Day of Westar, 7:00 p.m.
Vivian was standing in front of Shirley's Tavern.
She let out a sigh.
Okay, let's hope those kids are here so that I can get over this real quick…
I really want the [Lightning Mastery]…
As long as I get that, I don't care even if they don't show up anymore after that…
She entered the tavern.
The moment she entered, many eyes immediately turned to her.
Aside from her beauty despite looking haggard, it was very rare for Priests to come here.
The brown cloak and the gold necklace with a vertically stretched-out sun pendant were proof that she was a Priest.
Sniff.
Sniff.
Ugh…!
The smell...
I have to make this quick...
She swept her gaze around until she finally spotted Felize, Torr and Gaze.
They locked eyes with her and she made a gesture with her head to go outside before turning around and leaving.
***
Outside Shirley's Tavern.
"Hi --"
"Not now, please. Just leave me alone," Vivian said sharply to a male Silver II Rank adventurer.
"Priestess?" a familiar voice called out.
Vivian turned and saw Felize and the 2 kids.
"You kids don't have any curfew, right? Like maybe your parents will look for you?"
They all looked at each other before returning their gaze back at her.
"No, we already asked permission."
"I see. Let's go somewhere else. If anyone asks you why you're with me, just tell them I'm hiring you guys for some Priest stuff. And if they ask what is it, tell them it's none of business. And if they persist, tell them to come to me and ask me straight to my face why is it their business."
When the kids nodded, she turned away and began walking.
A couple of minutes later, Vivian and the kids were walking in an affluent neighborhood.
Although Vivian's clothing was covered by her Priest attire and was carrying a poleaxe so she more or less didn't seem under-dressed, it was a different story for the kids that many people were looking at them.
In fact, they would've looked at them suspiciously had it not been for Vivian.
They arrived in front of an inn called Graham's Lodge House.
Judging from its appearance, it looked better compared to The Silver Wing Inn.
No, it was a couple of grades better.
Vivian entered and the kids followed closely behind her.
Inside the main hall, which was decorated with high-end furniture and architecture, Vivian didn't even bother to look at the staff as she confidently made her way to where her room was located.
Before going to Shirley's Tavern and looking for an inn where she could conduct the ceremony, one of the criteria she was looking for, well, two to be exact, in choosing a place: Firstly, the room should be on the first floor. And secondly, there should be a dedicated space where she can practice magic. The last thing she wanted to do was cause multiple holes on the floor and or on the ceiling.
In the end, she found this high-end inn and was able to rent a room on the first floor. Meanwhile, for the dedicated space where she can practice magic, this inn has special rooms that come with a huge slab of metal for practicing Magic Art. And as for the price of such rooms, it cost her 2 gold coins a night.
I just hope that what this inn says about secrecy is true…
***
"In case any of you are hungry, there's some over there," Vivian said and pointed at a tray on top of a table.
After renting a room here, she ordered some food before heading over to Shirley's Tavern to fetch the kids.
Vivian went to the side and placed her poleaxe. She then hung her cloak along with her other items such as a small sack and water pouch at another corner.
The kids looked around.
It was a beautifully decorated large room and divided into 3 sections: bedroom, bathroom and living room. Each room also had a glass window draped with beautiful and thick red curtains.
"And in case it's not enough, we can order some later. The food service in this inn is open 24 hours."
Although Vivian was a hard worker in her previous world, she also wasn't shy to spend -- of course, not unreasonably, just enough that one couldn't call her either an overspender or a minimalist.
As far as she knows, one has to spend money on themselves once in a while in order to inspire themselves or feel like a human being. It also serves as a great tool to boost one's social currency or status being seen in wearing expensive items and going to expensive places.
After all, humans are visual creatures.
To her, anyone who denies such truth is either blind or a liar.
Vivian carried a huge metal slab and placed it in the middle of the living room before sitting down.
The metal slab was square-shaped measuring 12 inches on each side and 3 inches thick. It also had a small half-ball-like stand on each side to make it stand like a table.
