Having accepted the invitation, Artanis was led by Alasdair into the room where the ceremony would be held. There she was greeted by Curtana, who for some reason, looked to be prettier than what she remembered her to be. Being dragged by Curtana by the arm, Artanis was made to sit next to her at the second row before the altar. Atarnis thought of asking her about her clothes, but the ceremony started, before she could do so.
“Good evening, brothers, and sisters. Today, we are here to witness, the oath of Hazael and Erastus. They are here to swear devotion to the gods, to dedicate their lives to protect the weak, to vanquish the evil on the land! Now Hazael, before us, and more importantly, the gods, let your words be heard.” Said Hovannes, who now wore a rather expensive looking robe, grander that any she had seem in the church, having finished his speech, one of the two men who were bowing before him and the altar, rose from the floor, and spoke in a loud and clear tone.
“I, Hazel Kinnaird, swear, that I will always protect the weak, speak the truth, and be loyal to the gods!” He said, kneeling before Hovannes soon after.
“I Hovannes Sonnen, with the blessings of Tyr, dub thee as Sir Hazel Kinnaird, knight of Tyr.” Said Hovannes, as he touched the knelling man’s shoulders, with the flat end of the silver long sword, soon after that, the man was bathed in a golden light, and everyone in the room applauded him. He bowed, and returned to the side of the other aspiring paladin, who repeated the actions of the man before him, and soon the ceremony ended.
Having witnessed a religious ceremony, your faith increased!
Faith permanently been increased by 1
After the ceremony had ended, everyone in the church went to sleep. Artanis was invited by Curtana, to sleep on her room, and she her best to refuse, but Curtana, kept insisting not letting go off her hands. But Alasdair had already arranged a room for her, saving her for Curtana's advances, once inside the room given to her, she locked the door, and soon after laying on the bed, she slept. During that night, she had a nightmare about her and Curtana, who had invaded her room as she slept, and tired her to the bed. The rest of the dream is better off, not being said.
Having woken up, Artanis asked the first person she saw about where she could take a bath. The female priest, took her to a bathhouse, as big as a small pool. There she took a long bath, rising off the sweat and cleaning her body. After the calming bath, in which she was the only person inside, she dressed herself and left towards the kitchen.
“Have you slept well?” Alasdair asked, seeing Artanis, who had just entered the church’s dining room.
Artanis sighs. “No, I had an awful nightmare.” She said, before sitting on the bench near his table.
“A nightmare, it has been a while since I had one. How was it?” Alasdair asked, curious about its contents.
“That is private…” Said Artanis, before taking a loaf of bread from the table and biting into it. Alasdair could have tried harder to obtain such information, but her eyes showed him, it would be a stupid idea to do so, so he continued eating his meal.
Both continued to eat in silence, from the plentiful breakfast served by the church’s chefs. Artanis enjoyed her meal, perhaps she enjoyed it too much, as Alasdair looked at her, she devoured enough food to feed two men.
Having eaten, she went back to the room she was lent and from there she took her belongings and went to search for Curtana, and as she guessed, Curtana was in the armory talking to the swords, but that did not surprise Artanis, as she had the opinion that Curtana was a somewhat, insane person.
“Good morning Curtana. Can you tell me where my clothes are?” Artanis asked, surprising the petite guard as she did not notice someone had entered the room.
“Good morning, Arty!” She said smiling, as if all she had done before was not enough, she now had given her a nickname.
“About that… I threw them out.” She said, trying to avoid eye contact with Artanis.
“You did what?!” Artanis screamed, hoping that perhaps, she had heard wrong.
“Please, don’t get mad Arty. You can keep that robe you’re wearing.” Said Curtana, smiling. It was not a bad deal, trading an ugly, dusty newbie clothes for a simple yet beautiful robe.
“If that’s the case, I will. But, it is a bit small for me.” The robe, which on her looked like a white evening gown, was form fitting. It was tight enough to show her plentiful curves, but not enough to restrain her movements.
“I think it looks great on you.” Said Curtana, smiling.
“Well… yeah,” Artanis mumbled, as it at least looked better than her old, newbie clothing.
“It would be such a waste for you to wear something ugly, if I had such a beautiful body I…” Said Curtana, at that moment Artanis felt as if an old perverted man were staring at her, such were the impression she had of Curtana. The fact the guard’s cheeks were blushing, only added to it.
Leaving Curtana to her delusions, Artanis went back to her room. There she started to pack her belongings, as she planned to go back to deliver the leathers to Aramis as soon as possible. Then she received a message from the guild chat channel.
“Hey Artanis, how are your preparations for the trip?” Asked Edward, who had recently logged in the game after waking up. Soon he was followed by his older brother.
“Good morning, guild, your glorious leader is now awake!” Screamed Edmund, as soon as he logged in the game, everyone who was online greeted or mocked him, sometimes both.
“Edward, preparations for what trip?” Asked Artanis, sitting on the bed of the her room.
“Arkmek’s tomb, you are not going with us?” He asked.
“But… what about my level?” She thought that a level three avatar would be useless in an ancient tomb.
“Hahaha, it does not matter, just stand in the back, and let us protect you.” Said Edmund. Everyone agreed, since she was responsible for finding the dungeon, she should be in the exploration group no matter what.
