Chapter 33
Yulia was half convinced she'd misheard.
Elise, meanwhile, quietly let out a breath.
She had finally learned [Appraisal], and the skill meshed beautifully with Tymis.
That was tremendous news.
Because she badly needed this skill.
Elise now had to take three Second-tier [Spirit Potions] every day, at 100 gold coins per bottle on the open market.
If she learned to brew them herself, she could cut the cost to around 20 gold per bottle—but in the early stages, she'd first have to burn one or two thousand gold coins on practice.
On top of that, she needed three constitution potions a day. Brewed herself, those would run under 10 gold per bottle.
By that math, the profits from the two blood-warp sickness potions seemed sufficient to cover her expenses with a small surplus left over.
The reality?
She had already sunk more than a thousand gold coins into debt learning to brew Second-tier [Spirit Potions].
And to claim the staff, Elise had not only spent the Church merits earned across several missions, but taken on another five thousand gold in material and forging fees.
All told, she owed more than six thousand gold coins. Even with the blood-warp potion profits, clearing that debt would take nearly a month.
And it didn't end there.
Why didn't Elise use her staff while grinding spell experience?
Because she couldn't afford to.
Every transcendent item wore down with use.
Her staff was worth over ten thousand gold coins. Frequent use meant repairs, and a single repair started at a thousand gold or more.
At the same time, she couldn't pour all her spirit and mana into moneymaking.
She had new potions to learn, daily spellcasting practice to maintain, and more Second-tier transcendent equipment to buy.
Everything cost money.
That was exactly why she had fought so hard for [Appraisal]. During the construction of the new city, she intended to dive deep into potioncraft and earn enough to pay down her debts without sacrificing her training pace.
Over the following days, Elise settled into a steady routine.
When it was time to study, she studied.
For spellcasting, she concentrated on [Holy Light] and [Holy Light Arrow]. The plan was to push both to Level 5 first, then let them pull her other spells up behind them.
She had Second-tier spells to learn as well.
...
Megalith Parish spent those same days running at full capacity as the transfer hub for the new-city project.
Supplies shipped in from cities across Oakhaven Province were routed through Bishop Almus and Archbishop Norias.
Archbishop Norias led a company of Awakened deep into the Pyreflame Woods to establish the forward camp.
Megalith City mobilized commoners and low-level Awakened by the thousands to cut roads.
Across this southernmost region of the Blythean Empire, humans, elves, and dwarves labored in full swing, all pressing toward the heart of the Pyreflame Woods.
...
One day, on the practice field behind the Academy of Light's only mage tower, Elise stood alone.
Boom!
A massive boulder over a hundred feet away split apart with a thunderous blast, great slabs of stone tumbling down with a dull rumble.
[Holy Light Arrow Skill Experience +583.]
Elise read the prompt, frowned slightly, and opened her panel.
---
[Status]
[Name: Elise]
[Spirit: 11.42] (Second-tier)
[Mana: 39.15] (Second-tier)
[Constitution: 1.42] (Second-tier)
Skills:
[Holy Light] (LV4: 51,851/100,000)
[Holy Light Arrow] (LV4: 50,961/100,000)
...
[Lightbind] (LV3: 85/10,000)
[Mana Link] (LV3: 37/10,000)
[Revivification] (LV3: 29/10,000)
---
Her skill list had grown dense with entries by now. Elise usually checked only the main skills she was actively working on.
There wasn't much to say about the three newly learned Second-tier spells. She had stopped drilling them once they reached Level 3.
She had them mastered.
For now, that was enough.
As for everything besides [Holy Light] and [Holy Light Arrow], she ran through each spell once a day, just enough to keep the rust off.
Those two core spells were another matter.
Each had gained nearly forty thousand experience.
On paper, both still sat at Level 4.
In practice, they were nothing like what they'd been.
Let's test my strongest Holy Light Arrow.
Elise brought out [Light of Megalith].
The staff's 29% spirit-strength amplification washed her fatigue away in an instant.
She drank a [Spirit Potion], sat down, and meditated.
[Meditation Skill Experience +54.]
The experience arrived, and her mana refilled completely.
