The Holy Sword Guardian Samuel

Every time an Extraordinary Profession advanced, it gained three random Entries.

Only when all these Entries were combined did each person's Extraordinary Profession become slightly different.

In the game, these Entries could be rerolled repeatedly by running Advancement Instances. Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for players to experience different Fancy Builds.

But Iver obviously had no shop items.

He only had one chance to choose his Entries when advancing.

However, he had already decided on his path--

To advance into the Great Beast Master, he needed to seal six attribute Great Beasts of his own.

And crafting a Blank Card for each attribute required fifty points of Pure Mana.

When a Priest's class level increased, the mana pools of the Light and Fire Attributes increased. The ratio was basically three parts Light to one part Fire.

When a Demon Scholar leveled up, they could normally only increase their Dark Attribute mana pool. If they contracted a Greater Demon on the level of a Shadow Demon, they could also increase the mana pool corresponding to the contracted demon's attribute. Although Iver's first contracted demon was the Dark Attribute Shadow Demon, his Entries could still randomly include expansion Entries for Wind, Earth, Water, or Fire when he advanced.

If Iver leveled up normally, he would probably only be able to reach fifty points in the Light and Dark Attributes.

Therefore, apart from the Light and Dark Attributes, he had to choose every expansion Entry he could--even so, he might not be able to raise all six attributes to at least fifty. At that point, he would either endure the experience penalty and open a third Path, taking a specific spellcasting profession to raise the corresponding mana pool, or rely on different kinds of potions to slowly raise his attribute limits, or wear Extraordinary Items to temporarily increase his mana limit.

The basic principle was simple: if he could choose an expansion Entry for one of the four attributes--Wind, Earth, Water, or Fire--he had to choose it.

Only if a rare Golden Entry appeared would Iver hesitate and seriously consider not choosing an expansion this time.

But the first advancement could only produce Blue Entries at most. Moreover, spellcasting professions were guaranteed to produce the two Entries of Affinity and expansion--so he had nothing to deliberate over here, because he had no choice.

Still, Iver was fairly lucky.

Candle Holder's Blood did not necessarily produce a Fire Attribute Entry; it could also produce a Light Attribute one. If the expansion he randomly received was Light Attribute, he could only choose Affinity. His Light Attribute mana pool was actually quite ample--he was not an Extraordinary being specializing in the Dedication Path, so he did not need to raise his mana pool too high.

Besides, the Illusion Demon on Yulia was of the Fire Attribute.

That meant Iver had to craft a Fire Attribute Blank Card before that incident began if he wanted any chance of sealing it.

He had calculated it beforehand: the standard mana pool for a level 10 Priest should be 8 Light and 2 Fire, while at level 20 it should be 23 Light and 7 Fire.

By the time Iver reached level 20, counting this advancement, he would have to advance three times in total. These were the guaranteed success at level 2, followed by the ritual trials at levels 9 and 19.

As long as he randomly received another Fire Attribute expansion during those two trials, Iver's Fire Attribute mana pool could increase by another 28 points. Without using any Extraordinary Items, adding the original 7 points and the 14 points granted this time would bring it to exactly 49 points.

--With a maximum mana pool of 49, he could already craft a Fire Attribute Blank Card with a capacity of 50 if he stored four points in advance the previous day! And once he possessed the "Paradox Flame Butterfly," Iver would gain combat power far greater than that of a Level One Fire Affinity! At the very least, tearing his way through to the end of Version 1.0 would definitely be no problem!

So Iver did not hesitate.

As soon as the Entry appeared, his mind stirred. The teardrop-shaped flame rose on its own and fell into Iver's mouth.

The next moment, the hallucination before his eyes suddenly shattered.

A faint burning pain suddenly rose at Iver's fingertips. It rapidly became more pronounced, like touching a candle flame with a finger after dipping it in water.

He abruptly awoke.

As Iver's attribute list changed, the altered portions appeared before him:

Priest LV2: Basic Prayer-Level 1 (99%), Fire Sacrifice-Level 1 (5%)

Illuminated Paths: Dedication-First Layer; Transcendence-First Layer

Mana Pool: 2/2 (Light), 4/4 (Dark), 14/14 (Fire)

Free Experience: 53

Path Trait--

Dedication-Flame Container Lv1: You consumed Candle Holder's Blood, and your soul gained expanded capacity. Your maximum mana pool capacity (Fire) increased by 14.

Iver raised his head and looked dazedly at the astonished Bishop Mathers. He revealed a confused and innocent expression, as if he had just woken up, and instinctively said,

"I just... seemed to see a red deer.

"Its entire body was wrapped in black thorns, and it was bleeding. White flames burned on its antlers..."

