Heavy Rain

Temple Study Room.

Novice Priest Abbott sat before the round table, clasping his hands before his chest as he prayed silently with his eyes closed.

Perhaps because Roy had successfully advanced to a Level Two Novice Priest yesterday, Abbott had seen a glimmer of hope again, and his prayers had become more devout.

Jasper was on duty at the main gate, and only Abbott and Roy were in the room.

Roy sat beside Abbott. Two books on divine arts lay before him: one was Strength Blessing, and the other was Minor Healing.

He had now grasped the basics of Strength Blessing.

At noon, he had successfully drawn two divine patterns for Strength Blessing.

Although the latter attempt had failed because he was not proficient enough with the prayer.

To Roy, however, he had already clearly memorized the feeling of drawing the divine pattern.

Yes, that kind of insight was the most precious thing.

Generally speaking, the divine pattern symbols and prayers in books on divine arts could be recorded clearly and accurately, but Priests could not clearly describe the profound sensation involved in drawing them.

What Roy lacked now was merely proficiency in reciting the prayer.

Roy repeatedly memorized the prayer for Strength Blessing.

Abbott reminded him that he should spend more time praying each day, otherwise the rate at which he gathered Holy Light would grow slower and slower.

Roy nodded in agreement.

Yet the two books on divine arts on the round table clearly showed that his mind was completely immersed in studying divine arts.

Strength Blessing and Minor Healing were considered the two most practical divine arts for Novice Priests.

But Roy was only a Level Two Novice Priest. Learning these two divine arts, which consumed large amounts of Holy Light Power, was far less practical than focusing on prayer and gathering Holy Light Power.

In fact, High Priest Reed had also noticed over the past few days that Roy preferred researching divine arts and had little interest in prayer.

He rarely saw Roy praying. Every time he came to the Study Room, he found Roy diligently studying divine arts, which left High Priest Reed faintly worried.

For a Priest, the Holy Light gained through prayer was the foundation of all divine arts. Those divine arts were merely flowers blooming on a tree.

Without accumulating enough Holy Light Power, even mastering the most advanced divine arts would be useless.

High Priest Reed worried that Roy would become too engrossed in divine arts and neglect the fact that, as a Novice Priest, what he needed most right now was to gather Holy Light through prayer.

"Roy, don't devote too much thought to studying divine arts. What you need most now is to gather Holy Light."

Whenever he saw Roy, High Priest Reed would earnestly remind him of this, regardless of whether Roy followed his advice.

"Teacher, why can't I feel Holy Light whenever I pray?"

This was also the question Jasper and Abbott had wanted to ask recently but had never dared to.

High Priest Reed's gaze dimmed, and his voice grew somewhat heavy as he said softly:

"That is because the Goddess is currently too far away from us. Ever since entering the Dark Land, the Goddess's Holy Radiance has been obscured by the dark mist. At present, the Holy Radiance can no longer reach the Elf Continent. That is why, during this recent period, we have rarely been able to sense its presence when praying."

"So we need to pray with even more devotion. The power of our faith will become the greatest beacon in the vast darkness. I firmly believe that one day, the Goddess's Holy Radiance will pierce through the endless darkness and shine upon every corner of this continent. As long as we are prepared, the Holy Radiance will eventually descend..."

Roy had not expected that.

Jasper and Abbott were always complaining that they could not gain Holy Light Power through prayer lately. So it was because the Goddess's Holy Radiance could no longer extend to the Elf Continent...

Abbott was even more dumbfounded. Sitting there, he muttered to himself:

"So the rumors outside were actually true."

Then he said to High Priest Reed:

"High Priest Reed, I heard that the situation in this God War is not very favorable. The dark forces on the other side are extremely powerful."

High Priest Reed merely shook his head slightly. "Those rumors have no basis at all. The bishop will naturally concern himself with matters above, while we only need to wait quietly and pray devoutly."

Having said that, High Priest Reed wanted to offer some encouraging words, so he patted their shoulders and said, "Actually, the Goddess's Holy Radiance cannot be completely unable to reach this place. It should merely be somewhat weak... so weak that we can barely sense it. Otherwise, Roy would not have advanced so smoothly in just one short week."

"When I first met Roy, the Holy Light in his palm was only this big..."

High Priest Reed brought his thumb and forefinger together and gestured vaguely, looking very much like he was making a heart shape.

"And now? Roy, release your Holy Light and let Abbott take a look."

Roy hurriedly gathered a seed-shaped ball of light in his palm.

Within the gentle glow, that Seed of Light looked like a large-headed question mark, stubbornly raising its head...

Seeing the ball of light in Roy's palm, High Priest Reed nodded.

