1:30 p.m.
Market District, Luxen City.
Vivian was walking down a busy street and several people, mostly men, were staring at her.
Where is it…?
It's got to be here…
She continued walking until she finally stopped to read a sign.
Weathart Boutique Shop.
The shop was a beautifully-polished two-story building. And although there were other boutique and tailoring shops within the street where the Weathart Boutique Shop was located, it was one of the top 3 best-looking buildings.
This has to be it…
She headed for the entrance.
They say that the owners aren't Nobles but Commoner Merchants…
The husband is a member of the Temple of Blacksmiths…
The wife is a member of the Temple of Herbalists…
And one of their daughters is a young Priestess and the first Priestess in their family...
Hopefully, my suspicion is true…
Thanks to her time listening to Melissa, Havier and Sachion talk, she started to have a slightly deeper understanding of this world's social politics.
The people on top are the Royal Families.
The second people on top are the Aristocratic Noble Families and old Priest Families.
The third people are the Noble Families and Priest Families.
The fourth people are the Commoner Knight Families, Commoner Merchant Families, and new Priest Families.
And the fifth people are the Commoner Families.
There were also sub-groups within each family group and they were categorized by their Magic Art Affinities. However, Vivian had a hard time understanding it. All she knew was that:
• Royal Families have 5 Magic Art Affinities
• Aristocratic Noble and old Priest Families have at least 4 Magic Art Affinities
• Noble and Priest Families have at least 2 Magic Art Affinities
• Commoner Families have less than 2 Magic Art Affinities
And when it comes to the Temple of Priests' recruitment, this was what Vivian knew:
• If the person only has 1 or 2 Magic Art Affinities, one of them must be the Light Affinity
• If the person has 3 or more Magic Art Affinities, regardless if they have the Light Affinity or not, they're allowed to join the Temple of Priests
Now, whether the Light Affinity should be True Light Affinity or not, that's something Vivian doesn't know. Although she could've asked Melissa, Havier and Sachion about it, she didn't want to get into a deep discussion about that with such people or give them any incentive to ask her personal questions.
Vivian stepped inside the shop and was immediately greeted with a cold temperature.
Oh nice…
It's cold…
She swept her gaze around.
But is this really the right place…?
I mean...
I don't see any beauty salon equipment…
It feels more like a clothing or fabric store…
Before coming here, she asked around if there were any beauty salons or parlors. And to her surprise, there were some miscommunications or a slight misunderstanding that she had to spell it out or describe what she was specifically looking for.
In the end, this was the place they pointed to.
A female employee approached her and bowed.
"Welcome to Weathart Boutique Shop, Honored Priestess. How may I help you?" she said with a bright business smile.
Vivian turned to her.
"I was informed that I could purchase some high-quality makeup here. But before I buy the makeup, can you also teach me how to properly apply it? I have little to no knowledge of applying makeup. I'll pay for the lesson and also add in an extra tip."
I don't know if the lesson is free or not…
But if there's one thing I know about the working world…
Everyone loves an extra pay…
The bright business smile from the employee's face faded and was replaced with a genuine smile.
"You don't have to do that, Honored Priestess. The lesson is free."
"I don't mind paying. But if you don't want to because you might get scolded by your employer, I understand. But let me warn you: I was being honest when I told you I have little to no knowledge of applying makeup."
"That's fine, Honored Priestess. As long as you're satisfied with our product and services and grace us with your presence in the future, that alone would be enough for us."
"I see," Vivian said and nodded. "Please show me the available makeup kits and teach me."
The employee bowed.
"As you wish, Honored Priestess, please follow me."
"Also, I would like a private room for the lesson. I have a special skin and I'm not confident about it."
A confused expression flashed over the employee's face. She could see that Vivian's skin was white. But after hearing what Vivian said, she finally noticed something. She was wearing a whitening powder partnered with her red lipstick to mask the paleness of her skin.
"As you wish, Honored Priestess."
There is a reason why Vivian chose this shop out of all the possible shops.
In her mind, since she's a White Cloak Priestess and the owner is a Commoner Merchant family with a young Priestess and the only Temple of Priest member in their family, they would think twice about pointing or reporting her strange skin because they would be hungry to build connections with Noble and established Priest families.
She could also have just chosen a poor Commoner shop that has no connection to the Temple of Priests. However, she didn't want to step into such shops because of the hygienic standards, the quality of service, the quality of the product, and the possibility of getting blackmailed again like the incident between her and Mrs. Belfair.
***
4:12 p.m.
Temple of Priests Private Compound, Luxen City.
Vivian entered the Blacksmith Shop and immediately headed over to the counter where Sike and Grace were.
She held her chin a little bit higher and had a confident smile on her face as she walked in long strides and her White Cloak fluttered dramatically.
There was a reason for that.
Although her face was covered with makeup, she was sporting a "no-makeup look".
I no longer look like a walking corpse…
But man…
I didn't think it would take close to 30 minutes to apply everything…
She finally arrived at the counter.
"Did something good happen, sister?" Sike asked.
Vivian turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm?"
"You seem to be in a great mood today."
She let out a small chuckle.
"What do you mean? I'm always in a great mood."
Sike let out a small chuckle as well.
