Chapter 6
The fight ended quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that everyone still had plenty of spiritual energy to spare.
Elise, for instance, could instant-cast six Senior First-tier spells on her current reserves. Pushing herself to the limit, she could manage nine.
That many spells was more than enough to decide most battles.
Which was why most Awakened didn't bother drinking a potion every time they fought. The return simply wasn't worth the cost.
But an Awakened who prepared before every mission and drank a potion before every fight would naturally fight at a much higher level.
Elise hadn't even laid eyes on the targets before casting [Lightshield] on her teammate, then dropping [Holy Light] over the ground where a fight might break out.
To ordinary Awakened, that was pure waste.
She was part of a Church of Light enforcement team. She hardly needed to worry about the targets striking first—most criminals chose to run.
And even if the targets did fight back, she could instant-cast. Wouldn't it make more sense to cast then, and save a potion?
But Elise had no intention of saving anything.
She cast freely before battle was even certain. Once the fight began, she showed even less restraint. Her potions weren't safe either.
Her approach was simple.
Complete the mission.
Cast as many spells as possible.
After all, beyond arresting the targets, she had another goal that mattered just as much.
Skill experience.
When Elise reached the collapsed section of wall, she took stock of the scene from behind Roland—and felt a flicker of disappointment.
Beside the broken wall, two middle-aged men with similar faces sat slumped together, breathing hard, glaring at her with hatred in their eyes.
The Fisk brothers.
In another city, they had brawled with other Awakened, and seven civilians caught in the crossfire had died.
The Church of Light had recorded the brothers' spiritual signatures. Today, those signatures had surfaced in Megalith City.
The Fisk brothers had never imagined they wouldn't even get the chance to run.
Shouldn't a team sent to arrest Senior First-tier Awakened field one Prime Cleric or Knight at most?
And what kind of Cleric started casting before the fight even began?
"The Fisk brothers?" Roland asked.
He ignored everything else. Planted in front of Elise and Telynia, the two spellcasters, he watched the targets closely in case they tried one final attack.
Only then did Elise take the time to collect the spiritual energy the two men had shed while fleeing.
Once the traces were recorded, the spiritual detector pendant from the Hall of Discipline glowed faintly.
A match.
The Fisk brothers had no choice but to accept it.
"It's us. Light God above, we never meant to hurt any civilians."
"It wasn't deliberate. We shouldn't hang for this."
The brothers submitted to arrest because they knew a death sentence wasn't coming.
Their fight had cost seven civilians their lives, but it hadn't been intentional murder. Most likely, they'd be sent somewhere to serve as laborers.
The Church had no shortage of places to put Awakened like them to work. They'd receive food and lodging, while the money their labor earned went to the families of the dead.
"Fighting inside the city is forbidden," Roland said coldly. "Your actions cost seven of our god's faithful their lives."
Under his teammates' watchful eyes, Roland stepped forward carefully and bound the two men.
"Father Kilian, please arrange a carriage for us," Elise said, finally relaxing.
The targets were in custody.
Her first mission had gone perfectly.
They had captured the criminals, harmed no civilians, earned a healthy haul of spell skill experience, and deepened Elise's understanding of practical combat casting.
By her estimate, she could sustain her current experience efficiency for at least another day or two.
"As you wish," Father Kilian said cheerfully, and left to arrange a cargo carriage.
Elise and her teammates escorted the Fisk brothers back to their temporary residence.
Then came the spoils. Beyond Merit rewards, Hall of Discipline missions also granted the team any belongings of the captured targets that weren't tied directly to the case.
The Church had two reasons for this rule. First, it rewarded those fighting on the front line.Second—and unfortunately for the arresting teams—most of these criminals were dirt poor.
Following Glenrius through the Fisk brothers' property, Elise found herself mildly stunned by just how poor.
She had assumed that even First-tier Awakened without Second-tier Transcendent items would own two or three First-tier ones at least.
And surely a few potions on hand.
But the brothers' only Transcendent items were their weapons—worth perhaps twenty gold coins between them.
Their potion stock was just as disappointing. Not a single decent one in the lot. The most valuable was a recovery potion worth seven gold.
They didn't even have the money for a second.
So what did they have the most of?
Liquor.
They hadn't stocked potions, but since they'd clearly planned to lie low for a long while, more than a dozen jars of liquor sat stored in the house.
"This is normal for Awakened," Glenrius said with a laugh, catching her disappointment. "Most of them never adventure anywhere truly dangerous."
"Our take from this mission is already excellent," Telynia said, plainly satisfied.
She leaned in and quietly ran the numbers for Elise.
The Church mission—arresting two First-tier Awakened—paid ten First-tier Merits, exchangeable within the Church for goods worth roughly a hundred gold coins.
The brothers' assets added a little over thirty more.
Total reward: upwards of a hundred and thirty gold coins.
Elise's share came to around forty.
Telynia and Roland would each pocket more than twenty.
For them, that was a sizable sum. Not everyone drank three Spirit Potions a day like Elise.
"After subtracting the cost of one rare-grade Spirit Potion, I still cleared... ten gold coins," Elise said.
Acceptable.
They escorted the targets back to the Church's Hall of Discipline without incident.
When the battered carriage carrying the Fisk brothers rolled up to the Church, Harkian—who had been waiting for Elise deliberately—approached at once.
He wasn't surprised she'd completed the mission.
But he refused to believe it had gone smoothly.
With only one knight and one elven archer, the screen around two spellcasters couldn't possibly hold stable.
This was the perfect moment to step in.
"Elise, congratulations on completing your first mission," Harkian said.
Then he offered a reserved smile.
"It seems you ran into a fight. May the Light God watch over you."
Having said his piece, Harkian smiled and stayed right where he was.
One last sentence went unspoken.
Now you understand, Elise. It's not too late to invite me onto the team.
"The Light God did watch over us," Elise said, sparing him a glance.
She thought his self-importance made him look a little foolish.