Scarlet was brimming with happiness.

Despite having spent the entire day at the cathedral, she had managed to get in some good training.

Her [Mana Sense], [Mana Control] and [Magic Appraisal] had all grown a level. She also got a level in [Holy Magic], two levels in [Decoding] and a whole fifteen levels in [Ritual Magic].

She’d also met Charles, who gave her the idea for resistance training clothes to help her train even faster. And soon, she was going to get her Bond, who would provide her with the direction on how she was supposed to be building her character.

Today was a good day.

“Thank you for your hard work.” The Head Priest, Joshua, said as the last of the other children had finished being awoken to their Bonds and the rest of the Priests were resting and complaining loudly now that the children were finally gone. 

The man stood 10 feet back, seeming to understand that Scarlet needed her room.

“It was nothing. I was glad to help.” ‘And got some really good experience out of it.’ Scarlet both said and left unsaid.

“I really am grateful. We do try our hardest, but there are only so many Priests.” The Head Priest said with a nod. “You must be tired though.”

“No. I’m good. A bit hungry, but otherwise I’m fine.” Scarlet admitted.

While the [Big Eater] skill helped her get a surplus of energy which she could use for her training, it came with some… minor setbacks. She ate as much as three of the adult Priests put together during the lunch break, but found herself to be hungry again a few hours later.

“I see. I’m glad. It is good to see children so full of energy and good will.” The Head Priest nodded before asking Scarlet a question out of nowhere. “You certainly were able to pull your own weight. If you don’t mind me asking, could you tell me what your mana regeneration rate is?”

“Hm? Well, my equipment gives me 12 mana every second passively, but I can increase that up to 15 if I use my [Mana Control] to pull the free mana in the air towards me.” Scarlet said.

“I see.” The Head Priest said with a sad face. “So you really do have the [Arcane Mana Resistance] skill, don’t you?”

“Ah…” Scarlet said awkwardly.

Even though many of the Priests had higher stats and skills than Scarlet, without the [Arcane Mana Resistance] skill, they couldn’t safely absorb more than 2 mana a second through their clothes and magic staves, while Scarlet was absorbing 6 times that amount. And since she made use of [Evocation Magic] instead of [Conjuration Magic] to gain access to holy attributed mana for the ritual, her fuel efficiency was double that of the others as well.

It had resulted in her not being rotated out, and even occasionally running solo as the others rested to restore their mana and mental fortitude. 

So it had been easy for the Head Priest to notice that the girl’s mana regeneration was at a level that should have been unsafe for her body size. Even though Scarlet’s mother and even Will hadn't realized what Scarlet had done.

“To think that a child underwent the trials required to obtain such a skill.” Joshua said miserably.

Scarlet’s Talent Points hadn’t helped her with the process, so she had ended up having to continuously injure herself and restore her body for a total of 200 hours in order to get her [Arcane Mana Resistance] high enough to comfortably wear her equipment.

The Head Priest seemed to have a good grasp on this fact, and it depressed him greatly. He could only imagine that the girl had a monstrous teacher who had forced such a training on her.

“But doesn’t the Head Priest have a similar skill? You were able to handle an entire station by yourself, so your mana regeneration has to be a lot higher than mine.” Scarlet said, hoping to not dive into the subject of her training methods.

“No. I do not possess such a skill. My robes and staff are sacred treasures of our temple. They convert the mana in the air into holy mana, so that it is safe for me to absorb without hurting myself.” The Head Priest explained.

“Huh!?!” Scarlet shouted, her eyes wide. “You… You’ve got such amazing equipment!?!”

Creating an enchanted item imbued with fire or wind was difficult enough, but to create one to make such a use out of holy attributed mana was on a completely different level.

“Technically, it belongs to the Cathedral. I am merely using it during my tenure as the Head Priest and Archbishop here.” The man said in the most humble way possible, while at the same time revealing he was a man of considerable status. If Scarlet remembered correctly, the Archbishop was the title of the highest rank individual in the church within each country.

Though that seemed inconsequential to Scarlet, when compared to the equipment he was boasting.

“Could… Could I maybe look at it? Would you mind if I used my [Magic Appraisal] on it?” Scarlet said, her heart pumping.

“I don’t mind at all.” Joshua said, holding out his staff.

Scarlet inched slowly closer to the man before touching the staff with one hand and a bit of his sleeve with the other.

OH!!! IT WAS TIER 9 EQUIPMENT!!!

The enchantments were so strong that Scarlet couldn’t even wrap her mind around them. She couldn’t even tell what kind of materials were used to make them, even though her [Magic Appraisal] was such a high level. She only got a basic idea of what they were doing.

But between the robes and the staff, the Head Priest received over 200 mana regeneration per second from just those two pieces of equipment. Enough to be casually throwing around ultra high level spells as fast as they could be cast without something like [High Speed Invocation].