He still quite approved of Roy's efforts.

When he had first met Roy, the Holy Light in Roy's palm had been as faint as a firefly.

In less than a week, the Holy Light Power Roy had mastered had grown to the size of an apple. This ball of Holy Light clearly proved Roy's efforts.

Abbott obviously agreed with High Priest Reed's assessment as well, nodding repeatedly.

The ball of light in Roy's palm gradually shrank. Only after the last flicker of Light Flame dissipated in his palm did Roy tactfully ask again:

"Teacher, can the Holy Light in our bodies capture the Holy Light Particles drifting around us on its own?"

In fact, Roy had brought this up two days ago... but the answer he had received was no.

He raised it again now because he felt that his previous description might not have been accurate, and he wanted to confirm it once more.

"The Holy Light in our bodies isn't a spirit body. How could it possibly actively absorb the wandering Holy Light Particles around us?" High Priest Reed frowned and immediately gave Roy a negative answer.

He felt that Roy had only just become a Novice Priest and did not understand many things. It was perfectly normal for him to fall into such unreasonable fantasies...

In High Priest Reed's view, he still needed to guide Roy carefully. "You are wondering why you cannot gain Holy Light while praying, yet you can sense changes in the ball of light within your body, aren't you?"

Roy immediately nodded.

"That is because the Holy Light in your body is too weak. Even a slight change can be easily sensed," High Priest Reed said.

He paused before continuing, "The Holy Light Power in our bodies naturally grows because there are some invisible Holy Light Particles drifting around us. Due to Holy Light Affinity, these Holy Light Particles merge into our bodies."

"Of course, this does not mean that if there are more wandering Holy Light Particles nearby, or if we ride in a speeding carriage and our bodies come into contact with more of them, those Holy Light Particles will merge into our bodies faster."

"Only devout prayer can draw the Goddess's Holy Radiance, which shines over this continent, into our bodies..."

"Roy, you are only a Novice Priest who has just begun to come into contact with Holy Light and divine arts. So when you encounter something you cannot understand, you become extremely confused. That is normal. Usually, you can use prayer to strengthen your heart..."

Listening to High Priest Reed's patient instruction, Roy suddenly fell into self-doubt. Could the two invisible tentacles I sensed merely be a manifestation of Holy Light Affinity?

That must be it...

So Roy began praying in the Study Room with Abbott.

Only when he was about to leave the temple did he flip through the book on Minor Healing again.

Whenever he thought of Steve and those Silver Moon Elves at Elf Academy, he felt that if he could master Minor Healing sooner, he could at least avoid wasting that precious Tree of Life Sap...

Even if Klayr provided the Tree of Life Sap, he could not keep using it like this.

Before leaving the Study Room, however, Roy still attempted Strength Blessing. As the complete divine pattern appeared on the round table and Roy's prayer ended, the pattern turned into countless grains of sand, gathering into a fist that radiated a sacred aura before slowly merging into Roy's body.

Abbott, who was about to stand up beside him, widened his eyes. The thick copy of Holy Prayer in his hands fell onto the table with a loud clang.

The evening sky was thick with dark clouds, and countless storm clouds had gathered over the sea surface.

A heavy rain was clearly about to arrive, and the sea wind carried a heavy moisture.

Roy changed out of his Novice Priest robe in the lounge and put on his still slightly damp clothes, intending to run home before the rain came.

Perhaps Roy had dealt him a blow, but Abbott dejectedly ran back to his room, locked himself inside, and refused to come out.

Jasper was in the gatehouse by the temple entrance. When he saw Roy emerge from inside, he hurriedly opened the side door for him.

"It's about to rain. Hurry up and run!" Jasper said to Roy.

The wind was somewhat strong. Layer upon layer of waves rose on the sea surface and crashed against the black reefs, shattering in an instant into countless bubbles...

Roy walked quickly through the streets. Gust after gust of fierce wind blew the fig trees by the roadside violently, while the stall owners gathered the goods displayed outside their shops and the smaller vendors hurried home.

There was almost no one left on the docks, and even the Fish Market had become deserted...

Roy saw Ms. Jillian pushing a flatbed cart at the end of Brown Street.

When he reached the intersection, the Night Blade Leopard tied outside the Potion Shop had apparently sensed the coming heavy rain and retreated into its little wooden shelter, leaving only half its nose exposed.

When it saw Roy, it habitually let out a low growl.

Roy stopped and cast a provocative glance at the Night Blade Leopard before hurrying home.

Raindrops the size of beans pattered down, instantly dampening the ground. As more and more raindrops fell, the rushing sound of rain finally joined into one continuous roar.