Strength Blessing

On days without gatherings, the temple seemed rather quiet. In the huge courtyard, there were only five Priests. The two Novice Priests also had to do chores normally handled by servants, such as sweeping the courtyard, taking turns guarding the temple gates, trimming the greenery in the yard, and so on.

Of course, the biggest difference between Jasper and Abbott and the servants was that they still had to study divine spells under the Priests every day.

Whether morning or evening, the two of them had to pray devoutly before the Goddess of Freedom Statue.

Roy rushed into the temple's rear courtyard lounge through the rain, wrung out his already soaked clothes, and hung them up in the cramped room.

Only after drying the rainwater from his body and hair did Roy change into a Novice Priest's robe and hurry up to the second-floor Study Room.

Every afternoon, High Priest Reed taught divine spells to the three Novice Priests in the Study Room.

Perhaps because they had been here for a long time and had lost their initial fascination with divine spells, Jasper and Abbott always found excuses to skip class.

Only Roy, who had attended lessons for just three days, was still thoroughly engrossed in learning, especially since he had only mastered the Glimmer Illumination Spell yesterday and had not yet had much chance to show it off.

Now that he had more questions for High Priest Reed, he rushed to the Study Room as soon as he arrived at the temple.

Knock, knock, knock.

Hearing a response from inside, Roy carefully pushed open the Study Room door.

Novice Priests Jasper and Abbott sat at the round table in the Study Room. A thick book lay before them, apparently one related to divine spells.

When the two Novice Priests saw Roy enter, they immediately winked at him. Having someone else to face High Priest Reed with made them breathe a little easier.

For some reason, High Priest Reed was in a terrible mood today. His face was unusually full of worry, and he seemed deeply preoccupied.

As a result, he had been stricter with their lesson assessments.

Roy had barely sat down when High Priest Reed said, "Roy, let me see what you learned yesterday."

"Yes, Teacher."

Roy calmly rose from his seat, adjusted his breathing slightly, then began reciting the prayer for the Glimmer Illumination Spell. An extremely thin thread of holy light extended from his fingertip, weaving a divine pattern before him.

Countless faint lights carrying a sacred aura appeared around Roy's body. They slowly rose and gathered at his fingertip.

A ball of light, not particularly bright, slowly floated upward, but the sacred aura within it was exceptionally pure.

Jasper and Abbott looked stunned. They naturally knew this was only Roy's third day at the temple, yet he had already learned an introductory divine spell...

What kind of speed was that? The two Novice Priests exchanged looks, then could not help grumbling in low voices beside Roy.

"Roy, how did you do it? You mastered the Glimmer Illumination Spell so quickly. It's unbelievable."

"Roy, if you keep doing this... what are the rest of us supposed to do?"

High Priest Reed nodded slightly. He was very pleased that Roy had mastered the Glimmer Illumination Spell so quickly.

Then he had Roy gather the holy light in his palm...

In truth, the ball of holy light within Roy's body had already taken the shape of a seed. That invisible tentacle had even grown longer. Usually, like a sea anemone's tentacle, whenever Holy Light Particles drifted past Roy, it would catch them and pull them into the Seed of Light.

Whether Roy was asleep or awake.

Whether Roy was attending martial training or geography class.

That invisible tentacle tirelessly caught the Holy Light Particles around him.

Although the holy light grew very slowly, it was growing every moment.

The ball of light was still small, so its daily changes were obvious. Roy released the light ball in his hand, which was already as large as an apple.

Novice Priests Jasper and Abbott immediately covered their mouths...

High Priest Reed's eyes held more approval as well. He reached out and patted Roy on the shoulder, praising him.

"The light ball is noticeably larger than yesterday. It's always good for young people to be diligent..."

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Roy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Jasper and Abbott could not see that invisible tentacle either.

Roy had even made the invisible tentacle grab several Holy Light Particles in front of Abbott, and the young Novice Priest had indeed shown no reaction at all...

"Teacher, are there any introductory divine spells that can improve combat ability?"

