Sarah and Noone both entered the temple as the sun rose. Neither had drank much, so they were not inebriated by the time the sun had risen and they decided to return.

The quiet bustle of clerics helped to wake them up. With their constitutions – staying up all night was no problem. Especially so for Noone.

Sarah and Noone both had smiles on their faces as they talked about the eastern continent. Once Patrin started sharing stories, the entire tavern grew lively. Adventurers from all over began to talk about rumors they have heard, laughing all night at the fun of it all.

Noone couldn’t help but feel that this was how they relieved their stress. Each one came to this satellite town on the verge of war. No matter how experienced they were, he could clearly sense the small anxieties they held close to their hearts.

A few of the clerics nodded to Noone and gave a hearty smile to Sarah. It seemed their late-night exploit had not gone unnoticed.

Sarah initially felt worried what her fellow clergymen would think if they knew she went out to go drinking at the tavern, however no one seemed to care. She let out a sigh, putting her mind at ease.

“Noone. I am going to attempt to appeal to Hoar once I return to my room. I…” She paused, speaking quietly so just Noone would hear her. “Would you mind sitting in, just so if anything goes wrong you can get Jakobson… I have never done something like this before. I don’t know what it will be like.”

Noone looked at Sarah deeply before nodding. He knew that she could go ask Jakobson right now to watch over her while she goes through with this, after all he was the one who gave her the book. But he also knew she wanted to do it on her own, to show Jakobson she could. That he was right to trust her.

Eventually Noone merely nodded his head.

“Sarah!” A familiar voice called out from within one of the halls connected to the courtyard. Feylin stepped outside, there was a smile on his face. Noone frowned. Maybe it was his imagination but… he thought he could sense a stronger aura around Feylin than before.

“Oh, Noone, you’re here as well?” Feylin only saw Sarah from the hallway, so he did not realize Noone was with her until he stepped into the courtyard.

Feylin looked at both of them, a small frown flickered on his face but disappeared just as quickly. Why did it seem like they were just coming in from town? This early in the morning?

Sarah smiled at Feylin, a calm neutral smile. It seemed she didn’t notice Feylin’s thoughts.

“It looks like you advanced into a full cleric Feylin?” Sarah said, her eyes looked him up and down. To her the difference in presence was obvious. Feylin had to stop himself from asking where they have been, and only nodded his head giving Noone a sideways glance.

“Mm. I advanced last night. After mastering a third spell it only took me six hours of prayer to advance.” He said, flashing a smile. Sarah kept her usual smile and congratulated him, but otherwise did not say anything.

“Anyways. Sarah…” Feylin’s face became serious as he spoke. “You should hurry up and advance too. Not going out…” Again, he glanced at Noone. Noone merely looked back at him with an even gaze. Feylin frowned. “I know what Tobias said seemed cruel, but he can be wrong too. I know you, you’re a good person. Even if they won’t take you into the Burian, there will definitely be other ways you can move up with your talent.”

Sarah’s smile widened, but Noone noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes. She said nothing so neither did he.

After exchanging a few more words they parted ways. Noone walked with Sarah back to her room.

“Don’t you want to tell him?” Noone asked. Sarah hesitated for a bit, thinking her own thoughts.

“He will know of it eventually. But I don’t want to tell him right now, I think it would just turn into an argument.” She sighed. “I can’t afford to be burdened with conflicted feelings while approaching the gods.” In her own mind she thought, “Especially not Hoar…”

Noone nodded. These beings have such complicated interpersonal interactions… He wasn’t sure of anything when it came to dealings with the gods, so he had no problem deferring to her. However, he did think about Feylin. It seemed Feylin honestly thought Sarah should continue advancing with the Order of Life.

Over the next few minutes Sarah told Noone what he should look out for, and where to find Jakobson during this time of day. Noone listened carefully and nodded in understanding. In the back of his mind though, Noone had his own thoughts on top of everything else.

Noone took a seat on the floor next to the door, extending his sight to look after Sarah as she knelt on the ground.

She placed the book on the floor in front of her, bowing to it with her hands clasped together. Noone also closed his eyes.

Their stillness bred silence within the small room. A single lantern lit up the scene.

After half an hour Sarah began to emit vague mumbling that Noone recognized as the four tenets written in the front of the manual.

His breathing steadied, and his face grew colder as he watched on. According to Sarah the actual process shouldn’t take more than a few hours. She was already approached by Hoar and offered a chance to serve under him for his power. All she needed to do now was respond and hope that he still wanted her… and hope the Hoar wanted her enough that he would defend her from any of the other deities who are offended by her denial of their offers.

Noone couldn’t help but feel that this whole business was very sketchy. He didn’t like the idea of getting strength from powers outside of himself.

