The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

18; The Official Missive.

The very next morning Lukas was just in the middle of his daily exercises when a missive arrived on his doorstep. The exercises he was performing were known as Taichi*, slow sure movements that used to relax and coordinate his old body back in his home world and helped maintain deep concentration in any endeavor he used to have.

In this new world to his surprise, the very same exercise he performed had an unintended effect. Every time he moved in certain cadence and movement, he could feel his own energy and mana coursing through his body like a soft stream of power that circled from the head to the toe. In fact it was so intoxicating that he made a habit to use these exercises as a warm-up for the each day in the morning and in the evening as the set of exercises would help him calm down and relax after a long intense training during the day.

Snapping his mind back from the reverie of flowing light, gushing streams of energy and the fluctuations of mana he used his psych (that was slowly growing stronger the more he visualized the godly statue in his mental palace) to open the door (training his psyche in the only way he knew how) and a floating scroll whizzed in through his door and directly into his lap. Puzzled and no longer fazed by such things he coiled at it in his hands, wondering what kind of message it contains.

The moment the floating scroll reached his hands its magical hue lifted off. The scroll not only looked a ancient and regal, it also had a red emblem used to hold it together. The emblem was that of a shield with two swords and a dagger crossed in front of it with a bow behind and a magical staff that seemed to hold everything together. The emblem seemed really familiar to Lukas and the moment he opened it he realized why.

The scroll was a missive belonging to the Adventures guild and the moment he read that it clicked in his mind. Southern of the Cathedral of Light laid the Golden City placed directly below the mountains. Known as the representative hub of the Cathedral, over time it become a hub of many adventures, mercenaries, mages and warriors with professions of all kinds, making it a very famous place for all kinds of reasons with all of kinds of people and races living within its walls.

But amongst all of the professions, one of the most famous one and the most lucrative was being an Adventurer. This profession allowed for all kinds of activities ranging from treasure hunting, searching for common and rare herbs for alchemy and even hunting for demonic beasts for their precious materials all in exchange for their weight in silver and gold.

But despite the lucrative amount of money involved and the added advantages of making it big, being an Adventurer held the biggest death toll from all of the professions combined. It had too much of a mortality rate and this was due to any number of reasons ranging from deadly traps usually found during treasure hunting, treacherous locations most rare herbs needed for advanced potion making could only be found and dangerous demonic beasts as they were known to be stronger and dangerous than their counterparts.

With too much deaths in the early years of the Golden City, an official Adventures Guild was formed and basically made a process in making sure to filter the capable adventures from the masses of the incompetent people. This not only prevented them from needlessly throwing away their lives but it also allowed for the adventures guild to control the population in terms of growth and the ensure quality of the adventures recruited.

And the previous host did just that. In the process of needing more funds in order to prevent himself from depending on his sister, he enrolled into the process of obtaining the adventure's badge. And in order to do so, the tested adventures would have to do 3 missions tailored to their respective levels and depending on how they performed as well as if their test was successful or not, they could be ranked with an even better grade as their starting point.

But this also came with a few instructions, one of them being that they recommended Lukas to finish the grading process in full. Since each person attending the grading is recorded to prevent fraud, once the grading process is made the respective person cannot apply for another process until after a period of two years. This not only prevented inadequate people from being reckless but it also motivated and allowed them to grow stronger by giving them an ample time for it.

The Scroll started out polite with a greeting and went on positive note that they were glad he was still alive from his 2nd test. Lukas snorted. He was indeed alive while the previous host died under grueling circumstances and even the adventures guild would realize that something was up when he didn't return to report on how the mission went.

The scroll went on to say that the investigation was done in full secrecy and after discovering a few discrepancies his previous teammates were banned from the adventures guild and so he didn't have to face the risk of teaming up with them ever again. It also continued by saying that if he wanted to finish with his grading mission he had a last mission to perform with all of the needed details included in another concealed letter inside. The letter was placed with a trace of magic and so if he choose to continue with his process all he had to do was open the letter with his blood and let the guild know or he can choose to not do anything and within 3 days the spell would have vanished letting them know that he didn't desire to continue with it. But in doing so, he can only choose to do another grading process in two years if he changed his mind.

Lukas looked at the scroll and then summoned all the last vestiges of information. Having an adventure's badge would definitely make things easier for him as he would be able to have access to various missions, choose the ones he could perform and obtain a decent return which will allow him to grow stronger by having more experience in the field and using the rewards to increase his own strength; notably his own physical training to say the least.

And seeing as there is a two year ban, without hesitation he took the small letter out. He lightly made a cut on his finger, letting a drop of blood fall on the letter. A slight undetected pulse resonated from the letter and in his amazement, with a shower of gold and intricate runes the letter increased in magnitude and dark visible ink started flowing through the previous blank paper.

The Letter only contained the customary congratulations on his decision and he was given 3 weeks to prepare. There was not any kind of detail of what his test entailed (to ensure fairness) but it did contain a single hint. He was instructed to make a Journey to The Golden City and it was there where he would obtain further information on what he was supposed to do and meet his future teammates.

Lukas's eyes glinted in nervous excitement. 3 weeks were barely enough for a real full preparation but he knew he had to prepare to the best of his abilities. The enchanted letter promised ample rewards if their mission was successful and extra based on his performance. There was an element of risk involved since he had no idea where his mission would take place but he didn't have to worry over it. The Adventurer's Guild ensured that their missions were doable and well within justifiable parameters. Lukas reread the letter again to make sure, his mind already making plans and ideas on how he could increase his own survivability now that he was about to officially start a new adventure. Closing the letter, the last thought that lingered in his mind were his new teammates. He lightly wondered who they were and if they would potentially be his future partners. But then the most he could hope was that he was paired with capable people, after all he might not be that strong yet but he had confidence in most of the spells he mastered.

All that was left to do was to give them a test run and see how he fared against the dangers of this new brand world.

Taichi* - a series of effective exercises for the health of mind and body; it is an art that embraces the mind, body and spirit. Originating for china, Taichi is known for its countless benefits to one's health and general well-being.