The First Legendary Beast Master novel Chapter 328

328 Cathedral Again?

Morgana looked toward the Cathedral. "As much as this is a surprise, it's not the one that I was expecting. Monk Chen was supposed to meet us at the Cathedral, he has joined the staff as well, and will be coming along to help with meditation and mental fortitude training."

Karl laughed and pointed toward the building. "He's almost certainly inside those doors. They lead to the meditation area, and they're a much better spot to surprise a visitor."

Tessa and Lotus surrounded the Witch Doctor and wrapped their arms around her.

"So you've been drawn into the Karl gravity well. Aren't you a bit old for him?" Tessa asked.

"First off, I am his advisor from the Bureau, secondly, aren't you older than I am, Sister?" Morgana cut back.

Doug and Lotus both laughed before Doug gave Tessa a conciliatory pat on the shoulder. "She's got a point, she was the youngest in her class, nearly a whole year younger. She didn't even get long enough legs to keep up with the group until third year."

"You really want me to Hex you, don't you?" Morgana replied.

Lotus hugged the Witch Doctor. "Don't feel bad. I graduated last year and I still have short legs."

Morgana sighed and looked away just as the door opened, revealing Brother Chen, who had been drawn by the commotion.

"Commander Karl! It's good to see you all healed and returned to service. But why does the lovely Miss Morgana look so defeated?" He announced.

"She's not ready to deal with Nature Priests today. I heard that you're joining the Academy Staff, congratulations." Karl replied, before giving the Monk a hug. Monk Chen smiled back at Karl. "You know, you actually look your age from this angle."

Behind them, Doug laughed. "Not for long. It's his birthday next week, and he will get his baby face status back."

Karl did quick math, as he hadn't seen a calendar in ages. Doug was right, but he was surprised that the Nature Priest knew that.

Tessa nodded. "And it's both Lotus and Dana's birthday next month. We're all getting old, make it stop."

Her dramatic announcement made the Monk laugh. "Just wait, soon enough you will be looking like one of the Orphanage Matrons, all round and jolly with a ruler in your hand as you terrify school children."

"You take that back right now."

Tessa had the sort of narrow and angular features that Karl couldn't see ever getting that sort of chubby. The Battle Nuns, as everyone called the lean and muscular female Red Dragon Clerics who practically lived in combat, seemed like a more probable outcome.

The rest of the group joined them as the clerics all exchanged stories. They hadn't seen each other in a while, as Bob and Doug had been assigned to guard duty, and while Monk Chen wasn't technically a cleric, he was mostly hidden in the meditation areas of the Cathedral.

"Let's lead you all to your rooms to drop off your gear. It's good that they got you robes in advance, that makes life easier. The Cathedral has seen too many visitors trying to sneak out of bounds lately, so if you will notice, those robes don't have the silver thread in the cuffs that the regular visitor robes do." Brother Chen explained. Karl had never noticed the silver threads before, but he hadn't really been looking for them in an all white robe. But as they walked through the cathedral toward the upper floor rooms, he did notice that on the tourist robes, one single thread on each sleeve was dyed silver. Not always in the same spot, but they all had a silver thread near the cuff.

That was brilliant, and meant that even if you tried to sneak in by blending in, the actual clerics would notice right away.