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In the time that followed Matasoga's exorcism, Kromli had used training dummies marked with "x"s in vital areas, and given Shanderaa the appropriate books to both read up on and to visually intuit the location vital and vulnerable spots of other creatures. With that completed, she had finished learning the art of the sneak attack. Following that, he had told her that only one lesson remained.
She arrived that day and found Kromli entirely without any items or supplies, sitting contemplatively on the ground, with his eyes peacefully closed.

"You are here for today's final lesson," he said, without moving.
"Or rather," he said, slowly rising to his feet and opening his eyes "helping you discover the lesson for yourself."
"There is no more that I can teach you of being a rogue. Only practice and life can allow you to master the skills of which I have taught you the basics. You come to me today to learn the way of a cleric... Or perhaps more aptly, a philosopher," he continued.
"There are many books written about becoming closer to one's chosen god and wielding that entity's power, but if I'm not mistaken then you, like myself, are without a god. But that doesn't mean that we are without belief in something," he concluded.
He looked expectantly at her and gave a small smile that he hoped would bring a little levity to the situation.
"What do you believe in?" he asked.

"I don't think there is a 'god sort of way,'" he said. "Faith is really personal and I think everyone finds their deity or their sacred thing in a different way.
"I believe in Matasoga. I don't worship him like a deity, because he isn't. I wouldn't say that I worship him at all. You could say that I venerate him and I suppose that would be true. More accurately, though, I believe in him and I know that he believes in me, too.
"He's sacred to me. What he is is sacred to me. He's someone who was just born better, but he still stopped to befriend me, in many ways to take care of me, to help me through the rough life that we both shared early on. He is my friend and master.
"He's made mistakes. I know that at times he's disregarded me... But I didn't see it that way at first, but learning that was part of my journey.
I believe in what Matasoga is right now, and even more so what Matasoga may yet become, though I don't think that he'll ever be perfect... And that's alright. The way I see it, until you look at what you devote yourself to, see the truth but love it and devote yourself all the same, you won't likely be able to cast a spell or call yourself a cleric."

"That's for you to think on. And one hour each day, to obtain your spells, you'll need to meditate on just why it is that you've devoted yourself to him and his cause. Meditate... Clerics call it prayer. The essence is the same," he said.
"Before you can cast spells, you'll need a sacred symbol... Something that symbolizes what you believe in. Maybe something that you already have.
"Mine is this," he said, drawing from his coat pocket a small bronze medal. "This was from back when Matasoga formed that mercenary band... It's sad that it didn't work out, thanks to government interference, but I remember how much I felt like a real part of something. To me it stopped symbolizing the clan and became a symbol of him and my service to him. I've worn it ever since. Don't forget to look for yours, later."
Standing, he said, "Now, let's practice the motions and words for some of the divine spells that you'll be casting most," he said.
After they had spent some time practicing, he said, "And that's our final lesson. The only things left are learning how to channel positive or negative energy, both to put into the spells and to turn undead... But that's less of a proper lesson and more of some conversations and recommended reading."

Kromli laughed, his expression surprised. He didn't think that he'd ever get used to the idea that people other than his mother, Matasoga, and Tinuviel would actually want to spend time with him, purely for fun.
"Well, I'll still be around the guild hall," he said. "Since there... Kinda isn't really a whole lot going on, I tend to keep to my room a lot, but you can always come and I'll be happy to hang out, if I'm not already spending time with Tinuviel."
"Really, I'm not very exciting, though," he warned, putting his hands out. "I usually just binge watch series on Netflix and read, when I'm alone... But maybe sometime I can set up the multi-purpose room and we can go on a double date..."
His expression got a little distant then, as he trailed off. Snapping back to reality rather suddenly and looking a bit embarrassed he said, "But for now let's get inside and out of the cold."

(Continued immediately from last post.)
He smiled, thinking back to the long and confusing road that they had walked and said "Yeah. I think that I can say that, now. It was up and down for a while, but I think it's stabilized..."
"Come on, it's cold," he said, waving an arm toward the door while jogging in place to keep warm. He yearned for the comforting warmth of the guild's fires.