16 Since When did ‘Priests’ Give Dark Blessings?

The day of departure had arrived. Michael was a bit nervous about returning to the town, while Joey was looking forward to the reward and John didn't think about it.

Arriving at the gate ten minutes after sunrise they were greeted by a group of ten individuals, including their employer, that were all wearing big and dark robes that covered up any weapons they had which could've provided a hint to their class along with shrouding their faces in shadows.

Slightly unnerved by the group John walked up to their employer who was wearing a similar robe just with the hood back revealing his face and greeted him on behalf of their small group.

"Now that we have all gathered, we can all leave. I assume you three have a vehicle? Please drive to the destination and we will follow you. The compensation which has been spoken of will be handed to you upon reaching the town in your descriptions and then after you show us the rest of the way you can do what you want. Sound acceptable?" The employer stated in an even tone.

"Those conditions sound good to me, give us another five minutes to fetch our car and we'll be right with you." John agreed with a smile.

After much discussion, the trio had decided to stay back in the town and get to level 15 in order to acquire their first class so the payment being given to them in advance was quite beneficial. That way they only had to go to the right location and point out the building and they will have no chance of getting afflicted a second time.

After getting into their car and driving to the front gate the three logged their names with the current man on guard duty while being followed by two black SUVs as they made their way back the way they came a few days prior.

They drove for the entire day before camping out at night with the trio sleeping in their car and the black robed people keeping watch. Just as the employer promised, the job was quite laid back and easy and they had no trouble all the way to the abandoned town.

Upon reaching the town and parking the cars on the perimeter the trio became a lot more alert as the seemingly infinite number of dogs had left a very strong impression on them.

"Be careful here." Michael warned, "This town is filled top to bottom with wild dogs, which are weak individually but when they all come together they can overpower even stronger enemies with their sheer numbers."

"The warning is appreciated but you three don't need to worry, my men and I are well versed in monster waves and have experience with dealing with what might appear to be insurmountable odds." The employer replied confidently.

"Well I guess I'll take your word for it."

After having a quick look around the trio quickly exchanged the promised goods with the robed people and hid them in their car before all of them quietly walked into the desolate town.

"How far is the church from our current position?" Inquired the employer.

"Not that far, this town isn't particularly big and it will only take us an hour or so while walking if we take a few detours to avoid some of the more unpleasant areas." Replied John

"Well then let's not waste time, lead on."

The group then started moving in the direction of the old church with some of the robed people guarding the front and the rear and the trio giving directions whenever they reached a junction. Like this, they made good time and arrived at the church in 40 minutes while having only a few encounters with the dogs. All of which ended quickly with one of the robed people quickly and efficiently cutting down anything that attacked them.

"This is the street, if you look about six houses down, across the road you'll see it." Informed John while gesturing toward the church.

"Ok, I will now have the priest place a barrier around each of us that will negate the effects of the gate." As the employer said this, he gestured to one of his companions and the designated individual muttered something under his breath and made a few small gestures before a dark, aura spread out from him and encompassed everyone present before fading, after which all of them had a new effect displayed on their status.

[Name: John Hilde

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Level: 14

Strength: 17

Endurance 14

Soul: 3

Luck: 8

Current Effects: Dark Blessing

Dark Blessing:

You have been cloaked in a dark power resulting in any external darkness to slide over you.]

"I don't mean to pry, but being able to cloak people in dark power doesn't seem like an ability a holy man would have." John said suspiciously.

"We have tools of the trade, my group is trained in dealing with creatures that are opposed to the more, light, side of the clergy so we have certain tricks that would help in the tasks we undertake."

"Sure."

After attaining the blessing the group moved towards the church and after walking to the door and nothing happening the trio relaxed their vigilance and waited for the door to be opened.

"Did you three actually inspect the inside of this building?"

"No, we were going to but once we arrived at the door we were assaulted with an awful feeling, as if our very selves were being torn apart. So we immediately backed off and when we checked the status we had the effect of soul corrosion." John replied.

"Ok then, lets see whats inside, you three have done your job and are right to leave now."

"If it's ok with you, I would like to see what's inside this building, I'm quite curious after the pain it caused us." Stated John with Michael and Joey quickly voicing their agreement.

"Hmm, I'd rather you not, we like to operate and investigate alone. I'm sure you understand." Stated the employer, firmly dismissing the trio.

"Now hold on-" Joey started to say but John cut him off with a glare before stating

"Ok then, you have been quite generous in rewarding us so we won't pry into your personal business, farewell."

And with that, John turned around and brought the other two with him, pointedly walking down the street.

"Why did you just accept that?" Asked Joey, confused.

"Because they are suspicious for one, no member of the church can utilize dark magic, they can only use blessings of the light variant as they are attributed to angels and heaven, as far as I'm aware only dark priests and similar can use dark energy like that and they are almost always cultists. Reason two, we can't beat them. If we stick our nose into their business and they decide to forcefully stop us. Then we won't win. To be honest, I'm starting to suspect that there were multiple reasons they got our help, one was because we knew the way, two was because we were under leveled nobodies so they probably thought we didn't know about dark priests, and three, if we had raised an alarm they could've finished us off easily."

As they got to the end of the street they turned the corner and then stopped.

"However, despite everything I just said, I'm not saying I'm not curious as well, so it's a good thing none of us are cats. Come on guys, let's see what they're up to." John stated with a slight smile as he led the trio down a back alley that cut back around toward the church.