Chapter 7
Harkian sat in the Hall of Discipline office, watching Elise submit her mission report, his fists clenched in his lap.
His family had raised him from a young age to serve the Church. He'd received the kind of education that preached honor, duty, mercy, and sacrifice.
In terms of values, Harkian was a good young man.
Like countless other members of the Church of Light, he treated commoners well and was ready to devote his life to the Church's ideals.
But Harkian was talented. He had also left home early to become a priest, so House Fris had always favored him—and that favoritism had fed his pride until it grew deep roots.
He believed he was destined to be one of Megalith City's central figures. Sooner or later, he was certain, he would accomplish something great.
And now?
He had offered to join Elise's team of his own accord, only to be rejected without mercy.
It left him disappointed and angry.
Elise, why don't you understand?
We are the best possible teammates.
As Harkian sat there interrogating himself, his gaze landed on Father Kilian nearby. He rose quickly and walked over.
"Father Kilian, good evening. I am Harkian. May I ask..."
Harkian might be arrogant toward those above or beside him, but he never bullied those below. His manner toward priests and nuns was unfailingly courteous.
Naturally, Kilian was willing to talk.
When Harkian asked about Elise's mission, Kilian hesitated a moment, then told him everything.
"You're saying Elise prepared for battle before she even met the targets?" Harkian asked.
It sounded like a question, but he was really asking himself.
It made no sense.
And yet...
If she could chain instant-cast spells and use preemptive magic to guard against a possible counterattack, then yes—it would lower the risk.
What Harkian couldn't wrap his head around was whether Elise planned to drink a potion on every single mission.
She was a Senior Cleric now. The potions she needed had to be rare-grade, and those started at thirty gold coins.
"Elise explained it herself," Kilian said with a smile, trying to soothe his frustration. "She's here to train. To her, potions are an ordinary expense. She wasn't singling you out. Her team simply doesn't need another powerful knight."
"Father Kilian, did you personally witness Elise's Holy Light Arrow seriously wound one of the Fisk brothers?"
"Yes. With my own eyes."
"And the Fisk brothers are Senior First-tier Swordsmen?"
"As you know, it was written in the mission file. There's no mistake."
"I understand. Thank you for answering my questions. May the Light God watch over you."
"May the Light God watch over you as well."
Harkian ended the conversation politely, returned to his chair, and stared into space.
He finally realized he'd made a fool of himself.
He could understand Elise treating missions as training. He could even understand her preventive casting during enforcement.
But the real point was this:
Elise could instant-cast First-tier spells.
That was why she didn't need a second knight.
Even standing at the threshold of Prime First-tier, Harkian would likely lose to a handful of her instant-cast spells.
With Elise on the team, one knight did the work of two.
"I was a mud-bellied clown toad, dreaming the Undying Phoenix might spare me a glance," Harkian muttered, quoting an old saying of this world.
When he looked at Elise again, his gaze was tangled with emotion.
He hadn't been wrong about one thing. Elise truly was a peerless talent.
But his vision had been trapped inside a small place like Megalith City. He had never truly grasped what a genius of her caliber meant.
Harkian shook his head with a bitter smile and left the office alone.
Elise had just finished submitting the mission. From the corner of her eye, she watched him go, and her impression of the noble-born knight shifted slightly.
Arrogant, yes.
But he hadn't lost the principles of a believer of the Light God.
Not that it mattered much.
To Elise, Harkian, Sayaris, and Cunard—the Academy's vaunted Three Knights—would all one day be names she barely remembered.
She had reached Senior Cleric in under three months. The potion she'd developed with Helena was already turning a profit.
She didn't lack resources, and the system guaranteed her pace of growth.
By the first half of next year, she should be able to reach High Cleric. When that happened, she would leave for the Academy of Light in the capital of the Kingdom of Hesse to continue her studies.
Perhaps the people of Megalith City would fade into memories from the days when she was still weak.
James.
Melia.
Phymis.
Even Roland and Telynia.
As the names drifted through her mind, a faint melancholy settled over her.
"Mew..."
Tymis, invisible all this time, sensed the strange ripple in her spiritual energy and nuzzled her through their mental link.
"You little thing."
