"Hey, they're here." I felt someone gently shake my arm and I immediately stood up. I saw Rijana standing to my right.

"I'm surprised you waited for us," Kalistra said; she stood directly in front of me. Bjoukia and Bjoukin stood behind her.

"It was the polite thing to do," I shrugged. I untied from my belt the sack of coins I had received as a reward for the completion of the mayor's quest; I passed it to her. "Please take the dojo's share. There's 500 gold inside. I will need to take 50 gold for the tithe as well," I said. "Since I'm going to visit the church next, I may as well pay it then."

The cat girl's eyes gleamed with greed as she snatched the loaded sack from my hand. She quickly took out 50 gold coins and placed it in her pouch. She reluctantly handed the sack back to me.

With my debt to the dojo settled, I started walking toward the church.

When we reached the block where the building was located, Kalistra said, "We'll wait across the street." The magic barrier which kept non-humans out of church grounds was a sore point for her, and the cat girl didn't want to refer to it at all.

"I'll see you soon," I promised. I entered the church through the main double doors located in the middle of the building. Walking across the foyer, I encountered a young page and immediately raised my hand to catch his attention. I showed the teenage boy the signet ring on loan from the mayor and said, "I need to see the Archbishop right away."

The boy stared at the ring for a moment. When he finally recognized it, the lad's face turned pale. "Yes, Brother Mulligan," he replied. To my surprise, he led me through the main chapel itself and then past a side door on the front stage.

As I followed the page, I couldn't help but marvel at the cleanliness of the floor, the benches, and the walls. The surfaces were practically gleaming under the light from the various candles and lanterns strategically placed across the chapel to illuminate every nook and cranny of the chamber. The ceilings were free of cobwebs. As expected, I saw several brothers on their hands and knees, busy scrubbing the surfaces with water and soap. I hoped that I won't be stuck with this assignment myself anytime soon because I saw that many of my brethren were sweating heavily while performing this chore.

The page led me through a small corridor, walked a staircase, and finally took me to a small study. When he opened the door, I saw that Archbishop Wilshire was seated behind a desk; he was reading a book. The boy gestured for me to wait outside the room while he entered and whispered into the Archbishop's left ear.

The old cleric nodded and looked up from his book. "Please come in," he said in a calm tone of voice.

I entered the study and approached the archbishop. I knelt down and kissed his ring, per church etiquette. Then I rose to my feet and took a seat in front of his desk.

The young lad left the room and quietly closed the door behind him to ensure our privacy. He stood outside the room to await further orders from the Holy One.

"It is unusual for my brother to lend out his signet ring. I assume the matter is urgent. Please tell me what happened," Archbishop Wilshire said in a kind and patient manner.

"Your Eminence, your brother assigned me a quest to investigate recent disturbances at the cemetery. They involved instances where bodies were discovered missing from the graves. It turned out that the buried bodies carried restless spirits, which then turned into undead and arose from the graves on their own. A Soul Reaper was claiming these souls and destroying their bodies," I started my explanation.

The old cleric's thick eyebrows rose at the mention of the soul reaper but kept silent.

"My party encountered the Soul Reaper and we somehow managed to kill it. However, the Goddess Keras was not pleased by this outcome. She sent a pack of hellions to attack my comrades while I was dragged off to Hades for a meeting with the Goddess herself."

The archbishop looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Then his sharp blue eyes fastened on my eyes. "Please continue."

"Keras gave me a quest to revive her minion. I was given a Soul Collector to collect spiritual energy from the undead. I was also punished with a curse that reduced my Health by half for a week. Mayor Wilshire sent me directly to you hoping that you could somehow undo this curse," I said.

Archbishop Wilshire sighed and slowly shook his head. "While it's true that a curse CAN be dispelled, people outside the Brotherhood often fail to understand the limitations for such removal. The person attempting the dispel is essentially pitting his divine devotion against the magic skills of the person who originally cast the curse. To attain my position, I needed to reach mastery of my profession. Yet, I would be a poor match against the power of a Goddess. Keras' divine curse cannot be removed by any mortal. You have no choice but to complete her quest as soon as possible," he answered solemnly.

I nodded slowly. Honestly, I had expected this answer. If the mortal inhabitants of this gaming world could easily undo the workings of Gods, then the Gamemaster wouldn't be suitably entertained. He would, in turn, adjust and increase the power of his divine minions so that they could interfere with mortal affairs for his entertainment. "Some of my companions are elves and Gaea sent a treant as her messenger to inform them of her approval for their involvement in this mission. The treant also said he felt the presence of undead in the middle of this city," I revealed.

"What!" the old man's eyes glared at me a split second before he smoothed out his face and held his emotions in check. He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. One of the primary duties of the church was to eradicate undead and prevent them from preying on the residents of Bristol. Thus, it was outright humiliating to learn that there were undead lurking right in his city. Right under his nose.

The archbishop's eyes refocused on me and spoke. "In addition to the cemetery, there can only be two sources for the undead in Bristol. First, a follower of Keras could be raising them secretly. But that doesn't make any sense to me because your mission to charge the Soul Collector will require you to destroy undead. Followers of Musa are not granted access to spells which raise the undead. Thus, no member of our Brotherhood is under suspicion unless they have turned rogue and secretly worshipped Keras instead."

"The other source of undead would be Necromancers from the Magic Guild. Either way, raising undead in Bristol is a violation of Church laws. Violators must be found and punished. Now, here is my assignment for you: Find the Necromancers who have been raising the undead, arrest these mages and destroy their undead minions. There is a strong possibility that a Lich is involved. Humans are frail creatures with limited lifespans. The promise of immortality could convince mages specializing in the Dark Sphere to join a Lich. I will assign someone to accompany you on your quest." The cleric then raised his voice and said, "Page!"

