Awakening Ceremony (2)

Sometime later…

Thud.

A cloth drenched in saliva fell from Vivian's mouth and to the ground.

"I… g-got it... the [Wind… M-Mastery]…" she said weakly.

A Priest standing in front of her who was about to cast another Wind Magic dropped his hand and glanced at Isaac.

"Thank you, brother. I'll handle it from here," said Isaac.

The man nodded and stepped away.

[Greater Heal].

A bright yellow light enveloped Vivian's body and cured all of her wounds.

"Congratulations, sister!" Isaac said and smiled.

Vivian slumped in the chair, her head hung down and her entire body was drenched in sweat.

There was a sound of feet running and then a hand landed on her shoulder.

Tap.

"Sister Vivian, are you okay?" a female voice asked.

Vivian slowly raised her head and looked at the person who spoke.

It was Criselle.

Although Vivian was physically fine thanks to [Greater Heal], she was mentally and psychologically drained. Prior to coming to this world, she never once experienced drilling holes into her body, especially in a scenario where she had to do it over and over again, not to mention willingly.

"I'm fine..."

"Congratulations, sister!" she said and smiled brightly.

"Mm…" she mumbled and nodded weakly.

Clap, clap, clap.

A round of applause erupted from the crowd.

"Congratulations, sister!" the crowd cheered.

"Sister Criselle, please accompany Sister Vivian to the infirmary. You have my thanks," said Isaac.

"You don't need to thank me, brother," Criselle said and smiled.

She turned to Vivian and gently pulled her up.

"Sister, let's go to the infirmary to let you rest properly."

"I'll help as well," another female voice said.

Everyone looked at her except for Vivian who was still mentally and psychologically drained.

The person who spoke was none other than Marie.

"Thank you, sister Marie," Isaac said and then turned to the rest. "Everyone, thank you all for participating in the Awakening Ceremony."

"Brother Isaac, Sister Vivian is a fellow sister, so it's natural. In addition to that, we also benefit from it because we were able to use our Magic Art in order to upgrade them and also increase our chances of learning Class Magic," said a member.

The rest nodded in agreement.

"Nevertheless, I still want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart and it makes me very proud to be a part of this Temple. May the God of Light continue to watch all over you."

"May the God of Light continue to watch over you as well, brother," they replied.

When Vivian, Criselle and Marie left as well as most of the people, one person who participated in the ceremony approached Isaac.

"High Brother Isaac."

Isaac turned his head to the person. It was a man in his mid-20s.

"Brother Chico, how many times do I need to tell you not to call me that?"

"But you are --"

Isaac raised his hand, indicating for him to stop.

"I've already stepped down from being a Gray Cloak. I just want to live as a Gold Cloak from now on."

Chico bit his tongue and then changed the subject.

"What do you think? Did she really unlock her [Fire] and [Wind Mastery]?"

Although it wasn't a rule, normally, during a ceremony, when someone claims that they finally unlocked the mastery, they would immediately showcase the spell they learned upon unlocking Level 1. But in this case, given that Vivian underwent 2 ceremonies straight, it was understandable that she didn't even bother.

"I believe so."

"I see."

"You see, Brother Chico, it's the eyes. They never lie."

"The eyes?"

"There are some people who just have those eyes. Some call it crazy, others call it determined. But regardless, she has the eyes of someone who will do anything to get what they want. And people like that, they hate lying to themselves because it only hurts their ego. Instead, if they were to lie, it is to downplay themselves."

"So we will have another powerful member in the Temple?"

"Just hardworking," he said. "But if she were to be given a couple of years, maybe she will."

Chico nodded and then turned his head towards the infirmary.

***

At the infirmary.

Although the lights were on, there was no one around in the building except for Vivian, Criselle and Marie.

They were inside a large room with 8 beds and they led Vivian to one of the beds.

"I'll ready some hot water and a damp cloth," Marie said before leaving.

Criselle, on the other hand, was helping Vivian lay down on the bed but Vivian held up her hand.

"I'm good... I can manage this myself... If I keep this up… I'll only feel weaker…" Vivian said as she crawled to the bed.

"It's actually common for people opening their Magic Arts for the first time to go through something like this. In fact, some people take days or weeks before they can recover from the shock -- something that no healing magic can cure."

Is this what they call phantom pain…?

Although her physical wounds had been completely healed, she could still feel that lingering sensation where her palms and forearms had holes on them.

"What about the blood…?"

"What?" asked Criselle.

"Would I need to recover the blood I lost…?"

Back in the Awakening Ceremonies, between the Fire and Wind, she lost more blood during the latter. Unlike the former, it left her flesh and blood burned so there wasn't that much blood loss. But for the latter, it just left her in a state of constant bleeding. And right now, as confusing as this may sound, although she felt weak, she also felt refreshed at the same time. It was similar to going to a beach and staying there for hours. And when you come home and take a bath, you just suddenly feel weak.

"Healing magic helps you recover the blood you lost so you should be fine. Like I said earlier, it's actually common for people opening their Magic Arts for the first time to go through something like this and it will take some people days or weeks before they can recover from the shock."

"I see... Thanks for the info..."

"Also, you're one of the few people who actually did 2 ceremonies straight. Usually, people only go with 1 ceremony or they divide 1 ceremony into 2-3 parts."

"I have one more question… How come some were able to penetrate my skin while others weren't..? Were you using a special equipment…? You upgraded your spell…? Or is it just the difference in our stats…?"

Among the people who were able to penetrate Vivian's flesh and leave a hole where air could literally pass through was Criselle. Meanwhile, the others just penetrated her skin like how a normal arrow would look before disappearing.

A confused look appeared on Criselle's face.

"Difference of our stats?"

"You know, Strength, Vitality, Agility and Intelligence… Is magic defense related to INT or VIT, or perhaps both…? All I know is that magic attack depends on the INT... But the magic defense, that's where I'm lost..."

Criselle's brows knitted together.

"I'm sorry, sister, but I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about."

Vivian let out an exasperated sigh.

"I mean, if STR is to physical attack and VIT is to physical defense, then does that mean INT is to magical attack and VIT is to magic defense…? But it seems too simple... And even if it's too simple, my defense is supposed to be high... So why --," Vivian said and suddenly stopped after realizing something. "Wait…! Do you know what's a Status Panel…?!"

"Sister Vivian, please rest. You seem to still be in shock. Once you've gained enough rest, let's talk again."

"Okay, but I have one last question..."

Criselle didn't say anything and simply stared at her.

"Will [Wind Mastery] give me some flying ability…?"

"As far as I know, no."

"What about spatial magic where one can store items in some other dimensional space…?"

"I don't know what's that."

Someone suddenly entered the room. 

It was Marie who was carrying a bucket of hot water and a damp cloth.