{Year 15}
At the Temple of Elmira, Liri sat in front of the altar dedicated to Alteria holding a woman's hands as she prayed. This was one of the duties she had as a priestess, where she would assist citizens with their prayers by adding her own connection to nature to theirs and amplifying their internal voices through that process.
Unfortunately, there was something making it slightly hard to focus, today.
Liri opened one eye to see if they were still there.
Indeed, they were.
At the front of the temple were several girls gawking at her, peeking from the pillars, trying to sneak glances at her.
[… Well, shit. Now I understand how actresses must feel when people walk up to them in coffee shops asking for autographs.]
"She's so hot…" Liri heard one of them mutter and she sighed.
"Her boobs are massive!" Another one added.
"I wonder how big her co-"
"Girls, please," another priestess went up to them. "Do not distract your friend from her duties."
[Are we even friends?] Liri asked herself. [They just want to fuck me.]
Liri had always been popular, but, over the last year, her already high popularity sky-rocketed. She figured that becoming a priestess had given her a certain flair.
She could understand it, to a degree. Back on Earth, sure, there were hot girls, but seeing a sexy nun just had that special bit of flavor to it.
If that was what was going on here, then she supposed she couldn't judge them too much.
There was one other reason it was difficult for Liri to focus today. That was because soon after this, she would be heading with Alma out into the wild.
Only, it wasn't to go see a Mother Tree like she'd done with Lys.
It was to learn how to hunt.
"Thank you," the woman in front of Liri said, taking her hands back. Liri snapped back to focus. "I think I'm done," she said with a smile.
"May Alteria guide you," Liri told her with a smile, as the woman stood up and walked away. An older priestess approached her then.
"Well… You have quite a few fans."
"I haven't even done anything to deserve them," Liri replied with an awkward chuckle.
"I would disagree," the woman replied, smiling down at her. "You're a prodigy, Liri. Over the course of just one year your connection to nature has surpassed most of us. I'm quite excited to see where you go from here."
[… I'd guess some of that has to do with the fact that Alteria blessed me personally.]
"I'll keep working on it," Liri promised. "So, uh… Am I allowed to go?"
"Ah, yes, you have to go spend time with your mother, right?"
"Yes," Liri confirmed.
"In that case, go ahead. We'll take care of any other citizens who show up seeking a blessing or two. Before you go, however, I would ask that you practice a few of your Mantras. Just in case one of those girls keeps you busy later and you don't get the chance to."
Liri blushed.
The "Mantras" the priestess referred to was what Liri had learned about from becoming a priestess.
The magic of this world.
She'd seen bits and pieces of it over the years. People lighting candles with flames that sparked on their fingers or healing injuries with magic. Neither Lys nor Alma had taught her any of them, but as soon as she became a priestess, they became a regular part of her new life.
"Should I start right now?" She asked.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Okay…" Liri took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She put her hands in front of her, holding them just a few inches apart.
Then, she spoke the Mantra for the spell [Nature's Blessing].
"Liz ner marin."
As she said that, a white orb with a faint green glow appeared between her palms. What she'd just cast was essentially a low-level healing spell, one of the first Mantras she was ever taught.
Mantras were composed of "angelic words". Words from the language that Alteria used to create the world.
Each word held power, and, when placed in a specific order, they produced tangible effects. Just like how words in English created a statement when placed in a certain order, communicating an idea.
Unfortunately, the priestesses weren't entirely sure what they were saying, so Liri had no clue what these words meant. However, she guessed that it was possible to learn somehow.
If it was, that was something she would certainly do.
"Good," the priestess said to her. "Try another."
Nodding, Liri did just that.
Next, she used a Mantra called [Clairvoyance]. This was another of the first Mantras Liri learned, one that allowed her to sense the location of the nearest Mother Tree.
"It den carsul, mez ni marin."
Instantly, she felt something. A ping of some sort, like she'd just been alerted by nature itself. The sensation pointed to the Mother Tree she'd visited with Lys a year ago.
"You're a natural."
"Thank you," Liri replied, opening her eyes. "May I…?"
"Yes. Give your mothers my regards, please. May Alteria bless you."
"Of course. Thank you, may Alteria bless us all."
With that being said, it was time to head home.
For what would be Liri's first time hunting.
---
"How does it feel?" Alma asked as she and Liri stood in the center of a small clearing in the woods.
"Pull back on the arrow. Get a good grip on it."
Liri did as her mother asked and pulled back on the nocked arrow. She was currently being taught how to use a bow and arrow.
"Oh, you nearly got a full draw! You've got some muscle on you," Alma said with a proud smile.
[… That's probably just from my Soul Rating. I haven't worked out at all.]
That Soul Rating of hers had gone up to 900 since she started learning Mantras. Her mother's had progressed as well, and Alma's was currently at 1100.
"You want to take a few more shots or are you feeling confident already?" Alma asked.
"I… I could do one more," Liri said.
"Go ahead then. Aim for that tree over there." Alma pointed at one in the distance. Taking a deep breath, Liri prepared herself.
She took up the position Alma had taught her and tried to calm herself down.
[You've got this,] Liri told herself. [Just…]
When she let the arrow fly, it soared through the air and pierced the tree's bark, narrowly missing the spot Liri had been aiming for.
