2 days later…
Day of Tuar, 8:30 a.m.
Temple of Priest Private Compound, Luxen City.
Vivian was carrying a suitcase on her hand and had her sword on her hip as she heading to the Main Gate.
When she saw the Main Gate about 20 meters away, her brows knitted together.
Looks so busy…
Near the gate.
There White Cloak Priests who were saying goodbye to their families. Some of them were crying with their families, specifically the Priests and Priestesses who were in their late teens.
Outside of the gate.
There were porters assisting in arranging the luggage on top of the 5 huge and long carriages that were each being pulled by a giant lizard animal with a long neck.
And there were the coachmen from the Temple of Tamers, doing last-minute checks with the carriages and giant lizards.
Vivian focused on the giant lizards.
Are those fucking dinosaur…?!
She shifted her gaze and focused on the carriages.
Looks like a giant bus…
Both the lizards and carriages were about 8 meters long and 4 meters tall.
She stopped about 15 meters from the giant lizards and then swept her gaze around.
There were two White Cloaks, a Priest and Priestess, near her chatting.
The Priest was a dark-skinned man in his late 20s with white hair styled in a buzz-cut. Meanwhile, the Priestess was also in her late 20s and she had black short hair.
She focused on the Priestess.
She looks familiar…
I think I saw her talking to Melissa at the Training Grounds field once…?
She shook her head mentally.
Whatever…!
She approached them.
"Excuse me, brother, sister."
The Priest and Priestess turned to her.
"Sorry for bothering you both. This is my first time participating in the Pilgrimage and the Holy Crusade. Where do I go from here?"
The Priest returned his gaze to the Priestess.
"Sister Xena, I have to go. High Sister Clementine could be looking for me."
Vivian knitted her brows.
That's an accent of someone from the Heisen Chapter Temple…?
In the last 2 days, she has heard about Priests and Priestesses from the Heisen Chapter Temple who were currently here at the Private Compound for the Ranking Match and the Pilgrimage.
Xena nodded.
"Okay, Brother Cornelio."
"I'll see you later," he said with a warm smile and then turned to Vivian. "Sister," he said and nodded with a smile before finally leaving.
Xena returned her gaze to Vivian and then pointed at one of carriages.
"You may board any of the carriages except for that one. That one is for High Sister Clementine, Brother Isaac and the other leaders."
"What about these?" Vivian said as she showed her suitcase on her hand and touched her sword on her hip.
"Are those your only luggage?"
Vivian nodded.
"Yes."
"You can have the porters put it on top of the carriage, but you can also have it with you at the cabin."
"I see. Thank you, sister," she said with a smile.
"No problem, sister," she said with a smile.
Vivian turned to the carriages and then began heading towards them. However, she was taking small and slow steps.
Okay…
How am I going to do this…?
I don't want my [Nemesis of Beasts] Lore to cause so much attention…
The moment she got closer, 3 of the giant lizards turned to her and let out a loud howl.
WOOONNNGGG!!!
WOOONNNGGG!!!
WOOONNNGGG!!!
Everyone nearby was startled that some people, especially the young White Cloaks and the civilians, ran away. As for the porters, the ones who were on the ground distanced themselves, while the ones on top held onto the luggage and ropes.
Whaaack!
Whaaack!
The sound of a whip crackled.
"STAY!" a coachman commanded as he swung his giant whip.
One lizard quickly obeyed and went back to its original position, while the other two lizard continued moving towards Vivian. However, Vivian carefully positioned herself with a group of people so that no one could tell that she was the target of the lizards.
WOOONNNGGG!!!
WOOONNNGGG!!!
[Power Whip].
Whaaa-riiip!
"STAY!"
[Power Whip].
Whaaa-riiip!
"STOP!"
Two coachmen joined in and swung in a skill towards the two lizards.
The first lizard was struck on its left eye. Meanwhile, the other lizard got struck on its nose.
Whaaack!
Whaaack!
"GET BACK! GET BACK!" one of the coachmen ordered and he swung his whip to the floor.
