The Warming Light Protectors had managed to leave the House surroundings without alerting the bodyguard. They were now in Metello's home with food street picked up on the way. The [Priestess] was discovering the two rooms.

“How can you live in such a tiny home? With two people on top of that! Are you really cooking in the living room ?”

Jeffrey chuckled.

“You're lucky we don't live in the poor district room anymore.”

Metello chuckled too, and Ianina resolved herself quickly.

“Well. Let's take that as training for outside camping. I imagine we'll have to at some time in the future. For now, I will take the bed. I can't sleep in the same room with one of you two. It wouldn't be appropriate. But I could buy a mattress for you to sleep on to compensate. We will need to have the sheets washed for the bed. Maybe we should...”

Roger interrupted the [Priestess] before she could decide to change the whole furnishing, frustrating her.

“Let's drop down and eat for now. You'll arrange it later. We have to decide what we will do with your bodyguard in the city. I don't think we can retrieve your belongings easily as she seemed to know where you had your room.”

With a desperate cry, Ianina realized that he was right.

“No! I can't get back my clothes! I won't be able to live with only one leather armor and one dress to wear. And most of my money is there too. How would I buy new clothes? And I wanted to buy some cakes to share with you for the next hunt. Why are you doing this to me, Livia?”

Roger tried some comfort words.

“That's not so terrible, Ianina. If needed, we'll give you more of the hunt money so you can buy some clothes. For the cakes, take it for another training for camping outside.”

“You're wrong. That IS terrible!”

The three boys let the noble girl rant on her own for some time while eating. When she had calmed down a bit and began to eat, Roger asked.

“What are we doing about hunting? Are we waiting for Ianina's bodyguard to leave? I don't know if we have enough money to live without it.”

Looking at the faces around him, the silent response he got left no ambiguity.

“Understood. So we'll hunt after lunch every possible cycle. But Ianina will have to avoid going around the hotel and perhaps the market too. We can deal with it. After breakfast, I can offer you to come and train in my old squad's private training area. It's not as roomy as the House's one, but it's far from the hotel and the market.”

Ianina nodded and replied with her mouth full of rice.

“Yes, I want to if it's possible.”

“I'll ask my old squad members. As they are hunting between breakfast and lunch, they should agree. You two can come to if you want.”

Metello nodded, and Jeffrey reminded Roger of the training with his brother.

“Good. Then, it's settled. Next cycle, I come here after breakfast to get you for weapon training, and after lunch, we go back to the mine. I guess we'll meet at the main gate rather than the House. Now that the business matters are dealt with, what do you do to relax here? Do you have dice? I know a bunch of dice games.”

“No, we don't have any. It's been only a few cycles since we came to live here, and we are mainly working on our blessings. But I can show you some relaxing blessing training that I like to do.”

"Relaxing blessing training? You make me curious."

Metello went to close the shutters and called Lucco in beam form. Then, he drew the same Brorne's portrait he had once. As he had already done it, it was quicker this time. He was halfway through it when Roger asked.

“Who is it? I think I recognize him.”

“That's Brorne. He is the one who taught me the rapier and the spear.”

“Yes! I remember now. It's the [Shield Bearer] at the House. The one who trains newbies in the training area. It's been a while since I saw him. How is it these cycles ?”

“Well. He might be in sight with Saint John Walls by now.”

“Nox tits! He went with the army convoy!”

“Yes.”

He finished the raw light-drawing in an hour. Ianina was not impressed, but Roger was. The [Priestess] asked him.

“Can you do the same for Livia, my bodyguard? I'm not sure you could see her well. I'll describe her, and you'll draw.”

Metello replied with an unassured voice.

“Let's try it.”

Three hours later, Roger had left, but Ianina was not finished yet with Metello. As she was silent for a few seconds to think how to explain what to change, the [Acolyte] told her.

“Maybe we can finalize later. As you have told us earlier, we have to wash the sheets and buy a mattress to be able to sleep tonight.”

“You're right. But you can keep it like that ?”

“Yes. I'll hide it in a reduced form under my hat. I already did that once.”

“Nice trick. Perhaps you should keep a light ball like that permanently. If you can sustain it, I think I remember that you can level up your prayer with maintaining it for a complete cycle.”

“You could try to keep it while sleeping too. There is a Fulgur blessing for that. I don't have it, but perhaps I'll try to unlock it. I could use it well now that I'm here. But, let's go shopping for now!”

Jeffrey was still here too.

“I thought you had to avoid the market.”

“Nox bollocks, you're right. What will I do when you're out ?”

Jeffrey asked Metello.

“Perhaps we could bring her to Mrs Richardson. I don't know how we will buy woman's clothes otherwise.”

“We could do that. I'll buy a mattress while you take the bedsheets to a cleaner ?”

