Luna walked down a stone pathway illuminated by the golden orange of the morning sun that followed the main road out of the city. As she walked, she would occasionally do a twist and hum. The once busy road was empty and lifeless, aside from some of those who were drunkenly staggering out of the city taverns on their way back to their homes. Storefronts were only now beginning to open shop for the day, as signs were being flipped from closed to open. Luna didn't like early mornings at first, but Abigail was sure to beat that out of her, with early morning visits to the city's orphanages.

On the plus side, it had only been a few months since her debutante as the Holy Saintess when she demonstrated her powers to the public. Since then, she hardly ever got a chance to walk around the city without people or bodyguards following her everywhere.

Over time, Luna came to love the city of Edronta, and its people. She was happy to serve them, and the emperor as the empire's Holy Saintess.

Luna walked up to a small store labeled 'Elizabeth's Fine Bakery' and adjusted her white and blue robe with black trim suggesting she was still in training. After she adjusted her robe, Luna shifted the coif on her head to make sure the metal plate was visible and walked into the store.

A woman in casual clothing swept the floor, as she began preparations for the day. When she noticed Luna, the woman smiled and gestured over at the counter where a dozen pastries sat.

"Your Holiness! I'm happy to see you here, the pastries I promised are ready for you." 

Luna thanked the shopkeeper and proceeded to bite into the sweet pastry. The sweet filling of the pastry blasted Luna with a sweet and fruity strawberry flavor that nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Mmmm! These are so good!" Luna licked the filling off her fingers.

The shopkeeper smiled and clasped her hands together. "Please, take the rest! It's all thanks to you, that my father is alive after his fall! This is the least I can do to return the favor."

Luna's eyes shone brightly and didn't even hesitate to grab the rest of the pastries. Had Sister Abigail been here, Luna would have been smacked. But she wasn't, so Luna definitely wasn't going to waste a good opportunity like this. 

"Oh yeah, how is your father doing by the way?" Luna asked as she shoveled another pastry into her mouth. 

The shopkeeper beamed happily, "He's doing great! We've been forcing him to take it easy, he says he feels like he's in his thirties again."

"Is that so?" Luna chuckled nervously. I'm going to have to keep toning my power down as Abigail said. She thought to herself. 

After finishing up conversing with the shopkeeper, Luna bagged up the rest of the pastries, thanked her once more, and set out back into the city streets. As she did so, she couldn't help but notice that a crowd was beginning to gather near the entrance of the city's east gate. 

As Luna stepped into the crowd, she finally got a glance at what was causing such a big commotion. A few of the city's guards did their best to keep the crowd at bay. The crowd was surrounding a team of four adventurers, their elegant and detailed armor as well as their plates made it obvious. They were a team of Gold class adventurers. However, it wasn't the adventurers themselves that drew in the crowd. It was what they had with them. 

Laying on a cart covered in wounds, was a massive bear-type Dark Beast. The adventurers mumbled with each other, as they gave various concerned looks to one another. 

"I've never seen a C-rank Dark Beast so close to the city before..." One of the adventurers mumbled.

"Especially, not one so big..." mumbled another. 

"Um, excuse me." Luna piped up. As she did so, the crowd finally noticed her.

"It's the Saintess! The Saintess is here!" The crowd roared. 

The already overwhelmed guards opened up the crowd around Luna, as Luna nervously thanked the guards for their hard work.

Luna walked her way around the Dark Beast and over to one of the adventurers. 

The adventurer was a short brown-haired girl dressed in a crimson red robe, torn and shredded from the battles it had seen. The girl had a strong frame and a muscular but light build that suggested she was a powerful but agile far-ranged fighter but more than capable at close combat.

"So you're this so-called Holy Saintess, I've been hearing so much about?" The adventurer quipped in an almost snide tone. 

"Yes, that's me," Luna responded kindly, she held back her tongue. She really didn't want to pick a fight with a Gold-class adventurer. "If any of you have injuries, I'd be happy to give aid."

The adventurer girl laughed. "No thanks, I'd rather go to a store and get my hands on some healing potions rather than bear listening to scripture. As ya’ can see, we've had a pretty long day already." The adventurer girl stuck out her foot. "Actually, now that I think about it, I've had a pain in my right foot from a fight that went south four years ago. Why don't ya’ try healing that, your Holiness?"

The mocking tone was not lost on Luna. She practically bit down on her tongue so hard, it bled. A big part of being the Saintess was learning how to deal with the non-believers. 

Even so, Luna got down on her knees and placed her hands above the adventurer's foot. A gentle green glow shined from Luna's hand for a few seconds before burning out. 

"Well, I'll be..." The adventurer girl stepped down on her foot. "Ya’ really can heal people! My foot hasn't felt this great in ages."

Luna stood back up and brushed herself off. 