She turned to the girl adventurer.
"You. What was your name again?"
"Felize."
"Come here, let's continue where we left off."
Vivian turned to the 2 boys.
"The both of you, support her as usual."
The boys nodded and went over to Felize who already sat down in front of Vivian.
"Okay, let's begin…"
***
A couple of hours later…
The rays of the sun slipped through the windows.
[Heal].
A faint yellow light enveloped Felize's body, healing her wounds.
Vivian looked at Felize who was being supported by Gaze and Torr -- her face was a bit pale, her cheeks a bit sunken, she had dark and heavy eyebags under her eyes, her eyes looked like she was she trying to stay awake, and her body stank of dried sweat.
Speaking of the dried sweat, Vivian had limited mana. And based on her experiments, it took around 2 minutes to recover a single mana point.
Hmm...
Doesn't [Heal] also cure blood loss...?
Then how come her face is a bit pale...?
Maybe it doesn't completely recover all blood loss...?
Or maybe I have to cast multiple times...?
Or maybe that's only with [Greater Heal]...?
Or perhaps there's something I haven't considered…?
Although Vivian can't see herself, based on how she was feeling, she could tell she looked no different from Felize.
Yes, her stats were high, but not long ago she trained her Magic Arts for 4 days without eating and sleeping. And then after resting for one night, she hasn't slept for 2 nights in a row.
Meanwhile, for Felize, she was just your typical Copper I Rank adventurer, no different compared to the average person.
"We'll continue this later," said Vivian and then got up. "I have some important business to attend to."
Unfortunately, they haven't yet opened Felize's [Wind Mastery] and Vivian or anyone else in this room wasn't surprised.
Vivian was only a single person after all. Aside from the fact that she didn't have unlimited mana and it takes around 2 minutes to recover 1 mana point, unlike Vivian, Felize didn't have the x5 boost.
I seriously need to buy a magic item that boosts my mana recovery…
This is taking too much time…
But at least I was able to open [Lightning Mastery]…
With her x5 boost, after 20 shots, she managed to open it.
"The checkout time is noon time. You kids can stay here in the meantime."
Vivian went to the side to pick up her items before turning back to the kids.
"I'll order some breakfast for you kids before I leave. Also, we'll meet again later tonight."
Gaze and Torr looked at each other and then at Felize.
But after remembering Vivian's ruthlessness, they decided not to comment.
"Okay, thank you, Priestess," Gaze and Torr said.
"T-Thank you, Priestess…" Felize said weakly.
Vivian nodded before leaving.
***
Vivian was walking on the street and heading back to the compound where the members of the Temple of Priests live.
She wanted to go there before 7:30 a.m. so that she could take a bath and then join the feeding and teaching Holy Mission.
A couple of steps later, Vivian suddenly stopped and held the staff of her poleaxe with both hands, using it to support herself.
Her vision turned black.
"Shit…!" she cursed in a whisper.
She waited until her vision returned to normal and then shook her head before resumed walking.
As she was walking she saw something up ahead which caused her brows to knit together.
A couple of meters away, she saw her father dressed in a police uniform from her previous world and talking to her former childhood friend who was dressed in casual attire from her previous world as well and holding a plastic bottle of iced tea.
Vivian closed her eyes and then opened them.
Both her father and the woman disappeared.
Vivian rubbed her eyes.
When she put down her hands, all of a sudden, a 3-meter-tall skinless humanoid monster with long and sharp teeth and fingernails lunged over her from the side.
BRAAAK!
"AAAHHH!"
Vivian swung her poleaxe against the 3-meter-tall skinless humanoid monster out of reflex and it disappeared into a black smoke.
However, in the process, it also hit a mountain of wooden crates and a person.
When Vivian saw the person, it was a man in his early 20s laying on the street unconscious and severely injured -- he had a few broken bones that his left elbow was pointing in the opposite direction and a few ribs on his left side caved in.
She also noticed that she was standing in front of a shop.
"What's going on here?!" a male voice bellowed.