"Cheers!!"
Luke, Noah and Shane were celebrating in the local tavern after getting the reward from the count's mission.
They were drinking beer in celebration as fifteen years of age is considered to be adult in the continent and youngsters are allowed to have drinks in taverns.
Ruby was missing from the scene since she was a priestess of the temple and being in a tavern, drinking with adventurers would create troubles for her.
"I never imagined the count would double the reward! We really hit the jackpot!" Shane said gleefully.
"We each got four thousand gold coins! We'll be able to buy the dimensional ring for each of us and also new armors!" Noah stated excitedly.
"We still have the Imoogi materials! How much do you think we'll get for that?" Shane asked.
"At least two thousand coins! It's a peak nightmare beast! If we auction it maybe more!" Noah said.
"Great! But…me and sister, we won't be taking anything from it!" Shane declared.
"Huh! But why?" Luke asked in surprise.
"Because we did nothing, you and that military girl did everything to defeat it! We were just spectators there!"
"Speaking of that military girl…what was her name?" Noah asked.
"Adriana!" Luke spoke immediately.
Noah and Shane looked at Luke with a teasing smile on their faces.
"What? Come on…I just remember her name that's all!"
"'What if I ask to marry you? You didn't take that into consideration!'" Shane teased as he imitated Luke. Noah burst out laughing seeing Shane.
"That's too much! I was just teasing her man!" Luke exclaimed, embarrassed remembering that.
"She would be banging her head on the wall when she comes to know that there were two flowers there and you two played her into giving up the Imoogi and three favors!" Shane shook his head as he laughed.
Both Luke and Noah chuckled at Shane's words.
"But still, everyone contributed, so you two should get part of the reward too!" Luke said as he got back on the reward discussion.
"No! I am satisfied with just the mission reward! Even that wouldn't had been possible if we hadn't met you!"
"But still…"
"I won't join the team if you force it more! My sister said the same! She has allowed me to join the team; that's enough for me!"
"Really? How the hell did she agree?" Noah asked, surprised.
"Well because she'll be joining too!"
"What!?" Noah yelled out.
"What about the temple then? I don't think they'd allow her to be with adventurers." Luke asked, curious.
"She has…left the temple!"
Noah spitted the beer out of his mouth in shock, drenching Shane in it.
"I-I'm sorry Shane!" he immediately apologized and tried to wipe it off Shane's face.
Luke burst out laughing as he held his belly.
"Come on man! what's there to be so surprised about!" Shane asked in annoyance.
"I'm sorry! It's just that…who leaves the temple to be an adventurer! It's like a demotion, and you'll be blacklisted by the temple forever you know!" Noah said.
"She said she wanted to leave since a long time! They just use her and give just some spare coins as salary and sometimes she'd get nothing in the name of doing a good cause!" Shane spoke with a trace of anger in his voice. "I think it's better that she left the temple!"
"It's all good! We'll be a family from now on! Welcome to the team Shane, and also Ruby, though she's not here right now!" Luke lifted his glass up for a toast.
"To our team!" Noah and Shane clinked their glasses with smiles plastered on their faces.
"What should we name our team?" Noah asked.
"Destroyers!" Shane exclaimed.
Luke and Noah gave him a disappointed look, rejecting it immediately.
"What about four the kick ass!" Shane looked at them with anticipation, waiting for the approval.
"Don't try Shane! You're hopeless with names!" Noah said.
"I have one in mind!" Luke said.
Both Noah and Shane turned their heads at him, waiting for him to speak.
With a smile on his face, he looked at the two of them and spoke the name out.
"Heaven Benders!"
*****
One day earlier.
In a wide circular hall with numerous marble pillars supporting the high ceiling with a dome above, men and women in white robes with golden embroidery were pacing around, moving here and there.
One woman among them was Ruby. She was walking towards the room having a huge arc shaped door.
She pushed the door with some effort and it opened with creaking metallic sounds.
Inside the room was rectangular and quite big. It was devoid of any furniture and the whole room was almost empty.
At the far end were a few stairs moving up towards a platform, where a woman was sitting cross legged, her back towards Ruby and numerous cylindrical earthen lamps were burning around her, covering the whole platform and a few stairs below, leaving only the space where the woman was.
And in front of the woman was a huge statue of a woman in a robe, holding a book in her hands and a ring of halo behind her head.
She was the Goddess of life, Irene.
"Come Ruby! Pray with me!" the woman called Ruby in a calm and solemn voice.
Ruby moved towards the woman and sat on the floor just below the stairs. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes to pray.
After a few minutes of silence, the woman opened her eyes and stood up. She bowed towards the Goddess's statue and turned around.
"Open your eyes, Ruby."
Ruby slowly opened her eyes and saw the woman staring at her from above, with her hands behind her back.
She was a middle aged woman, long black hair and dark skin, wearing a red robe with golden embroidery, different from the other priestesses as she was the branch head of the temple, head priestess Olivia.
"Is it true that you went on a mission with some adventurers?"
Ruby was surprised that Olivia knew about it, but she didn't dare lie in front of her, as it was no use.
The priestesses with red robes are truthgaugers, they can tell if someone is lying or has hidden intensions. So, ruby spoke immediately, without lying.
"Yes, head priestess!"