“Are you sure about this?” I asked Lard.

We were at the entrance of Rallakadia with Bicepticus. The only one who wasn’t with my group of tourists was Lard who was standing by Bicepticus’ side.

“Don’t worry about me! I, Vakasa of the Darkness, am willing to study these sorcerers to find the true nature of their strength!” Lard propped his chest up proudly while thumping on his belly.

After eating, I tried my best to convince Bicepticus to tell me more about the magic protein and what was on the upper floors. Unfortunately for me, he wouldn’t budge unless we were members. Fortunately for me, Lard was willing to stay behind to become Bicepticus’ acolyte in the way of the arms.

With nothing else to do here, I decided to drop Leyna off the closest Path temple since I wouldn’t know what this seemingly innocent-looking girl might do.

I stroked my chin and said to Lard, “Fine. Just don’t get crushed by all the muscles or something. Beor will conjure a shadow minion to follow you closely so if you need any help, just talk to the shadow minion.”

“Fu fu, you think that I, Vakasa of the Darkness, need a bodyguard? Nay! I am the bodyguard of myself! You shall see, I’ll come back as a hunk stealing all your women!” Lard made a triumphant pose as he put on his blue acolyte jacket.

“As sad as it may be to see you go, do not hesitate to come have a quick workout with me, Bicepticus Absicus!” Bicepticus spread his arms and gave me a near bone-crushing hug.

“Personal space! Personal space!” I groaned as I repeatedly tapped the muscleman’s shoulder.

“Ahahaha! You are truly a funny man! I can tell that you’re a powerful mage of sorts. Why don’t you take a look at this year’s evaluation tests?” Bicepticus let me go and handed me a letter. The letter had alphabets which were not recognizable so I titled my head while inspecting it.

Bicepticus noticed my confusion and told me, “The letter allows the holder and a group of chosen companions to enter the testing grounds. You don’t have to worry about the details.”

“But why me? I’m not muscly like you.”

“The question is why not? Muscles or not, everyone has an inner muscle in them. Besides, a man who beat me in a competition between arms is a worthy sorcerer. Just be careful for the real arm sorcerers, the Sorcerers of Romganna.” Bicepticus slapped my shoulder and laughed heartily.

With a sense of relief, I left the magic tower and followed Bicepticus’ directions to the temple.

It didn’t take a long time for my group to find the Path temple. We just had to walk down the street until we came upon large men wearing white robes. It was weird looking at a bunch of men whose robes sleeves were ripped off to show off them arms while still wearing a white hood over their heads.

As stated by Bicepticus, majority of the Sorcerer City States are followers of the Path. However, their version of the Path seemed to deviate in that the Goddess of Light had become the Buffed Mother, a deity that came down to squat on all evil beings that dared to threaten the gym exercises regimes of all sorcerers.

Thinking about how the Goddess of Light came to be, I am trying my best to deny the possibility that the Buffed Mother is real and that, at this moment, she could be making gains in the heavens above.

I cleared my head of these thoughts and approached the temple. With Leyna in tow, I left my undead companions at the entrance and made my way towards the one in charge of this temple. Strangely enough, the head of the temple was not a muscleman, but an ordinary fat human.

“By the Goddess’ Light, what are you doing to Sister Leyna?!” The fat man shouted as he spotted me. Muscled robed men stopped whatever they were doing and quickly surrounded us.

“W-wait! I am not being kidnapped, Brother Clovis! These people are the heroes’ party, chosen by the Goddess herself!” Leyna explained.

“I-is that so? Then why are you in bind?” The fat man named Clovis asked.

“It would’ve appeared that I had offended the teachers of the heroes. As the teacher is…one of the most important people in the eyes of the Goddess, offending him is a greatest shame in the Path of Light!” Leyna answered. A few months ago, I managed to make Leyna believe that I was the High Cardinal of Aon, the religious figure of the entire Path of Light. Technically, she wasn’t wrong…but…

“Quiet down, brat. Why do you know this guy anyway?” I shook Leyna up to shut her up.

“I was at Sister Leyna’s ceremony where she was promoted to the rank of Head Orator, the greatest firebrand of the Path. Her speeches could inspire even the lowest of the common folk in a heretic land to rise and correct the ways of the infidels,” Clovis proudly answered my question.

I turned my head towards the heroes and whispered, “You idiots didn’t think this wouldn’t cause a problem trying to unite a diverse continent?”