But… even as it was… it could have been higher. The amount of mana gained was reduced by having it converted into holy attributed mana, and there were safety nets created in order to make sure it didn’t overload the user’s mana pool, which took up a good deal of room that could be spent to expend the enchantment. There were also enchantments for durability and protection. The staff even acted as an external mana storage, holding 15,000 extra mana for the wielder’s use.

Scarlet suspected that if they had gone all in on just mana regeneration, they could have provided as much as 2000 mana a second each.

It was true. Equipment quality was just as important as an individual's raw stats and skills. Any one of the Priests who put on those robes would immediately become an absolute, magical powerhouse. With a full set, even soloing a dragon wasn’t an impossibility. 

The temptation to put more Talent Points into trying to level up her [Enchanting] even further burned within Scarlet’s heart. Urging her to leave and search the globe for the knowledge and materials she would need to create such equipment for herself.

“Someday, I’ll have equipment just like this.” Scarlet promised herself.

“...If that is your goal, perhaps you should consider joining the Priesthood.” Joshua suggested. He saw the girl’s expression of disbelief looking up at him, though he had been completely serious.

The girl was special. Her abilities at such a young age were like nothing he had seen since the old days, when he was the spiritual guide for Prince, now King, Edmer. Though where Edmer had inherited the advantages from his father’s Tier 7 Exalted Paladin and his mother’s Tier 6 Elemental Caller Classes, something made him down that Scarlet had nearly the same advantages in her bloodline. 

Her potential was less than the King’s, but her determination and hard work could not be overstated. He had seen many great men rise up from among the commoners. He had a feeling that Scarlet would one day be counted among their numbers.

“I could use a successor, and with your talent, you have the potential to become the next Archbishop. I would make you my apprentice and you would have access to all the assistance our church has to offer.” Joshua said sincerely. In order to become an Archbishop, you needed to have at least a 5th Tier Holy Magic related Class, and a [Holy Magic] of level 150 or higher. And if Joshua was right about her current level, she should meet those requirements by the time she was 12. If not sooner.

Joshua himself had been a little overqualified for the job for years, but was unwilling to leave his homeland in order to continue to climb the ranks. But now, after having held the title for 20 years, he was looking forward to retirement, but needed someone to take up the mantel after he was gone.

“You… want me to live at the church?” Scarlet asked, swallowing as she visibly shrank down. Her distress was so obvious as to be shocking to the Priest.

She had been skittish about being too close to people she didn’t know, which wasn’t uncommon among such young children, but she had still been generally calm. But as if a switch had been flicked, the girl started to fall to pieces. 

“Are you alright?” Joshua asked, but didn’t get a response from the girl as she started to shake.

Concerned, Joshua started to mumble a ‘restoration’ spell in order to help calm the girl back down. Though as soon as he gathered the mana, Scarlet freaked out and started to mumble a spell of her own at high speeds.

It wasn’t a retaliation spell. She wasn’t attacking him. She was using a [Counter Spell].

Joshua was surprised to see it, since while the theory behind counter spells was simple, it was very difficult to use, like everything else in [Abjuration Magic]. 

[Abjuration Magic] spells were always simple, because they used mana within its most basic form, making it more like an advanced form of [Mana Control]. But while simplistic, wild mana was wild, making it hard to control and causing it to lose shape and purpose quickly.

Scarlet’s [Counter Spell] had come as a reaction from her, as she rapidly analyzed and sought to undo the magic that was targeting her without registering that it was harmless.

If she was up against a weaker caster and had been in a more stable mindset herself, she would have likely been able to undo the spell. Fortunately, Joshua’s restoration spell was top grade, compact and stable, and Scarlet wasn’t in the best of conditions for casting. It was weakened slightly by the [Counter Spell], but not even close to stopped.

The stress was removed from Scarlet’s body and her mind was made calmer along with it. “Are you alright?”

“Ye...Yes.” Scarlet said with a nod. “Sorry… I…”

“...Do not worry, child. Everyone has their own burdens and experiences. You should not feel the need to explain yourself to me.” Joshua said, taking an additional step back in order to give the girl room. “But if you ever feel that you want to talk, the temple doors will always be open. No need to rush yourself. Same goes for the offer of apprenticeship. Nothing is forcing you to accept it. Not now or ever.”

“...Okay.” Scarlet said with a nod of her head as she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

“Now then. It is time for you to awaken your Bond. I’m sure you are tired of waiting.” Joshua said.

“Yeah!” Immediately a smile spread across the girl’s face. Even if she was odd, she was still a child. “Ah… But I need to change back out of all of my magic items.” Scarlet said, looking down at her own clothes. “Do you have a changing room I can use?”

---

Scarlet changed back into her nonenchanted clothes, returning her usual outfit into the ‘pocket of holding’ she had made for herself.

The ‘pocket of holding’ was both very convenient, and very inconvenient. While creating a space for her to hold her items had been hard, she’d managed to create a small bag capable of fitting most of her possessions into it. The problem was that the space bending magic used in making it caused the small pouch to feel like it weighed twice as much as everything that was put inside of it. Walking around with it felt like having a 10 pound bowling ball strapped to your waist, even when she only had the essentials with her.

