The next day Kaelon and a squad of paladins, including Kane, got called to Elizabeth's office. Inside the old lady sat behind a pristine white desk with gold accents. Papers were scattered in front of her and she didn't seem to notice them.

  Kane knocked on the desk with a smile and said.

  "Your Holiness, we are here for the briefing."

  Elizabeth looked up at them a little wide eyed.

  "Oh you all arrived? Sorry, I was too absorbed in work."

  Kane bowed slightly.

  "You don't need to apologize, Your Holiness. We're here for your service."

  Elizabeth waved a hand for him to rise. She turned to the rest of the room and nodded at the paladins.

  "A few days ago, our sister temple in Vinhal asked for our aid with a monster wave. A local dungeon experienced an outbreak due to mysterious circumstances. You guys leave in three days. Make your preparations and harden your resolve. This mission will be a dangerous one."

  Kaelon heard a few gulps around the room but he himself wasn't nervous. He was looking forward to seeing how he fared against monsters. Fighting people was completely different than fighting monsters.

  "What kind of monsters are we gonna fight?"

  Kaelon had a wide smile as images of wolves and goblins came to mind. His excitement palpable and a fire growing in his chest.

  "Kobolds. When fighting kobolds keep in mind their intelligence. They are much smarter than they look and can easily get one over on you if you're not careful."

  The already heavy mood became heavier at her words while Kaelon's eyes gleamed. He wasn't scared of a few monsters.

  With that Kane led the paladins out of Elizabeth's office and into the training grounds. With a heavy tone he spoke to the squad of 10.

  "We have our mission. I know some of you might feel scared at the prospect of fighting monsters. I want to say, I agree. Everyone has fears, the important thing is to control them. Don't let your fear of monsters stop you from fighting to the best of your ability. All that leads to is death."

  As he spoke the men's eyes cleared up, their hesitations vanishing. Kane saw their gazes change and shouted.

  "For Altan!"

  The paladins echoed him, banging their shields with their swords.

  "For Altan!"

  The next few days went by pretty fast for Kaelon. All he did was practice 'The Breath of Embers' and try to gleam more of it with no luck. No matter how much he tried to connect with his divinity like he had before it didn't work.

  It was like he was being blocked by a wall and no matter what he tried he couldn't overcome it. Kaelon's excitement took a hit at his lack of progress but he kept trying. At some point his training would be enough and he would be strong enough to overcome that wall.

  On the third day Kaelon headed to the training grounds fully equipped. He wore an Altan paladin's armor and Bogar's sword hung at his side. The armor was of a pristine white with gold marking. It consisted of several pieces strapped to his body. The armor covered his vitals but still gave some flexibility.

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  At the training grounds Kane was already waiting. Kaelon approached with a smile and fell in line behind him.

  They didn't have to wait long before the entire squad was standing at attention before them. Kane looked over his determined squad before nodding.

  "You look ready, are you?"

  The squad responded without a seconds delay. Exclaiming in unison.

  "Yes sir!"

  Kane nodded to himself again before turning away from them.

  "Then follow me. We leave right now."

  Kaelon and the rest marched behind Kane like ducklings. He led them through the temple ground and towards its exit. Elizabeth and a couple priests stood there waiting to see them off.

  "Your Holiness."

  Kane bowed seeing Elizabeth at the front of praying priests. She put her hand on his head before speaking.

  "Raise your head Kane. And come recieve your blessings."

  Kane stepped forward at her words. The already praying priests circled him, a divine glow around them. They chanted prayers for a couple seconds before their glow spread to Kane.

  It was a beautiful sight, the divine light pouring into Kane's body and sword. Kaelon was completely enchanted by it. The glow subsided and Kane stepped back before Elizabeth turned to him.

  "Kaelon step forward. Recieve your blessing."

  He stood frozen for a second before coming to and stepping forward. The same process as before repeated as Kaelon stood there amazed. As the divine glow seeped into him he felt it resonate slightly with his own divinity.

  It felt as if that divine glow and his divinity had the same source. And that's because they did, Kaelon's divinity came from his relation to Altan. Theirs also came from that, only it was different.

  A priest's power is never their own, their powers borrowed from their God. Kaelon's divinity was his alone, nothing but him could influence it.

  As the divine glow flowed into his sword Kaelon tried to focus his whole mind on the process. Ever since seeing Kane's sword be blessed Kaelon has been anticipating this moment. If he could just catch a glimpse of what was happening, Kaelon thought he could apply it to his own swordsmanship.

  Something like coating his sword in divinity or something. The idea persisted in his mind even while actually experiencing the blessing. In fact it only grew stronger because Kaelon could see that it was possible.

  The blessings glow dimmed and Kaelon stepped back his mind flying. The other squad members went up one by one. All of them recieving the blessing.

  Kaelon's eyes were narrowly focused on the paladins swords. By the time the last paladin had been blessed Kaelon's eyes were bloodshot. He hadn't blinked once since the blessings began. His mind fully focused on peering into their divine technique.

  The whole thing was very inspiring. Their uses of divinity were different from his own. But Kaelon could see applications for some of these things for himself. Especially the sword blessing, Kaelon thought he could definitely take that to a different level.

  After the last blessing ended Kane continued out of the temple. Kaelon hadn't left this temple in three months so he looked around as they marched. The upper districts of Altan were clean as always and pedestrians stared at them as they made their way through.

  Kaelon honestly felt like a stranger as he walked through the upper districts. He had never actually been here before. Seeing people point at him and be amazed as if he was some hero felt weird though. Especially by the people he used to resent while living in the slums.

  Eventually though they made it to the gates of Altan. Just before the gate was a horse stables. Kane stepped inside alone before coming out with the owner. Kaelon and the paladins looked on as Kane chose all of them a horse and rented them.

  "Come on guys. Let's head out if we go on horseback it's a four day trip."

  Kaelon cleared his throat as Kane finished speaking.

  "Just a quick question. A hypothetical one even, what if you can't ride a horse?"

  Laughter erupted among the paladins as they pointed at him.

  "What you can't ride a horse? Hahahaha! Even my son can ride a horse. He's not even three years old!"

  Kaelon's eyebrows furrowed at their laughs and comments. So what if he couldn't ride a horse? He was a slum rat three months ago. Of course he couldn't ride a horse, he had never seen a horse up close until now.

  Kane laughed for a good thred more minutes before composing himself. He turned to Kaelon with a smile and made the offer.

  "You can ride behind me Kaelon. I'll teach you how to ride one properly on the way back. For now it's important we get to Vinhal as fast as possible."

  Kaelon reluctantly agreed and got on Kane's horse. With that settled the squad finally left Altan City heading west.