The next cycle, as the two squad members had finished breakfast and were preparing to go hunt again, someone knocked at the door. Metello was greatly surprised. Only one person came to his mind.

“Do you think it's Maria ?”

Jeffrey shrugged.

The Lux follower opened the door to discover a pretty golden-robed young woman. Her red hair was artistically braided with golden and black ribbons. Her robe was very elaborate too, unlike those of Mrs. Richardson or Nihil's [Priests], the only ones he had seen closely. She eyed Metello, then Jeffrey, before looking back to the black-haired young man. She introduced herself with a judging face.

“Hello, I am Roberta. I am a [Priestess] of the temple of Lux. Would you be Metello ?”

Metello nodded slowly, being on his guard. His interactions with other Lux followers had not been his best memories. What the woman said next made him even more suspicious.

“Head [Miracle Maker] Spencer of Lux requests your presence from the 8th bell onward to speak about the duty of the followers of Lux not to tarnish the position of the Pretty Goddess.”

“Is it necessary ?”

“If you want to follow our Mighty and Pretty Lux, you should. Now that you've been informed, I will return to Her temple. See you later.”

As he closed the door, Metello was confused. He didn't know what to do. He quickly decided to run to the orphanage with Jeffrey to talk to his counselor about matters of gods and goddesses, Mrs Richardson. He had only an hour to decide himself.

What the old lady told Metello was reassuring.

“It's true that some of the temples' heads want to see all the followers of their god so they can control the image of their temple and god. Lux's [Miracle Maker] is one of this kind. I don't think it's a sort of trap. You should go and see what she has to say. Know that she can't obligate you about anything.” Eyeing him a bit, she added. “I think you should put your ceremony clothes on to go there. Lux temple is a bit fussy about appearances. They don't fancy modest wear, and your leather armor is not the kind to give you strong points in this regard.”

Another question was bugging Metello.

“And she is a [Miracle Maker]? An epic class ?”

“Oh, you haven't seen epic tier class holder yet? Yes, most of the temple heads are [Miracle Maker]. Only Nihil's and Vegeta's heads are [High Priests]. Now, be quick. You'll be late.”

“Thanks.”

After thanking her, he went back quickly and suited up. He wore his a bit above cheap gray leather pants and white woolen shirt. As his kidnappers had stolen his best hat, he wore a cheap leather hat. The 8th bell was coming closer, so he went out. Then, he locked the door. Jeffrey had gone out a few moments before, and they agreed to meet at the House after his meeting.

The [Lux Acolyte] walked through the poor market district and the rich market district before reaching Gods Square for the second time in his life. Metello looked around a bit, finding the square much less crowded than the last time. As he went toward the Lux temple, he kept his eyes well open for the other temples too. The horde of [Guards] preventing people from getting too close to the temples was not there this time, so he passed by Petrus's and Aqua's temples, slowing a bit to admire the statues under the wary eyes of the remaining and far less numerous temple [Guards].

The first he came by was the sculpture of Petrus, made of brownish metal. It represented a full-armored man, with an iron helm, a full plate mail, and iron battle boots. He held high a sword from which blood was dripping, a metal shield in the other hand for protection. He had some hatchets and a knife tied to his belt. From under his full-face helm, a long hair flowed above the armor. Product of his battle prowess, two armored human bodies were lying lifeless at his feet. It represented well Petrus, the god of war, mountains, protection, and [Warriors].

When Metello came across Aqua's temple, he noticed the statue was very different. The goddess sculpture was made of bluish-gray metal and depicted a lightly dressed dancing woman. Her silvery blue long hair was falling on her bare shoulders, while her beautiful thin face sported a big smile. To be able to raise her leg higher, she held a trident she leaned on. In her other hand, she had what had presumably caused her bright smile, a big fat mug of beer. She wasn't dancing some fancy dance but more of a party dance. The last noticeable element of the statue was the large purse tied to her belt. To embellish the work of art, two fountains surrounded the goddess sculpture. The representation of Aqua, goddess of parties, trade, sea, and [Merchants] had a much different vibe from the military Petrus statue.

Then, he arrived at the Lux temple. The Petrus and Aqua's temples had a splendid statue of their god each to welcome visitors, but Lux, the goddess of beauty and [Artists] needed to show more. Metello could now see the three golden metal statues he wanted to observe the last time. He found them splendid.

The left one depicted his goddess holding a long spear and fighting a huge white skeleton. On the right, Lux had a rapier at her belt and was sitting on a nice chair, painting the landscape in a calm mood. In the middle, the last statue showed the goddess standing simply. Her broad falling clothes were draped on her with a long veil covering her whole, exposing her divine golden beauty.