"My apologies, you're right. So what can I do you for today?"
Vivian took out a small sack inside one of the pouches of her belt pouch and then placed it on top of the counter.
"I want to have these repaired."
Sike picked up the sack and then opened it.
"These…?!" he said with wide eyes.
Grace, who was sitting a few feet beside him, turned to him but didn't say anything.
Sike took the items out of the sack and placed them on top of the counter. And when Grace saw the items, her eyes also turned wide.
It was the broken Soul Finger Claw, Dark Finger Claw, Earth Finger Claw and Ice Finger Claw.
Sike picked up one of the half-pieces and examined it. No matter how he looked at it, it showed that it got split into two due to overuse, not due to battle.
Grace turned to Vivian.
"Sister, those were the items you bought yesterday, right?"
Vivian let out a regretful sigh and nodded.
"Those are my first Elemental Weapons so I wanted to do a couple of experiments on them to really understand them. I didn't expect that they would end up like that," she said and then returned her gaze to Sike. "How much for the repairs?"
Sike placed the half-piece down and then looked at Vivian.
"These are all Mithril-Grade, right?"
Vivian nodded.
"Yes, Soul, Dark, Earth and Ice."
"That would be 10 gold coins each, so 40 gold coins. It will take around 10 days for them to be repaired."
"No problem. I'll pay it using a loan."
"A loan? That would be 12 gold coins each, so 48 gold coins."
"No problem."
Sike nodded.
"Okay, let me prepare the paperwork," he said and then grabbed a pen, paper and a Memory Crystal underneath the counter.
"By the way, do you sell Physical Force and Magical Force Crystal here?"
Sike stopped what he was doing and returned his gaze to Vivian.
"Yes."
"Just out of curiosity, are you aware of the 'One Magic Art = Two Physical Arts' rule?"
"Yes."
"I've heard that if someone only trains their Magic Art and neglects their Physical Arts, it can cause a nerve inside their head to pop, explode or whatever you want to call it which can kill them in an instant. However, I've never personally seen or heard of such a case. Is it true? And if yes, how does one know if their Physical Arts is lagging behind their Magic Arts without dying?"
Sike nodded with an understanding expression.
"It's true, sister. And I can understand why you've never seen or heard of such a case because it's very rare.
"Most of the time, it's people overtraining their Physical Arts and neglecting their Magical Arts because a person needs to open their Magic Art Affinity through an Awakening Ceremony first and Physical Arts doesn't require any mana to train, you simply need a sparring partner who's at least as strong as you.
"And about your question on how a person can know if their Physical Arts is lagging behind their Magic Arts without dying, there are two ways.
"The first one is by measuring your Physical Force with a Physical Force Crystal and your Magic Force with a Magic Force Crystal.
"The second one is through headaches. Let's say your Physical Force is Iron. Once your Magic Force starts to reach Silver-Mithril, that's when you will start to feel some complications. One of the tell-tale signs is when you think deeply or focus you will feel a slight headache. Once it reaches Mithril, you will start to feel a slight headache just by thinking. And then once you reach Mithril-Orichalcum, that's when a nerve or vein on your brain will explode the moment you think.
"Meanwhile, if it's your Magic Force that is lagging or too low while your Physical Force is too high, you will also face some issues. Although you won't feel any headaches, or a nerve or vein inside your head won't explode if you think, your eyes and brain won't be able to catch up with your body's movement speed.
"Basically, to avoid any problems or complications, you should make your Physical Force and Magic Force equal or as equal as possible.
"I see," Vivian said and nodded. "But what about the Grades beyond Spirit Steel?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I've only heard people talk about Iron, Silver, Mithril, Orichalcum, Rainbow Steel and Spirit Steel. Is Spirit Steel the maximum Physical and Magic Force or is there something else beyond that?"
Sike shook his head.
"I'm very sorry, sister, but any information beyond that is strictly prohibited to be shared with the public. You will need special permission to access such information."
Again…?
Why is there a gag order about training…?
What's the fucking point of that…?
I could try the Library Room but I don't want to bump into the nosy bitch Marie…
I also tried searching for bookshops around the city but I couldn't find any…
Are books expensive, sacred or something in this world…?
"Does this mean that the Physical and Magic Force Crystal here only measures up to Spirit Steel?"
Sike nodded.
"Yes."
"How much is the Physical Force and Magical Force Crystal again?"
"10 gold coins each."
"Does it come with a manual on how to assess the glow of each metal?"
Sike nodded.
"There is a free instruction manual if you buy one and there is also a Memory Crystal. They're both based on the standards supported by the Holy Kingdom, the Twin Kingdom, the Scholars from the Temple of Blacksmiths and the Temple of Wizards, and also the Marbleam Kingdom."
"I see. I would like to purchase them as well."
"Would you be purchasing them through a loan as well?"
"Yes."
"The total would be 72 gold coins."
Ugh…
I just got promoted to White Cloak yesterday…
But I've already spent too much…
On top of that, I also got suspended…
I seriously need to find another source of stable income…
********************
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Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…
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There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 147-206 are posted there.
And since this will be my first time posting Chapter Drafts for this novel, I will be posting 60 Chapter Drafts for the first month (November). After that, it will be around 30 Chapter Drafts each month.
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