‘Nice.’

  This time, I managed to focus on my training without being overly engrossed in it. I’ve checked my watch twice – 35 minutes ago, and now, exactly at 5:30, which was when I planned to depart.

  ‘Too bad I didn't get to level up [Arc Slash].’

  It was sitting at (99/100). I knew I could break through if I stayed for another hour or two, maybe three, but there was simply not enough time.

  ‘I’ll just finish it tomorrow, then.’

  Surprisingly, and much unlike my lived experience on Earth, this thought filled me with reluctance. However, I swallowed that feeling – I couldn't be late for my next meeting, no matter what.

  After the satisfying training session, I went on to fetch Stormcloud, leaving yet another silver coin behind.

  ‘At least I can safely afford it now.’

  While I was away, the horse was well taken care of. As I came to fetch him, he lowered his head, as if asking me to scratch his neck. Of course, I complied.

  “Let’s go, Storm.”

  Despite doing my best to remain calm, I couldn't help but get increasingly nervous the farther I rode, the rhythmic pounding of the hooves serving as a countdown to my inevitable arrival at the Sun Temple.

  This would be the most important meeting I'd have in this world so far.

  ‘Is this how it feels driving to the doctor for your brain MRI results?’

  Only that in my case, there was no ambiguity – I knew precisely how serious my condition was, being able to see my remaining lifespan down to the exact day.

  ‘No use thinking about it before I meet him. At least, judging by his reply, he recognized Soul Corrosion by name. That's already better than nothing.’

  Slowly, the Enclave Of Faith, which I refrained from visiting yesterday, came into my view.

  The first thing that entered my eyes were the tallest spires of two of the temples – namely the Sun Temple, and the Iron Temple.

  The latter was dedicated to the god Tristan, also known as The Iron Judge.

  The Sun Spire was decorated with thin golden vines, likely made of actual gold, and was glimmering in the late afternoon sun, symbolizing its followers’ desire for the Shining Lady's warm light.

  ‘It’s even more magnificent than Amelia described.’

  The Iron Spire, on the other hand, was plain and unassuming, except for the fact it was fully made of, or at least enclosed in metal. While this could be considered only somewhat strange on Earth, this was the first metal building I've encountered in this world.

  ‘Considering the prices of high quality metals, and the sheer size of this tower, it might actually be no less extravagant than the golden vines.’

  The tower's top was adorned with a large metal sphere, each side engraved with an eye symbol, representing the all-seeing eye of justices.

  ‘It’s a shame she won't get to see it again..’

  Abruptly shaking my head, as if to discard unnecessary thoughts, I rode onward.

  Whilst the spires were the first thing I noticed, the temples themselves were still out of sight.

  The first religious buildings I came upon were a few small shrines, dedicated to many of the lesser gods worshipped in this kingdom.

  After passing through the street, and turning right, bountiful stalls filled with religious items and memorabilia filled the sidewalk. I also began seeing a few churches here and there, some of which I even recognized.

  ‘That church is dedicated to Lerenia, the goddess of Water and Rain. And this one is Urvelion.. I think he was called ‘The Avenger’? Pretty sure one of his domains was Retribution.’

  Back in Pine Harbor, my later conversations with Amelia naturally slid towards religion. We had a certain unsaid agreement – rather than talking about the Sun Temple, a discussion which might feel like a conversion attempt, she would instead tell me about the other faiths in the Eminent Pantheon.

  Of course, while this only included the ‘benevolent gods’ worshipped by the kingdom, there were still far too many minor gods to discuss. As such, those conversations were centered around the main Pantheon, consisting of five deities, and some of the better known gods in the secondary Pantheon.

  ‘This means I’m close.. ah, I can see it!’

  The road connected to a large plaza, paved with intricate stone patterns.

  ‘The Plaza Of Devotion…’

  Rather than entering the plaza, I first left Storm at an enormous four story stable, conveniently located right beside the entrance to the massive open space.

  The Enclave of Faith spanned a large area bordering the northeastern inner wall. The plaza itself was located right between the inner and outer gates of that wall, at the very heart of the enclave.

  ‘Remembering the towns, or even the southern district, this feels like a completely different world.’

