The newly promoted [Lux Acolyte] had already prepared all that he needed to go on a hunt before going to the House. Therefore, he was able to walk his way further eastward on Main Street toward the main city gate without going back to his home. Even if they were a bit reluctant, the [Guards] let him through after he showed them his copper tag as Mr. Morton had said.

And there he was, outside the city. He might be tense about what was waiting for him in the mines, but the landscape view calmed him a bit. A space mostly devoid of people had this effect on him. He had already been out of the walls four times on different occasions. It had always made him feel good.

He stopped at some distance from the gate to observe the landscape, the cold wind blowing in his face from the south. The mountains all around the valley were standing strong and high. In the north, they induced a long shadow on the land where sheep were browsing the grass with their

[Breeders] not too far.

The center and south of the valley were fully in the light of the sun. The flattest parts of these areas were the perfect place to grow vegetables and grains, and many [Farmers] were at work. These fields were well maintained and irrigated by canals. A grid of small unnamed trails covered the valley and allowed access to it, but to the mountain patrol paths and the mines too.

However, the more traveled way through the valley was the main road, which led south-west, following the river to the outer gate and to access the outer plains. Many small [Merchants] traveling with goods had to follow this road, but most of the commercial traffic used the fluvial way.

After some time, Metello took the noble road, which extended the main road northward. He followed the paved way until its end at the foot of the twin noble gates. As only aristocrats could cross these openings in the walls, not many used this road unless they had to access the north of the valley like Metello.

Next, he walked up a small trail between fields and grasslands. He took advantage of the four kilometers journey up to the mines to observe the sheep, but he finally arrived at the foot of the mountains. He had to walk and backtrack for twenty minutes more to find the right gate.

The new [Acolyte] was already exhausted from the trek. He needed a little rest, so he sat on the grounds, in front of the 2 meters high and one meter wide gate made of thick iron bars.

He used this little time to think about what he was going to confront while looking back at the valley down from him. He remembered the story Mrs. Richardson told him, the advice Brorne gave him, the training he went through, and the goal he made for himself.

When he heard the 9th bell ring, he stood up. He didn't feel much ready, but he walked toward the gate, holding his rapier, and opened it. He took a step into the monster-infested old iron mine and locked back the gate quickly so as not to keep his back defenseless for too much time. He turned around, and faced the unfathomable darkness.

He stood, his back to the gate, ears and eyes focused on the deep shadows, breathing rapidly. A few seconds passed before he thought about calling Lucco.

“Lux, gorgeous god, shiny god, please help me pierce the night with your bright beauty.

Ball of light!”

He willed the ball of light above his hat not to blind himself and focused his attention again on the tunnel. Reassured by his new range view, he calmed down and reached the safe room door to put down his backpack. He took with him only what was necessary: his rapier, his buckler, a bag for the monster bodies, and a pouch with monster bait.

Once again, Metello found himself staring into the tunnel, less weight on his shoulders but no less afraid. Then, he took a step, and then another, and the movement was on, slow and steady toward the darkness. His ears and eyes were working double as usual. More than once, he stopped as he thought he had perceived something moving in the shadows. All the stories about the Everlasting Night and its monsters came back to his mind, the nightmares he had as a toddler too. People from the Everlightened Lands were not used to this.

He felt his rapier being more slippery and his buckler becoming heavier. Then, a paranoid reflex inherited from the last months in the streets of Ironholes made him look back. His eyes went wide when he saw the darkness closing behind him and the light of the sun far in the distance.

The [Acolyte] didn't panic. No, he refused it. But he turned back as quickly and silently as he could. He was breathing heavily, ears at their maximal potential as he walked back, noticeably noisier than before despite his efforts until reaching the relative safety of the sunlight. There, he sat on the ground, sweating, his back to the closed gate.

“What the fuck what that! So scary.”

He stayed like that, breathing and focusing his eyes on the tunnel. Many times he thought about going back, but every time, he asked himself what he would do next time if he was to flee now, and he reminded himself of his objectives too.