As Noone watched on he suddenly felt a thrum within his divine sense. In a single breath’s time his senses were condensed even further. This was not the usual suppression from the blessings in the temple – it was something far stronger.

Noone frowned but continued to watch on silently. Sarah had stopped chanting. Her breathing was heavy but steady. Noone’s eyes shined, and he noticed threads of universal energy popping into existence around Sarah.

It was normal for beings to cause fluctuations which would spawn these energy threads, however the ones appearing around Sarah were not like any he had seen yet.

The normal threads which appeared spawned by nature or people moving about through space were transparent. They were thin and otherwise unhelpful. Initially Noone was able to absorb these for strength, however they quickly became nothing more than drops of water in the ocean.

When he arrived at the temple for the first time, his heart leapt in excitement and even the flame within his core yearned to absorb the energy within the temple.

Unlike the threads he had encountered to that point, the one’s here were thicker, almost three times as thick. They were not transparent but hued white, almost glowing as they snaked their way in and out of existence.

This was why Noone was able to fill up on this energy so quickly since they arrived. To the point where he had reached a block in his cultivation.

Due to the increased energy, the will of the galaxy which fueled Noone’s life-force began to flicker excitedly. Black and red threads of energy suddenly pierced their way through the tapestry of the universe, surrounding Sarah like a school of fish.

They were extremely dense. The normal threads Noone saw were half the width of a hair. The red and black ones right now though were five times that. Unlike the energy he was used to seeing which floated through the air like feathers, these threads darted around Sarah with a purpose.

Noone had never seen anything like it.

“This must be an effect of praying to Hoar.” Noone thought. He recalled what he learned from Raelith, about how connections are made while praying to their gods.

As Noone watched the process, it became increasingly clear that Sarah was totally unaware of what was going on around her. She was totally and completely immersed in her process.

Noone smiled. Sorry Sarah… but I have to try.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, bracing himself for what was to come.

His divine sense had managed to pierce through Rae’s prayer by condensing itself into a dense ball. Although he didn’t try to absorb any of the threads of energy which Rae had spawned through her prayer, the thought had occurred to him.

Now, the energy in front of him was causing the flame within his core to surge to life. Noone had been waiting for any sign on how he could break through his bottleneck… It seemed the gods had answered his prayers.

“I hope the gods won’t be too mad if I take just a bit…” After thinking that, he closed his mind off from all thoughts. Focus.

His divine sense was at the peak of the minor circle of Qi Condensation. Using all of the insights he had gained through utilizing his power, he began to condense his divine sense in front of his body.

One foot in diameter.

Half a foot.

Three inches.

Noone exhaled a shocked breath he had been holding in. The amount of focus it took him to channel his divine sense caused his mind throb. Sweat began to form on his brow as he compressed his divine sense further.

“This is already smaller than it was when I tried this on Rae… but these threads are significantly denser.” He frowned.

Two inches.

One inch.

I cannot mess this up. Noone’s muscles began to twitch as he forced his will into a stable shape. His divine sense shook violently, threatening to explode outwards.

"Now!" Like an arrow released from a bow, he focused in on one of the red threads which had just appeared besides Sarah and shot his divine sense towards it.

As soon as they made contact, Noone felt a needle of pain pierce through his mind. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to maintain awareness.

The red thread of energy was forced outside of the group surrounding Sarah.

As soon as it broke from the rest, it immediately shot towards Noone. Like a fish being forced downstream by harsh currents, the energy flowed through Noone’s divine sense, into his mind and down to his dantian. The fire which had sprung to life inside of him immediately snatched the dense energy, absorbing it into the flame.

Suddenly the density of power which flowed through Noone’s meridians spiked. Whereas before the energy which flowed through him was like the humidity on a hot day, now it was like standing next to the ocean and being buffeted by the misty spray of saltwater. It was extremely sudden, but Noone was unable to hold back his smile. It worked. He was able to absorb the energy.

He stopped for a minute, allowing the flame to completely break apart the thread and letting it course through him. Meanwhile, he observed Sarah. It seemed that whatever he did had caused no change in her demeanor. He let out a sigh of relief.

After a minute passed he condensed his divine sense again, shooting it towards a black thread furthest away from her. Just like the red thread, it was quickly absorbed into his body, the density of energy inside of him increasing again.

However, the pain in his brain was twice what it was after the first thread. He grit his teeth so hard that his gums hurt, bearing through it.

“At this level… I should only need three more to fully condense the energy throughout my meridians.” He quickly calculated. Assuming that he would advance when his energy was as dense as liquid, he knew that he could achieve a breakthrough.

Noone’s eyebrows furrowed. Continuing to disperse the energy as he absorbed the power of the universe surrounding Sarah.