  The plaza itself was enormous, with a radius of 200 meters. In the middle stood a massive star-shaped marble statute – the Star Of Faith, which was the general symbol for all religions. Below the star knelt a stone figure – a muscular man with long, flowing hair, and a two-handed sword masterfully sculpted, as if in the process of being sheathed behind his back.

  ‘Theodor Silverton The 1st’

  With my vision, I could make out the relatively large letters on the plaque embossed into the statue's pedestal.

  Beside the statue, dozens of men and women kneeled in prayers, occasionally raising their heads to look at the skies with either reverence, desperation, or the occasional acceptance in their gazes.

  The plaza itself was somewhat busy. Beside the many different people, spanning all social circles, I could also see a few robed figures who were definitely clergy belonging to one temple or another.

  As for the templates themselves, they were adjacent to the plaza, with the Iron Temple to my left, the Sun Temple in front of me, the Gray Temple slightly to my right, and the Radiant Temple to my far right.

  Those temples represented four of the six major deities in the Eminent Pantheon – The Shining Lady and the Iron Judge, as well as Kordion, ‘The Radiation Champion’, and Uldrion, ‘The Silent Sentinel’.

  The two remaining gods were Hydria, ‘The Lady In Green’, and Elynea, ‘The Mother’.

  The former had no temples, her many shrines and priests scattered across different forests, groves, and even man-made fields. The latter had no shrines nor priests at all, which didn't stop many from directing their prayers to The Gentle Lady on their own.

  ‘Alright, that's enough sightseeing.’

  Even though the reverent atmosphere at the plaza was indeed something worth taking in, and the grand architecture of each temple was a sight to behold, I realized I was merely delaying the inevitable.

  Forcing myself to avert my gaze from the awe inspiring sight, step after step, I began walking towards the Sun Temple.

  The temple itself was a large building, its walls made of yellow limestone bricks – they were cut to perfection, in a way that was unmatched by most buildings I've come across in the city, besides few in Northern, like those belonging to powerful organizations such as the Ministry or the Adventurer's Guild.

  It wasn't plainly designed, either – four massive pillars, made of what appeared to be marble, supported two distinct balconies facing the plaza. Two of them supported the higher, larger balcony exclusively, while the other two, laying farther ahead, supported a smaller, lower balcony (which veered slightly to the side, not fully covered by the upper one’s shadow), before continuing on to the main one.

  Now that I got closer to the gate, I could see the lower balcony faced an inner yard, perhaps intended for internal speeches.

  What gate? Well, all four temples had either tall metal fences or stone walls surrounding their complexes, separating them from the plaza. The Sun Temple had such a fence as well.

  Each temple complex didn't just house the temple itself, but many auxiliary facilities, such as the clergymen’s lodgings, and, in the Sun Temple’s case, the orphanage Amelia grew up in, and the academy she attended on her path to becoming a priestess.

  Each temple complex occupied a respectable chunk of land, and the Sun Temple was no exception.

  The courtyard gate had no guards, which was unsurprising, given the constant stream of faithful flowing in and out of the main building.

  However, passing through the archway, as I gathered every shred of focus, I could faintly feel a familiar tingling sensation. Well, not exactly the same one I felt from spells – in a way, it was more akin to passing through an extremely light waterfall. This place definitely had invisible checkpoints, and likely other safeguards, in place.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Excuse me?”

  As I was approaching the main building, I saw someone who looked like one of the priests.

  “Yes, my child?”

  For a fraction of a moment, I couldn’t help but recoil in discomfort. From his robes, to his somewhat older age, to the tone of his voice – all the similarities to the ‘old priest’ made me lose my composure for a moment, although I did regain it a moment later.

  “Is something troubling you?”

  The priest was observant enough to catch that moment.

  “..No, it's fine. Anyway, I came to see the head priest.”

  The look I got in reply momentarily held confusion, before the priest's face settled into an overly compassionate smile.

  “Perhaps I can offer guidance in his stead, child.”

  “No, perhaps I worded it wrong – I was summoned by the High Priest.”

  I reached into my bag, procuring the bright yellow, coin sized, sun-shaped token.

