He followed the redhead [Priestess] outside and in the streets while listening to her.

“As the head [Miracle Maker] told you, the temple can offer you some help, mainly for your [Artist]'s blessings. For [Acolytes], there are mainly drawing and painting courses to apply to, but you can learn any art you want there, may it be sculpting, traditional music and singing, dance, acting, architecture, or even writing or garden arts. You could access the library too if you upgrade your basic class to [Priest].”

“And, what does it cost ?”

She looked back at him and said with a judging face.

“There are no costs. It is Lux followers' duty to do what they can to bring more beauty to the world. If you are able to...”

After walking through the streets and asking for further details about the drawing, painting, and writing courses, Metello found himself eyes wide before a clean well-built building. Unlike his former housing, there were inside stairs to go up to his door. They climb it to access upstairs, the young man noticing the walls were clean and whole, and the [Priest] opened a room door. When he walked inside, he saw he had been wrong as it was not a simple room but an apartment with a bedroom and a living room with a cooking area. His heartbeat increased as he looked at the two well-furnished rooms to his standards with a bed, some chests, a table, three chairs, a bench, some food storage, and a cooking pot.

He was in awe, his mouth in a crescent form. But the crescent withered when he thought about its price. Apprehensive, he asked.

“How much is the rent ?”

“It's pretty cheap. Only eight big tins a month.”

“Eight big tins ?” Using his Counting blessing, he did the conversion a bit faster. “You mean 720 coppers ?”

“You find it pretty cheap too aren't you? Now, here is the keys. I have to go back quickly. If you have questions, feel free to come to the temple.”

And there, he was alone in this apartment that seemed luxurious to him even if it was considered average for a typical middle residential district inhabitant. But the price was all that mattered to him. He had to earn more than 720 coppers a month from now. No, it wasn't cheap for him. He didn't know yet if it was a poisoned gift or not.

Metello, as required, had put on his new [Lux Acolyte] golden robe when he prepared himself to go to the House to speak to Jeffrey. He put his hat on too. He released a breath as he tried to look at himself.

"I will have to get a better one to match the robe."

He felt weird wearing such costly clothes. He didn't feel like himself too much, but he liked the sensation. After taming his new clothes for a few minutes, he went out toward the House.

As usual, when he was on the streets, like some reflex, he looked at the people he passed to estimate their hostility level. He was baffled to see there was almost no death glare. Mostly, people ignored him. The more frequent reaction he got from the trip to the House was from seemingly surprised people.

"If the people behave like that when I have this robe, I won't ever forget to wear it."

Metello found Jeffrey in the training area as planned. Brorne was there too. His new appearance caused wide-eyed looks first from Jeffrey, then from Brorne when he heard the [Rogue] calling the golden-robed young man.

“Metello ?”

With a big smile, he replied.

“Yes, it's me. It's a nice robe, isn't it ?”

There was some silence before Brorne burst out laughing and spoke.

“That is a nice change of clothes. Now, you look like a perfect little temple [Acolyte].”

“Thank god you wear your old hat or I wouldn't even have recognized you.”

“Yes, I will have to change it too by the way...”

Then, Metello spoke to Jeffrey while Brorne kept on teaching the axe to a future [Warrior] girl. He told his squadmate about the deal he had been offered and had accepted. He held an embarrassed smile when he asked Jeffrey.

"Would you like to come and live there? Or instead, you can keep my old room for yourself."

The [Rogue] took his time before replying.

"I need to think about it. Can you wait for a few hours before releasing the room?"

"That's okay. You can even think about it for one or two cycles if you need it."

"Thanks."

"I have to go to the orphanage to tell Mrs. Richardson about the meeting too. Do you want to come?"

"Not now. I will think about your offer. I'll meet you there a bit before lunch ? I'll probably have an answer."

"Let's do that."

Metello went walking into the streets again, showing his new outfit to the world, this time toward the orphanage. There, the first kids he met were showing him big eyes, and he grinned in response.

As he entered the headmistress's office, it was to the sound of the old lady's voice.

"Wow! Look at you boy! [Acolyte]'s robe fits you well."

She stood up from her desk to take a look closer.

"The only problem is that you need to get a new hat now. Well, how did it go? I suppose it went well if you're here with their robe."

He recounted the meeting, describing some of the statues and paintings he had seen. Then, he spoke about the offer.

"So, you will already leave the poor district area. That's nice news. Do you need help to release your old room ?"

"Not yet, Jeffrey doesn't know if he wants to come too. He will come here before lunch with his decision."

"Okay."

"Madam. I have a question. When I showed her the light performance as I have for you the other night, the head [Miracle Maker] told me that it was a bit like "Shadow play". Do you know what it is ?"

"Oh, yes. It's pretty simple. It is a kind of show which consist of throwing on a screen the shadows of shapes enlightened by a light source. A person speaks instead of the shadows that act as persons. More simply, i's a bit like the theater but with shadows."

"Awesome! Perhaps I can do that."

Mrs Richardon's laugh rang in the office.

"Yes, surely."

Then came Maria with a bang through the poor door. She quickly identified the mildly scared face of Metello under the robe.

“Whaaaaaaat ! Skeleton balls! Where did you get this fucking gorgeous robe ?”