Clearly, a design upgrade was necessary.

After changing, Scarlet returned to the main hall and met up with the Head Priest, who was waiting at one of the circles. 

“Any final questions before we begin?” Joshua said with a small smile at the excited child.

“Ah… Actually, yes! I got one!” Scarlet said before looking over the ritual circle and pointing at a part in one corner, where a white lodestone sat. “What are the symbols around that lodestone from?”

“...Excuse me?” Joshua asked, standing a little straighter.

“I managed to decode most of the circle over the last few hours, but there are many symbols that I don’t recognize around that part. They don’t come up in any of the magics I’ve studied. But they don’t seem like the [Divination Magic] on the orbs from this morning, so what are they? Are they from some kind of Lost Magic?” The girl asked with genuine curiosity.

Scarlet had studied most of what could be called mainstream magic. [Evocation Magic], [Conjuration Magic], [Transmutation Magic], [Enhancing Magic], [Abjuration Magic] and even [Holy Magic], she had a good grasp of their systems and the rituals that operated them. 

While the books on these types of magic weren’t exactly cheap, there were no restrictions made on who could buy them. In fact, you could even go as far as saying that the government wanted people to learn them, and classes to learn magic were readily evaluable, even if people were rarely able to progressed far into the field.

However, there were 3 other types of magic that were not so easy to get your hands on.

[Demon Magic] and [Necromancy Magic] were both flat out illegal, and even possession of books on them carried harsh penalties. Scarlet didn’t know if this was because of purely negative stigmas about them, or because of actual dangers involved in the spells, since she had no way of knowing about the magic’s specifics.

Though the final magic, [Divination Magic], wasn’t strictly illegal, only heavily restricted in terms of who was allowed to learn it and what they were allowed to use it for. Abusers were immediately put to death.

This was because [Divination Magic] could be broken up into two general fields; [Identification Magic], which was like [Magic Appraisal] on steroids, where you could find out process information on your target’s attributes and locations from miles away, and [Curse Magic] which can cast magic capable of weakening people from far away, or even killing them, if their stats were too low.

As the magic made spying and assassinations trivial, general practice became outlawed, and those who were permitted to learn it were like government employees hackers, allowed to learn their trade but still restricted on how they were allowed to use it.

“...Scarlet, for what reason have you been trying to decode this circle?” Joshua asked the girl. He didn’t want to, but he activated the Class Skill of his 7th Tier ‘Man of the Light’ Class, [Inquisition], in order to compel Scarlet to speak the truth, without her realizing it.

“I… want to know if the ritual can be modified so that it no longer has the age restriction.” Scarlet admitted weakly, seeming like a child who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “If it could, that would mean that Judith and the other slaves might be able to get Bonds of their own. Maybe then they could escape without the fear of being recaptured.”

Joshua’s expression softened. “You really have a good heart, child. However, I must warn you not to try to inspect this magic any further. It is dangerous to fly too close to the sun.”

“...Okay.” Scarlet said, her voice full of regrets as she looked at the spot on the circle. Judith's face came to mind, as she wished that she could somehow read that small part of the circle.

But the weight in her heart was short lived as the ritual began and she felt the holy energy reaching into her spirit.

Despite being warned not to analyze the ritual any further, Scarlet found herself doing her best to memorize the feeling and how the magic was moving around inside of her body as it focused itself into the core of her being and started to draw something out, something that had been sleeping there without Scarlet noticing it.

The magic energy started to be pulled out of her, condensing into a ball the size of the palm of her small hands, before starting to take shape.

Scarlet reached out, allowing the newly formed Bond to rest in her cupped hands as it finished solidifying into a baby bird. The tiny chick looked cute, with its puffed out baby feathers, each one a pure white that seemed to glow in the light of the torches that were being used to light the cathedral, with a beak that was equally white.

(It has been so long, hasn’t it, Crimson? Now we can finally be together.) The baby bird’s voice echoed inside of Scarlet’s mind, so full of longing.

Scarlet was a little surprised at being addressed by her old gamer tag once again, but was too happy to pay it any mind. “I’m glad you are finally here too, Branwen.” She said as she held the tiny bird close, letting it jump up onto her shoulder and rub itself against her cheek.

The two were too happy to notice the stunned look of the Head Priest as he looked at the girl and her Bond and then to a pair of large stained glass windows on the opposite side of the Cathedral, that were shown clearly in the light of the now setting sun.

One of the panes of glass depicted a regal looking man with hair blue as the daytime sky, a hound at his side, whose coat was black as the night. On the opposite pane was a woman, her eyes closed in what appeared to be a gentle sleep, her long flowing hair like that of the autumn leaves, and on her shoulder, a large raven with feathers as white as the purest snow.

Joshua’s jaw hung open and the sacred treasure of his Cathedral slipped through his fingers and clattered to the floor.

 

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