“And done!” I said. Well, that was boring. At least it was easy to fill out.

“Good, once you turn it in, you can try on the robes.” Cardinal Caitlyn informed me. She has been politely waiting for me this entire time.

“Just, in that room?” I asked.

“Yes. We never made a specific room for the robes as they are only ever meant to be stored there temporarily. Afterwards, you’d either wear them or store them normally.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” If only minorly. I presumed this was sort of a big deal, but whatever. Actually, the main reason is probably that you’d have to construct a specific room for that, which would mess with the history of the building or something.

…Or the fact that one guy tried on the robes hundreds of times before succeeding…

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone else enter.” She promised as I handed the priestess my request form. She then gave me the key to the case. Ah, so that’s why I needed to ask for permission.

“Let’s go then.”

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at the room. And, after making sure there wasn’t anyone in the room, I prepared to equip the robes.

“Good luck.” Cardinal Caitlyn blessed as she left.

“Haa, okay,” I said as I unlocked the case. While the security seems, well, relatively light, the robes are actually restricted by the barrier. So, the only way to take them from the temple is for me to permit them to leave.

Huh, that might be a problem.

“Whatever, I need to actually be able to wear them for that to even begin to become a problem,” I say as I open the case.

“Ah!” I muttered in awe. I, I can feel the bond, alright.

Hmm, I can see this getting annoying. I want to put the robes on. Like, really want to. It’s almost scary what I’m feeling, especially as I actually feel incomplete now. Like I’m missing a part of me.

A part that happens to be ‘calling out’ to me, desiring to be put on. I, well, didn’t exactly like that feeling, so I closed the case.

“Haa, that’s really not what I expected. I thought it would feel more like a friend or something, not this!” Haa, at least now I know why the feeling felt so odd.

Haa, well, let’s put on the robes. I mean, that might be right, my blessing might actually be incomplete. It would explain that feeling, at least. Well, ‘only one way to find out,’ I think as I reopen the case.

“Okay, let’s do this,” I say as I take the robes off of the mannequin.

Huh, they are surprisingly clean. Like… freshly washed clean. That’s nice, I’d prefer not to wear dusty clothes, after all.

Okay, that’s enough stalling. I nervously took off my robes before quickly putting on the saintess robes.

“Huh, I thought there would have been some sort of challenge to actually putting these on,” I muttered. Well, they feel quite nice and quite easy to move in. It’s almost like they were made for me.

“Wait!” That’s extremely strange. Why would they fit perfectly? I can guarantee that several previous saintesses had drastically different physiques than me, not to mention how perfect these feel. Were they fitted? No. I've never been super properly measured, much less recent enough to make something fit this well!

“How?” How is this possible!? Did it adapt to my form or something?

Oh, that’s probably why. Huh, as expected of a Divine artifact! It adjusts its form to fit the user, nice!

Well, that’s one mystery solved. Now I guess I need to infuse it with mana to activate it. Well, let’s hope this goes fine.

“AH!” I yelled. I tried, really tried, slowly infusing my robes, but they drained all of my mana almost immediately! I quickly gasped for air. Yeah, it’s not quite the same, but it’s close enough that I instinctively started to breathe heavily.

“Haa, why, ha, why didn’t, ha, they, ha, say something!” I complained. Is, is this how it feels? Why would anyone ever use these!?

No, I have to be missing something. Let’s, try getting my mana back for now.

Huh. While this is fairly difficult, I can do it. Almost, almost, and… IT JUST STOLE IT BACK! As soon as I regained some of my mana, it stole it back!

Okay, let’s try again. I’d rather not leave without getting at least some of my mana back. Lacking mana is quite uncomfortable, after all.

Sadly, every time I got some of my mana back, the robes would just steal it back. As I was getting frustrated, I realized that, doesn’t this almost feel like how my mana flows when it’s inside my body?

Maybe I’m supposed to flow my mana through the robes? They do feel like a part of me, after all. Let’s try!

“By the Gods, that worked.” A-as expected of a Divine artifact, instead of just infusing it with mana to empower them, my mana is actively flowing through them, as if they were physically connected to my mana veins. Cool!

Sadly, that was apparently only the first trial. As soon as I got the hang of flowing my mana through the robes they started reacting weirdly.

My robes started to reject some of my mana. Soon, though, I recognized what was happening. And it was something I had stupidly forgotten about.

My mana currently has two separate traits. That, that’s not good.

