Chapter 41
[Holy Light: Light-attribute spell.]
Back at her residence, Elise sat in the courtyard and opened her skill list again, studying [Holy Light]'s new modifier.
She had already sensed, on the walk home, something powerful hiding in those few words.
Compressed spiritual energy.
The new Level 5 modifier touched one of the very foundations of spellcasting.
In Aurelia, spirit energy, refined mana, external mana—even the life force wielded by martial transcendent classes—were all broadly classed as forms of spiritual energy.
More importantly, divine power was spiritual energy too.
A spell, at its core, was spiritual energy arranged into a specific structure, then driven and steered by the caster's own spirit energy.
Now, whenever Elise cast a spell that had reached Level 5, the spiritual energy involved would compress automatically, raising its energy grade in the process.
What did that mean?
Casting above her rank.
An ordinary High Cleric casting a spell might mobilize spiritual energy at the level of a Senior High Cleric—and the spell's strength would then have to be measured with the prefix "Senior Second-tier."
"Let's test it."
Elise drank a [Spirit Potion], recovered some mana, and prepared to try.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone rapped at the gate.
Only then did she remember her plans with Chalmers and the others.
Elise signaled Lorna to answer it.
"I'll get it!"
Lia, bored senseless where she sat, pounced on the errand.
She dashed for the gate on her short legs, Tymis trailing after her with a soft mew.
Lately, Lia was the one who most loved feeding Tymis. Her temperament ran childlike besides, and she got along famously with the god-beloved little creature.
The two rushed to the gate and pulled it open.
Sure enough, Chalmers stood outside with three others.
The flashing of Lia's hair quickened at once, and a sweet smile bloomed across her face.
Chalmers, heir of Viscount House Fris of Megalith City, froze for a beat. Then, with a pained smile, he drew a delicate food box from his spatial item.
Visibly suffering, he handed it over and squeezed out a smile.
"Miss Lia, this is dried meat from a Second-tier earth-attribute monster. I hope you like it."
"Thank you, Viscount Chalmers."
Lia happily claimed the transcendent food Chalmers had set aside for his own progression—then repaid him with a "surprise."
The title "Viscount Chalmers" made him shake his head helplessly.
"Thank you for your confidence. I will earn my merits with the sword in my hand."
"Silly. You're the eldest son. Once your father returns to the Undying God's embrace—"
Lia was gearing up to offer further "guidance" when Chalmers hastily opened the box and urged her to eat.
He was indeed his family's first heir, but he was hardly wishing for his father's early death—and he certainly couldn't be caught endorsing a treasonous phrase like "returning to the Undying God's embrace."
Chalmers's ordeal set the people beside him on edge as well.
Everyone understood Lia's nature by now.
She was clever, strange, and fond of posing as an ordinary little girl to gather information. Worse, she had no filter whatsoever.
Fearing she might say something even more dangerous, they hurried after Chalmers into the courtyard.
When they reached Elise, greetings went around.
After the round of "good morning" and "may the God of Light bless you," Elise invited Chalmers's group to sit. Her gaze settled at once on a familiar face.
"Knight Harkian, your willpower is admirable," she said.
Harkian had spent this entire stretch suppressing and purifying the hellspawn's second possession within him. At her praise, he forced out a strained smile, a flicker of struggle crossing his eyes.
At last, he exhaled.
"God watches over me."
"Yes. Our god is everywhere."
Elise sincerely admired Harkian's ability to withstand an invasion at the spiritual level.
She badly wanted to test her Level 5 [Holy Light] on him right then, but she held off and turned to the other two first.
One of them was also familiar.
"Honored High Cleric Elise, I hope to receive your understanding," Lofnar said awkwardly. "I will assist you in clearing monsters alongside the Rosefire Mercenary Company."
"Thank you for your help."
Elise nodded and said nothing more.
Because of her, Lofnar had been saddled with over ten thousand gold coins of debt. Rumor held that the golden dwarf Rofhak had very nearly expelled him from the dwarven delegation.
Now he'd come to make amends—but Elise couldn't revise her opinion of him that quickly.