Elise reached out and rubbed Tymis once it revealed itself, smiling as she fed it a small cluster of spiritual energy.
"Thank you."
Tymis hadn't shown itself during the earlier fight, but through their contract, it had still enhanced her casting.
Part of tonight's success belonged to it.
"Mew..."
Tymis promptly grew smug and, like a child angling for more candy, begged for another morsel of spiritual energy.
"No. After midnight, I should be able to meditate one more time. Wake me then."
Elise gave Tymis its assignment.
She had originally hoped that contracting with Tymis might let her attempt [Meditation] four times a day.
As it turned out, three sessions were manageable; four pushed her too hard.
So tonight, for her third [Meditation], Tymis would serve as her alarm.
"Mew."
Tymis understood perfectly and immediately started bargaining.
Elise chatted with her teammates while teasing the little creature through their link.
Back in her dormitory that night, she first burned through the rest of her mana.
[Holy Light skill experience +114.]
[Holy Light Arrow skill experience +109.]
...
With the insights gained from real combat, this round of skill grinding was remarkably efficient.
And that kind of combat insight didn't vanish after a single day. It was more like a shard of understanding that faded gradually with time.
Over the next two weeks, Elise took Hall of Discipline missions whenever they came. When there were none, she studied and farmed skill experience.
Her goal: push her skills to LV4.
At last, in the small hours before dawn on the sixth day of the second week in the Month of Renewal—the final month of the year—
"Mew..."
Tymis's call sounded beside her ear.
This time, Elise felt no urge to sleep in.
She rose quickly and opened her system panel out of habit.
[Status]
[Name: Elise]
[Spirit: 66.5]
[Mana: 139.4]
[Constitution: 10.9]
Skills
[Light Theology] (LV3: 8,365/10,000)
[Yassian Language] (LV2: 1,101/1,000)
[Meditation] (LV2: 1,619/1,000)
[Potioncraft] (LV3: 6,964/10,000)
[Runecraft](LV3: 1,617/10,000)
[Holy Light] (LV3: 9,883/10,000)
[Holy Light Bolt] (LV3: 2,168/10,000)
[Holy Light Arrow] (LV3: 4,695/10,000)
[Lightshield] (LV3: 9,717/10,000)
[Healing] (LV3: 1,980/10,000)
[Light of Life] (LV3: 1,698/10,000)
...
Holy Light and Lightshield can both reach LV4.
Even dragged out of a dead sleep, Elise felt excitement surge through her.
Fourteen days.
For fourteen days, she had completed a Hall of Discipline mission every day or two. Casting during and after real missions had dramatically boosted her skill-experience efficiency.
But every enforcement mission called for [Holy Light] and [Lightshield], while the other spells weren't always needed.
That was why those two had leveled fastest—the next closest spell was still more than halfway short of LV4.
Her Spirit and Mana had grown considerably too.
Elise judged that she was nearly ready to attempt the breakthrough to Prime Cleric.
No rush.
Skills first.
Gathering her thoughts, she carefully cast [Holy Light].
A cluster of radiance bloomed in the air above her dormitory, then scattered gently through the room along the path she'd planned.
The mana fluctuation was mild. Even if the Academy's Second-tier Awakened sensed spellcasting from her room, they wouldn't mistake it for a battle.
The system prompt appeared in the same breath.
[Holy Light skill experience +144.]
[Congratulations. Your Holy Light has risen to LV4.]
Elise immediately opened the skill panel to check the new modifier.
[Holy Light: Light-attribute spell.]
[LV4 Effect: Increased casting speed, enhanced spell effect, spell-structure perception.]
Spell-structure perception?
She froze for a beat, then activated the modifier without hesitation.
Another [Holy Light] bloomed in the room.
As the radiance scattered, surprise lit her face.
[Holy Light skill experience +151.]
The system had granted 151 experience—yet she'd spent only 12 points of spirit energy.
Those 12 points had mobilized 36 points of mana, no longer at the old coefficient of 2.9 but at more than triple.
Better still, each point of mana now drew more ambient magic than before, the ratio climbing from roughly three to above 3.1.
In practical terms, the new modifier had raised the spell's power by nearly six percent.