“I forgot to deal with the trait’s conflict!” Wait, they’d never actually started fighting, so maybe everything’s fine!

And, of course not. As soon as I had that thought, the two, now truly separate, pools of mana started fighting. Because of course, they would!

Okay, now’s not the time to be wearing these robes, I need to take them off!

Luckily, likely because of its ability to fit perfectly, they were actually quite easy to remove. I then put on my old robes before returning the robes to the mannequin. I then bowed in thanks, as without them reacting, I would have been surprised by the sudden war of my mana. Well, I was still surprised, but at least I can still contain my mana, even if some small parts are still fighting.

Oh! Is that why the barrier turned hostile?! Because like half of my mana didn’t truly belong to me yet? That makes sense. Good to know. Anyway, despite today being a failure, at least I figured out what I need to do now.

I unlocked the room (it locks from the inside so the saintess can feel secure about their privacy) and left.

“I take it you failed.” Cardinal Caitlyn commented after not seeing the new robes.

“Yeah. After all, I never actually dealt with my different mana traits.”

“Oh! I thought… Are you okay?” She worried.

“Eh, well, at least I know now. And! That should be why the barrier rejected me, I have, in a sense, two distinct manas in my body.” I smiled. It is good that I know what the problem is now. Hooray for silver linings.

“Ah, yes, I can see that being the case. Though, if you were able to separate your mana, you should be able to just give your other mana trait permission to enter here.”

“Huh, I guess. Why though?”

“Well, as far as I know, no saintess has ever done monster ascension with a core before. It seems increasing the intensity of your already intense trait isn’t the most desirable thing to do.” She sighed. “So, I don’t know if the barrier will accept your new compound trait. Or your new trait, should it somehow emerge victorious.”

“Then why’d you let me do it!” I complained.

“Because it wasn’t until Samuel arrived that I learned that the power of your trait increases the effectiveness of drawing out power. If I had known, I would have informed you first at the very least.”

“Even if you were ordered to keep silent by the church?” I asked. Haa, I, that was actually quite a rude question! “Uh, you don-”

“Of course, I would! Especially after learning how focused on your mission you were. So yes, I would have told you anyway. Our job is to help the saintess, not use you. You are already risking your life, you at least deserve to know the dangers.”

“I, thank you.” That, was actually, well, really nice! I’m glad that she’s my local cardinal.

“It’s what I should do, not only as a cardinal, but as a human.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Yeah. Oh. Why didn’t you tell me about drawing out power then?”

“I didn’t want you using it. At least, not yet. You are still quite young and still have plenty of time until you have to confront the demon lord, you don- shouldn’t need to rely on sacrifice to get stronger.”

“Though I did end up using it accidentally.”

“Well, there’s only so much I can actually do.”

“You are right.” I nodded. “Oh yeah, one last question for now. Why are you so certain that my traits will combine?”

“Really?” She gives me an odd look. “Do you really think your mana trait will just flow about peacefully when there’s another trait in its territory?” Why are you acting like my mana’s a thug or a beast?!

“No…” Sadly, she was right. “Well, let’s gather everyone and try and register them with the core.” I say, getting a look that screamed, ‘Do you really think you can register everyone?’ “Hey, I at least have to try. And, um, let me borrow the robes real quick, just in case.” I’ll probably need to separate my mana in order to do this after all.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. The way you register people with the core requires both of you to infuse your mana into it, so you shouldn’t have any problems. Though I’ve heard that you can only do one person at a time, so I don’t think you can register your companions.” She explained.

“Well, I’ve got to try at least. It will bother me otherwise.”

“Well, it’s not like we have to return soon.” She relented. “Haa, work’s going to pile up.” She muttered. Ah, yeah, I’ll try to be quick.

It didn’t take long for us to gather everyone at the core as there were plenty of people who were happy to help. Even when it involved them ignoring their actual work…

Well, as I won’t properly be in charge for a while, I’ll just ignore that for now. And, as I was waiting, I could read about what I was supposed to do. And, well, it’s surprisingly complicated and requires a decently powerful trait to accomplish. Overall, it’s almost like picking a lock, taking it apart, and adding a new piece into it (that is ridiculously easy to remove).

“Okay, so, I don’t actually know if I can do this, but I don’t want to leave without at least trying. So, watch what I’m doing, and see if you are willing to try. If not, no hard feelings.” I shrugged. “Okay, let’s start.”

