33 – The Saint Battling Saplings
Lucia became crestfallen.
After all the training she had gone through, failing the most basic skill test for priest registration.
The days of training flashed through her mind like a comet.
Once again, she poured out sanctity.
From the outstretched fingertips, sacred energy flowed into the ground.
The sprout shimmered and emitted light but did not grow any larger.
The priest job test that Lucia took involved sprouting a leaf on the sprout.
Why isn’t this working?
Why isn’t it?
Stay calm.
If you stay calm, it’ll work.
Remember the days of training under the waterfall!
There must be a way!
#
There are various things one can do with sacred energy. Naturally, it was possible to rapidly grow the sprout.
Even if everyone had different talents, as long as they carried the title of a priest, they should be able to bestow blessings on the newly born life.
If the priest headed to the battlefield, abilities like healing, restoration, purification, and enhancement would be necessary. In ordinary cases, to be called a priest, the ability to bestow blessings was essential.
It was a skill needed in everyday life.
Lucion opened his eyes and observed how Lucia did it.
“She never taught me.”
He had raised Lucia to survive on the battlefield, but there was no need to teach her blessings. He had never planned to teach her in the future either.
Blessing, in essence, was an act of sharing one’s growth to nurture others.
Even if it meant selfishly raising Shia, he deliberately didn’t teach her blessings.
He never thought such thoughts would lead to these results.
Lucia possessed the ability to completely demolish this building in just one second if she so desired, yet she couldn’t even grow a single sprout.
No matter how much divine power she poured into it, the sprout shone on its own. Even if it were cut with a sword or struck by an explosion, it would remain unharmed.
However, it never grew.
Because it had not received a blessing.
Could Lucia realize this and nurture the sprout?
Could she attain the qualification of a priest?
Lucion decided to watch without providing any hints.
“It’s okay not to succeed at once. Try breaking through on your own, just once.”
#
Let’s avoid failure.
She had long abandoned the thought of quickly completing the quest and receiving praise from Lucion.
Lucia pondered, tilting her head. Wasn’t there another way?
“Should I attach leaves…?”
Using magic, she could likely create leaf-shaped forms. However, she refrained from executing that idea.
“That’s not the kind of test it is!”
Twenty minutes had passed since she began praying with clasped hands, and sweat clung to her palms. The sprout remained unchanged.
What should she do?
She had never failed to achieve a goal for such a long time before. Thanks to her innate genius, she had always effortlessly accomplished anything she set her mind to.
Lucion had stated that nothing was impossible with divine power.
If it didn’t work, it was because she lacked divine power…
‘In that case….’
Although it was said to be an easy test.
‘It’s pouring out everything….’
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Fire lit up in Lucia’s eyes.
To win.
To triumph.
A sprout.
No matter how much you struggle against not liking the size of your shell, you’re just a sprout.
Pray all you want until you grow bigger…!
Lucia uprooted her divine power and mercilessly struck the sprout with all her might.
The sprout, which had shown no signs of growth until then, began to surpass its divine limit to survive and started expanding itself to avoid exploding if it grew any larger….
The sprout began to grow on its own to survive.
“Ah!”
Just a slight growth.
Just a slight increase in volume.
Thrashing of the sprout for survival.
The result was successful.
The examiner, with a puzzled expression, looked down at the slightly grown ‘glowing sprout.’
The examiner, unable to comprehend what had happened even after seeing it with their own eyes, nevertheless, the test was a success. Divine power was infused, and the sprout grew.
“You’ve passed.”
“Done!”
Lucia rejoiced as if she were about to run. She straightened her kneeling knees and shouted “Hooray!”
“Done! Zion!”
Clap, clap, Lucion applauded.
“Oh? Were you here?”
When Lucia was immersed, her concentration was quite good. Realizing that Lucion was watching, she blushed.
Because it took so long to grow a single sprout, she felt embarrassed.
“If it were Lucion, it would have been done quickly.”
It’s unfair.
But it’s Lucion who is absurdly surprised.
Lucia couldn’t look at Lucion properly.
I wish I hadn’t seen him at all.
#
When she received her adventurer registration card and went down to the lobby, the Black Rabbit was sitting in a chair, dozing off. Perhaps it was because the members of the Black Thorn guild had come by, the Black Rabbit was wrapped in Black Thorn robes.
But since the guild leader was sleeping outside, they couldn’t just pass by, so they took off their clothes. About ten people.
Beloved rabbit.
Lucion cautiously called the Black Rabbit.
“Kanan.”
“Hmm?”
He woke him up by tapping his shoulder. Come to think of it, even in his past life, the Black Rabbit used to fall asleep on the street. It was difficult to wake him up, so they just carried him to the guild.
Now, Lucian was also with Kanon, and since they weren’t that close yet, he decided to wake him up gently.
“Lucian used divine power quite effectively.”
Lucian reached out his hand towards Kanon’s forehead.
Although there were people around watching, he covered it with his body to make the divine power flow less visible.
“【Sleep at home.】”
“Eek!”
As if the black rabbit had a dream of being eaten by a wide-mouthed dinosaur, it jumped up with a flutter, leaping away from its spot.
“N…No way!”
In fact, it was the opposite. When waking someone up with divine power, it wasn’t a nightmare; instead, it surpassed the bliss threshold, making them wake up.
As evidence, the black rabbit blushed deeply as soon as it woke up.
“You… What did you do to me!”
The black rabbit covered itself with its arms as if shielding its own body.
“What are you talking about? You were sleeping on the chair, so I just woke you up.”
“Huh?”
Only then did the black rabbit understand the situation.
As a specialist in illusion magic, Lucian had cast quite a few illusion spells on himself.