“Ok, I will work on it. Since it is a tomb, there will be undead, right?” She said, as she was at the perfect location to learn how to hunt them.
“I suppose so, why? Are you scared?” Asked Cheonjiwang, as he shoots an arrow in a goblin’s skull, on the forest he currently was. In fact, everyone, aside from Edward and Artanis were hunting monsters, as Artanis still were in the newbie protection period, she could not leave the city to hunt, as for Edward, he decided to read all he could from the magic guild achieve.
“No, I am at the church of Tyr, so I thought I would ask them for some tips.” Answered Artanis, who had finished, packing, all of her belongings.
Stolen story; please report.
“Tyr?!” Edmund screamed, surprising everyone in the chat.
“Yeah, I’ve slept here.” She said, wondering why he was so surprised, about the mention of Tyr.
“Did you join it?” He asked.
“No, I just worked for them.” She answered.
“Oh, good, I thought you managed, to steal it away, from me.” Edmund said, his voice now serene.
“Steal what?” Asked Artanis, curious, as she did could not imagine what he meant.
“My brother wants to become, the first player to join, the church of Tyr.” Said Edward, his voice sounded as if he were mocking his older brother. A few laughs could be heard from the chat.
They explained to her, that most players did not manage to join a church, so far. Only the church of Freya, and the church of Odin, had players in them. It made sense, as on the last night’s ceremony, it was obvious that the knights were NPCs, from the way they behaved. Either that, or they are professional medieval actors.
Finishing her chat with the guild she left the room heading towards Alasdair’s office. On her way, she made sure to inspect every piece of art she could find, and by doing so, when she reached his office she had already increased both her art and faith by thirteen points each.
Opening its door, she saw both him and Hovannes talking, the two noticing her presence changed the subject of their conversation, Hovannes soon left the room, and Alasdair asked what she needed.
“Good morning, Artanis, how can we help you?” He said, putting away some of the documents from the pile of papers on his table.
“I was wondering, could you teach me how to fight the undead?” She asked, hopping that her charisma, reputation and familiarity, would be enough to achieve what she wanted.
“Are you asking to join our order?” He asked, smiling.
“Well…” Mumbled Artanis, she had just gotten a hidden class, and if possible, she wanted to stay on it for a while, noticing her worried face, he spoke.
“I am just kidding. I know you walk the path of a smith, but perhaps I can help you.” Said Alasdair, leaving his chair, and heading towards a bookshelf, after a brief search, he grabbed a book and smiled, walking towards Artanis with a thick white leather book at his hands.
“I am sure this book will help you, as it did for me in the past. Read it and take its teachings into your heart and with it you shall never again fear the darkness.” Alasdair said before giving her the white leather book, on its cover was a large tree filled with golden leaves. Unable to hold back her curiosity, she opened the book to a random page and read a few of its words.
“Eir aid shall give, For those who with faith call. Mending their flesh and bones. For within her holy hands, they shall not fall.” She mumbled as she read the poem written on the white book, Alasdair smiled seeing her interest in the sacred scriptures.
Faith has permantenly been increased by 1
You have learned the spell: Healing Hands.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Healing HandsBasic10%By channeling holy energy through your hands, wounds are healed mending bone and flesh. Its holy nature can harm those aligned with darkness. If words of faith are uttered during its activation, its power will be increased.
Recovers ((WIS + FTH / 2) + (Skill Level as %) x (Number Hands on target)) health each second to the target of your touch.
Each layer of clothing or armor on the targeted area decreases the effectivity of this spell by 20%
Costs 30 mana per second of use, this cost is decreased by 1 every two skill levels.
“Every member of this church is required to read that book, I hope you will enjoy it.” He said, returning to his comfortable chair and reading some of the documents on his table.
“Thank you Sir Alasdair.” She said, closing the book.
“Don't mention it, I hope you will assist this church in the future. Perhaps even join it someday. I am sure Curtana would like that.” Said Alasdair smiling, as if he did not know what Artanis thought about her, or perhaps he did, and hoped she would change her mind.
Having received what she wanted, she went back to her room and grabbed her things. Planning to leave the church she took the keys to the room room and searched for someone to give them to, and for some reason the first person she found was exactly who she wanted to avoid.
“Hi Arty where are you going?” Asked Curtana who suddenly appeared, tightly hugging Artanis from behind.
“I am leaving the church today.” Was Artanis’ answer, one she soon regretted giving, as Curtana hugged her even tighter and started to throw a tantrum.
“What is the problem Curtana?” Asked Alasdair, who had been informed about Curtana’s actions.
“Arty said she is leaving!” Curtana said, before squeezing Artanis tighter decreasing her health during the process.
“I see, and what else?” Alasdair asked, amused.
“She insists on following me.” Answered Artanis, trying to get rid of her hold surprised how strong the petite girl was.
“You can’t Curtana you know very well that you cannot leave this church.” He said making Artanis glad, but curious about why she could not leave.
“But…” Said Curtana, her face seemed like the one of a child that learned their puppy had died.
“I am sure Artanis will visit us again, that is if you behave.” Said Alasdair, making her look at Artanis, who nodded. Having promised to visit the church again, she left for the merchant guild. On her pocket was the church’s room key, which they insisted for her to keep.
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