I infused my mana and started to unlock the array, which is controlled by a fairly ancient core, making the barrier around this small part of the church at least equal to a full-on city’s barrier. How did I actually survive? Anyway, as Cardinal Caitlyn said, I didn’t need my robes to do this, though they certainly would have helped, and that’s not counting the fact that, while quite minorly, my mana is currently attacking itself.

It’s the fact that a ‘foreign’ mana is trying to unlock the core, causing it to undo my efforts; and over doubling the time this will take. Whatever, at least it is working.

Eventually, I unlocked the array and registered my mana. Haa. That felt weird to do, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“Okay, that worked. So, does anyone want to try?”

“Since I’m usually the-” Melly starts, before getting cut off.

“I will do it,” Rapunzel said firmly, interrupting Melly. Why is she so determined to do this? Well, it should be fine regardless, she is the responsible one.

“Okay then.” I nodded. “So, all you have to do is follow my mana, I’ll do the rest.”

“Okay, seems simple enough.”

Well, it should have been. Sadly, Cardinal Caitlyn was right, you can’t do two ‘people’ at once. Well, you technically can, but it would likely take hours to do. I also tried it while partially wearing my robes. It did, surprisingly, separate my mana, but I still couldn’t register Rapunzel, as I couldn’t infuse my mana while wearing the robes. It just kept stealing it... Haa, at least I tried.

“Sorry, Rapunzel, I couldn’t register you.” I apologized as we were heading back to return my robes.

“It’s fine. I mostly volunteered to check how your mana is currently fairing anyway.” She reported.

“What? Why?”

“I wanted to help you understand the power balance of your mana and how your body was reacting to it. Sadly, while I did get a decent glimpse, it seems that I’ll have to directly infuse you to properly understand your situation.”

“Ah, okay. Thanks.” I say before holding out my hand.

“Excuse me.” She said before she started to infuse me with an almost dangerous amount of mana. Huh, my mana is fighting. Like, alarmingly intensely, considering that I can barely feel it. I really felt it when Rapunzel’s mana entered though. Sadly I couldn’t actually make out her mana trait as I was distracted by both factions of my mana quickly swarming and destroying her mana.

She frowned as she jolted her hand away. She then sighed. “Your mana is intense as usual. Why does it always have to counter-attack though?” She sighs. Ah, yeah, it does do that a lot, huh.

“Sorry about that. So, um, how was it?” I asked nervously.

“Well, it seems like your mana has been fighting for a while now, with your… your natural mana winning. It appears that the only reason the ‘dragon’ mana is holding on at all is because of the massive increases in mana density you gained. All that added mana was likely dragon mana, so it had a massive volume advantage, drastically ‘outnumbering’ your natural mana.” It’s what!?

“And it’s still losing?”

“Constantly. It is noticeably weaker than your mana, after all. It’s only the sheer quantity of the stuff that’s keeping it going. Regardless, your mana had the upper hand. And now that you are no longer gaining density from the core, you should be close to finally putting the dragon down.”

“Is that so?” Greg commented. “In that case, perhaps that is the source of your nightmares, an alternate method to achieve victory, hence the Hero’s advice. Submitting would likely allow the dragon immediate victory while resisting would fatigue your mana. It appears that battles of wills and battles of mana are more linked than initially theorized. Anyhow, now that you have discovered the true extent of your battle, you shall quickly gain the advantage.”

“Hopefully,” Melly commented. Noticing our confused looks, she continued. “Well, even a rabbit will fight back when cornered, so, your dragon mana might just get desperate and keep on giving you more nightmares. That’s the only way it could actually win, after all.”

“Oh, well, that does not sound fun. I don’t want even more nightmares.” I sighed. Tonight won’t be peaceful after all.

“Don’t worry, we’ll all be there to help.” Melly comforted.

“Since your robes were able to increase the intensity of the battle, maybe wearing them more will lessen your nightmares,” Hansen suggested.

“Oh, that’s a good idea! Thank you. Though I can only wear them for so long.” I sighed. “Well, every little bit helps. Even if I won’t exactly enjoy them.”

“You don’t enjoy wearing the robes!?” Samuel asked in shock.

“Yeah… I mean, I can’t actually wear them properly after all.”

“But they should make you feel complete.”

“Not until I can actually wear them, Instead it just creepily starts to fill in blanks that I didn’t even realize my blessing had.”

“What do you mean?” He asked. Before I could answer, he added. “It should feel like a missing part of you. Why would you dislike wearing them?”