She was dressed in three very different and elegant outfits and sported three different hairstyles, simple for the middle one or sophisticated for the painter. Even the leather armor she wore while piercing the undead head was decorated with carved floral motifs and flying ribbons. Metello couldn't hold the thought that the first claw strike on the leather would destroy it, but it was not the point.

As he was standing, staring at the statues in the front, observing the details of the painting goddess, his small reverie was interrupted by a [Guard].

“What are you doing here brat? If you don't have business here, go away please.”

“Oh, sorry, sir. I couldn't help but admire these statues. I have some business here. A [Priestess] told me this morning that the head [Miracle Maker] requested to see me.”

With a chuckle, the guard replied. “And what business can some snotty kid as you can have with one of the two more important people of the temple ?”

Behind them, through one of the two opened doors, the redhead woman from earlier answered for him.

“He is a Lux [Acolyte], and he told the truth.” She then spoke to Metello. “Come up the stairs. I will guide you to the head [Miracle Maker].”

The [Guards] reluctantly let Metello pass them, and the [Priestess] invited him to follow her into the temple proper.

Once inside, he couldn't help but stop. The first hall of the temple was magnificent and full of light. Metello's eyes didn't know where to look, but his mouth had the decency to go agape to show proper respect to this beautiful scenery. The first thing he saw was the crowd of statues that populated the space. If the sculptures from the front had been about 3 meters tall, there were only three of them. Inside the temple's hall, dozens of Lux's statues made of stone, wood, or metal were placed to form artistic corridors toward the different doors.

Then, what shocked him was how luminous the hall was. Looking up, he could see that the ceiling was made of very costly glass to let the light in. On the top of the walls, mirrors reflected the outside light in all directions to make sure people could admire the art pieces.

Understanding better how the room was so luminous, he looked back at eye level to see the walls who were covered with tens of paintings of the goddess. There were large ones and tiny ones. He was too far from them to see the details, but he was sure they were all perfectly carried out.

Metello was speechless. That's when he felt divine energy flowing into his body to set into his head, the sign of the bestowing of a blessing.

“Let's go forward, please. You'll be able to look at the art later.”

Metello directed his gaze to the [Priestess] he had forgotten about.

“Yes, sorry.”

“It's not serious. Every person who comes into the temple for the first time reacts like that. It's just that I don't want to make the head [Miracle Maker] wait.”

Metello's feet reluctantly started to move to follow the woman on the red embroidered carpet, but he let his eyes wander a bit more. He hadn't noticed yet, but he could count seven people examining the details of these works of art. Some wore Lux's robe, but not all of them. Most of them were looking at him as he disturbed the silence of the big room. What he saw in their eyes were the ugliest things of the hall: mockery, disgust, and rage depending on the person. Metello could even recognize one of the enraged Lux followers. It was the one who ambushed him. He quickly averted his eyes to look at the splendid statues again.

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“To the left, there is a sculpting room, and to the right is a drawing and painting room. In the front are the library, the performing arts room, the other art rooms, the offices, and the guest rooms.”

Metello nodded, interested in the drawing and painting room. He followed. She led him through the front corridor to a small room where she offered him to sit on a fancy chair. It was so pretty made that he hesitated. The wooden parts were elegantly curved and all neatly carved with suns and flowers, while the seat was covered with a golden and black cloth that dangled on the sides. Being pressed a bit by the young woman, he complied.

“I will come to get you in a bit. Please wait here meanwhile.”

For a few minutes, Metello could admire as much the refined furniture as the tapestries or the graphite sketches fixed on the walls. Here, the subjects were more various than in the main hall. There were mainly landscapes, animals, and people, but no goddess.

The same young [Priestess] came and got him to lead him through the meticulously carved double door toward the head [Miracle Maker]. Despite her visible old age, she exuded an atmosphere of sophisticated and mature beauty. She was wearing a nicely embroidered white and golden robe, and a long necklace not too different from the one the Nihil's head priest wore. Her hairstyle was fancy too, with many carved sticks in it to maintain what could only be called a hair sculpture.

As for the room, the ceiling was still made of clear glass while the walls were covered with colorful frescoes of the Goddess of light.

As the head [Miracle Maker]'s eyes locked on him with a bit of disdain, she spoke, sitting in her armchair.

“I've been told that you seemed to appreciate the exposed art pieces. I'm positively surprised. It's rare for poor people to have this capacity, even more for orphans. People like you are more often mindless brutes. Perhaps there is hope for you to become an almost proper Lux follower.”

Metello didn't know what to say. He went for a half-convinced thank you as he didn't know if it was a compliment or an insult.