“But I’ve never dreamed before….”
It was a luxury to dream due to lack of sleep. It was the first time for the black rabbit to have such a shameful dream since birth.
Of course, he quickly found his composure. Still, his body was tense enough to shiver, but now it was daytime. From the perspective of the black rabbit, who experienced a different day and night, this bright time was unfamiliar, resembling walking the streets at night.
Whether the black rabbit was embarrassed or not, Lucian showed the adventurer’s certificate in his hand to the black rabbit.
“Alright. This is what we need.”
“Oh? That’s right!”
The Black Rabbit accepted Lucion’s adventurer card with a satisfied expression.
──────────
Lucion
Rank: Low (Lv.1)
Class: Attacker (Mage)
Affiliation: Panachia Central Guild
──────────
[Security Level: NORMAL]
[Issued Date: 2023-12-13]
[Issuer: Acting King Oslund – Regent Hergertan]
──────────
Lucion repeated the process of checking the front and back of the card. Just in case there was a record already registered under Lucion’s name. If there was, it would show a mark in the security level section that only those who dealt with special individuals like the Black Rabbit could recognize.
But there was nothing like that.
Lucion knew it too.
If there was a gap in the letter “M” in the security level section on the back, written as IvI instead of IVI, it meant that it was not a result of smudged ink, but a disguised classification used to hide VVIP intentionally.
The Black Rabbit nodded.
These guys really have nothing to hide. That’s what it means.
If it’s new, it’s even better. It means it can be manipulated well and used to bury bones for the Black Scythe.
“Here.”
The black rabbit pulls out a black card from its embrace.
“What’s this?”
Even though Lucion already knew, he asked.
It was just so absurd.
‘He had this prepared already?’
It’s a guild member card for Blackclaw.
When he took the card, it already had the black rabbit’s rabbit ear-shaped seal stamped neatly on it.
“Here, this one’s yours.”
“It’s Lucia.”
She complained while picking up the card.
The content is actually the same as that of the Adventurer’s Guild. Only the ranking is different.
──────────
Lu Sion
Rank: Upper Class (Lv.1)
Job: Attacker (Mage)
Affiliation: 【Blackclaw】
Approval: Kanon
──────────
──────────
Small( )
Level: Advanced (Lv.1)
Occupation: Priest
Affiliation: 【Black Claw】
Approval: Kanan
──────────
“They really wrote ‘small’….”
“I left a space for Khan.”
A direct order to write it yourself.
“But is it okay like this?”
Lucion remained silent.
He knows well about this irrational structure. However, it is a necessary system in reality.
Adventurer guilds judge people solely based on their achievements. There is often a difference between directly experiencing and grasping something in the guild.
Achievements can be delayed, and many quests are carried out by others. Therefore, it is crucial to actively reflect the opinions of guild masters with high credibility.
Cross-validation naturally takes place.
They come to confirm whether the minimum criteria are met, and every time the level is raised.
Of course, the central guild cannot grasp all members every day because everyone is busy. Therefore, the influence of the guild master’s decision was stronger.
If the guild master raised someone to an advanced level, but in the central adventurer guild, they are recorded as beginners, they are treated as advanced. They can actually receive quests. However, if they still seem inadequate, they can request a test. It is considered a waste of administrative power.
In other words,
“Is it really okay.”
“Then, you’re of an advanced rank, aren’t you?”
As the Black Rabbit had said.
The application of fifth-tier magic. That corresponds to the advanced course at the academy and is considered high-level according to adventurer rank standards. A new level of magic, the concept of frozen flames.
Naturally, creating a magic that doesn’t exist in the world is not an easily achievable stage.
By the way, the level that can be called [Priest] starts from intermediate.
If you can handle Harold, you’re already considered advanced.
The Black Rabbit was dissatisfied; it was too low, especially since they couldn’t assign anything above advanced 1Lv when initially distributed.
By the way, the White Rabbit is beyond the highest level, a Master at level 20.
“Carry it well. It might turn into a trauma. It’s a Black Claw card, after all.”
“I appreciate that.”
“If you understand, shall we go on a mission right away? I’m busy to death.”
Lucion laughed, as if he had expected that.
He was indeed moving busy.
He wanted to filter out missions unless absolutely necessary.
#
“So, what’s the mission?”
Returning to the Black Claw Guild, they continued the conversation.
The Black Rabbit placed several pictures and documents on the table with a serious expression.
Lucion frowned.
A familiar face, isn’t it.
“This is Dura Haninde.”
Dura Han Di Myeowseu.
The sole grandson of Dura Han Di Myeowseu, the Black Tower’s master of dark magic.
He remembered throwing himself into a river in his past life, driven mad by his studies of magic.
“So, you’re still alive.”
Lucion could already guess what his assigned mission would be. It must be related to saving Dura Han.
“I’m directly requesting your assistance, Master of the Black Tower.”
The Black Rabbit explained calmly.
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Lucion frowned.
The master of the Black Tower?
“You’re giving me a heavy task right from the start, huh?”
“I know. But what can we do? It was a direct request from the master of the Black Tower. To you guys… because it’s something only you can do. Please do your best.”
Lucion nodded as if he had no choice.
The master of the Black Tower had given him countless missions without ever showing his face in his past life. It seemed like it would be the same this time.
“Let’s think of it as saving a life.”
Dura Han Di Myeowseu.
What kind of appearance would the person who threw himself into the river in his past life have now?
Lucion glanced at the mission’s title, emphasized boldly at the top of the documents.
“Exorcism of a Young Magician Possessed by Demons”
Perhaps, it could be related to the Demon King.