“Well, we…” Blackhair scratched his head.

“My father said this and that so…” The blondie, Aera, twiddled her fingers.

Ignoring them, I massaged mask’s temples for a while. I then handed Leyna to Clovis and demanded, “Who’s your best healer in this temple right now?”

“O-our best healer? Well, of course, it would be Sister Leyna!” Clovis answered.

“Someone that isn’t as dangerous as her!”

“Dangerous? How dare you call this young priestess dangerous?!”

“She led a crusade in the middle of the elven capital!”

“It is the duty of every member of the Path to spread the word of the Goddess! What she simply did was follow the will of the Goddess!” Clovis raised his chin and started undoing Leyna’s bindings.

Goddess’ will my ass! Her will is MY will!

“What does this mean, teacher? Are you trying to replace me?” Leyna worriedly asked me.

“Yes. You’re too dangerous in lands that do not follow the Path of Light.”

“But…our sacred duty…” Leyna was trying to defend herself but her defense slowly turned into mutterings.

Ignoring her, I turned to the fat man and demanded, “Get me the best healer in this temple right here, right now.”

“Even if Sister Leyna said that you’re important to the Goddess, replacing Sister Leyna is just-…”

“Leyna, you should meditate and reflect on your wrongdoings as many of the greatest figures in the history of the Path had once before. The present is clouded, but I can tell that if you overcome this challenge, you shall become stronger than ever, truly serving the will of the Goddess. I have great expectations from you.

But for now, you must find a replacement. This is the will of the Goddess.”

I silently used light magic to make myself look brighter as I spread my arms downward, trying to imitate a saintly figure. Using my ability to conjure bullcrap out of nowhere, I could see that Leyna’s eyes started to sparkle.

“Y-Yes! I will do so! Please, Brother Clovis! Bring the best healer right here now!”

*

*

*

Of all the emotions mortals can feel, pain amuses me the most. Pain forces the worse out of the best among us, induces the greatest fear and gives us the most adrenaline.

Is love the strongest emotion? Not to me. Am I weird? Am I not normal? To feel pain is to live. The undead cannot feel pain thus they live meaningless lives. Their emotionless state makes them unable to form bonds which could last an eternity.

At least, that is what the priests say.

Do I believe them? Who knows?

If the undead could feel pain, do they live constantly in agony? Haaa…such questions makes me feel pleasantly weird. To see others in pain is to see others live, is this not normal?

“AAAHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” A Rallasian screamed as I mended his broken arm. Goosebumps appeared on my arm and a shock tickled me from my back.

“I am terribly sorry, Mr. Flexii. I really cannot dull the pain any further.” I looked at my patient with a carefully crafted façade on my face. My tears were visible and I bit my lips to show that I felt only misery at his suffering. In reality, the opposite was true. The tears were from the thought of how much pain the muscleman was suffering from and my lips were bitten from how much I was resisting the urge to laugh like a maniac.

“It’s…it’s fine…Sister Inez. I can take more than that!” The foolish muscleman inadvertently tempted me to increase the pain. I could ease the pain, but I managed to hide my ability to do so for a long time.

“Then, have another cup of alcohol and bite into the rag harder.”

“No! Instead of a rag, give me a bar of metal!”

“But that will…” I placed one hand on my mouth, looking concerned. I was simply trying to hide the slowly growing grin at the thought of how dangerous his suggestion was. Would his teeth break? Would it break and slice his mouth open?

“I might as well work my jaws out while I waste my time here not working out!”

“If…if that’s what you want…” I muttered worriedly. As I was about to give him a bar of metal, the door to the treatment room was slammed open by a group of devout musclemen.

“Sister Inez, Brother Clovis is calling you to the prayer hall. This is very urgent,” One of the priests said as he flexed his biceps from his ripped sleeves.

I silently clicked my tongue. Damn it! I was just getting to the good part! That stupid fat fuck! How dare he separate me from my pleasure?!

“If his wisdom demands me, of course, I will come with haste. Could you good brothers please take care of Mr. Flexii?” I smiled and cupped my hands together.

“Yes, we can take it from here. Please head upstairs immediately.” The priests nodded and saw me off as I climbed up. With every step, I could feel my hatred burning up.

I clenched my fists so hard that I could also feel my nails digging through my skin. Only when I felt blood was trickling from my hand did I released my fist. Looking at the wound, I quickly calmed myself before any priests sees me.