“That’s exactly why. That feels unnatural. Like I’m being forced to feel incomplete. So while it physically feels pleasant, mentally, it just feels off.” I shrugged. “So, I presume other saintesses felt differently?”

“They did. However, everyone seems to have at least a somewhat similar feeling. Saint Cameron felt more complete just by being in their presence, so he wore them whenever possible. Any time he didn’t, he made sure they were at least nearby.” Samuel informed me.

“For the other saintesses,” Cardinal Caitlyn continued. “They all seemed to view the robes positively. Though, while I do not remember the specifics, they did have different levels of appreciation.”

“No negative opinions?”

“Correct. I would have remembered if someone had such a drastically different opinion.”

“Hmm, that’s odd. Though, I guess I can see why I’d be different. The robes, well, they did feel closer to me than I’ve ever felt before, so it made me feel uncomfortable. Haa, well, thinking about it that way, it does make sense.” I sighed.

“Were there no other orphan saintesses then?” Melly asked, getting disapproving looks from everyone.

“It’s fine,” I said to my companions. “And, yes, there was. In fact, he is one of the most well-known saints, to us at least. An orphan that became a saint, we had to look up to him. And, he’s the one that started the improvements to the church’s orphanages, though his successor was the one that actually created most of the system we use today. Oh, before you ask, the orphanages weren’t really that bad before, they just… were missing things that would make them truly helpful. Before they were run mostly independently, so some were great, while others… weren’t. And he came from a not great one.”

“May I ask who said saint was?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, Saint Archy, the third to last saint before the Inquisition.”

“I see, he was the reason why the church spends so much effort taking care of orphans, they don’t want people like Archy running around.” Samuel realized.

“Why’s that?” Melly asked.

Greg was the one who answered. “I presume you are talking about Archimedes. If so, I do believe Eli is talking about the Tyrant Saint.”

“Yes, though he wasn’t actually malicious. During his time, the church was showing the initial signs of following the Old Church, with corruption, nepotism, and such becoming more and more common. So, as a poor orphan who suffered under their abuse, he tried to stop it. Sadly, he was no politician, so he only really knew how to solve problems by using force, similarly to how he was sadly raised.” I sighed.

“So he all but started a civil war?” Melly asked.

“Yeah, he decided to remove anyone corrupt, that got in through nepotism, or, eventually, just anyone that got in his way. While his reign was short, he was actually quite successful. In fact, if not for his successor, the Inquisition probably wouldn’t have been formed. Sadly though, the next saint, while exceptionally intelligent, was way too soft and trusting. Yeah, he improved several things, many of which we are still using today, he also let most of the new openings be filled with corrupt individuals, actually making the situation far worse than before. While all but completely ruining everything Archy did.” I sighed. “Honestly, if it weren’t for his successor, Saintess Laura, the first saintess to personally train and successfully appoint her successor, the church probably would have fallen.”

“Lady Moura, the first inquisitor, and one of only three saintesses that were effectively appointed directly during the entire history of the church,” Samuel added.

“Oh, you seem to approve of her. She did do a fairly good job of fixing things. Sadly, she was limited to a human lifespan, so she needed a successor or two to fully fix the church. And you all know how that ended up… It was supposed to last a hundred years at most, not seven hundred!” I sighed in frustration. “Anyway, that’s enough history for now, was there anything you guys wanted to do?” I asked.

“Well, looking around the outer temple would be interesting. Not many people actually get the chance to see it.” Rapunzel suggested.

“Okay, I’ll wear the robes for a few more minutes, then we’ll go explore the temple some more.” I agreed.

So, I wore the robes until it got painful, and then we went exploring for the next few hours. We then had dinner here, before finally returning to our city. And, I was able to once again dance in the Gate’s light!

“Good night everyone,” Samuel said after we got back. “Take care, Saintess.”

“I will,” I responded. I mean, I’m probably going to have more nightmares, but that’s just more of the usual. And, I should be almost done! Though, how will my trait end up afterwards? That’s… concerning. Well, it’s not like I can do anything about it. Best not to think about it then.

“Are you okay, Eli?” Melly asks.

“Yeah, I’m just sad that I’ll still have more nightmares. I really thought I was basically done last night.”

“Well, if that nightmare wasn’t particularly intense, tonight’s shouldn’t be that bad either. Especially with your natural mana playing a bigger role now.” She persuaded.

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, goodnight, Melly.”

“Good night.”