"Good job," Alma said. "A moving target will, obviously, be tougher to hit. Accuracy comes with time, though. For now, all you need to practice is your form."
At this moment, Liri took the time to ask about something she'd been thinking about earlier.
"By the way…"
"Yeah?"
"Is it really okay for us to be out here killing animals and stuff?" Liri asked. "I-I mean, isn't our whole faith founded on being 'one with nature' or whatever?"
"Good question," Alma replied. "You're right. Naturally, we would seek to avoid harming the wildlife whenever possible. However, the world can put you in dangerous situations at any moment, Liri. Fruits and vegetables will not always be available to you. In those situations, if you have to choose between killing an innocent creature or dying, we just have to assume that Alteria would be okay with us choosing survival. Understand?"
[I guess that makes sense. Would have thought the ven would be complete pacifists, though, given everything I've learned about them.]
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to get you into the habit of murdering the world's creatures. However, should… Should something happen, someday, and the resources that the village would normally provide become unavailable, these lessons will be indispensable."
"I understand," Liri said.
"Good. Come, I'll show you a little bit about tracking."
The two of them walked a fair bit of distance from where Alma had Liri practice with the bow. They ended up in a slightly different part of the woods, where the leaves above were just a bit dimmer than they were near the village and the singing of birds was awfully distant.
"Admittedly, a little bit of knowledge of what you can find in any given forest works wonders. But we're going to pretend you have none. Just in case you find yourself in someplace foreign."
"Okay."
"First things first, the basics. Trampled grass and prints in the ground. Usual signs of animals or people moving through the area. Depending on the kind of prints you find, you may be able to tell what specific animal it was. However, for the purposes of this, again, let's pretend you've never even seen an animal before."
Liri didn't need to pretend. She had barely exited the village. The only animals she saw were the dead ones that would usually end up being turned into dinner.
"Having sharp eyes and good focus can help a ton here, Liri. So, always clear your head and focus solely on your surroundings. You're a priestess of Alteria. Communicating with nature is easy to you, right? That's all this is, really. Nature speaks to you through the signs it shows and all you need to do is listen."
The two of them searched and found some hoofprints leading down a hill. Eventually, they heard sounds nearby and Alma held a hand up, making Liri stop.
"Up ahead," she whispered. "Do you see it? Focus. Clear your mind and listen to what nature's saying."
Liri nodded and tried to do as Alma asked. She closed her eyes and took slow, steady breaths. Tuning out her own thoughts, all she could hear were the various sounds nearby. Then, she opened her eyes and narrowed them, trying to see what Alma was talking about.
Past the trees, behind a few bushes, she found it.
She spotted a deer-like creature with curving tusks coming out of its mouth and spikes running down its back. Like someone had taken a look at regular deer back on earth and decided they didn't look cool enough.
As she laid her eyes on it, Liri nodded.
"Go ahead, then. Exactly as you practiced."
"W-What? From here?" She asked. "It's too far."
"Of course," Alma giggled quietly. "You will certainly miss. But it is impossible to improve without adversity, Liri. Obstacles are what force us to get better. And, today, that obstacle will be distance. However, I promise, if you keep practicing, you will not see distance as an obstacle eventually. Now, go ahead."
[… Fine.]
Liri swallowed and prepared herself. The deer-like creature up ahead continued moving around slowly, oblivious to Liri's incoming attempt to take its life.
She nocked an arrow, pulled back, and let it fly.
And, of course, it wasn't even close.
The animal raised its head, looking in the direction of the arrow that stuck to a tree behind it. It didn't need to see what shot the thing, it knew it was in danger. And so, it ran off.
"Good try," Alma said. "Let's go again."
"… Am I actually gonna get better at it?" Liri asked. "How long will it take?"
"As long as it needs to," Alma replied. "Here's a question, though. How long will it take for you to get laid already?"
"M-MOM!"
"What?" Alma asked, laughing loudly. "You have girls lining up to have your babies and you're tossing every chance away! I'm almost starting to feel like you don't have a sex drive at all. Either that or you have incredibly high standards."
"I-It's not like that," Liri replied, blushing intensely. "I'm just… I'm not ready."
Alma sighed and smiled down at her daughter.
"I know, I know, but… Liri, we only have so much time in this world. If you aren't ready, then you aren't ready and that's okay, but don't prevent yourself from enjoying what the world has to offer simply because you are too nervous to accept its gifts."
"… When I turn 18," Liri said. "I'll… I'll get a girlfriend or whatever when I do."
"A 'girlfriend'?" Alma asked, confused.
[Right. With the ven, you're either someone's wife or someone's friend-with-benefits. They don't have a term for the in-between stuff.]
"N-Never mind."
"Okay," Alma shrugged. "Just, please, do try to get laid soon. I do not want to see my daughter get so pent up that she goes crazy when she gets older. Which can happen, by the way."
"It can?"
"Yes," Alma replied. "Ven are sexual people, Liri. We don't just like or desire sex, it's essential for our mental well-being. If we don't get it for long stretches of time, we can turn as ravenous as a beast. I'm honestly shocked you're holding up this well despite being a virgin at your age! So, please, don't hold yourself back, okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I hear you."