Spell-less Arc Light

Li Wen entered the bell tower. Inside was a vast square chamber, completely empty except for a Twilight Stone overhead, identical to the one in the Temple of Tyrion.

"Marsala, Ikatur." Li Wen recited the incantation that had somehow entered her mind once more. With a rumble, the floor began to move as it had in the temple before—only this time, it rose rather than descended.

While waiting to leave, Li Wen also recalled what the Giant Bell had said.

"Amber City is a city cut off from the world."

Just like its name, "amber," Amber City had been wrapped layer upon layer in the power of twilight until it broke away from the world and became an independent domain. The dusky Sky Dome above Amber City was the most direct manifestation of twilight's power, and one of the reasons it was revered as eternal.

The Fire Mage was dead. Although he had already used the potion, there was nothing to be done about that. Mog the priest's commission, along with that of the Moon Worshippers, could barely be considered complete. She had also visited Amber City, obtained a "pass" that allowed travel back and forth, and accepted a mission from the Elders.

What she needed to do next was raise her strength as quickly as possible and obtain The Final Codex. That was the highest priority; only after that would she explore Amber City's Outer City.

Li Wen opened her character panel.

Mephisto—Terra Human—Overall Level 1

Class: Radiance Spectrum—Path of Light Chasing (Stage One)—Supplicant lv1

Health 37%—Seriously Injured (lose 1% Health every 2 hours, Stamina reduced by 50%)

Mana 0/10

Abilities: Radiance—Prayer Incantation lv1 (8%), Radiance—Shelter of Refraction (11 hours remaining)

Knowledge: Basic Ritual lv1 (30%)...

Traits (6/6): Retrograde in Shadow (Blue), Blood of Candlelight (Blue), Nimble Hands (White), Professional Pickpocket (White), Necessary Sacrifice (Red), Radiant Shadow Refraction (11 hours remaining)

Status: One-Eyed

Experience Pool: 260

After that battle, Li Wen's Health had fallen straight to 37%, placing her in the seriously injured category. Her Mana had been completely depleted, leaving her without combat capability for some time. But the gains were substantial as well. Not only had she looted every magical item from the Fire Mage, her Experience Pool had also reached 260.

Two hundred and sixty Experience was enough for Li Wen to raise Prayer Incantation by one level, or learn a new spell ability for the Supplicant.

Because Prayer Incantation's numerical calculations had a level multiplier, upgrading it from level one to level two would nearly double its effectiveness. But a new ability was just as tempting. Stage One Supplicants had four abilities in total, and aside from Prayer Incantation, the other three were all highly powerful and practical.

After some consideration, Li Wen decided to choose a new ability. Her fight with the Fire Mage had shown her the shortcomings in her combat abilities. Although Dark Word Curse could inflict damage, it was too slow and too weak to play a decisive role in a true fight to the death. After all, Dark Word Curse relied more on its blindness effect for control.

Li Wen decisively spent 200 Experience to learn a new ability.

Spell-less Arc Light lv1

Radiance—Divine Art

Required: 2 Mana, one quick prayer

Projectile/Enchantment—Count 1

The knights of the temple coated their blades in solidified light to drive away demons. In later generations, believers called this the Arc Light Technique, for the blade of light was always curved.

When used on a weapon, it grants a Radiance/Shadow enchantment that provides a 20% damage bonus for (ability level x 15) seconds. After enchanting, an additional 2 Mana can be spent to release the light blade in a single slash, dealing a small amount of slashing damage (with a chance to inflict Bleeding) and (ability level x 10%) additional Radiance/Shadow damage to a target up to 15 yards away. If the target is a demon, damage is increased by 50%.

The strength of Spell-less Arc Light lay in its versatility. It could serve as a temporary enchantment to boost a weapon's damage, or become a ranged attack at a critical moment and catch an enemy off guard. Most importantly, it required only a quick prayer.

A basic prayer took three seconds, while a quick prayer took only one. That was an enormous improvement to Li Wen's combat rhythm. Many times, a battle's outcome could be decided in a single second.

If she had possessed this skill during her battle with the Fire Mage, she could have ambushed him when he used White Mist. With enough luck, she might even have defeated him in one blow.

Furthermore, gaining a new ability meant Li Wen's class level had reached lv2, and her total Mana had risen to 20—enough for ten spell casts. For the time being, this relieved her anxiety over insufficient Mana.

At last, the bell tower's magical elevator—or rather, a Teleportation Array in the form of an elevator—delivered Li Wen to her destination. This was not the original location of the Temple of Tyrion, but a cramped karst cave.

There were no traces of human construction in the cave, nor were there any of those intricate array patterns beneath Li Wen's feet. It seemed impossible to return to Amber City through this cave.

After thinking it over, Li Wen left the cave.

This place should still be within Black Dragon Territory, but it was certainly no longer in Streamstone Rift.

Mentioning Streamstone Rift made Li Wen think of Take and her group. They had contributed quite a bit during the fight with the Fire Mage, exhausting much of his trump cards and Mana while also inflicting tangible injuries on him.

They were probably still waiting in Streamstone Rift, and Li Wen had yet to give them their promised payment.

Forget it. I'll talk to them when I see them again.

She looked up at the stars. It should already be past midnight in game time, and this was clearly not a suitable hour to move through the wilderness.

After pondering for a moment, Li Wen decided to return to the cave and log off. She would head back to Ake Town once daylight came.

*

Meanwhile, in an unnamed forest within Birch Territory of the Kingdom of Arthur, a diamond-shaped tower stood tall, unknown to outsiders and undisturbed by them.

Yet today, it was destined to receive an unexpected guest.

Moonlight silently spilled down. The shadows of the trees began to twist and distort, then formed a doorway three meters tall and two meters wide. An old man in white robes and a mage's hat stepped out through the shadow-made portal.

"Greetings, Lord Aiswell. What brings you to High Prism Tower at this hour?"

A patrolling mage atop the tower saluted the old man.

"I'm looking for Heron."

Aiswell, the white-robed mage and professor of the Arcane Academy, said urgently.

"The Tower Master is currently receiving guests in the reception hall. It may take some time, Lord Aiswell. You are not the first visitor today."

"Guests?" Aiswell had no interest in dwelling on such trivialities. He hurriedly said, "I have something extremely important that I must discuss with Heron. Go inform him at once! The sooner, the better!"