Chapter 58
Elise had not advanced to Senior High Cleric yet.
But her strength had grown enormously. The numbers left no doubt.
And now?
If it came to casting, Elise was absolutely confident she could defeat an ordinary Senior High Cleric.
When Archbishop Norias asked for her recommendation, Elise rose slowly. After a brief pause, she said, "I recommend Lannic Fris."
"House Fris?"
Norias frowned slightly.
The others traded glances and smiled.
The Church Awakened had nothing against House Fris receiving a town defense post. The problem was that House Fris didn't belong on the first-round list.
By custom, the first round was reserved for the most devout candidates and factions. Everyone had quietly settled on four preferred options.
Once the four best towns were assigned, the remaining three would go to a second round of nominations. That was when the Church transcendents backing House Fris would speak up.
But Elise had spoken now.
Did she mean to push Lannic Fris as a first-round candidate? That broke the unwritten rules.
"I need to hear your reason," Norias said.
He assumed Elise simply didn't understand the unspoken order of things.
Every head turned toward her.
Elise had, of course, come prepared. She was doing this to repay a debt—and to secure a chance at real combat near Crimsonwood.
"I recommend Lannic Fris for Redleaf Town," she said. "Chalmers, Harkian, and I will help him complete the clearing work."
"Redleaf Town?"
"A wise choice."
"Elise wants to join the clearing mission?"
The Second-tier Awakened relaxed at once.
Among the seven new towns, Redleaf Town ranked in the bottom three by potential. It was a second-round option.
By recommending Lannic Fris for Redleaf Town, Elise was merely announcing her second-round preference early. That didn't stray too far from proper procedure.
But her mention of "clearing work" referred to the Church commissions for eliminating magical beasts and other threats to civilian life.
And if memory served, Redleaf Town had a colony of Black Root-Borer Ants.
Could Elise handle that?
And even if she barely could, would Archbishop Norias actually allow her to leave Crimsonwood for field training?
The room's interest sharpened immediately.
Norias did not disappoint.
His expression darkened. He opened his mouth, then said, with a pained look, "I do not permit you to leave Crimsonwood."
As if to salvage what remained of his reputation, Norias gentled his voice after the refusal.
"Elise, signs of Anarias's lich body have recently been discovered in Cambias Province."
The meaning was plain.
One of Anarias's lich bodies was heading for the Kingdom of Hesse. He had never bothered hiding his desire to turn Elise into a lich.
"I'm qualified to face the Death Sovereign as he is now," Elise said, smiling instead of taking offense.
The Death Sovereign was a good man.
She had just finished spending every coin she'd earned off him, and here he was, rushing over to deliver more training resources.
He was practically a walking treasure caravan.
But Norias only laughed and shook his head.
You?
Face the Death Sovereign?
Young lady, you purified Anarias's lich body last month because a Prime Second-tier dwarf charged in front of you, and several Second-tier teammates fought for their lives at your side.
Even then, the after-action review had shown just how destructive Anarias's final counterattack had been.
If Elise's name hadn't prompted the Death Sovereign to spend his spiritual energy marking her, that Second-tier team would have lost at least two or three people.
And now she claimed she could face him head-on?
Wishful thinking.
Elise remembered perfectly well how powerful the Death Sovereign had been.
With one snap of his fingers, he had seized control of a Prime Second-tier dwarf.
With a single glance, he had driven back several Second-tier Awakened at once.
And after all that, he'd still had energy to spare for releasing his spiritual power and completing the final mark.
That level of combat strength was absurd for a Second-tier transcendent.
More importantly, Anarias was rich.
Elise carried a Third-tier spell scroll of her own. Anarias would almost certainly bring something comparable this time.
But that still fell within the limits of Second-tier combat.
At most, a Second-tier Awakened could activate a Third-tier spell scroll. However terrifying Anarias was, he remained only Senior Second-tier for now.
Elise knew she couldn't defeat him alone.
But stalling him, activating a Third-tier [Lightshield], and holding out until Archbishop Norias arrived to rescue her?
That was no problem at all.
She was about to say as much when she noticed the teasing smiles on the faces around her.
Their expressions all said the same thing: You're still too young.
Elise considered for a moment, then looked at Norias.
"Please allow me to prove myself."
"I look forward to it," Norias said, wearing the smile of a kindly old grandfather.
Privately, he figured that once Elise proved her strength wasn't enough to face Anarias, everyone would finally understand why he refused to let her leave the city.
Probably.
So yes, Norias was looking forward to it.
What he was looking forward to was Elise tripping over her own confidence.
Elise wasted no more words.
Through their spiritual bond, she signaled Tymis. As her familiar's support flowed into her, she activated every modifier she had.
Light flashed.
A rope of radiance materialized beside Archbishop Norias, whipped around his body, and began to tighten.
Norias's expression shifted.
Honorius and Bishop Elydiana both stirred.
The Second-tier Church transcendents' eyes went wide.
The spell Elise had instant-cast was [Lightbind], a Second-tier light spell.
But that wasn't the important part.
The important part was its strength.
Norias felt it most keenly. He extended a hand, and the rope of light gathered around his fingertips.
Slowly, the rope compressed into a sphere of light.
Then the sphere stretched back into a rope.
Finally, it shattered into drifting motes.
[Lightbind Skill EXP +3,140.]
As Archbishop Norias wrested control of the spell and snuffed it out, a flood of skill experience poured in.
Elise's heart jolted—then soared.
That instant-cast [Lightbind] had reached roughly 250 Second-tier units of spell strength, and it had returned more than three thousand experience points in a single stroke.
The reason was simple.
She had never had control of a spell stolen from her before.
Archbishop Norias had shown her a new possibility in real combat, so the system had naturally rewarded her with extra experience.
In that moment, Elise looked at Archbishop Norias the way one might look at a newly discovered experience fountain.
Norias stared back at her in shock.
Had he been from Earth, he might have said that in the early days of Light Calendar 7795, he saw holy light burst from the crown of Elise's head, and knew he was looking at a spellcasting prodigy born once in ten thousand years.
"Light above."
"That was a Senior Second-tier [Lightbind]. Without question."
"Elise is a treasure granted to Crimsonwood Parish by our God."
The other twenty Second-tier transcendents of the Church of Light were just as electrified.
When Elise cast the spell, those of her own rank had sensed her spiritual fluctuations.
She was still only an ordinary Second-tier Awakened.
Yet under those conditions, she had instant-cast a spell that was formidable even by Senior Second-tier standards.
And this was a true Second-tier spell.
Most spellcasting Awakened leaned on the spells they knew best. Church clerics, for instance, learned [Holy Light], [Lightshield], and [Holy Light Arrow] at First-tier.
After a Cleric advanced to High Cleric, those spells came with complete methods for adjusting their spell structures. Raising them into Second-tier spells was a natural progression.
[Lightbind] was different.
It began life as a Second-tier spell.
For a Cleric freshly advanced to High Cleric, learning a spell that started at Second-tier meant grafting something entirely new onto their combat repertoire. It also meant pouring in far more practice.
Elise had been a High Cleric for only two months, yet she already wielded [Lightbind] with this much mastery.
Her claim that she was qualified to face the Death Sovereign was no empty boast.