, the coachman was a professional so he was able to quickly control the animal as it continued heading to the man and Vivian.

Vivian pretended not to notice what just happened and looked away.

The carriage finally arrived in front of the man and Vivian but the animal was still a bit restless.

"Good evening, Honored Priest Joshua. Daisy here seems to have eaten something and isn't feeling well. But don't worry, she's a fine one so there's no need to worry. Where can I take you?"

"To the compound of the Priests."

Both Joshua and Vivian stepped inside the carriage.

***

Vivian was sitting down in the carriage and gazing out at the window.

I've never been in this part of the city…

They're not going to take me somewhere far away and dangerous, are they…?

They did say that they're taking me to a place within the city where all the members of the Temple of Priests stay…

And I'm free to enter and leave anytime I want…

I just hope it's true…

She turned her head and looked at the person in front of her.

Sitting across her was the kind-looking man or Joshua who"convinced" her to join the Temple of Priests.

"Once again, congratulations, Sister Vivian," he said. "I must admit, the first time I saw you, for some reason I knew right away that you would be a great member of our Temple. You managed to unlock [Light Mastery] on your first ceremony. The God of Light really watches over you. I'm very happy for you."

"Thank you… Um… brother…" Vivian said and flashed an awkward smile.

Given that she just joined, she was still uncomfortable calling people brother, especially when also considering she didn't have any siblings back in her previous world.

The word just felt too foreign on her tongue.

"Please call me Brother Joshua."

"Right. Thank you, Brother Joshua."

"So where are you from?"

Vivian's heart sank.

"Um… Just down south in a small village," she said and returned her gaze to the window.

"I too was born in a small village called Meadow and moved here when I was 16 years old."

"I see. That's good to hear," she replied but didn't look at him.

Noticing that Vivian wasn't in the mood to talk, Joshua stopped talking and let the both of them sit in silence.

***

A carriage stopped in front of a large gate.

The door swung open and Joshua stepped out first and then offered a helping hand.

Vivian has only ridden a carriage a few times in her life. So without even thinking, she reached out for his hand as she stepped down.

A gated community…?

She swept her gaze around.

In front of them were 2 gates -- a main gate and a small gate.

The main gate was 10ft high and 20ft long with the vertically stretched-out sun symbol of the Temple of Priests engraved in the middle. Meanwhile, the small gate was also 10ft high but only 6ft long. And between the 2 gates, there was a pillar about the same size as the small gate. The rest of the walls on each side were also 10ft high and stretched out as far as the eyes could see.

"Please wait for me on the corner as I introduce my colleague to the other members. It will only take a minute," Joshua said to the coachman.

The coachman nodded and then whipped the animal to move in order to park elsewhere.

Joshua turned to Vivian.

"Sister, please follow me," he said and went over to the small gate.

Behind the small gate, there was a guard house and inside it was a man wearing a white cloak and a gold necklace with a vertically stretched-out sun pendant on his neck was sitting behind a desk.

"Welcome, Brother Joshua," a male voice said when Joshua entered.

"Thank you, Brother Leo," Joshua said and turned to Vivian who was standing beside him. "This is Sister Vivian, a new member who just joined our Temple. I'm here to introduce her to the headmaster in charge of this place."

"I see, I see," Leo said and then turned to Vivian. "Welcome, Sister Vivian."

"Thank you, Brother Leo," Vivian said and bowed.

Leo returned his gaze to Joshua.

"Brother Joshua, I forgot to inform you that Headmaster High Brother Lucius left a while ago this afternoon and has yet to return. However, I believe Sister Gillian is present at the office."

"Do you know when will he come back?"

"I'm sorry, no."

"Can't help it I guess."

"Yeah, busy, busy, busy as always."

"I'll meet with Sister Gillian."

"Okay," Leo said and took out a smaller Memory Crystal underneath the desk. "Please touch it."

Joshua and Vivian touched the crystal and then continued entering the compound where there were many buildings around.

***

Vivian swept her gaze around as she was walking and couldn't help but let out a small smile on her face.

This looks oddly familiar…

If she were to describe her surroundings, it reminded her of the campus of a religious private school that she used to attend from kindergarten to high school back in her previous world.

Really brings back many memories…

***

Joshua and Vivian were walking in a hallway of a building and then entered a large office space.

As soon as he entered the room, he immediately scanned the area with his eyes before finally landing on a woman in her mid-20s dressed in a white cloak and wearing a gold necklace with a vertically stretched-out sun pendant on her neck sitting behind a desk and writing on a piece of paper.

She raised her head and looked at him.