  “If-”

  The priest opened his mouth to say something, but as his eyes focused on the small piece of metal in my hand, the words faded from his lips before they were uttered.

  “Remain here for a moment.”

  The priest’s tone was still polite, but his words hid a sense of urgency, further reinforced by his hasty steps as he turned around and walked back into the temple.

  After moving off the road leading to the temple, I looked around, glancing at the different facilities I could see from here.

  ‘That walled off area.. behind it are the Orphanage and Academy. Those must be their roofs. Oh, that building over there is probably the priests’ living quarters.’

  From the distance, behind yet another circular wall, I could hear the muffled sounds of heavy, blunt metal objects clashing with metal slabs (likely shields), as well as each other.

  ‘Those must be the paladins’ quarters. Amelia did say they had their own training ground, but even the apprentice priests weren't allowed inside without a good reason. It even has that sound muffling spell!.. Although that might l have more to do with the noise.’

  I could feel the ground quaking, ever so slightly, along with some of the collisions. I could only guess how fierce the training was.

  “...the child over there.”

  I heard the priest’s voice once more. Beside him resounded a new set of footsteps.

  Turning my head, I could see a somewhat young man with brown hair and blue eyes, perhaps a few years over my age, wearing a set of composite scale-and-chain armor, somewhat reminiscent of the one I once saw at the Crimson Anvil, except for the two metal plates on its chest, each one engraved with the Sun Temple's symbol that I saw on that paladin's platemail earlier today.

  “May the sun shine upon you, adventurer. I am Joshua, a paladin of the Shining Lady.”

  “Greetings. My name is Sebastian, a passing adventurer.”

  “Could you please show me the invitation token?”

  I gave him the small trinket, which he pressed against a strange thick lens, closing one eye and peeking through its other side.

  However, as he finished his inspection, his gaze unexpectedly hardened.

  “Sebastian, may I ask you a few questions?”

  “Of course.”

  I managed to keep my surprise from showing.

  “What was the name of the one who sent the letter?”

  “...what?”

  I couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

  “What kind of riddle is that?”

  The paladin looked at me with suspicion, but upon asserting the genuineness of my confusion, his gaze softened ever-so-slightly.

  “Those are questions only the true recipient of this summons could answer.”

  “Ah…”

  This made sense. After all, who was to say the one standing here wasn't some evil shapeshifter who just so happened to kill me and steal the token?

  ‘Well, no.. that seems a bit too far-fetched, given their security measures and likely capabilities.’

  However, if some powerful organization was looking to assassinate the priest, and just so happened to intercept the letter, perhaps they could kill me first, take the token, and find a lookalike assassin?

  I wasn't sure. At the very least, the reply latter was intentionally vague, referring to me and my conditions only indirectly, hard to decipher without knowing the context (likely found in Amelia’s original letter). It also contained an instruction to burn it at the end – which Amelia didn't follow, perhaps waiting to show the letter to me first.

  I did burn it, though.

  ‘It’s actually a huge relief that I killed that priest before he returned and saw the letter. Anyway…’

  Watching the paladin politely await my answer, I felt a tinge of shame, and decided to cut my contemplations short.

  “Amelia.”

  It was time to quickly finish this quiz.

  “Where have the two of you met?”

  “The old mines near Pine Harbor…”

  After asking a few more general questions, the paladin looked at me with a piercing gaze.

  “What conditions are you affected by?”

  “I’m affected by-”

  At that moment, I stopped myself, remembering the head priest's stern instruction – or rather, grave warning.

  “...by a Greater Geas.”

  The paladin's gaze grew softer, and his expression subtly relaxed.

  “Follow me, Sebastian.”

  He turned around, leading me towards a different temple entrance – a small, but thick wooden door in the back.

  “Your sword, please.”

  Already expecting the request, I instantly handed my sheathed weapon.

  “Follow me. I'll take you to His Eminence.”

  ***

  “Ahaha! Where's my money, Tail?”

  “You bastard! This ain't over yet!”

  “Give it up, Tail. Your bitch is on her last legs. No chance you're winning this one.”

  “Shut your mouth, Smallfang. You didn't even put one copper on this one.”

  “I was taking a piss, you asshole! And I wish I wasn’t. Could've taken the rest of your gold, myself.”