The next cycle, during breakfast, Ianina was in a bad mood. The end of the last cycle had been agreeable to her with the end of Livia's portrait and some talks about prayer training, but she didn't sleep well, and the meal was not to her tastes.

“We can't eat beans at every meal. If it was potatoes, I could agree, but beans? Who likes beans ?”

Metello answered a bit bothered.

“I do.”

“It doesn't count. You're living as if you were camping every cycle.”

“Then, you can...”

He hesitated, not sure if venting his frustration was a good idea. But he needed to. The more he talked, the more he sounded angry.

“You can go back to your room and ask your bodyguard to bring you back to your home. You'll have your cakes, your fluffy bed, your nice clothes, and your good food. If living half a cycle better than I ever lived for thirteen years is too much for you, maybe worrying about the prophecy is too much for you.”

Roger knocked on the door with flawless timing, and Jeffrey opened it quickly. When he saw Ianina's shocked expression and Metello's red face, he couldn't help but ask in a relaxed manner.

“Wow. What happened ?”

As Metello still had steam to vent, so he did.

“She can't do anything but complain! Nothing is good enough for her!”

"I'm not complaining, I'm comparing."

Ianina had a guilty face now. Roger came to more or less defend her.

“Well, it must be difficult to go from a noble standard of living to a beginner hunter one. See that she sacrificed all to do something about the prophecy. She will get the hang of it with time. I am sure she can do it. Aren't you ?”

“Yes. I'm sorry. As you said, it's harsh. I didn't know it would be this harsh when I fled. Even if I don't show it much, know that I am grateful.”

“What you call harsh, I call it the normal way to live. But, sorry for yelling at you.”

“Great, now that it's settled, we have some time for practice. Finish your meal, and we'll go.”

Roger's home was in the far back of the middle-class district, near the walls. Metello had never gone there before because he had no reason to. They entered a courtyard at the back of a small building and quickly went to work.

They had no wooden rapier, but Metello took a wooden sword with a similar result. He alternated between sparing with Ianina, dodging Roger's strike, and training with a similar rotating target to the one at the House that the [Swordsman] squad had.

Metello had never practiced this hard for such a long time before. It was thanks to Ianina's Prayer of Stamina. Having someone to wash over your muscle fatigue and fill back your stamina from time to time was terribly useful for physical training.

From time to time, he took a few minutes of pause to see Roger and Ianina spar too. She tried her hand with shields of different forms and sizes. Roger was a bit too strong for the others, but he enjoyed himself while torturing the [Priestess]. Metello was the worst of all as he had the lowest class level, blessing level, and stats, but he already felt he progressed from this session.

Immediately after lunch, Roger went to buy Ianina a shield with one of the two big silver coins she had on her. It made three pairs of eyes bulge when they saw that what was only pocket change for her could pay Metello's rent for almost a year. Ianina and Metello followed Jeffrey through backstreets and alleys to avoid the market district and the House area. The [Swordsman] joined them at the Main Gate with an iron round shield twice as tall and wide as the [Lux Acolyte]'s buckler.

Then, they walked out, following the river for a bit.

“Do you think I can let you fight more monsters? As we saw it, Metello is not so bad with his rapier. I think he can help too rather than stay at the back.”

Ianina had an overconfident and happy voice.

“Yes! With this shield, I can surely take two monsters head-on.”

“I'd like to use my rapier too. I need to level up my blessing, and I admit that the last time was a bit frustrating as I only had to take care of the lighting.”

As they approached a [Merchant]'s roofed carriage, its driver stopped it. The man in the driving seat seemed in his thirties and wore common woolen and leather clothes. He addressed the squad with a bright smile.

“Hello, friends. My name is Babayet. I'm a [Traveling merchant] looking to settle down for a few cycles in a city with my family. How does Ironholes fare concerning the prophecy? Were there any riots? Are there still any ?”

Two young girl heads popped out of the curtain behind their father. To Metello, the two curious girls seemed around the same age as Maria. In front of the carriage, Ianina approached the horses to greet them while Roger answered the blond man with a complicated face.

“Well, there has been no riot, but... Let's only say that people are not quite informed about it. If I were you, I wouldn't get in there, even for a few cycles, as the [Guards] strictly control the comings and goings through the gates. For now, only [Merchants], [Farmers], [Breeders], and monster hunters are allowed to leave the city. So...”

The man mirrored Roger's complicated face when he looked at the [Swordsman].

“So if we go inside, it's not sure my family would be able to leave.”

“That's pretty much the problem, yes.”

“Well, thank you all. I will turn around for now. I'll go to the city alone later to look for goods to buy and sell. I suppose you are monster hunters.”

“Yes, we were on our way to hunt in the mines.”

The [Merchant]'s eyes started to shine.

“Give me a minute to turn around with the carriage so we can talk more about the city's whereabouts on your way. It seems to me that my horses would be pleased to stay a bit longer with the young woman's company too.”