"Look, I uh, I'm sorry about the attitude. Our priest bailed on us during the fight with this thing and I kinda took it out on ya’." The adventurer girl shuffled. 

Luna shook her head, "No need to apologize. Most people don't believe me until they see for themselves."

The adventurer girl laughed and wrapped her arm around Luna's shoulder. "Haha! You're pretty, you're kind, and you can heal others! No wonder they call you the Holy Saintess." The adventurer girl pulled Luna in closer and whispered, "You wouldn't happen to have a guy waiting at home for ya’, do ya'? Or are ya' into girls, like me?"

Suddenly, Luna felt a wave of red wash over her as she pushed the adventurer girl away. 

"N-no! I don't have anyone at home like that. A-and as the Saintess, I shouldn't fraternize either!" Luna stammered awkwardly. She could feel the steam rising off of her. 

The adventurer girl laughed and slapped Luna on the back. "Relax! I'm just messin' with ya'!"

"Ruma! Will you stop messing around and help us with this thing!?" Another adventurer called out.

"Ah, sorry. I've gotta go. It was nice to meet ya'. Your Holiness." The adventurer girl named Ruma turned around and began helping the others lift the cart.

After all the excitement began to die down, Luna eventually managed to make her escape from the crowd and head back towards the Monastery with pastries in hand. The Monastery was still quiet, but Luna knew the others would be waking up soon. 

"Ahem." Luna halted in her steps and turned slowly. Abigail stood at the entrance of the dining hall doorway, her arms crossed and her eyebrows furrowed. 

"Today was not your day to make rounds at the orphanage, Luna. So where were you?" Abigail's harsh tone bit into Luna. 

"I couldn't sleep, so I went out for a walk. I visited the bakery down the street and got some pastries." Luna decided to leave out the training she'd been doing at night recently.

"I see... I hope this doesn't interfere with your tasks today. Did you bring any of the priests or other priestesses with you, to watch over you?" 

Luna laughed nervously. "No... not really. I needed to be alone."

Abigail sighed, bringing her hand to her forehead. "Luna, you're a very important figure to the church. What if something happened to you?"

"Nothing happened though, mam!" Luna gestured generally to herself. "See! I'm okay. Not a single scratch!"

Abigail sighed. "Fine, whatever. Just help me set up the table for breakfast. The others will be up soon. Those pastries will be served as well."

Luna could feel her heartbreak at those words. All of her pastries were gone in an instant! She wished she'd eaten more when she had the chance. 

"Oh, that's right!" Luna placed some silverware by the various plates that were already on the table. "Mam, can you teach me about Dark Beasts?"

Abigail placed some plates on the table and spoke as she continued. "Now why would you want to learn about something as silly as that?"

Luna huffed. "It's not silly. It's useful! What if I encounter a Dark Beast outside the city like Joshua did when he was nine?" Luna began placing empty glasses neatly on the table in each spot. "Besides, learning about them might help me heal someone who was injured by one..."

Abigail stopped and narrowed her eyes at Luna. "All right, fine. I'll tell you about the Dark Beasts." Abigail continued placing plates down on the table and continued speaking. 

"We don't actually know a whole lot about the Dark Beasts. So, I'll just tell you the basics. All Dark Beasts come from your usual animals. Bears, cats, rabbits, wolves. Those sorts of things. A Dark Beast is made, when a creature absorbs a large amount of miasma causing it to mutate and change rapidly. When this happens, the creature will then go on a rampage and target everything in its path. The more miasma the creature absorbs, the more powerful it becomes. The more intelligent a creature is, the more miasma is needed to cause it to change into a Dark Beast. 

Abigail finished placing the plates on the table and began helping Luna place the silverware and glasses as she continued. "Currently, we assign Dark Beasts with six different ranks based on how dangerous they are to society. D rank, C rank, B rank, A rank, S rank, and finally S+ rank. Many Dark Beasts above C rank are given a personal name for identification and tracking. Though, any Dark Beast above A rank is absurdly rare."

Luna tried to absorb as much information as she could as she listened when a burning question popped into her mind. "Has there ever been a person that became a Dark Beast?"

At that question, Abigail froze in deep thought. Finally, she answered hesitantly, "Yes. Though, I've only heard of it happening once. But at that point, she was no longer considered a Dark Beast. She was on an entirely different level, a full-blown demon. We called her the… Witch of Calamity."

"The Witch of Calamity...?" Luna repeated, feeling the name in her mouth. Why did it feel familiar?

Abigail opened her mouth to speak, but before she could HighFather Jedri stepped into the dining room. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." 

Abigail looked up in surprise. "HighFather! Good morning! No, you didn't interrupt, we were just finishing up with the table." Abigail looked at Luna. "Luna, head on up and wake the others, please."

Luna looked at Abigail, then looked at HighFather Jedri and decided it would be best if she did as she was told.