89 Mantle of the Fallen. (2/2)

I could already feel his desire for my body breathing on the back of my neck. That I was dangerously close for a threshold I did not want to be at. I could no longer trust any of the decisions I had made. I could no longer trust the abilities I had. Save for one. The only skill I knew I could trust was the end given to me by my mother.

I looked up at the statue, bowing again as I once again turned to leave. The sounds of my footsteps could be heard as I left the alter room. The over whelming pretense of holy energy was making me sick.

The bishop did not stop me. She did not say a single word. There was no need to. I no longer belonged here. I could come and go as I wished, my title gave me that much. Even the Pope would need to give me respect. But this was not my home.

I did not look back as I walked from the church. I passed the rows of book shelves and once again returned to the outside temple. Here the holy Energy was much thinner, and did not effect me as much. I could see my party training with the soldiers here.

I did not bother them as I left the church. Only Hylia had noticed my departure. She did not say anything aloud, but I could feel her monitoring me with her telepathy.

I had no destination in mind, and I just began to walk. I was not leaving them, Not really at least. I was just going away for awhile. They had their training with the church to do, and I had to walk my own path.

I knew of their training because Hylia had told me. She was there with me, in my head as i walked. Our connection had not been broken, our life bound contract something that was not so easily broken. Even if I was on the other side of Kaos she would be able to feel me, and in this city she could communicate with me at will.

They were being trained in actual combat, that techniques were needed, and not just the skills that granted us the knowledge. Skills could be bought, but techniques had to be learned. They could be self taught, or the could be learned from a master, but there was no arguing that learning from a master was faster.

This is why I left them there. They still had a place there, and they would recieve the training they needed to go to the next level. But I did not belong there. I was not one of her servants, not any more.

Using the map we had bought from the merchant I eventually found a real estate agent. I only had around 5 gold left, and it cost me most of that to purchase a cheap place in the slums. The house itself was little more than a shack, but it had room in the back for training.

I sighed as I looked at my new home. It was no wonder the guild leader and the C ranked adventurers had chosen to go to another C ranked city. There they could live the life of a king, but here even the big fish of that pond were nothing but minnows compared to sharks in the waters.

I sat in the backyard, a backyard that was was made of dirt and stone and stared up at the night sky. As I admired the view I realized one of the many reasons people came to this city. The night sky was the most beautiful I had ever seen.