She looked to the third visitor.
A human man barely over four feet tall. A large piece of his left ear had been sliced away, and his eyes glinted with cunning.
Feeling her gaze, he introduced himself.
"Honored High Cleric Elise, I am Adair of the Ember Shield Mercenary Company. We hope to follow you into the forest."
"Rosefire. Ember Shield..."
Elise murmured the two names, then looked at Harkian with a smile.
"Harkian, are you representing a mercenary company as well?"
"My younger brother hopes to win a small territory. Chalmers and I will lend him some support."
Harkian's bearing had grown far steadier. When he spoke of his brother now, the old contempt was gone.
Elise understood.
Crimsonwood was newly founded. At minimum, it would mint one viscount title and several baronies.
Beyond the nobles, plenty of capable mercenary companies had their eyes on those titles too, and were working hard to curry favor with the Church.
Outfits like Rosefire and Ember Shield had heard that Elise was heading into the forest to purify hellspawn, and had come forward at once to request a place in her column.
The mercenary companies would shadow the Church team under Elise's command, clearing monsters along the route and lending whatever aid they could when the Church purified hellspawn.
The benefit was plain.
Four teams traveling together were far safer.
The drawback: thinner profits all around.
But Elise needed people to handle the ordinary monsters along the way so she could bank her mana for purifying devils out of hell.
That made them partners.
Although...
A Prime Second-tier silver dwarf was pitching in a little high above the expected level, wasn't he?
Elise looked at Lofnar and felt the urge to turn him away.
"Honored High Cleric Elise, I swear I will obey your orders for the duration of this mission," Lofnar said quickly, reading the shift in her attitude.
He declared his loyalty at once, face brimming with sincerity.
In truth, Lofnar was nowhere near as obedient as he looked.
Of the dwarves' famous bold generosity, he had learned nothing. Their stubbornness, however, he had mastered in full.
In Lofnar's eyes, however gifted Elise might be, she was still just an ordinary Second-tier Awakened.
He was Prime Second-tier.
A Prime Second-tier silver dwarf, ordered by his clan's elders to mend relations with the Church, now hauling a debt of ten thousand gold coins—of course he felt stifled.
He had already made up his mind.
The moment Elise landed in danger, he would perform spectacularly. And while he was at it, he'd make sure she understood what a real gap in strength looked like.
Elise was a caster-type Awakened—and Tymis's contractor besides, which left her acutely sensitive to the spirit-energy fluctuations of sentient races.
One glance told her Lofnar didn't mean a word of it.
She also caught Tymis's warning sneeze on the spiritual level.
But Lofnar had been sent by the dwarves to smooth things over.
Could she really refuse him?
And if she didn't refuse—this man was nothing like as cooperative as he pretended. What if he caused trouble again?
After weighing it, Elise made her decision.
First: treat Lofnar as though he didn't exist.
Second: show him exactly what a peerless prodigy of the Church of Light looked like.
You don't respect me?
Fine.
My strength may still fall short of yours—but my talent can grind you to dust.
You need to understand precisely how much the Church of Light values me.
As it happened, Elise wanted to test her Level 5 [Holy Light] on Harkian anyway.
So after a nod to Lofnar, she turned a gentle gaze on the knight.
"Harkian, I admire your willpower, and I'd like to help."
"Thank you for your concern. I... I do need the help."
Harkian's pride hadn't vanished. He'd been on the verge of declining when he caught Chalmers's warning look.
All he could do was thank her.
In truth, neither Harkian nor Chalmers expected much from Elise's help.
House Fris might be far weaker than the Church of Light, but the family still kept a Prime Second-tier Awakened.
And Harkian was a Church knight, possessed in the first place because he'd been carrying out a Church mission.
Throughout this period, he had received immediate treatment from a Third-tier Bishop, plus the ongoing support of a Prime Second-tier High Cleric who helped suppress the turmoil in his spirit.
Elise?
She was an ordinary High Cleric.
Her help would probably do some good—within limits.
Harkian and Chalmers accepted because Elise was a supreme prodigy. Not because they expected much.