After some time, the young man managed to stand again, breathing softly, weapons ready. And once again, he decided to walk toward the darkness. He knew what to expect a bit more now and proceeded slowly as before, step after step, looking back regularly to reassure himself as much as he could. As he progressed through the tunnel, the fear didn't recess.

After some time, Metello noticed some change at the limit of his range view. Advancing even slower, he discovered the entrance of the first room. The more he was going forward, the more he could identify specks of the wide space, dotted with stone columns and noticeably huge. Finally, he stopped at the entrance.

He had not encountered monsters yet, but there was a high chance some were crawling in the room. After a few seconds of standing motionless, he finally heard some scratching noise coming from the shadows. His breath hitched. He dimmed his light a bit later. There it was. He used all of his willpower not to go back again. He had no choice.

He studied the noises. He knew the most common monsters in the mines were by far rat-type monsters, and he felt it could be its sounds. But there were several rat monster types.

Feeling a bit better with time, the monster hunter got into action, heart beating hard. He walked back half a dozen steps and took off his bait. He threw it in the room not too far from the entrance as Brorne instructed him. And he waited, wooden shield and rapier at the ready.

He waited for two long minutes, focusing on his senses. He finally heard the noises coming closer. In his chest, his heart was hurting. Closer, and closer, and closer. His ears were telling him of the monster's progress.

And then, he saw it. It was a zombie rat. A 15 cm thick ugly decaying rat. He recognized the gray body of the undead monster he cut into at the House. Immediately after it appeared in the light, it turned its head and let out a shrill cry before throwing its body toward the [Lux Acolyte]. Metello winced at the sight. Forgetting Brorne advice, he prepared himself to dodge rather than using the rapier defensive stance.

As the shrieking monster jumped on his legs, he took a step to the right, surprised by the undead rat's speed. He prepared himself for the second charge, this time remembering he had a rapier.

He scrambled to the side and narrowly avoided the thing's teeth and claws as it charged once more to his legs. He launched his rapier awkwardly toward his foe, which sunk a bit through the gray decayed skin of its back, but it did nothing to prevent the next charge.

Metello once more wanted to dodge to the side, but he found himself hitting the tunnel's walls, and the beast bit through the leather armor and into his thigh's flesh. This time, he panicked. Unable to hit it with his rapier, he let it down and grabbed his shielded arm to strike harder the undead with its edge once, twice, three times.

The two fell to the ground. The Lux follower willed Lucco at full power as he knew it was hurting the undead while he kept on hitting on it. The monster became louder for a time. They kept at it like that for thirty long seconds before the monster released his thigh. Panting, Metello swung aside the undead body with a kick from his good leg and heard it going silent quickly.

Metello sat against the tunnel's wall. He willed Lucco dimer to recover from blindness and opened his ears again toward the darkness, hoping to find it silent. He was relieved he didn't notice any sound after a few seconds. No shriek, no scratching. It was good. More or less.

Once he got his sight back, Metello directed his gaze at the motionless body to confirm its death before watching his bleeding injury, wincing.

He stood up and went first to his leather hat, which had fallen in the brawl, and then to the monster's body. He poked it to be sure, and the monster hunter took his leather bag to put his prize inside it. He then limped to the entrance, looking back from time to time. He was relieved when he saw the end of the tunnel. As quick as he could, he stepped out and closed the gate.

Under the sunlight, Metello dismissed Lucco, and he sat on the ground, wincing again. He chanted another prayer.

“Anima, goddess of life, please help me heal this bruised body with your mighty life force.

Regenerate!”

The pain slowly lessened and disappeared in a minute of divine energy effect. He then chanted a quick Prayer of Status.

Status : Metello Level : 1 Ether : 10 Class : Lux Acolyte (basic) Stamina 10,2/35,4 2,3/h (regeneration) Divine energy 8,2/48,4 3,1/h (regeneration)

The Prayer to Anima was now a lot more costly than his Prayer to Lux because of the Lux devotee blessing. He could at most try to hunt again after dinner, but it was sure he had to rest for the moment.

