"Sorry for the rude reception... We tend always to be wary of everyone who comes to the Church at unusual times." The woman spoke, before opening the doors of the building.
"I didn't freak out, so you don't have to apologize." Luke answered her. The half-wolf only feared that Bastet had become irritated, but it seemed that he was tired from the battle because he hadn't self-invoked since Luke had crossed the walls.
Soon after, the black-haired woman opened the gigantic door of the Cardinal Church, revealing a magnificent interior. The inside of the Church was fascinatingly different from what Luke had expected. The half-wolf's expectation was a place with hundreds of seats for the faithful to sit and attend masses, but in reality, he found an environment with many gigantic shelves, where people had to take huge ladders to get the books they needed.
In the hall, there were also gears on the ceiling, which connected and contributed a force that no single gear could do alone. These gears were the symbol of the Cardinal Church, whose philosophy was always to work together to achieve results that would normally be impossible.
Impressed by the panorama of the place, Luke spoke up:
"This here is very different from the small chapels I usually see in other cities..."
"I'm sure it is... Now, follow me."
Several dozen people were wandering around the church's interior, and Luke soon concluded that he had never seen so many scholars and academics together in one place. At that moment, Luke wondered if Pontiff Rebecca, the little girl-looking woman that he could see once time, would be in that place.
After a few minutes of following the woman in silence, Luke crossed a wide hallway and only stopped because the woman also braked in front of a double door.
"Normally, you could use a Gene Skill license at any other Skill Shop and in any city. Why did you come to the Church for that? Were you just passing through the vicinity?"
To answer the woman, Luke pulled a scroll from his overcoat with calm movements to not alarm her.
"I know I could use a Skill license anywhere else, and I also confess that I am just passing through, but since I was instructed to come specifically here, I think the reason is obvious."
Then, Luke stretched his right arm forward and let the scroll open by itself. At the bottom of the yellowish page, the glow of a gold stamp immediately caught her attention. According to Mikaela ?kerman, this document would grant the half-wolf, at least, one Rare Level Skill, which was already something unbelievable for Luke. Ever since he gained the skill <Vind> and realized how versatile it was, being able to evolve in sudden moments, Luke discovered the real potential of high-level skills.
When she saw the stamp on the parchment in the half-beast's hand, the look on the woman's face in front of the door was transformed.
Even though Luke was well-dressed, his hair was still messy and his gaze not a bit trustworthy, so she was suspicious of him, but she never imagined that he was the current Champion of the Tournament of Legends from what the letter said.
[License to obtain Gene Skill.
I, Mikaela ?kerman, declare that the possessor of this document has been awarded a Class-S Gene Skill License, whose singularity levels compose Rare Level, Epic Level, and Legendary Level, as a primary reward for winning First Place in the Tournament of Legends of Year 512.
...]
Taking the document to see in her hand and seeing that the gold stamp in the bottom right corner was real, the woman bowed her head.
"I beg your pardon a thousand times, Champion. I even considered the possibility of any participant coming so far away from Oukiwa."
"If you buy me dinner, I will be more than happy to forgive you." Luke joked unassumingly to ease the tension, and only a few moments later noticed the words he used.
Luckily, the woman was very professional and kept a neutral face, which calmed him down. However, if Luke knew that after she opened the double door for him to enter, she had become a red bell pepper, he would quickly try to fix it.
While watching Luke be impressed by the Royal Skill Warehouse, the woman began shaking her face desperately to try to calm down.
'Aaaaah! Why does this kind of man do such effective damage!? Calm down, Amélia; you have managed to maintain your posture since the entrance door. Stand your ground!'
"Are you coming?" Luke asked the woman, having felt it would be impolite to continue alone.
"Y-yes!" Amelia replied and walked over to Luke, avoiding looking at him directly.
The half-wolf found this behavior strange, but when he began to wonder what kind of skill he should choose, Amelia disappeared from his thoughts.
The room that Luke and Amelia entered had shelves as high as those that could be found in the main hall of the Cardinal Church, but the shelves in this particular place were not filled with books, but thousands of scrolls.
Luke knew since the first time he bought a Gene Skill from a shopkeeper that the stores of Gene Skills are made through scrolls and ancient runes. He didn't understand how the method worked, yet he couldn't deny that it was efficient.
"Hello, Amelia! What do I owe your honorable visit to, and who is this handsome guy?" The woman at the counter asked. She had very red hair and was wearing some thin glasses.
At that moment, Amelia realized that she had not even asked the half-beast's name until then. "T-that's... the Champion, and by Champion, I mean the winner of the Tournament of Legends."
The Royal Warehouse administrator immediately clenched her eyes, put her hand on her chin and tilted her bust forward, showing off her cleavage. "Ah~ If you want, I'm available after my shift~."
FLICK~
Suddenly, Amelia flicked the administrator on the forehead, who fell back behind the counter. "Hmph! You should be more polite to visitors!" She spoke with a flushed face.
"Yowt! Amelia, I am just looking for a man who is a good match." The administrator spoke as she stood up with a bit of pain and then whispered to her friend: "Don't you think he's a handsome guy too?" She was wearing a lewd smile.
Luke's ears wiggled slightly as he heard the administrator's compliment and also a little when he heard Amélia's heart speed up.
"Excuse me; I'm in a hurry. May I take my Legendary Skill to go?" Luke asked, before the topic of the women extended any further.
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