  “Those are some big words – too big for someone who's been in the red for the last two weeks! Ha ha ha!”

  “Shut it, Bigpaw. My Fluffy ain't the strongest fighter, but with all the prey he's gotten us those last few months, I could lose twice as much and still have more than you.”

  “Stop measuring your dicks and watch the damn fight!”

  A fighting pit occupied the center of a large underground room.

  Even if one didn't recognize the dark-gray tile, characteristic to the city's sewers, the faint smell coming from beyond two of the three doors leading to this place would make deducing the type of location trivial.

  The room itself contained some wooden crates, a few shelves, half-filled with various camping and survival items, and even a relatively clean, large tent, with over a dozen sleeping bags covering its floor.

  This was a proper hideout, albeit not a very luxurious one.

  Surrounding the pit were six men, rough-looking types all wearing leather armor - which clearly saw some use - and carrying various weapons.

  In the pit were two creatures, slightly bigger than common wolves. One with good perception could discern their canine origin, but their bulging muscles, the black scales covering most of their back, sides, scalp and legs, and their elongated snoots, protected by some sort of organic carapace with a two nostril holes, left no doubt as to their abominable nature.

  The two creatures were injured, blood seeping through their scales, but the slightly bigger one, with a more elongated head structure, was covered in twice as many wounds, and her movements were clearly becoming more sluggish.

  Yet, her green eyes still glimmered with ferocity.

  “Grr!..”

  Still, with an aggressive growl, she leaped at her opponent, who gracefully dodged, before swiping his claw at her scales once more.

  “Arwooo!”

  “Woof! Woof!”

  Near the one door-less wall stood over a dozen cages, five filled with similar creatures. The creatures could not see the fight, yet they could clearly hear it – and smell the iron scent in the air.

  The fight exited them, awakening their primal instincts. Perhaps even more excited were the men, even if one of them was clearly just agitated, faced with his dog-like creature’s imminent loss.

  Screech…

  One of the doors slowly opened – the heaviest one, with the tunnel behind it lacking the disgusting stench of the other two.

  One after the other, the six men turned their heads towards the approaching figure.

  The banter came to a grinding halt. Even the beasts in the cages turned silent.

  Only the two bloodied pit fighters, locked in a brutal struggle for dominance, did not completely stop – raising their heads for a moment, inhaling the faint scent of death that suddenly invaded the dank sewer air, they growled, before resuming their fight.

  “B-boss!”

  The large, burly man nicknamed Bigpaw gasped out, his surprised voice containing subtle hints of terror.

  “I’m not your boss anymore. Do you think me leaving Claw in charge was merely for show?”

  “No! Sorry, sir!”

  At the visitor's flat, cold response, Bigpaw recoiled in fear, quickly apologizing for his mistake.

  “What brings you here today, sir?”

  Claw, the silent man with two curved swords behind his back, cautiously stepped forward.

  “If you came for a detailed report on our last mission, you could just-”

  The man instantly shut his mouth, as the visitor, a half-elf clad in black leather armor, appeared in front of him in a momentary blur.

  The former leader did not lift a finger to attack the current one – he merely stood there, his eyes silently gazing into Claw's.

  However, the new boss instinctively took a few steps back, gulping in fear.

  “Was I gone for that long?”

  As the half-elf pondered in a soft, low voice, the rest of the gang members couldn't help but shudder.

  “Or perhaps the fault lies with me? Failing to notice the lack of discipline right under my nose, to such a degree that you would allow yourself to address your superior in a casual manner.”

  “I’m sorry, sir! Please punish me for my insolence!”

  The current gang leader bowed so deeply, his torso was almost horizontal.

  “Very well. Raise your head.”

  Claw began straightening his stance…

  Whoom!

  A short sword pierced the air with such speed that any normal person would be unable to see anything but the faintest of blurs. However, the swing left behind evidence of its existence – a red line, stretching across the gang leader's face.

  Claw flitched for a moment, but did not otherwise react to the new wound on his face, joining over a dozen similarly shaped scars beside it.

  “Prepare your men. And your beasts, too. It's time for the Undercity Hounds to go on a hunt.”