"Brother Joshua? What are you doing here -- I mean, good evening!"

Joshua smiled as he approached her.

"Sister Gillian, good evening and it's nice to see you too.”

“If you’re looking for High Brother Lucius, he isn’t here. He went out for some important businesses at the royal palace."

"Oh, I was informed by Brother Leo he went out, but he didn’t say anything about the royal palace," he said and turned to Vivian. "By the way, this is Sister Vivian and she just joined our Temple today. And Sister Vivian, this is Sister Gillian."

Gillian looked at Vivian.

"Congratulations, Sister Vivian, and welcome. May the God of Light continue to watch over you," she said and smiled.

"Thank you and same to you, Sister Gillian,” Vivian said and smiled.

"So, sister…" said Joshua.

"Ah yes!" Gillian said and stood up from her chair. "Um… the others aren't here because they're having dinner… Please wait here for a moment and I'll get Sister Vivian's uniform."

She looked at Vivian and sized her up.

"You don't mind if I give you size M, right?"

"Size M?" it took a minute before Vivian finally understood what Gillian meant. "Ah yes."

To be honest, Vivian wasn't sure.

Back in her previous world, as a tall and fit man, her size was between L and XL, depending on the type of fabric and design. And although she did some shopping a few days ago for her clothes, she mostly left the measuring to the shopkeeper.

Well, I'm slim and fit so I think I can fit most sizes…

Her eyes landed on her breasts.

But I don't know about this though…

Gillian stepped outside of her desk before heading over to one of the doors within the room and entering them.

"Sister, want me to help you out?" asked Joshua.

"No, it's fine. Thank you for the offer though," she said and then entered the room.

When Gillian got back, she was carrying a package wrapped with brown paper and there was a gold necklace with a vertically stretched-out sun pendant on top of it.

"Here, sister, size M," she said as she handed the items over to Vivian. "That pendant is your Class Crystal but it has no name yet. However, once you open a bank account here in the Temple, we will engrave it with your name and register it as your Class Crystal and the key for your bank account. Don't worry, only you can access your bank account. Also, I'm very sorry, sister. Normally, we would give you a tour around the compound. But the staff already left for dinner and will resume work tomorrow, and I have so many deadlines to catch up. Come back here tomorrow morning and I promise you that I will personally give you a tour of this place."

"It's okay, sister, I understand. After all, I came here late," said Vivian.

Joshua raised his hands in defeat.

"I personally would also want to give Sister Vivian a tour myself. But unfortunately, I also have so many things on my hands back at the office and I don't think I'm allowed to enter certain places, like the women's dorm. But I promise to give sister Vivian a quick review of the compound before going back to the office."

"Thank you, Brother Joshua," Gillian said and bowed.

"Thank you," said Vivian.

***

Some time later…

Inside a room within the Temple of Priests building.

A woman in her late 20s wearing a red cloak, a gold necklace with a pendant of a vertically stretched-out sun and a pair of eyeglasses was sitting behind a desk and writing on a paper.

Knock.

Knock.

There was a knock on the door.

The woman didn't answer and the door opened.

"Please excuse me, High Sister Grana," said a man's voice.

If Vivian was here, she would recognize the man as Joshua.

He was carrying a brown folder as he approached the woman.

"Here is the report for today's applicants," he said and placed the folder on the side of her desk.

Noticing that Joshua didn't leave, Grana stopped writing and raised her head.

"Something happened today?"

"Yes, High Sister Grana. Today, there were 6 potential applicants and 1 successful applicant. Regarding the successful applicant, she managed to learn [Light Mastery] on the first wave of her first ceremony."

"Oh really?"

"The person's name is Vivian, 24 years old, Copper I Rank adventurer, previously Thief Class with no other previous Classes, and no criminal record."

Grana's brows knitted together.

"24 years old? Perhaps a retired soldier or mercenary?"

"We're still investigating if she already had [Light Mastery] before joining and other matters as well. However, I was the one who interviewed her. And based on our conversation, she had very little to no idea about Magic Art and Class Magic. I even used [Halo] on her. I've already written a report about our conversation and my observations of her."

"I see. Thank you for your hard work. May the God of Light watch over you."

"Thank you, High Sister Grana. And may the God of Light watch over you as well," Joshua said before turning around and leaving.

When she was finally alone, Grana looked at the folder but didn't touch it.

She raised her glasses and massaged her temples.

"Another one that to investigate if it's a genuine talent, a fraud or a spy…"

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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…

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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. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain spoilers or dispel some of the mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 230-235 are posted there.

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Chapter end