Staff in hand, Elise fixed her attention on another massive boulder nearby.
In midair, an arrow of light suffused with sacred radiance began to gather.
Ten-odd seconds passed.
Then the arrow loosed like a bowstring snapping free.
Crack.
Boom!
On impact, the arrow drove into the stone first. Then fractures spidered across the surface, and the entire boulder came down with a heavy crash.
[Holy Light Arrow Skill Experience +2,970.]
The highest skill experience reward for a single spell the system had ever shown her.
Nearly three thousand points.
A brilliant smile spread across Elise's face.
The staff's spirit amplification was like strapping an external booster onto an Awakened.
Her 11.42 spirit could now perform like nearly 15.
Using seventy percent of that—the safe threshold—meant more than 10 points of spirit in play.
With all her skill modifiers, each point of spirit could drive a full 6 points of mana.
And with [Holy Light Arrow] past the halfway mark of Level 4, each point of mana could configure roughly 4.2 points of external mana during casting.
Which put the spell strength of that last [Holy Light Arrow] at close to...
Two hundred sixty?
No.
She was a High Cleric now.
What separated Clerics from mages was that Clerics could borrow divine power at Second-tier.
With divine power reinforcing it, that [Holy Light Arrow] had exceeded 285 points of spell strength.
Second-tier spell strength.
The system calculated spell-skill experience by First-tier standards, so 285 points of Second-tier spell strength converted to 2,850 points at First-tier.
The one pity, in Elise's view, was that the qualitative leap of Second-tier spells required spirit quality as its foundation.
Satisfied, Elise put the staff away.
She left the so-called practice field—really more of a quarry—grumbling silently that she'd spent yet another day mining stone for the Church.
Then she headed for Teacher Nolan's residence.
At the gate, Elise pulled a bottle of wine she'd bought that morning from her spatial bracelet and cheerfully fed mana into the alchemical device.
The door opened.
Inside, Teacher Nolan sat beside the stone table, a cup in one hand and a book in the other, the picture of contentment.
At the sight of Elise walking in with a wine bottle, the old man shook his head with a rueful smile.
"Elise, I prefer sweet wine."
"Dear Teacher, you need to watch your sugar."
Elise set the bottle on the stone table, sat down, and added with mock gravity, "Prevention matters. Especially at your age."
"I am a Second-tier High Cleric," Nolan said, glaring at her with no real heat. "I do not suffer from the ailments of old age."
"Which is why we call it prevention."
Elise wasn't bothered in the least. She just wanted to needle her teacher a little.
Nolan knew it, too.
His "anger" and his helplessness were really just reluctance to see her go.
Tomorrow, Elise would depart for the place called Crimsonwood.
For now, Crimsonwood was nothing more than a sprawling temporary camp, ringed on every side by monsters.
As her teacher, Nolan hated parting with his most outstanding student, so naturally he wanted to soak up what time remained.
Elise understood that as well.
Over the past few days she had shared meals with Teacher Helena and Teacher Nolan both, and spent time with Father James and Sister Melia besides.
They would be apart for quite a while.
As for Lina...
Elise glanced at her friend, who stood nearby teasing Tymis, and smiled.
"Dear Cleric Lina, is your luggage packed?"
"Of course." Lina straightened with full confidence. "I'll advance to Prime Cleric in Crimsonwood, then enroll at the Oakhaven Academy of Light for further study. Just you wait, Elise. I'll be a High Cleric too."
"I believe you."
Elise tried to hold a solemn expression, but it cracked almost instantly, and she laughed.
She was glad Lina had chosen to head to the new city for field experience.
But every scrap of intelligence Elise had gathered lately carried the same warning.
The great temporary camp called Crimsonwood was anything but peaceful.
Cultists.
Wild Awakened.
Noble Awakened.
Exiled criminals.
Proud elves.
Dwarves who drank hard and forged iron.
And monsters beyond counting in the surrounding forest.
For now, the new city was a crucible where races and factions of every stripe churned together.
The Church of Light's goal was to suppress every discordant voice and thin the monsters across a wide belt of no-man's-land.
Elise's goal was to study and fight in equal measure—grinding her skill levels while pushing her transcendent rank higher.