Roger turned around to consult his squadmates' reactions and spoke.

“That's fine with us.”

At the end of the eight's cycle after the Warming Light Protectors' creation, Metello was lying on his mattress, thinking back about what they had accomplished in this short time.

They managed to avoid Ianina's bodyguard. Only once were they close to being caught in West Work Street, but Jeffrey's quick reaction saved the situation. The [Anima Priestess] managed to partially get used to her new living standards too, despite the large gap from her previous life.

While looking for a new kind of food to buy for Ianina, Metello met once more Babayet in the market. It turned out that the [Traveling Merchant] was friend with his bean dealer, and the blond man had questioned the Lux follower much on his hunter's life and the Warming Light Protectors. Metello didn't know why he was so curious about them, but he complied as it was pleasant to talk to the man.

Their training and hunts went better and better. Ianina was already reliable at the front lane, and the three younger hunters only needed Roger to help if fighting more than five level four monsters at the same time. They earned a lot of money with their hunts by cleaning each mine in two cycles. Now, Metello had what he called himself a little fortune that amounts to more than 1000 coppers after paying for the rent. He grinned while fiddling with the big tin coin he decided to keep with himself on Ianina's advice.

Blessing-wise and level-wise, these cycles had been plenty productive too. Metello chanted a quick Prayer of Status and looked at it, still grinning.

Status : Metello Level : 3,12 Ether : 1388 Class : Lux Acolyte (basic) Stamina 59,7/ 68,9 4,5/h (regeneration) Divine energy 89,4/103,2 6,7/h (regeneration) Statistics Base Effective Class bonus Strength Upper 8 (↑0.1) 9 4% Lower 8,1 (↑0.1) 9,1 4% Agility Body 9 (↑0.1) 10,1 4% Hand 10,6 12,6 4% Resilience Body 8,4 (↑0.1) 9,4 4% Mind 11,1 14,6 10% Mind Intelligence 8,7 9,8 4% Imagination 12,8 16,8 10% Faith Power 10,5 14,8 10% Control 11,8 (↑0.1) 16,6 (Lux : 17,4) 10% Perception Sense 10,1 12 4% Memory 10,6 11,9 4% Social Comprehension 8,8 (↑0.1) 9,9 4% Expression 8,5 9,6 4% Blessings Bestower tier level Lux Blessings Lux Lux devotee 2 1 passive Lux Prayer of Beam 2 1 active Lux Light artist 2 1 passive Lux Prayer to Lux 1 5 active Lux Sight sense 1 2 passive Lux Hiding 1 2 passive Lux Graphic arts 1 2 passive Lux Rapier Handling 1 3 (↑2) passive Lux Spear Handling 1 1 passive Lux Light resist 1 2 (↑1) passive Lux Identify Art Quality 1 3 (↑1) active Battle and prayer support blessing Fulgur Ranged Prayer 2 1 passive Petrus Shield Handling 1 1 passive Other 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 Menta Reading 1 4 passive Menta Counting 1 3 passive Menta Writing 1 1 passive Menta Focus 1 2 passive Nihil Absorb core 1 2 active

Practice with Ianina's help to replenish his stamina had allowed Metello to progress by leaps and bounds statistics-wise. He had gained 0,1 points for each physical statistic in eight cycles. It was already impressive, but the [Priestess]'s help had not been precious only for his stats.

He winced when remembering how he leveled up Light Resist. He had needed Ianina to heal his eyes when he looked at the sun for a minute long. It had been a lot more fun to level up Identify Art Quality by using the blessing on a bunch of random items. He now could see the name of the item's manufacturer.

Identify Art Quality Name : Golden Top Hat Type : Clothing (Leather) Quality : Special (Low) Originality : Basic (High) Author : Hilton Heston

But his first blessing to go up a level had been Rapier Handling while killing his hundredth ratman. That's Roger and Ianina who told him about the threshold. The second level he gained had been only a few hours earlier when the boost in his class level allowed him to hit all the numbers of the rotating target in order.

The most exciting thing about this moment was that, with these four blessings level-ups, he was only two blessing levels from advancing to [Priest]. Ianina and Roger had been surprised when he said it to them. They told him they both had evolved their class fast but that he was even quicker. The fact that he was not a prepared child of a noble or the son of a silver-ranked monster hunter made the record even more impressive. It was a nice feeling to remind himself of this talk for Metello.

The Lux follower fell asleep on his mattress with a steady grin, a few meters away from Jeffrey.

The Warming Light Protectors were in the middle of a hunt when they all heard a woman's voice in their head.

“People of Ironholes. I am [Menta Saint] Maslow speaking to you from the Divine Tower. We have been told that your mayor, [Duke] Cavendish has deceived you all, and I have been appointed to correct this wrongness.”