Path of the Saintess (Volume III)

Chapter 1

Early morning, the sixth day of the fifth week in the Month of Wisdom.

Megalith City gleamed, washed clean by days of relentless rain.

Sunlight spilled across the rooftops, catching on slick cobblestones and damp slate.

While most of the city still slept, a bird's-eye view would have revealed scattered skirmishes and desperate chases playing out in the dark alleys.

The occasional muffled explosion echoed up from the slums.

Megalith City was far from peaceful these days.

Yet in the heart of the city, the Church and the Academy remained untouched, wrapped in a tranquil bubble.

Inside a dormitory built like a miniature keep, Elise was fast asleep. Tymis, its invisibility dropped, perched beside her pillow and batted lightly at her cheek with a tiny paw. Getting no response, it leaned close to her ear.

"Mew~"

The long, drawn-out trill finally forced Elise's eyes open.

"Little menace. You woke me up again." Lately, Tymis had appointed itself her personal alarm clock. The creature's entire routine consisted of eating, sleeping, and playing—and waking her the exact second it got hungry every morning.

"Tch—mew~" Tymis chittered in protest.

As a darling of the God of Space and the God of Wisdom, what kind of contractor would dare let it starve? Elise fed Tymis a wisp of mental energy, then pulled up her status screen before heading off to wash up.

?

[Status]

[Name: Elise]

[Spirit: 52.8]

[Mana: 96.9]

[Constitution: 10.6]

Skills:

[Light Theology] (LV3: 4,531/10,000)

[Yassian Language] (LV2: 624/1,000)

[Meditation] (LV2: 981/1,000)

[Potioncraft] (LV3: 4,135/10,000)

[Runecraft] (LV3: 96/10,000)

[Holy Light] (LV3: 1,357/10,000)

[Holy Light Bolt] (LV3: 725/10,000)

[Holy Light Arrow] (LV3: 743/10,000)

[Lightshield] (LV3: 884/10,000)

[Healing Spell] (LV3: 716/10,000)

[Light of Life] (LV3: 727/10,000)

?

Seeing the updated numbers grounded her. She had been in Aurelia for over two months now, and her growth had far outstripped her expectations. But the honeymoon phase of rapid gains after advancing to Senior Cleric was over.

In the past week, her Spirit had spiked from 33.8 to 52.8. Once she crossed the 50-point threshold—the baseline for a Senior Cleric—her growth rate had plummeted to barely a single point per day.

Her Mana, at least, was scaling nicely. Base maximum mana typically ran at Spirit times 2.5, which should have put her at 132. But with the various skill modifiers stacking during her training, her theoretical peak output could push as high as 153 under the right conditions.

As for her skill levels...

Elise ran the numbers in her head. My Spirit is 52.8. Spending 37 points induces mental fatigue, and casting past that causes actual spirit damage. So at full capacity, I can safely channel 107 Mana.

Every point of Mana can mobilize 3 points of ambient magic. If I pour all of it into casting, my total spell intensity comes out to 428.

Assuming three Spirit Potions a day, three Meditation recovery cycles, and a one-to-one conversion of spell intensity to skill experience... I should be racking up 2,572 experience points daily.

She glanced back at her accumulated skill experience and sighed.

The math worked on paper. In practice, the numbers weren't adding up.

When she'd first hit Senior Cleric, the conversion between spell intensity and experience really had been a clean one-to-one. Then the efficiency tanked. Level 3 spells were a different beast entirely. Levels 1 and 2 were about laying foundations; Level 3 shifted hard into practical application.

The requirements for gaining experience had changed—and on top of that, she could no longer afford to burn all her Spirit and Mana on raw casting. Triggering skill modifiers cost Mana, and study and potion brewing drained a hefty chunk of both pools.

She needed a new grinding strategy.

The recent field training had been the Light Church's standard method for developing Awakened, but the unrest in Megalith City had forced the Church to roll out an alternative training protocol.

For now, the plan was simple: meet Lina for breakfast and morning prayers, then head to Helena's workshop for potioncraft lessons. Only after tying up those loose ends could she tackle the bottleneck in her spell leveling.

Just before lunch, she arrived at the Church and waited by the main gates.

Down Megalith City's main boulevard came a massive procession—the Church's Awakened, returning from their trials in the Pyreflame Woods.

"Telynia!" Elise waved at her old teammate.

"Elise. Thank the gods, I'm finally back." Telynia looked much the worse for wear compared to a week ago. Her face was smeared with dirt and grime, as if she hadn't seen a washbasin in days.

Pulling her aside to catch up, Elise learned that her three former party members had been thoroughly dragged down by the rookie Instructor Nolan had assigned them.

They'd grown used to Elise pulling her weight.

The new recruit, by contrast, was hopeless—taking an agonizingly long time just to cast a basic [Lightshield].

And Telynia had gotten off easy.

Following her teammate's gaze, Elise spotted Roland. His arm was wrapped in heavy bandages, fresh blood seeping through the linen. Even Glenrius, normally so dashing and put-together, looked completely haggard.

"Welcome back to Megalith City," Elise said with a warm smile, pulling Telynia along to greet the two men.

Glenrius let out a long sigh. "Elise. It was a true honor adventuring with you."

Roland touched his bandaged arm and forced a pained smile. "Elise, may the God of Light bless you... and us."

Offering a sympathetic smile, Elise invited the three of them to lunch.

"I know a tavern that roasts a fantastic monster flank," Glenrius offered. He knew his way around Megalith.

Telynia caught on at once. "Old Yarne's Tavern?"

"That's the one." Glenrius managed a tired but sunny smile.

"Let's go. It's on me," Elise said without hesitation.

Her words drew astonished looks from the other three. In Aurelia, treating someone to a meal was a rare gesture. Awakened lived on a razor's edge; no one wanted to spend their hard-earned coin on a favor that might never be repaid if a monster ripped the recipient's throat out tomorrow.

Elise simply beamed with pride. "My teacher and I developed a potion that cures blood-warp sickness. She recently finalized a partnership with the Church, so I'm not exactly short on coin anymore."

She could practically feel the envy rolling off her former teammates. Curing blood-warp sickness? Partnering with the Church?

This was the Light Church. Unless a breakthrough was monumentally valuable, the Church usually just tossed a handful of Merits at a cleric for submitting a discovery. The word "partnership" implied serious wealth. And for an Awakened, wealth translated directly into progression resources.

"Elise... did you advance to Senior Cleric?" Glenrius suddenly noticed.

Telynia and Roland immediately reached out with their senses to gauge her mana signature. Their jaws nearly hit the cobblestones.

It had been, what, a few weeks? She was already a Senior Cleric? Back when she was still a Standard Cleric, she could already output First-tier Senior spells and instant-cast standard First-tier magic. Now that she'd actually reached the rank...

"Elise, what exactly did you need us for?" Glenrius asked, his tone turning serious. Even as a Prime First-tier Elven Archer, being sought out by a prodigy First-tier Senior Cleric put him under pressure.

Walking hand in hand with Telynia toward the tavern, Elise turned to the men. A bright, calculating smile touched her lips.

"I want to put a party together. We're taking on the Church's disciplinary missions."