He washed roughly his blood from his armor and looked at the holes in the leather. He grumbled.

“How could it have not even protected me from the first monster I met? I hadn't imagined such a shitty first hunt.” A bit louder, he added. “At least I went through it. I will do better next time.”

Looking to the side, he stared at the bag containing his prey. He went for it and emptied it. He looked at the ugly beast lying on the dirt. Its gray skin was full of holes, and gray flesh showed underneath. Surprisingly, he didn't feel bad for killing the thing as Mrs. Richardson had told him. To be fair, he hadn't had really time for it and the ugliness of the body didn't help to feel remorse. Perhaps she had started by hunting some pretty rabbit monsters, but what Metello felt more for killing this unsightly beast was a relief. Moreover, the feeling of the beast's teeth was for sure stronger.

Metello took his butchering knife and went to work as he had learned. Unfortunately for him, as their bodies were decayed, the only useful or money-worth part of the low-level undead was generally their core. For level one or two as this monster should be, the core was only worth between one and three coppers, only enough to get a piece of bread. Beginner hunters were generally gaining more money selling living rat skins, or alchemical moss and mushroom. But it was better than nothing, and it was his first prey after all.

He worked his knife into the head of the monster. It was not pleasant work. Metello did it or saw it done for about twenty monsters in the House, so he did the job and retrieved the core.

His shabby but hard work won him a core. He pondered what to do for the remaining time and decided to go back home. He could figure out later if he wanted to come back or not. He left the monster's remnants to melt under the sunlight and began to walk down the slope.

Once home, he chose to stay in the city for the day. He realized how much he failed his first hunt and needed time to think about it, to replay it in his head. He paid a visit to both Brorne and Mrs. Richardson to discuss it. They were not pleased to hear his story, but he needed their help. He got some more good advice, enough to be more confident for his next hunt.

Back home, he decided to absorb the core and thought about the various advice he got.

“Aim for the vitals, and use your strong point which is your Agility hand.”

“Make sure not to blind yourself, and if you can, for the undead, try to put your light closer to your prey.”

Later, he tried some new things with his Prayer to Lux, mainly trying to dim only a part of Lucco, and he reshaped his status blessings a bit.

Status : Metello Level : 1,02 (↑0.02) Ether : 11 Class : Lux Acolyte (basic) Stamina 31,4/35,8 2,3/h (regeneration) Divine energy 36,1/48,4 3,2/h (regeneration) Statistics Base Effective Class bonus Strength Upper 7,8 8,1 4% Lower 8 8,3 4% Agility Body 8,9 9,3 4% Hand 10,5 11,1 4% Resilience Body 8,1 8,4 4% Mind 11 12,1 10% Mind Intelligence 8,7 9,1 4% Imagination 12,7 14 10% Faith Power 10,5 11,9 10% Control 11,4 12,9 10% Perception Sense 10,1 10,7 4% Memory 10,6 11 4% Social Comprehension 8,7 9,1 4% Expression 8,5 8,8 4% Blessings Bestower tier level Battle Blessings Lux Lux devotee 2 1 passive Fulgur Ranged Prayer 2 1 passive Lux Prayer to Lux 1 3 active Lux Rapier Handling 1 1 passive Lux Spear Handling 1 1 passive Lux Light resist 1 1 passive Support Prayers Fulgur Prayer of Thanks 1 3 active/passive Nihil Prayer of Status 1 3 active Aqua Prayer to Aqua 1 1 active Aeris Prayer to Aeris 1 1 active Calor Prayer to Calor 1 1 active Vegeta Prayer to Vegeta 1 1 active Anima Prayer to Anima 1 1 active Other Petrus Resting 1 3 passive Aqua Cleaning 1 1 passive Lux Sight sense 1 2 passive Lux Hiding 1 2 passive Lux Graphic arts 1 2 passive Menta Reading 1 4 passive Menta Counting 1 3 passive Menta Writing 1 1 passive Menta Focus 1 1 passive Nihil Absorb core 1 1 active