Whaaack!
"BACK!"
Whaaack!
"GO BACK!"
When the 2 lizards moved back to their original position and all of the lizards calmed down, most of the people who ran away earlier slowly started to return.
Vivian let out a defeated sigh.
This…
Was this really a good idea…?
She shook her head mentally.
I've already made my decision…
This isn't only for the Physical Arts…
But also for my career as a Priestess…
She approached one of the carriages and then quickly climbed aboard.
Stepping inside the carriage, a surprised expression flashed across her face.
This is a dinning area…?
There were 4 square tables located on the right side and 3 of them were occupied by White Cloaks chatting and enjoying some snacks and drinks.
She approached one of the tables.
"Excuse me, brothers, sisters."
They turned to her.
"Where is the cabin area?" she said and showed her suitcase.
One of the Priestesses, a woman in her mid-20s, pointed at the back.
"The cabin area for the passengers is over there. The left side is the female quarters, the right side is the male quarters. Beyond that are the bathroom and toilet."
To be specific, the interior of the carriage was divided into 4 sections.
The front or 1st section was the cockpit along with the cabin room, bathroom and toilet room of the coachmen.
The 2nd section were the kitchen and dining area.
The 3rd section that was a cabin area for the passengers.
And the last or 4th section were the bathroom and toilet of the passengers.
"Is there an assignment for each room?"
The Priestess shook her head.
"No, it's first come, first serve. Just be sure to leave your bag or suitcase on the bed."
Eh…?
Seriously…?
Vivian nodded.
"I see. Thank you, sister," she said and smiled.
"No problem," the Priestess said and smiled as well.
Vivian turned away and then headed to the cabin area.
Lord…
Please don't let me be inside a room with disgusting and noisy people…
She reached the first cabin room for the females.
It's closed…?
Knock, knock.
She knocked on the door.
"Excuse me," she announced.
Ka-cha!
And then opened the door.
Inside the room were 2 bunk beds; one of the left and one of the right with a window in the middle, and there were two White Cloak Priestesses sitting on the two bottom beds.
"Yes, sister?" one of the Priestesses asked.
"Are all of the beds taken?"
"I'm sorry, sister, but yes."
Vivian noticed that the top bed on the left side had a bag but the one on the right side was empty.
"I see."
Ku-chud.
After closing the door, she went to the fourth cabin door.
This is why there should be assignments…
Stupid motherfuckers…!
Knock, knock.
"Excuse me."
Ka-cha!
After opening the door, she raised an eyebrow.
It's empty…?
There was no one and there wasn't anything on the beds.
Ku-chud.
She closed the door behind her and then went over to the bottom bed on the left.
She placed her suitcase and boots under the bed, her sword at the side of her bed, she removed and folded her White Cloak, and then lied down on the bed.
As she lied down on the bed, she stared at her sock-covered feet, specifically the space between her feet and the end of the bed.
This is probably the first and only time I'm going to say this…
But thank God I'm short…!
As a tall person, one of the reasons why she hated traveling was because of bed and chair space. It was always lacking. The only way for her legs to have space is for her to pay for First Class -- and that's assuming they're available.
An image of Felize, Torr and Gaze flashed inside her head.
Hopefully, those kids would receive the Elemental Weapons…
The Elemental Weapons were still under repair and it would take around 10 days before she could get them. And since she couldn't wait because she had to leave for the Holy Crusade, she asked Sike and Grace to deliver those weapons to them once they're repaired.
Vivian sat up and stared at the window.
She saw the White Cloak Priests and Priestesses hugging, laughing and saying goodbye to their families.
An image of her parents flashed inside her head.
I wonder how my parents are…
She shook her head.
With how tough that father of mine is…
They will be fine…
I'm sure of it…
And plus...
Is there even a way for me to go back…?
She brought her gloved hand in front of her.
Is there even a point…?
And then formed a fist.