After sitting down, Roy asked High Priest Reed.

What he was thinking was that since Steve and those elves had decided to cause him trouble, they definitely would not stop after just one attempt.

He had luckily escaped today because of the rain, but that did not mean he would be so fortunate every time.

If those elves cornered him on the street, a fight would be unavoidable.

Roy's thinking was simple. Even if he got beaten up, he had to at least take one of them down with him.

Naturally, High Priest Reed did not know Roy was preparing for an upcoming group fight. He thought Roy had decided to follow the path of a Combat Priest, which was why he wanted to learn divine spells that aided combat.

"Yes. Strength Blessing is an introductory divine spell that every Combat Priest must learn," High Priest Reed said.

"Teacher, I want to learn it!" Roy said.

The thirst for knowledge in his eyes greatly pleased High Priest Reed.

"Let me look... Oh, here it is..."

High Priest Reed searched the bookshelf behind him for quite some time before finding a book covered in thick dust. It was clear that he did not particularly like this divine spell for assisting in combat.

He placed the book before Roy with some distaste, yet still did not forget to recommend something else.

"I think Minor Healing is more practical. As a Novice Priest, you will inevitably encounter people injured in accidents in the future. Minor Healing can help you heal light injuries, and for serious wounds, it can accelerate healing. Combined with some first-aid knowledge, this is what Priests should focus on learning."

"Teacher, I want to learn that too..."

What kind of multiple-choice question did smart people make? Of course he wanted both! High Priest Reed frowned and promptly corrected Roy's choice. "Roy, a person's energy is limited. Even if you are talented, you cannot become both a priest and a Combat Priest at the same time. You would be better off choosing divine spells you like and mastering them properly."

Roy grinned and said,

"Teacher, I'm a Half-Elf. Unless something unexpected happens, I can probably live to be three hundred and fifty years old, so learning a few more introductory divine spells should not be a problem..."

That left High Priest Reed speechless.

"Fine. This is Strength Blessing, and this book is Minor Healing. I have not learned Strength Blessing, but Priest Ocido happens to be skilled at it. You can ask him if there is anything you do not understand. Now, Jasper, demonstrate Minor Healing for Roy."

"Yes, High Priest Reed!"

Jasper hurriedly stood up, clasped his hands before his chest with his fingers interlocked, and began reciting the prayer line by line.

A ball of holy light lit up on his chest. The light nearly enveloped his entire body. Amid the sacred radiance, a halo appeared beneath Jasper's feet, containing a very complete divine pattern.

He cast the divine spell very quickly. As soon as he finished reciting the prayer, a beam of holy light fell upon the round table in the blink of an eye.

Sitting at the table, Roy could clearly feel the rich vitality contained within that holy light.

High Priest Reed did not seem particularly satisfied with Jasper's demonstration.

He gestured for Jasper to sit down, then explained to Roy with slight displeasure, "Jasper recorded the divine pattern for Minor Healing in his Holy Prayer book. When casting the spell, he only needs to pour Holy Light Power into the magic book and recite the prayer to activate the pattern recorded inside. That allows him to release the spell at the fastest possible speed."

"Simply put, recording divine patterns in a magic book can greatly simplify the casting process and increase casting speed."

"But for beginners, it does not provide any practice, especially since it makes the divine spell incomplete. I do not recommend practicing this way, though it is permitted in daily life, since it is more convenient..."

Roy hurriedly nodded humbly to show that he understood.

To put it plainly, Jasper's method was like simplifying the steps when solving a math problem. Although the final answer was the same, some of the intermediate steps were missing.

Even so, Roy still looked enviously at the Holy Prayer book in Jasper's hands.

Afterward, High Priest Reed demonstrated Minor Healing once again from start to finish, showing Roy the proper procedure for the spell.

What followed was another detailed breakdown of the divine pattern and prayer, the timing for coordinating the two, and everything else explained thoroughly...

