The next morning, the Holy Light Clerics rose early and headed deep into the mountains behind the village to begin their daily physical training.
Still worried about the village's safety, Tatsumi and his two friends quietly arrived at the Holy Light Clerics' camp early that morning as well. Seeing the clerics leaving one after another, the three followed them in confusion.
"Tatsumi, what do you think they're doing?" Sayo asked curiously. The neatly arranged ranks, orderly spacing, strange breathing patterns, and incredibly smooth, crisp movements were utterly novel to a young girl who had never left her village.
"I think it's some kind of training, or maybe a prayer ritual," Tatsumi said thoughtfully.
"Yeah! That's what I think too!" Yas agreed with a nod.
Yi Yong, who was leading the legion's morning exercises, had noticed the three children long ago, but paid them little mind. The Holy Light Clerics had nothing to hide from the public. It was hardly the first time boys and girls had watched their morning exercises at the Holy Church Headquarters.
The clerics merely smiled at the children who cared so deeply about their village, then focused on practicing the Holy Cleric Breathing Technique.
As they continued moving, beads of sweat seeped from the clerics' foreheads, wisps of white vapor rose from their bodies, and their physical and mental energies became intensely focused.
Meanwhile, the longer Tatsumi and his friends watched, the more engrossed they became. Had the three of them not been hiding, he would have wanted to join the clerics in their exercises.
As Yi Yong exhaled a deep breath of white vapor, the clerics reached the end of their routine. Just as he was about to dismiss them, however, a thunderous tiger's roar rang out from the mountain forest. The earth shook, and