"So, this must be your haven." Ethan chatted with old man Elba while he waited around for the potions.

Before the trip, Clara told him to grab a couple of potions first so, he toured around the alchemy room while Mr Elba made potions for him.

"Yes, it is. But this isn't mine, actually. I am not the real potion-master. I make the potions while the master is away. I am still an adept."

"I see. What about your family? Your daughter and grandchild, are they here too?"

Ethan asked about the old man's family. He remembered the old man who went to the camp to search for gold for his sick family. When he talked about his family, the old man dropped his head and paused for a moment. Then, He took a deep breath, "They are dead. They died three days after I reached the Temple."

Ethan apologized and expressed his sorrow for the loss. The old man forced a smile and said it was fine, that he had already made peace with it. He explained that after he got the gold from Ethan, he went back to his family and together they travelled to Gambit urgently. When they reached the Temple, he donated the gold and an Ayeegyee came to examine them. Then, his benevolence prescribed a potion so they waited. After a while, they saw a servant carrying a tray of potions coming toward them. When he saw the oncoming medicine, he was relieved and could finally breathe. He made it, he told himself. It was a false hope.

Another servant, behind her was a man wearing a golden robe who seemed to be in urgent, interrupted the servant carrying the medicine for the old man's family. They chattered for a while, the servant handed over the medicine to the rich man. In exchange, the rich man gave a small bag to the servants in secrecy.

The old man complained about the immoral incident to his benevolence, hoping he would get justice. No son of God and the pupil of Mordu' would stand such indecency, he believed. What he got in return was, "that man and his family were true devotees. They have donated to the service of god far more than you imagine. Don't you think such a man and his family deserve the blessing from God, more than you? Wait for your turn. Don't be too greedy. Your turn will come soon, my son."

So, he waited for his turn. However, the potions never came. Later, he found out that those potions were the last stash to cure such illness. That night, both his daughter and newborn grandchild passed away one after another.

"After that day," said the old man Elba in a shaky voice, "my eyes were opened. That the Temple and its men were no sons of God. They are imposters. Because no son of God would do such a thing. Greed is the character of a man, not a god's." The old man said that after the incident, he chose to become a healer himself and met with a master. Through the connection, he joined the Revenant.

After hearing the old man's story, Ethan was more convinced that he was right; that Mordu' is an imposter.

Clara also accepted his assumption. She did not care if there was definite evidence or not. She needed a story she could give to the public to rally against Mordu', a seed of distrust. And Ethan gave her that.

"Raün is no mere Templer. He is a high Templer who is in the inner circle of the Temple. One of Mordu's executives." Clara briefed Ethan about the target while travelling. Dovos and Igüan came along with them. She continued, "During his days, he defeated a dozen of the king's guards alone. He is called the pet tiger of Mordu'."

"Don't worry. He is old now. Back when I was in the service, we called him old perverted tiger."

"Still, a tiger. Do not treat him lightly. We must kill him. We must succeed in this mission. One mistake and we might turn into his prey from hunters."

Clara told Ethan to be careful. She sensed that Ethan looked down on Raün and she was worried that things might go wrong. Raün is not just her revenge. This mission is very important for the organisation too.

Ethan looked at Clara and saw her worried face. So, he made fun of her. "You. You are scared of him. Aren't you?"

"What!? No."

"You are. I can see in your face."

"No. I am just being careful. And I want you to be the same. No. I need you to be the same."

"And I will be. You will get your revenge. I promise. So, you don't need to be too tense. Relax and save your energy."

Dovos watched them from behind and scoffed. He had travelled with Ethan for nearly a month and never did he hear him tell such things to Igüan or him.

"No, we can't relax. This is not a vacation trip. This is a mission. We need to be ready. You know what? Let's train at every dusk until we reach the destination." Clara suggested. The three men shared a glance. They hated the idea. They believed they had enough training.

After that executive meeting, they held a tournament to choose the best fighters among them who would be sent out on mission. Igüan joined them after the first week. Ethan, as expected by Clara, defeated all his opponents including Clara and won the tournament. Dovos and Igüan also exceptionally showed good performance against the other non-spell casters, securing their positions.

And so, the four of them were chosen to go after the high Templer. However, they were put under the toughest training before being sent out so that they were ready to face a high Templer. For over a month, they had to go intense training in the desert every day.

Under the scorching sun, they were told to meditate over the steamy sand. It is easy to calm your mind and focus on your body under a cool shade. It is a different matter to do so when both your mind and body are burning constantly. Achieve this and the chakra in your body will increase tenfold. Your fireball will become a meteor. Those were what Gura said. Except when asked if he trained the same, he told Dovos, "Well I am not the one chosen to fight a high Templer. I was never needed to train like so."

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The second course was a dual between them. They were shuffled so that everyone became familiar with each other's fighting styles.

