Night had fallen completely, and Gordon had already left. Unas had finally learned how to put on the armor. It really wasn't difficult; he only needed to know how the joints fit together.
Setting the armor aside, he picked up Gordon's libram and leafed through it. He skipped the scriptures and doctrines at the front and began studying Gordon's understanding of the Holy Light.
Unas had no interest in investigating what the Holy Light actually was. He only wanted to know how to strengthen his control over it. After all, it was the foundation of his survival in this world.
Gordon's notes recorded that the Holy Light entered the human body through the center of the soul, between the eyebrows. The Holy Light that entered the body was generally called "Holy Power."
Once a person entered a meditative state, they could "see" the Holy Power inside their body. As for how to enter that state, Gordon's method was to recite scripture. Unas flipped back to the front of the book and began stumbling through the passages.
He recited until his head spun and he yawned nonstop, but it didn't do a damn thing. The meditative state described in the notes never appeared. Apparently, this approach was a dead end. Gordon had grown up immersed in the faith of the Holy Light and was a devout believer, so his method might not suit Unas.
Unas guessed that meditation was probably similar to a state of self-hypnosis. Explained through modern medical theory, self-hypnosis was a process of continually giving oneself suggestions.
Although he had never studied hypnosis, he had looked up a great deal of information about it because he loved a crime movie about the subject.
Unas lay down, relaxed his entire body, and gradually slowed his breathing. As his consciousness grew hazy, inspiration suddenly struck. He activated Seal of Righteousness, and the next moment, he dimly saw a pillar of light descend between his eyebrows. It was as though a switch had been flipped, illuminating the energy throughout his body.
This energy was probably his Holy Power. It existed in the form of fine threads of light, forming tiny streams inside his body. The streams began between his eyebrows, circulated through his body, and returned to the same spot.
Gordon's notes recorded that everyone saw Holy Power differently. Some saw a pillar of light, some saw a cross made of light, and others saw a statue of a god. From this, Gordon surmised that a person's own conception of the Holy Light influenced the form of their Holy Power.
As a **** person, Unas had grown up immersed in wuxia culture, and his Holy Power looked quite similar to the internal energy described in wuxia novels.
According to Gordon's training notes, the next step was to refine the energy inside his body. Unas concentrated and urged the threads of light together. They obediently flowed toward the point between his eyebrows.
He had no idea how long it took, but all the threads of light in his body fused together, forming a ring of light between his eyebrows.
He didn't know what to do next. Gordon's notes only said to keep condensing it, and his Holy Power also took a completely different form from Gordon's. Besides, Gordon was only a young, newly appointed Paladin and didn't know much himself.
Unas opened his eyes and emerged from his meditation. The tent was pitch-dark, and the charcoal in the fire pit had burned out. It was probably already late at night. Early autumn nights were bitterly cold, yet he felt warm.
Seal of Righteousness had long since expired, but a warm current still flowed between his eyebrows, just like the ring of light he had seen in meditation.
He tried to guide the warm current between his eyebrows throughout his body. A faint white light radiated from him, illuminating the dark tent.
Unas picked up the great silver hammer leaning nearby. The white light traveled down his arm and onto the hammer, and the square runes engraved on its head instantly lit up. He swung the hammer hard a few times, and the gusts it generated made the tent flap noisily.
He wasn't using any skills now. Simply circulating the Holy Power in his body had greatly increased his strength. According to Gordon's notes, his physical defense and ability to heal himself would also improve considerably.
He checked the system panel, and sure enough, his attributes had improved across the board: strength +5, agility +3, constitution +6, and spirit +9. It was the equivalent of gaining two and a half levels for free.
According to the libram, the first meditation always brought a fairly large improvement. After that, progress would be gradual.
He stepped out of the tent. The moon had already tilted toward the horizon. It felt as though he had only meditated for a little while, but it was already past midnight.
They were setting out at dawn, so he had to get some rest quickly. He returned to the tent, put down the hammer, and lay down on the bed of straw and cushions, but he wasn't the least bit sleepy. When he closed his eyes, Whitemane's long, shapely, pale legs seemed to sway before him, and a warm current gathered beneath him.
He had no choice but to create his dreams with his own hands.
I still have to jerk off after transmigrating. I must be a disgrace to transmigrators.
The night was always darkest before dawn. Unas was already up and ready. His somewhat scrawny body looked tall and imposing in the full suit of armor. After a night of self-purification, the iceweb spider silk robe was clean as new, and he wore it against his skin as an undergarment. He tucked the libram into his breast for easy reference. In the game, librams also amplified Paladin spells.
Parrion's big brown horse had eaten its fill of the feed Gordon had delivered the previous night. Unas didn't want to waste the horse's strength, so he put Verigan's Fist and some other odds and ends into his spatial backpack.
With nothing else to do, he went to check Lulu's tent. Just as he had guessed, it was empty. Those brought together by fate would meet across a thousand miles; those without it could pass face-to-face and never meet. Finding the girl he felt some pity for would have to depend on fate.
He rode to the monastery gates. The monastery was brightly lit, and shouts rang out constantly. It looked as though they were still making preparations.
After he had chatted with the soldiers guarding the gate for a few moments, it swung open and a mounted party rode out. Naturally, Gordon, who was leading the vanguard, rode at the front. He had changed into a new suit of armor and a new tabard, and his long, pale hair had been tied back, giving him a much neater appearance. After a night of treatment by the monastery's Priests, he had mostly recovered.
There was no need for the two to say much. Unas rode forward, ready to join Gordon's vanguard, but suddenly spotted two familiar faces among the people behind Gordon—Darian and Whitemane.
Darian looked much the same as ever, mounted on a fine horse encased from head to tail in silver armor. A silver horned helmet covered his dazzling blond hair. He nodded and smiled politely at Unas, though there was a hint of excitement in his smile.
Whitemane, on the other hand, looked at Unas expressionlessly, as though he were a stranger. She was dressed much more simply this time. They were going to war, after all. She wore only a loose, dark red robe that concealed her beautiful body without exposing an inch of skin.
Why did this lovestruck pair come along too?
Unas hurriedly rode up beside Gordon and asked in a low voice, "Why did those two come too? Aren't they from the tribunal?"
Gordon naturally knew which "two" he meant and replied quietly, "Whitemane somehow found out that you were accompanying me on the campaign, so she volunteered to join the vanguard as a Priest. We're short on people and recruiting volunteers, so there was no reason to refuse her."
"That woman has her eye on you. She wasn't satisfied with the two superiors' verdict. Don't do anything out of line this time, or she might get something on you. And don't summon that bone horse again."
Unas let out a mournful sigh, his feelings complicated. Having such a beautiful woman pay so much attention to him was an experience he'd never had before.
It was clear that Whitemane was a very tsundere woman who wouldn't give up easily. If he lowered himself to curry favor with her, it would only backfire and make her dislike him even more.
Because he didn't know how to get along with girls, Unas had once studied many dating guides. It was easy to make a girl's love turn to hatred, but turning hatred into love was a technical challenge.
How to win Whitemane over was now the foremost question he had to consider.