“First, I would like you to speak about our Pretty Goddess, Lux. You never came here to learn about Her, so I don't know what you know about our Goddess and why you chose Her.”

As he hesitated, the old lady made a gesture towards him to urge him to answer. Metello finally mumbled first, then spoke a bit louder.

“Lux is the goddess of light, of beauty, and the fight against the monsters. She uses the rapier and the spear. Her color is gold, and her favorite basic class is [Artist]. I don't know much more about her, but I think she was the best fit for me.”

She still wore a look of contempt when she replied.

“All you said was right, even if it was pretty basic knowledge about our Goddess. It's not that bad. Why did you think it was the best fit for you as a goddess ?”

Metello hesitated, not knowing if his reasons were good enough for the higher ranking Lux follower of the city. He opted to stay honest as he didn't know what to say otherwise.

“I wanted to be a monster hunter and was hesitating between Lux, Calor, and Fulgur at first, but I felt Lux offered more various uses. I enjoyed a lot playing with the Prayer to Lux too.”

“Right. What is beauty to you ?”

Metello was taken aback by this question. He thought a bit before answering. “I don't know.”

There was then some more silence. As he looked at the head [Miracle Maker]'s face, Metello knew it was not a satisfactory reply. Before she could talk back, he added without much thinking.

“But, I think that's what creates good emotions when you look at it, maybe...”

The head priest was a bit surprised.

“That's a pretty good way to think of it actually. But I don't like your reasons too much for choosing our Goddess. She may be overseeing monster hunting, or more strictly speaking war against Nox and her Everlasting Night, but her primary attribute is beauty. You seem to understand and appreciate the beauty a little, but do you have some bit of artistic spirit? And what did you mean when you said you were “playing” with Her prayer ?”

A bit more confident, Metello answered.

“I have Graphic arts and Light artist blessings. The second one, I got it while doing what I call playing with the Prayer to Lux.”

Interested, her disdain look had fallen. She leaned forward a bit.

“Could you show us ?”

“Yes, I could. But I would need a room with no light. Are there some shutters ?”

She chuckled a bit.

“There are no shutters to prevent light to enter the light's goddess temple boy. But, I could temporarily reflect the outside brightness. It would make the room dimer.”

She did as she said, and they were in a now almost dark room.

“Is it good enough for you ?”

“Very good, madam. Thanks.”

“Go on then.”

Then, he went to make his show. It was better than the one he made at the orphanage. As he saw the old woman looking straight at his Lucco, which constantly changed its color and its shape, he told them to look at the walls and ceilings while going on. He watched it himself and saw that the mirrors at the top of the walls allowed him to do new things. He focused on the mirrored areas and created new forms he couldn't before. After five minutes of changing color and moving light, he was told to stop.

“It's a bit shabby and not well refined, but very original. It seems a bit like shadow play but without recognizable shapes or a story but with colors. I never saw something like that. Roberta, could you search the archives for mentions about something approaching that...performance after sending him out ?”

The young [Priestess] nodded, and the head of the temple added with a sharp look.

“You're really a surprising person Mr. Black-haired. Unlike what Mr. Moore told me, I think you can become a passable Lux follower. As we lack a bit in the war against Nox kind of follower, I think Lux will be pleased with you.”

“That said, the main reason I called you here was to tell you about the standards to respect as a Lux follower. As you follow the Beauty Goddess, you can't walk the streets in shabby leather armor and hat as I've been told you were. These you're wearing now are almost passable but not good enough. As I accept you as a Lux Follower, we'll give you some simple [Acolyte] robe. Keep it in good condition. You'll wear your leather armor only when it is needed for you. What I mean is that you don't need armor when you are walking in the streets.”

She added with disgust.

“As well, we can't let a [Lux Acolyte] live in a filthy room in the grubby poor residential district. We have prepared a simple room housing for you in the middle residential district. It's not the best, but it will still be much better. We paid for the first month, you have to be able to keep it for the next month too. Do you understand ?”

Yes, he understood. He understood that it had been some new scheme from the wealthy [Merchant] to make his life harder. He understood that he and his fellow poor people from the orphanage were being looked down on for where they lived and which clothes they wore. It was true that beauty was not something you meet with every cycle in the poor districts, but it was not because people didn't like fancy clothes or well-built houses. It was because they couldn't afford it.

Even so, Metello agreed. He didn't feel he really had a choice and was pretty happy if he could walk the street in fancy clothes.

“Fine. Roberta will lead you to your new housing and will tell you about what the temple can offer you while walking. Above all, from now on, I want you to keep in mind that you follow the Goddess of beauty. You have to act accordingly. You can go now.”