Father Vincent was stunned upon learning that Mir had given away his sacred ground license to Murray. The gaze with which he looked at Mir could only be called grandfatherly affection. Placing a hand on Mir's shoulders, he said in an emotional voice, "Mir, my boy, I wish sons like you were growing up in every household. We might have conquered the planet's surface if humans were so selfless."
Mir decided not to point out that as an ordinary commoner human, his chances of earning anything from the sacred ground was abysmal, not to mention the risk it involved. Even if a commoner like him managed to kill a mutant creature or two, he would not be able to feed on the meat to become a mutant himself since he didn't have a corresponding energy refinement technique.
"As a trainee, Murray gets a single-use license allotted to his name each month. Since he joined only a couple of weeks ago, his allotment isn't available yet. I was just considering whether to lend him mine, but this just fixes everything!" the old priest said, sounding even more excited than Mir and Murray were. "Murray! Have you been training your mutant ability like I told you to?"
"Yes, father," Murray said. Mir could attest to it, as he himself had devised a large share of Murray's training regime.
"Then it's time to put that training to use. Let's see how effectively you've been utilizing your mutation. We'll head out in half an hour. Wait for me to finish up the work here." He guided them to a waiting room outside the main building and left in a hurry.
Priest Vincent was a busy man. But the brothers didn't think it was safe to leave the city by themselves at the moment. So being accompanied by him to the sacred ground was their safest choice.
Unfortunately, the old man came back half an hour later looking the angriest Mir had ever seen him. His entire face was red, and the sound of footsteps he was making as he barged into the waiting room were heavy, almost painfully so. The other visitors looked at him in concern when he passed by them, coming to a lethargic halt in front of Murray.
"I have been entrusted with a... difficult job. It seems that I cannot take you to the sacred ground. Rather, it has been proposed that you be transported there with a batch of other trainees. The journey is scheduled an hour from now. I can only see you off from the gates."
His hoarse, dry tone made it clear that the arrangement was out of his hands. The emphasis on 'It has been proposed' was enough of a hint.
"I want to take my brother with me," Murray said. "He won't enter the sacred ground. Someone has to stay outside and look after my possessions."
Priest Vincent nodded after a moment. "That, I can arrange for. But be warned. It isn't a coincidence that I get assigned for something so serious right when it is time to take my recruits to let them earn some resources."
"This isn't the first time it happened?" Mir asked, getting the easy hint. Father Vincent shook his head. "Happens very regularly these days, but as I haven't recruited new members in a while, I never realized how severe it has gotten before today. Most members of our Shadowheart Faction have been facing difficulties in dealing with the Church's administration. We've complained to the higher management, but I guess they've turned a blind eye to the trend."
"The lack of your presence couldn't be the only obstacle prepared to make my brother stumble, then," Mir said, getting up from his seat slowly. Disorderly thoughts and rudimentary ideas began to spew out of the darkest part of his mind, the part that encapsulated his most extreme self. He visualized how else the enemy could stop Murray's progress, how they could counter those moves, and how they could make the enemy pay in tears, sweat, and blood-
He stopped letting his thoughts flow so radically. The stakes of the situation had not reached such serious intensity. Rationality had to be maintained while making decisions right now, taking utmost care to not trigger something they couldn't control.
"You're probably right," Father Vincent said despondently. "The team of recruits you'll join on your way to the sacred ground are a little older than you. Many of them have several mutant abilities, and a select few probably rear soulbeasts too. None of them are members of our Shadowheart Faction, not even the priest appointed to oversee the transportation. Prepare to face some difficulties, children. I'm sorry that it turned out this way, I really am."
Murray patted the old man's shoulder with obviously faked confidence, smiling widely as he said, "It's a simple journey. What can they do? I've faced plenty of bullies during my ten months of imprisonment. Even the reason I was sentenced for is teaching a lesson to a bunch of self-assured bastards who thought they were untouchable. Don't worry about us in that scenario at least, old man."
The priest looked on with frustration and fury simmering in his eyes as Murray slung the backpack behind him and headed out of the waiting room with Mir in tow.
"Wait," he suddenly called from behind, his tone now more determined. "Take some... supplies with you, just in case. Don't show them off unless the situation demands it."
Half an hour later, Murray came out of the main building of the Church carrying a bigger bag. Mir stuck behind him, head held down as he adjusted the sunglasses above his half-masked face. There was an armored bus waiting outside the gates, and several young men and women wearing deacon uniforms were standing in front of it, looking rather lively in their conversations. Murray whispered under his breath, "The first method of dealing with an opponent is to make yourself less of a target. Let's try sneaking past them into the bus."
"You don't have to act like some battle-hardened thug," Mir commented from behind.
"I'm trying to impart my vast knowledge and experience to you, little brother. Why act so ungrateful?" Murray said, sounding hurt. "How would you fare without any experience if you had to go to jail too? It's not a pleasant place, I'm warning you!"
"This might shock you, but I don't plan on going to jail, at all." Mir said, shoving Murray forward. Having reached quite close to the bus, Murray stopped messing around and quietly headed for the door of the bus, pretending to not see the senior recruits standing right beside it. Mir observed their reactions through his glasses freely. Almost every pair of eyes in the vicinity flickered once or twice at them as the two brothers boarded the bus. Some stayed on Mir longer than Murray, suspicious at his secretive attire. But nobody raised a fuss, or even verbally acknowledged their existence.
However, the moment they stepped inside, a towering figure blocked their path. This was a stout middle-aged man in a priest's garb. His eyes were drawn first to Murray, scanning him from head to toe, and then his gaze froze on Mir's covered face.
"You're not a member of our Church, are you? Has Priest Vincent started taking bribes now? Tsk, tsk..." His deep voice was loud enough to attract every trainee deacon inside and outside the bus. Dozens of gazes converged on Mir this time, radiating curiosity, suspicion, and quite a bit of malice.
Mir prodded Murray openly with his elbow, wondering in a loud, nasal voice. "Buddy, I didn't know your Church was so heavily, antagonistically factionalized. These guys don't really hesitate to slander each other at the drop of a hat, huh? Unlike what you told me, Sunbreaker's Church doesn't seem like an ideal organization to join as a Transcender."