Prince Roland's arrangements for David were very thoughtful. She directly gave David a standalone small building to solve the noble young master's accommodation problem.
This residence was located on Michelin Avenue running through the diocese, very close to the Church headquarters too.
9 Michelin Avenue, a three-story building facing the street. David, who didn't have much material pursuit anyway, was very satisfied with this.
The carriage stopped in front of David's new home. The twin maids and Doug were responsible for unloading luggage, while he continued by carriage to report to Church headquarters.
Entering through the side door of the Radiant Cathedral after crossing the spacious Church of Light plaza, David walked all the way through a massive pointed-roof building complex full of religious atmosphere under the guidance of clergy.
From the moment he entered the church doors, the numerous Sun Goddess emblems on the walls radiated a soft warm feeling, making David feel his whole body relax...
Those damn evil spirits were indeed being suppressed by the Church's power!
David was somewhat moved and relieved, sighing that he'd finally come to the right place...
"Churches should definitely be built bigger."
The person leading ahead heard the noble young master's devout murmur and looked at him strangely.
Soon, David was brought deep into the Church. He descended underground from a spiral staircase and met two Church Hunters in a sealed yet not stuffy underground room.
To be precise, they were hunters jointly managed by the Church and hunters' guild, belonging to the Church's "Demon Hunting Order."
Before this, the Fourth Prince had already officially recommended David Frank to the Order—simply put, used connections to squeeze him in.
In this situation, the two Order members who met David both seemed somewhat cold.
Especially after seeing David's "arrogant" weird outfit...
To prevent his uncontrollable eyes from randomly looking at places they shouldn't, David had bound his eye area with a black cloth. This made him look like a blind man.
Due to the Watcher evil spirit's existence, he could still barely see the road. The advantage was others couldn't easily notice his lewd gaze.
When David discovered one of the two people before him was a female hunter, he was very glad he'd made this preparation.
Because he was very certain that if his gaze was discovered, it wouldn't just be an awkward issue. He'd very likely have his eyes directly gouged out by that terrifying female hunter!
"Demon Hunting Order Vice Commander, Capital Radiant Council Member, Sixth-tier Hunter, Olivia."
The elderly hunter wearing a black cloak beside her first introduced the female hunter's identity to David.
This made David's breathing slightly tense.
Setting aside those status titles... what concept was a sixth-tier hunter?
David didn't know, but in his eyes, the Watcher evil spirit completely couldn't see through any of her information. Even her body wrapped under the black form-fitting hunter's long coat presented a complete "blur."
Like vision was blocked...
That abyss-like, ocean-like terrifying aura was thousands of times more frightening than that crazy Undying Montaigne.
The only thing David could see clearly, the only thing he was allowed to see clearly, was just her face.
Astonishingly young...
Black shoulder-length hair, a delicate small face that looked under twenty, fair skin, and a pair of sharp golden pupils that left an extremely deep impression.
Those golden eyes seemed to be suns radiating soft golden light, both dazzling and enchanting. The warm aura comparable to the goddess's light was enough to intoxicate anyone...
"And I am the Third Agent of the Church of Light's capital southern diocese, Fernandes..."
The elderly man without a white beard continued, "Esteemed Lord David Frank, we've already learned of your heroic deeds from Fourth Prince Roland. Moreover, His Highness said you're a devout follower of the goddess, and therefore recommended you to join the Demon Hunting Order.
I hereby confirm with you personally one last time—David Frank, are you willing to join the Demon Hunting Order and become a blade that the Church, the Empire, and all humanity thrusts at the dark side?"
The old man's hoarse, calm voice awakened David, pulling his attention away from Olivia's golden eyes.
He coughed once and performed a standard noble etiquette to the two high-status hunters.
"I'm willing."
...
Probably because of the backdoor dealings, Fernandes omitted all formalities.
He only had David hastily go through an oath and handed him a booklet that all Order members must read thoroughly, and that was all the necessary procedures complete.
Both sides knew that David Frank entering the Order was just the first step of the prince returning from the border extending her hand into the Church. This was already the result of various struggles and compromises among the upper echelons. From now on, no matter what, David would only be Roland's blade.
As for Fernandes, he actually didn't reject David's kind of existence. He was a pure old hunter, only responsible for cultivating new blood for the Order.
No matter David's identity or position, as long as he wasn't an evil god's incarnation, as long as he dared to draw his sword against darkness, that was enough.
After the formal procedures were complete, next came the important "main event"—the advancement ritual.
Ordinary people naturally couldn't join the Demon Hunting Order. For this, the Church could provide one chance at a supernatural advancement ritual.
Whether one could seize this opportunity and successfully advance to supernatural in the ritual depended entirely on personal fortune—usually the success rate was very low.
This was also the key to whether one could become a Church Hunter...
Fernandes knew David was special. He was already not an ordinary person, but a supernatural being who'd obtained supernatural powers through "special means."
But this didn't mean David would lose this right.
In fact, the Church more hoped Order hunters would all use Church-provided rituals to advance, giving up other powers of unknown origin.
But the actual situation wasn't so simple. Many Church Hunters would gradually deviate from the original path of light when pushed to desperation.
To fight evil, they'd pay any price.
Therefore, the Order's non-extreme conservatives could only turn a blind eye.
Though the power David Frank wielded was mysterious, it couldn't be considered evil. At least Olivia sitting quietly aside showed no reaction, so Fernandes also ignored the already-suppressed evil spirit aura on David.
He guided David before the stone table in the room and spread out a total of 8 scrolls introducing eight different supernatural advancement rituals for him to choose from.
"These are all the supernatural paths the Church can currently provide you. You can choose one. We'll immediately perform the first stage ritual for you."
David glanced at the ritual names and immediately felt dazzled.
Blessed Light Ritual, Goddess's Blessing Ritual, Blazing Sun Ritual, Fate Ritual, Night Ritual, Natural Light Ritual, Order Guardian Ritual, Steel Heart Ritual...
Just from the names and descriptions, he could roughly guess the characteristics of these supernatural paths.
Isn't this just choosing an initial class?
But David was somewhat conflicted. He turned to ask Fernandes a question first: "If I've already undergone a certain ritual, can I still accept the Church's ritual advancement?"
"Of course you can."
Fernandes glanced at him and curled his lip. "If you really think divine power will lose to those messy evil spirits, or if you still want to keep nurturing the evil spirits in your body, you might as well give up joining the Order."
The old man's gaze seemed to have already seen through David. He paused, then added: "Only the advancement rituals of the dark gods will conflict with the power of the radiant gods. Other rituals' summoned existences will all be purified by divine power—provided the deity accepts you."
"If a conflict really happens, or a special situation occurs, what then?" David asked carefully.
"You'll become a monster."
Cold words came. This time, it was Olivia sitting aside who answered David's question.
Very obviously, the fate of becoming a monster was death.