The boy waiting outside immediately rushed into the room and bowed deeply. "Yes, Your Grace?"

"I need Van. Please tell him the matter is urgent," the archbishop said.

The boy bowed again and started running in the hallway.

I raised my hand. "In the meantime, I need to offer a tithe to the church," I informed the old cleric. "I received a reward from the mayor for completing his quest. My share of the bounty was 500 gold coins. I need to tithe 50 gold to you," I informed him. I untied the sack from my belt and slowly counted out 50 gold coins. I organized them in stacks of 5 coins apiece on the desk. When I was finished, I carefully moved them, one stack at a time, to the center of the desk.

Archbishop Wilshire glanced at the stack but made no move toward them. Money matters did not really interest him. Instead, his attention returned back to me. "How did the treant discover the presence of the additional undead in the city?" he inquired. While there was a divine spell to detect undead, the range of the spell was relatively short. The cleric couldn't understand how the treant could detect the undead when the cemetery was so many blocks north of the center of Bristol.

I tilted my head for a moment. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure how the treant did it. Its roots were firmly in the ground. Perhaps, its strong connection with the earth allowed it to sense the presence of undead beings?" I speculated.

"Perhaps," the old man nodded. "I think you should return to the cemetery and consult further with the emissary of Gaea," he advised.

"Yes, Your Eminence," I bowed deeply. It was actually good advice because I had no clue where to start looking for the undead. I originally thought there could be some lurking in sewer tunnels under the church. But I hadn't sensed their auras during my walk on church grounds and thus, I needed to try looking elsewhere.

Archbishop Wilshire opened his drawer at his desk and took out a lock box. He took a key from his pocket and opened the box. He took out a ring and then a tube; he placed both items on the table next to the coins. He locked the box and returned it to his drawer.

I looked at the items with great interest. The ring was made of silver and lines of indecipherable words were inscribed on it. Its caption read, "Ring of Ultimate Power." The tube was also silver coated. Its caption read, "Greater Scroll of Undead Eradiction." I activated my Magic Sense and I detected strong auras from both items. "Magic sense SUCCESSFUL. +50 XP."

"You will find these items extremely helpful for your mission. The scroll can destroy a Greater Lich if that is the sole target for the spell," the archbishop said. "However, it is a seventh-tier spell and requires the caster to be at Level 13 as a spellcaster. The Ring of Ultimate Power will temporarily double your profession as a Mage and allow you to use the scroll. But the charge in the ring will increase your level only once. What level are you right now?" he asked.

"I'm only Level 6," I replied with a wince. My level wasn't high enough to use the scroll even with a boost from the ring.

"Then you need to increase your profession to Level 7 before you can use the scroll," he noted.

Before I could respond, there was a sharp knock on the door.

*KNOCK-KNOCK*

"Come in," the archbishop said.

A man entered and quickly knelt before the old cleric and kissed his ring. When he stood up, the man bowed deeply and said, "How many I serve Your Grace?"

"Please take a seat," the archbishop replied.

When the man sat next to me, I smelled a heavy odor; it was sweat. I took the opportunity to examine him closely. His tanned skin was rough. His curly, long jet-black hair was slick with sweat and dropped to his shoulders. His black beard covered his cheeks and his chin. His shoulders were clung to by the sweat-soaked white tunic, which accentuated his broad, strong chest. Frankly, he had a strong resemblance to Jon Snow from the Game of Thrones. Out of curiosity, I read his aura: The color was gold and silver.

The Jon Snow lookalike did not squirm under my close inspection. Instead, he seemed to invite it. He turned to me and his blazing blue eyes stared directly into mine. "Well met, Brother. My name is Van and I'm a Paladin in the service of the church," he introduced himself and offered his hand.

I tried my best to cover my pain at meeting a paladin with an awkward smile. It was bound to happen sooner or later. "I'm Lawrence Eugene Mulligan," I replied and gripped his hand.

"Yes, I know," the paladin smiled. Seeing my puzzlement, he explained. "I was serving as a guard at the Melee Tournament and I was fortunate enough to catch some of your duels. I would like to spar with you sometime."

"If there's time," I nodded in agreement.

"Van, I would like you to accompany Brother Mulligan on an important mission from the church. There may be rogue necromancers raising undead somewhere in the city," he revealed.

The paladin bowed deeply. "Yes, Your Grace." His hands were clenched upon hearing the presence of undead in his city. He tried to calm his fast beating heart by taking a deep breath.

"Now, you may be wondering why I put Brother Mulligan in charge of this mission rather than yourself. He was sent to the cemetery by the mayor to investigate disturbances of graves and missing bodies. Brother Mulligan and his companions encountered a Soul Reaper and somehow managed to kill it. Keras was not happy. She cursed Brother Mulligan and reduced his Health by half temporarily. The Goddess has charged him with reviving the Soul Reaper; to accomplish this, he needs to kill the undead. Thus, the goal of our own Goddess, Musa, is in alignment with that of Keras. You will be his shield and protect Brother Mulligan while he hunts the undead in the city," Archbishop Wilshire ordered.

Van turned to face me squarely; he placed his hands on my shoulders. "By my oath as a Paladin, I will protect you with my life." His passion burned brightly.

The church bell tolled nine times.

"It is time for you to return to your companions, Brother Mulligan. May the blessings of the Gods of the Law and Order be with you," the archbishop said in dismissal.

The two of us rose from our seats and bowed deeply. We left his study and encountered the page awaiting us in the hallway.

"I will escort you out," the boy said and we followed him.