For some reason, Roy could always sense High Priest Reed's urgency, as though something were chasing him from behind and driving him to teach these divine spells to Roy as quickly as possible.

Even though he clearly knew that Roy had not yet mastered the Glimmer Illumination Spell, he had agreed without hesitation when Roy said he wanted to continue learning Strength Blessing. He had even thrown in Minor Healing as well...

In truth, High Priest Reed was also worried that this cramming style of teaching would leave Roy with an unstable foundation, so he repeatedly reminded Roy to practice more at home and try to develop some muscle memory for these introductory divine spells, allowing him to cast them freely.

He also sternly warned Roy that while learning divine spells, he was strictly forbidden from using magical items to assist with casting...

Naturally, Roy followed all of High Priest Reed's requirements.

However, Priest Theodore, who later came specifically to demonstrate the casting process for Strength Blessing to Roy, held a different view. As an elf Priest, he favored using magical items to assist with casting. He believed that doing so could greatly shorten casting time, improve the success rate, and simplify the difficulty of learning divine spells.

This method of learning was bound to replace traditional methods of studying divine spells...

Although the two Priests had conflicting opinions on studying divine spells, it did not affect Roy's learning of Strength Blessing.

Roy spent almost an entire afternoon before he managed to cast Strength Blessing haltingly. Although his success rate was pitifully low, he had at least felt what successful casting was like.

As long as he remembered that feeling, his success rate would gradually improve.

Even Priest Theodore lavishly praised Roy's diligence.

In truth, Roy had no way to explain it...

He certainly could not say that his thirst for knowledge about divine spells had been entirely forced out of him by Steve and those elves.

After an entire afternoon, Roy had only learned Strength Blessing.

Although he also wanted to learn Minor Healing, he had not managed it by the time he left the temple.

Even so, Jasper and Abbott, the two Novice Priests studying alongside him in the Study Room, had thoroughly witnessed Roy's determination and were completely won over by him.

"Roy, I think you're simply a genius. You mastered Strength Blessing so quickly. Back when I first entered the temple, it took me about three months just to learn the Glimmer Illumination Spell. I still haven't learned Strength Blessing even now..."

The three Novice Priests walked out of the Study Room. Jasper draped an arm over Roy's shoulder and endlessly recounted his "glorious past."

Abbott beside them also asked curiously, "Roy, don't you find practicing these divine spells boring?"

Roy answered honestly, "It's actually not bad."

It really was not bad. To Roy, this was far easier than grinding through practice questions for the months before the college entrance exams...

Abbott thought Roy's enthusiasm simply had not faded yet and could not help saying,

"Fine. Once his excitement over divine spells wears off, he'll become like the nearly dried-out salted fish in Castleton Harbour. He'd rather hang from a rope and let the sea breeze blow over him than sit indoors studying divine spells..."

At that moment, Roy returned to the lounge to change out of his Novice Priest robe.

However, the clothes he had hung up in the room were still not dry, so he could only put them on while they were half-damp.

Jasper and Abbott chatted with Roy by the doorway.

"Oh, right. Tomorrow is the temple gathering. Remember to come early and help out," Jasper reminded Roy.

Enduring the uncomfortable feeling of wet clothes clinging to his body, Roy readily agreed. "Got it. I'll come over as quickly as I can after class."

When Roy came out of the lounge after changing, he saw Priest Anderson sitting alone beside the well in the rear courtyard. He clearly had not noticed Roy.

Holding a Cedar Staff, he softly recited a prayer. After saying a few lines, he paced around the courtyard several times. His steps were hurried, his face as pale as it had been yesterday, and he seemed somewhat agitated.

"Reed, we should make our position known too. We can't keep silent like this. We should write a petition as well!"

Priest Anderson muttered to himself, and Roy happened to overhear him as he passed by. To Roy's surprise, he was actually preparing some words to say to High Priest Reed...

Roy was left completely confused.

Thinking that he would probably have to deal with those troubles at Elf Academy again tomorrow, Roy could only hurry home and try to practice Strength Blessing a few more times.