The Compound (2)

The next day.

Pop.

Pop..

Pop.

Vivian's eyes slowly opened and then stretched, causing her body to make some popping sounds.

She closed her eyes and relaxed for a moment before opening them once again.

In front of her, or on top of her to be exact, was a bed.

She was lying down on the lower bed of a bunk bed.

She got up and sat down.

Crack.

Crack.

She made some cracking noise with her neck before turning her head to the side.

"Yawn…"

She let out a long yawn before staring at the thin pillow, blanket and the bed that she slept on.

Finally had a proper bed…

She swept her gaze around.

Vivian was inside a large room and there were 10 bunk beds.

No one's here…

Did I wake up late…?

She turned her head and looked at the windows.

It was sunny outside.

She rubbed her eyes before grabbing her boots underneath her bed and wearing them.

She then reached out for her satchel which was also underneath her bed. When she grabbed it, she felt another sensation. There was a brown cloak and a gold necklace with a vertically stretched-out sun pendant on top of her satchel.

"Ah yes, my new uniform…"

She placed the cloak and necklace at the side and opened her satchel. She took out a small towel, a green stick for cleaning her teeth and a bottle of liquid soap before finally getting up and heading to the bathroom.

***

A couple of minutes later…

Vivian was walking on a pathway outside of a building and there were a lot of people around.

Some were minding their own business, while others glanced at her, especially the men.

Most of them were wearing a white cloak with a gold necklace hanging around their neck, while a few of them were wearing brown cloaks, also with a gold necklace. Some of them were also carrying weapons.

As for Vivian, she had her hair tied into a ponytail and was wearing a brown cloak and a gold necklace around her neck on top of it. Underneath her cloak, she had her usual attire -- the Copper Rank I necklace around her neck, leather armor on top of a white shirt and a coin pouch between her breasts, fingerless gloves, pants, boots, kitchen knife inside her left boot, and the 2ft long black whip on her hand.

Where was it again…?

Vivian looked around the houses and buildings around her as she was walking.

There were some shops around her.

I think the cafeteria was here…?

She then saw a familiar sight.

It was the apothecary shop that sold potions and other hygiene products for both men and women.

Yeah, I remember passing here last night…

And I just have to go right…

Yesterday, when she arrived here and was accompanied by Joshua to introduce her to the headmaster, it was already dark, most of the staff already left and the headmaster also left to attend to some important business.

In the end, it was Joshua who showed her around. But it was only for a brief moment because he too was busy and had to leave as well. And from what she had seen and Joshua told her about this compound, it was large enough that it could serve as a small and private village exclusive only for the Temple of Priests members and had all of the necessary facilities -- dorms, cafeteria, weapon and equipment shop, church, training grounds, and etc.

***

Vivian finally reached the cafeteria and she let out a sigh of relief.

Thank God it's not packed…

Aside from the staff, there were about 15 people inside the cafeteria.

Vivian headed over to the counter.

"Hi, I'm here to get my first free meal for the day."

As a member of the Temple of Priests, each member gets 2 free meals per day in the cafeteria. Of course, the free meal was selected by the facility. Whether it was poisoned or not, whether it tasted good or not, as a broke person, Vivian had no choice but to take advantage of it for now.

The cafeteria also sells food.

The server nodded and began preparing Vivian's meal. A moment later, the server handed Vivian her meal on a tray.

"Thank you," Vivian said as she received it.

"You're welcome, sister," the server said and smiled.

She turned away to find a table.

Right…

I forget to use brother or sister…

I'm not gonna lie, it feels weird…

She found a table and sat down.

A couple of people glanced at Vivian and she paid them no attention.

This is only for the time being…

Once I have a more stable income, I'm never going to order this anymore…

At the moment, Vivian only had 5 silver and 35 copper coins. As for the 10 gold coins that she received from Stonia yesterday, she already used it in paying the fee for changing Class. And although the Temple of Priests offered to pay the fee for her, she didn't accept it because she didn't want to owe anyone anything.

After all, as a man in her previous world, she wasn't used to getting free stuff and she was fully aware of the saying: There is no such thing as a free meal.

Vivian stared at the food in front of her.

There was a mug of beer, a bowl of oats, a slice of bread with some spreading, and a small bowl of vegetables with slices of meat.

It's the same as last night…

Last night, after Joshua gave her a quick tour, she came here to grab dinner.

Did they just reheat this…?

It was warm.

I hope I won't get any food poisoning from this…

Hah…!

Beggars can't be choosers…!

She began eating.

***

Vivian was walking along a hallway inside a building.

She continued walking until she found the room that she was supposedly looking for.

Definitely looks similar to the main hall of the Adventurer's Guild…

There were a couple of counters inside the room.

She went over to the closest counter and it was a man dressed in a white cloak behind it.

"Hello, brother. Is this the place to get quests?"

"Yes, sister. This is the place where our brothers and sisters get Holy Missions," the man said and then eyed Vivian's brown robe. "Is this your first time here, sister? I'm Brother Ezekiel. And if you want, I can explain the rules to you."

"I just joined the temple yesterday and only know more or less about the rules here. So yes, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me, brother."

"Here in the Temple of Priests, although not mandatory, members can participate to do Holy Missions in order to not only learn Class Magic but also earn gold coins and other special privileges. And the more Class Magic you acquire, the higher your rank will be. Ranks are based on the color of your cloak."

"Color of my cloak?"

"Our Temple differentiate each other by the color of our cloaks. The lowest is Brown, followed by White and then Gold. There are other colors as well, like Red and Gray, but those are special positions."

"Does this mean Holy Missions are divided between the color of cloaks?"

"Not exactly. Although participating in Holy Missions allows a member to learn Class Magic and also earn gold, some Holy Missions like the Holy Crusade can allow you to earn special privileges and don't have any rank requirements. However, there are Holy Missions that are only available for Brown Cloaks."

A confused expression appeared on Vivian's face and Ezekiel noticed it.

"I know it's a lot to digest at the moment because you're new. Since you just joined yesterday, let me recommend you to do a Holy Mission that requires you to pass a written exam. The reward is 1 Gold coin."

"Are there other missions for Brown Cloaks? I'm sorry but I can't read, brother."

"It's not a problem, sister, because in the Holy Mission I mentioned, you will have a tutor to teach you."

"Tutor me? Will I have to pay for the tutor?"

"No, it's for free. You only have to pass the written exam."

"Hold on, I'm confused. You're telling me that not only will you pay me to pass an exam but you'll also provide someone to tutor me for free? Why? What's the catch? Is the exam hard?"

"The exam isn't difficult, sister. You see, here in the Temple of Priests, it is important for us to be literate because one of our Holy Missions is to share the words of the God of Light with the world."

"I see... So what's the time limit?"

"There is no time limit for this, sister. Once you're able to read and write, you just have to take a written exam and pass it."

"You mentioned that the Temple is going to provide a tutor for me. Where is this person? Where can I find him or her?"

Ezekiel took out a small piece of square wood which had the carving of a vertically stretched-out sun symbol underneath the counter.

"Go to the room next door and present this token to Sister Annabelle."

"Okay. Thank you," Vivian said.

"You're welcome, sister. And may the God of Light watch over you as always."

"Ah… You too, brother…" Vivian said awkwardly before leaving.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…

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There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.

Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain spoilers or dispel some of the mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 230-235 are posted there.

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Thank you once again and I will see you in the next chapter.

Chapter end