“Maria, watch your language a bit, please.”

“Yes, madam.”

“Apparently, as a [Lux follower], I need to wear it not to bring shame to her.”

“Will I have some like that too as an Aeris follower ?”

“I don't know.”

They then both turned toward Mrs Richardson.

“Usually, the robes are not made for all the followers. They are reserved for those working in a temple or helping their god's faith to progress. The monster hunters are generally out of it, but you can always ask them when the times will come.”

Then, as the [Priestess] was curious, she asked Metello why he accepted the deal. He answered he didn't even think he could refuse. It was not false, but thinking about it a bit more, he would have accepted anyway.

He had read that the general rule to advance class was to act as a genuine holder of his class and please the gods related to it. This led to the need to have twenty-five levels of Lux-related blessings to advance from [Acolyte] to [Priest] for him, but to advance further, he would need to earn Lux's respect even more. If the head [Miracle Maker] knew the goddess she served, which would be a reasonable thing to think, Metello would need to dress in pretty clothes and be around pretty things for that. So be it.

Another reason he had to accept but couldn't say out loud because of shame was that he liked pretty things. He had never been surrounded by much beauty when he was in the orphanage, and his trip to the temple had been a brand new world he wanted to keep close to for him. A world he wanted to be a part of, wanted to contribute to, even if it was a small corner made of its crumbs. If it could help advance class, it was one more reason to accept.

Jeffrey came before lunchtime as expected to say he accepted Metello's proposition to live in the middle district and offered to pay part of the rent. They could now ask Mrs. Richardson to release the room she rented for Metello.

They said goodbye before lunchtime. Metello had a lot of work before him now. He had to train with Lucco and the rapier to become stronger, he had to hunt more to get more money for the rent, he wanted to go and see the drawing courses in the temple, and perhaps he would even have to find another source of income if the hunting was not enough.

In the mine, they were again. It was barely before the 16th bell, only some hours after the temple visit. They had moved out their meager belongings between the districts quickly and had no time to wander now. They had a high rent to pay in a month.

Metello had thought about giving up the undead mine to already hunt for more money, but he thought getting more cores faster first meant being stronger and hunting better later. He was eager to test his new iron buckler too.

The [Lux Acolyte] went to the safety room and put on his leather armor. He left his new pretty clothing in a bag inside, and they proceeded into the darkness.

Until the first hall entrance, they didn't find any monster. There, they went again with the bait and wait game. They first fought two zombie rats, and besides the surprise provided by the sound the first charge made when it hit the iron buckler, the hunt went as well as possible.

The two men squad continued like that and killed three more groups, which of a three monster one they managed well, until they had to enter the hall. They had tried to attract monsters for 15 minutes without any success before deciding this.

The two-man squad continued that way and killed three more groups, including a group of three monsters they managed well and an undead rabbit which surprised them a bit. They had tried to attract monsters for 15 minutes more without any success before they decided to enter the hall.

They agreed to proceed with Brorne's concentric circular paths method, walking while staying at a constant distance from the entrance, only going further after the circle was secure. They managed to clear the hall, killing five more groups of zombie rats and collecting moss and mushrooms, but had to stop because of Metello's stamina.

For the next two cycles, they went on like that, gathering 250 coppers worth of mushrooms and moss and 32 level 3 cores each, of which one from their first zombie ratman, the zombie version of a... ratman, and their first zombie squirrel.

It had been their last hunt in that mine because they had to bring back the key and ask for a new one the next morning. After a good cycle of work, Metello looked at his status.

Status : Metello Level : 2,18 Ether : 219 Class : Lux Acolyte (basic) Stamina 49,3/54,9 3,6/h (regeneration) Divine energy 53,1/79,1 5,1/h (regeneration) Statistics Base Effective Class bonus Strength Upper 7,9 (↑0.1) 8,6 4% Lower 8 8,7 4% Agility Body 8,9 9,7 4% Hand 10,5 11,9 4% Resilience Body 8,2 8,9 4% Mind 11 13,4 10% Mind Intelligence 8,7 9,5 4% Imagination 12,7 15,5 10% Faith Power 10,5 13,5 10% Control 11,6 (↑0.1) 14,9 (Lux : 15,6) 10% Perception Sense 10,1 11,4 4% Memory 10,6 11,5 4% Social Comprehension 8,7 9,5 4% Expression 8,5 9,2 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 Petrus Shield Handling 1 1 (↑NEW) 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 Lux Light artist 2 1 passive 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 Lux Identify Art Quality 1 1 (↑NEW) active 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

He had managed to pass the threshold of level 2 the previous cycle. Being at level 2 had not much more effects than being at level 1,99, but it was a psychological step. Metello was happy about that.

It showed the Identify Art Quality blessing he had earned in the Lux temple some cycles ago. Metello had not yet had the opportunity to test it. He had gained the Shield Handling blessing too. Thanks to this, he no longer needed all the strength of his body to block a charge, at least for level 3 monsters.

Metello had not gone back to the temple yet, but he trained more with the rapier. Brorne had lent him a rotating target with numbers from one to ten at the sides to practice his accuracy. He had to hit the numbers in ascending order. It should help him level up in Rapier handling, but there was no result yet.

All was flowing well, even money-wise.