PART 2
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When Yunnen first visited the capital city, he met a boy of his age named Jake. Jake was working as a waterboy at a brothel and he told Yunnen his reason. “My mother forced me to because we cannot do anything else. People like our bodies, but we always end up with broken bones or two. My mother would sometimes take pills to make herself pee better. So it’s lucky to be you, Yunnen. It’s better to be stoned than living like I am…”
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But after the dragon incident at Yunnen’s village, he and Jake started living together under the same roof in an abandoned lodging. Jake’s mother has also passed away on the same day when the dragon attacked and both feel that their meet up and great losses are fated. They work under the same employer, feeding themselves by secretly stealing portions of the customers’ orders and using the money made to buy what they like. Jake buys himself a guitar while Yunnen offers his to the nearby chapel of Aeris. Though the God is dead, the priestess believes that she is still somewhere in the spirit world. “For Gods are beings with a conscious spirit of no form, not just with bodies”.
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And, “an individual can ascend to Godhood if their spirit has gone through the twelve trials of the Zodiac.” Her wisdom piques the little elf's interest and he decided to study under her about prayer, secular power, and Gods. With his time at the church, he also hears rumors about the royal family. The princess is said to be exiled, only at the age of five because of her affinity to Dragconis. Yunnen asked the hunters, injured soldiers and Jake about this, to which they do not know. Only the priestess knows that the Gods of the land are like parent diseases. Their prayers can give strengths and weaknesses, and those afflicted by Dragconis are said to be nurturers of a pure dragon species. Everytime he thinks about it, he gets a headache.
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3 months after the royal scandal, news comes for the 25th hunter examination. It is, as shared by the injured hunters in the chapel, “an annual event to choose the next generation of hunters. They are masters of their field and specialized warriors in dealing against the creatures of Dramescula.” Dramescula…shared by the priestess, “Is the vermin mistress of creatures born from her. She is a living God that copulates with any creature, and births like a rat. Be careful when dealing with one of her monsters, especially when you are a male.”
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“But what do I get when I become a hunter?”
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“...most would specialize in hunting certain Dens, like Dramescula’s den. Hunters specializing against it are more likely to hunt any creature classified under her den. Or you could become a monster hunter, finding legendary materials to sell and record any sightings of the mythical beings. In simpler words, you will mostly fight monsters.”
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“And a dragon is a monster right?” Yunnen wants to clarify but indeed, as the priestess reply,
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“Dragons are primordial beings under no house. They are pets to the Gods but hunters can target them. Any hunter can target any creature as long as they are prepared against them.”
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Prepared…by which Yunnen does so. Diligently praying and improving his magical capabilities, training with militants in all manners of weaponry and sparring with the hunters that he aspire to be without telling them of his true intention. Anything he could use as a reason, just to train and practice his skills. Even going as far as to a dungeon, clearing it over a single night and earning himself a golden ring. He does not know that the effort of his prayers to the dead God will aid him in the future through his finding.
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His clearing led to the bafflement of adventurers, sparking news throughout the kingdom of who could possibly blow the dungeon out of proportion to the point that the landscape has changed. Yunnen secretly grins at his own mischievous deed, by which the priestess had already seen through him and she could only sigh. “What good does it do to you to become one?” The priestess would ask him one day under a willow tree,
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Both sipping their own cups, olive tea for the priestess, and hot milk for Yunnen. “I can avenge the people in my village and slay that dragon.”
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“A dragon that is the size of a mountain…”The priestess recalls from when Yunnen shared at first that made the child tear and open up, “There’s no such records about a dragon like that.”
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“Huh? And how would you know about that priestess!”
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“I’m also a librarian on the side.” She pouts
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“Oh…”
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“Five months in and you did not even notice. Hah, I guess I’m just that good at doing these sidelines.”
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“So, there is a possibility that you are also a militant, or a royal maid, or a princess, or a hunter?”
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“What do you think?” the priestess noticed his sharp thinking, “what do you think I know?”
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“Well, you know a lot about Gods, and about the dragons, I think. So, I’m guessing that you are somewhat of a specialist in Gods and Dragons.”
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“Ohoho” and the priestess keeps her silence, “You are close But I’ll tell you no more.”
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“That’s fine!” Yunnen says, quite enthusiastically, “I also don’t want you to get in my training.”
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“Heh, and you don’t even bother knowing my name”
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“...oh, I didn’t?”
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“Really impressive for you to go on for five months not knowing my name or who I truly am beside being a priestess.”
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“I don’t pry on others.”
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“A handsome trait, but maybe you should sometimes. You don’t know who or what you would be with.”
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“...okay, then may I know your name, priestess?”
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“Keep this a secret~” Wind gently blows her hair and kisses both of their cheeks, “Aespa~” She whispers and almost as if a power is bestowed to him. Yunnen looks down to see his golden ring glowing. He turns to Aespa but the priestess is gone, leaving behind her cup of olive tea from where she sat.
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