“Oh Holy Mother…The blood which escapes the soul…” I folded my hands together and prayed. The wound on my hand slowly closed and the only evidence that it existed in the first place was the blood that painted my palm.

I rubbed my hand against my robe as I neared the prayer hall to clean my bloodied hand. Despite my rage, I needed to control it lest my carefully crafted façade would be all for nothing.

Upon entering the prayer hall, I noticed the fat pig was accompanied by a group of unusual people. Non-musclemen were not common around the Sorcerer City States, and even then, those non-musclemen are usually old mages looking to study the art of muscles.

“Sister Inez! It’s been such a long time!” A familiar sky-blue hair caught my attention as Sister Leyna greeted me. There weren’t many sky-blue haired people so Leyna was a memorable person. But not only that…

“Sister Leyna…”

“Sister Inez, have you been praying to the Goddess lately like I’ve told you? I must tell you of the angels that I met in the divination room in Angolia! It was quite a remarkable-…”

Sister Leyna took my hands and held onto them. Her soft white palms made me deeply uncomfortable which made me instinctively try to pry my hands off them. This damned nutjob…

“Hey, brat. We don’t have all day. Who is she?” A masked robed man angrily barked at Leyna which made her shut up almost immediately.

Who...Who is he?! The power to shut this girl up…It is not a power that shouldn’t be given to mortals like us!

“This girl is Sister Inez, the best healer in all of the temples in the Sorcerer City States. I can assure you that Sister Inez can mend most wounds and cure most simple diseases.”

“Oh, is that so? You’re willing to give her to me?” The robed man asked as he rubbed his mask’s chin.

“In exchange for Sister Leyna, this is worth it,” Clovis replied.

“Brother Clovis. May I know what’s going on?” I tilted my head innocently and asked him. What the hell is going on? Am I being sold? Who is this masked man? My peaceful life of inflicting pain to many people is being ruined!

“The only thing you need to know, Sister Inez, is that this man is the teacher of the heroes’ party that will vanquish the Goddess’ greatest enemy, the genocidal Demon Lord! You should be honored that you are being offered a place in the ranks of the heroes, even if temporary.”

The heroes’ party?! T-this is…

“I still have to test her before I take her in. I don’t want a blue-haired whacko version two,” The robed man said.

“If you are curious about her healing abilities, we can set up a demonstration…”

“That is not necessary.” The robed man walked up to me and inspected me. I put on an innocent smile and turned my eyes upward, trying to look as fragile as I could. At the same time, I also inspected the heroes’ party.

That must be the leader of the heroes’ party, Raymond Steelhawkenheart - The black-haired adventurer that had done many good deeds in Angolia, including helping the princess of Angolia vanquish a massive monster portal.

Next to him is the Sword Princess of Angolia, Aera. Despite ‘Princess’ being part of her title, she is just a daughter of a duke. It was said that her sword moves were so fast that even if she shouts her moves, nobody could react fast enough. Though, recently, I heard that this masked man had taught her how to move so fast that she doesn’t even shout her moves anymore.

Behind the masked man was the infamous mage Kendra. Once a top student of Cahalot’s Royal Academy, she suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the heroes’ party.

Other than the missing elf and a strange looking masked girl next to the masked man, this was truly the heroes’ party. It seemed that this masked man is the real deal.

“So you can heal most wounds?” The masked man asked me.

“Yes. I can heal and even reattach amputated limbs,” I answered quickly.

“Good enough. One final test…”

That was it?! At this rate, he might actually accept me into the heroes’ party!

“Praise the Goddess of Light!” The masked man suddenly threw his arms upwards and shouted.

“O PRAISE THE MOTHER!” The entire hall exploded in praises as the priests, including Brother Clovis and Sister Leyna sang prayers to the Goddess of Light.

With much reluctance, I joined them in the praise, trying to maintain a façade of innocence. These nutjobs…Is this masked man also one of them? Must I hide my…preferences from him as well?

“She’s about one second late, Boss.” I heard the masked girl whisper to the masked man.

“What else?”

“She also looked like she almost had diarrhea before she started singing praises.”

Was I caught?

“Good,” The masked man said and turned to Clovis. “Fattie, I’m taking this girl.”

“Is that so? Very well, I will write to Aon about this decision. I am sure that they will understand that this is for Leyna’s sake.”

“As you should,” The masked man turned to me and said, “and as for you, you shall call me Boss from now on.”