In the third course, they were put together as a team and had to fight a group of ten, fifteen and twenty respectively as a simulation. Gura himself led those groups with two other spellcasters against Ethan's team.

Dovos remembered that none of them could lift their arms for two days as their muscles became sore and their bodies ached.

"Did I hear it right? Is she suggesting we train like that again?" Dovos asked Ethan in protest to Clara.

"Yes, I am." Clara stood her ground. "This isn't a joke, you fat belly. This is a high Templer. We can't even defeat Ethan and he is a mere Templer. Think about how strong a high Templer could be."

Although they hated to admit it, Clara made a point. In the end, they agreed to train. "But we need two days rest before the fight or we won't be able to lift our weapons during the fight."

And so, they travelled at day and trained at night as they crossed the western part of the kingdom toward Norg. Their intel reported that Raün was sighted at a small village near Norland.

After two days, they reached the bridge connecting the Sousa and Westex over the Irra River. They saw the bridge was blocked by a group of soldiers bearing the banner of House Schneider of Westex. They saw a group of travellers being stopped and searched. While the men were searched quickly, the women were taken advantage of by being groped publicly under the pretence of security.

"Halt! By the order of Viscount Davis, every commuter must comply with the search."

Three soldiers came forward to search while a line of soldiers formed a wall of spears. They threw the bags down to the ground without a single care that it might break something inside. Igüan, inexperienced to such rude behaviour, attempted to tell them off but Dovos stopped him. The soldiers cut the bag open and flipped it upside down, dropping everything on the ground including the clothes.

One of the soldiers went to Clara and ordered her to spread her arms and legs with ill intent. Before he touched Clara, another soldier came forward and yelled at the earlier soldier to search Igüan.

"Hey, bastard! Go to the one with the shield. I will search her myself." The man in shiny armour ordered. Since his captain ordered him, the man switched to Igüan. "Is this shield made of wood? Look at its shape. After all these years and you northerners still carry this useless heavy load?" He saw Igüan's unusual shield and made fun of it. Many flatlanders still perceived mountain tribes as uncultured swine.

"My apologies, Miss. These pumpkins don't know how to treat a lady. May I know your name?" The captain asked Clara.

"Paula Clause," Clara answered. It is the name of a lady from Crown City. Paula was an unfortunate girl, stricken by an unknown sickness since birth, so she was never able to go outside of Crown City. Clara had only seen the girl once at the king's court during the coronation ceremony of her brother Louis. Clara uses the girl's name because she is sure that the guards in Westex will never meet with the real Paula. She didn't use 'Clara' because a single woman travelling with three men would be suspicious unless she was the daughter of a lord and the men were her bodyguards.

"Ah! A fair lady from Crown City. May I ask your reason for travel?" The guard captain asked while his hands approached Clara's body.

"Business trip. In case you don't know, my family runs an iron mine in Midlake and most of it is supplied to Westex. My father, Lord Pine Clause, knows many commanders of Westex personally." Clara lied.

After hearing her, he withdrew his naughty hands and let her pass. "Hey, let them go. Don't make a lady wait too long."

Thanks to Clara's trick, they successfully crossed the bridge without any trouble. They were caught off guard since the bridge was behind a small hill after a curved road. They didn't have time to hide their coins properly.

"Damn. We were nearly busted. Is it already this season again? Didn't notice that because of the desert." Dovos complained while hiding his coin in a more secure place.

"What season?" Igüan asked. Since it was his first time in low land, he had no knowledge.

Every year during the winter, Claudians who are the nemesis of Midland always cross the river and raid the villages in Westex. Some detachment went further into the kingdom, pretending as travellers to gather intel on midland. Because of this, the guards are usually placed on all the bridges and ordered to inspect all commuters.

"Yes. It is that season again. And this year may be harsher. The atmosphere in Claudia isn't good." Clara added. "We must end this mission quickly and leave Westex fast or we might be stuck here."

They galloped day and night to the village where Raün was sighted. By the fourth day, they reached the village. And just as their intel said, Raün was there.

"Please. Please, sir Raün. My daughter only turns of age this year. She is still far away from being married." A villager begged a middle-aged man with a big fan. The father's face was full of bruises. He begged the man to let go of his daughter.

Raün smirked with satisfaction. "Does it matter? She is of age, right? She will get married one day and have to undergo a ceremony of service. So, why not serve the god earlier." Raün told the father of the girl. He signalled his men to take the girl into a room. The girl rigourously fought back but she was no match against the big warriors. A man slapped her hard to quiet her down. It angered the Templer.

"Hey! Don't damage my toy or I will cut that hand myself.", Raün warned the man then returned to her father.

"You should be honoured, Mr. Father. Your girl got to serve the Great Templer Raün, the tiger of Temple. Don't worry so much. I know how to handle a woman." Raün licked the girl's neck and entered the room.