Back there…
Yes…
It was fine being a man…
But…
I was just another average man…
Meanwhile…
Here…
It sucks being a woman…
But…
An image of her original body flashed inside her head.
Maybe the original soul of this body is inside my body…?
Like we switched bodies...?
If she is…
She better sure not fuck it up…!
She let out a sigh and returned her gaze to the window
I'm really leaving, huh…
I'll be gone for 6 months…
And only God knows what kind of battles or wars I'll be thrown into...
Is this what my soldiers feel like...?
An image of her father wearing a police uniform and getting inside a police car flashed inside her head.
I wonder if this is how he also felt when he applied to become a policeman...
Back in her original world, Vivian didn't follow in the footsteps of her father due to some family and personal reasons.
She shook her head.
Who cares...?
I'm better than my father in every metric...!
I'm taller, stronger, smarter…!
Memories of since she arrived in this world up to now flashed inside her head -- the people she met, the friendships, the fights, the frustrations, the triumphs.
She felt a slight pang on her chest and small smile appeared on her lips.
I didn't expect that I would actually miss this place…
She focused on the people outside the window once again.
"All my bags are packed and ready to go~~…
"I'm standing here outside the door~~…
"I hate to wake you up to say goodbye~~…
"Cause I'm leaving on a jet--~~"
Knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door and it suddenly opened.
When Vivian turned her head to see who it was, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
It was Marie and the cute woman who didn't say anything and just stared at her with a hint of animosity on the day she took the mock exam for her first Holy Mission.
"Fuck…"
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Author's Thoughts:
This is the end of Volume I and I would like to thank everyone for reaching this point of this heavy grinding story.
I would also like to give my special thanks to the following people:
• Higime142 - You gave the highest number of Power Stones and constantly post comments
• FosNeki - You gave the first review, you constantly give Power Stones and although you only gave a handful of comments, they were engaging
• Leitor_Morto - You have been constantly giving Power Stones
Please don't get me wrong, I also deeply appreciate the contribution of the other readers. But these 3 were the most active, kinda like MVPs or in this case MVRs lol.
I'm not gonna lie, when I first wrote this novel, it was during a slow month on one of my businesses in real life so I spent a lot of time listening to fantasy books and one of them was [I Reincarnated As A Sword] (can't remember the full title).
I remember getting so angry because all I wanted to listen about was the grinding. I had no interest about the conflict, drama, politics or even the bloody traveling and cooking arc.
And so I dusted off my writing muscles and decided to write a novel where the main focus was just about the grinding to satisfy my own desires. I also gave the MC very specific character traits in order to make sure that he/she would DEFINITELY stick into grinding regardless of whether there were external or internal obstacles -- like, the whole world could burn down but as long as it doesn't personally affect the MC, he/she wouldn't give a damn and let it burn.
So I'm really happy that there are people like me who like heavy grinding stories like this.
And you know what's really funny? Never in a million years did I expect Vivian to become a Priest. My original concept was a grinding story with an MC who is an adventurer.
I even created Waves as a source of monsters or a copycat from the [I Reincarnated As A Sword].
I also spent so many weeks planning and revising the structure of the Adventurer's Guild and even asked for some quest samples from you guys. Hell, I even made the MC a man trapped inside a woman's body so that she wouldn't be interested in forming a harem (this backfired so much lmao -- You wouldn't mind if I rewrite the story and make Vivian as Viktor or Vaughn, right? Just kidding lol).
But in the end, 80% of it got trashed because I was following the natural outcomes of Vivian's personality and decisions without having her get caught.
So yeah, 80% of the time I was just like you who didn't know what was going to happen next -- I don't even know if Vivian will still be a Priest in Volume II.
Now, for Volume II, specifically what will be my plan for it, I can't make any solid promises. However, I will still try to stick with the grinding part to not betray your expectations, especially for those readers who have reached this point and enjoy grinding stories. But I will also try to make it a little bit more "commercial" or "palatable" for the general audience.
Again, I would like to thank everyone for reaching this point in reading this heavy grinding story.
Now let's go back to grinding!