"--That was the Illuminator!"

Bishop Mathers hurriedly interrupted him.

He touched the center of his forehead, as if there were illusory antlers there. "Above, Illuminator... to think His Excellency would favor you so greatly. On your very first attempt, you mastered the Fire Sacrifice..."

Bishop Mathers muttered under his breath, clearly finding it difficult to imagine.

But Iver's rise in rank was self-evident. As someone of a higher rank on the same Path, he could clearly sense that Iver's Dedication Path had successfully reached the First Layer.

"...What Path Trait did you choose?"

Bishop Mathers had no time to continue teaching Iver. He asked urgently, "I didn't expect you to learn it immediately, so I haven't had time to tell you... If you want to gain the ability to protect yourself immediately, you must choose either 'Fire Affinity' or 'Light Affinity.' Which did you choose?"

"Flame Container."

Iver answered at once.

A trace of nervousness appeared on his face. "Did I choose wrong?"

Iver secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I advanced before Bishop Mathers could react.

If I had heard what Bishop Mathers said and still chosen Flame Container, he definitely would have been unhappy. But I really needed to raise my Fire Attribute mana pool as quickly as possible, and the next round might not produce the Entry I wanted. So once a Fire Attribute expansion Entry appeared, I had to choose it immediately.

"...No, no, it isn't a major problem."

Seeing the nervousness on Iver's face, Bishop Mathers hurriedly reassured him. "'Flame Container' is also a very good Trait--it can give you extremely powerful control over flame, though it is somewhat troublesome to use. Without an Affinity ability, operating it will be a little stiff... But I'm not saying this choice is bad. I mean, it isn't very flexible--but in the long run, this is a very good choice!"

Clearly, this situation had not been part of Bishop Mathers's preparations.

But when he saw that the tension and worry on Iver's face had not faded, he gritted his teeth. "All right, Iver! Listen to me--

"You have now obtained powerful mana equivalent to that of a Second Level spellcaster. You simply don't know how to use it yet. You can first learn spells or divine arts that rely on flame power, and before that..."

As he spoke, Bishop Mathers took the huge key he had used to open the door earlier from his waist and handed it to Iver.

It was a deep-red key.

It was so heavy that it seemed less like a key and more like a broken sword.

"For the time being, St. Genevieve Chapel will be closed. I'll lend you the key. Use it to protect yourself for the next two months--don't underestimate it. As long as you infuse it with Fire mana, it can unleash a scorching phantom blade. Even if you aren't able to move freely, it will be enough to frighten off most enemies.

"Just return it to me before the Candle Holder Festival on January first."

The instant Iver took the heavy key in confusion, he nearly let out a "fuck" aloud.

That was because, despite its extremely ordinary name, the key also possessed an astonishing effect.

This not only proved how highly he valued Iver, but also revealed his pessimistic judgment of the current situation...

And the instant he saw this effect, Iver knew who Bishop Mathers really was--

Key to St. Genevieve Chapel

Extraordinary Weapon (Deep Purple)

Dagger, Heavy, Unsharpened, Tough

Trait: It can be used to open the seal of St. Genevieve Chapel (can only be triggered by the Dedication Path)

Extraordinary Module-Flame Infusion: Pay 1-10 points of Fire Attribute mana to activate a Flame Blade, lasting 1-10 minutes

Extraordinary Module-Light Infusion: Pay 1-10 points of Light Attribute mana to activate a Holy Energy Blade, lasting 1-10 minutes

Extraordinary Module-Gale Infusion: Pay 1-10 points of Wind Attribute mana to activate an Invisible Blade, lasting 1-10 minutes

Spell: Holy Sword Art (once per month)

Requirements: Light 11+Fire 11+Wind 11, or Light 33, or Fire 33, or Wind 33

Instant, touch, takes effect immediately

Effect: Sanctify this weapon, causing it to transform into the Holy Sword-Red Hilt Sword before the next sunset (Divine Weapon-Two-Handed Sword, Heavy, Evil-Repelling, Sharp, Tough, Light; holder temporarily gains Curse Vulnerability Lv4), while retaining the effects of any activated modules

"--A key forged from Galahad's Broken Sword, with its power sealed together with the curse."

No wonder Iver had no impression of the so-called "Bishop Mathers."

Because he was indeed not entirely a member of the Eternal Theocracy... He was a native of Avalon.

His true identity was the final boss in one of the mainline instances of Version 3.2, "Shadow of Avalon"!

An avenger from the destroyed Avalon Kingdom, controlled by the curse wrapped around the reforged Holy Sword-Red Hilt Sword--

--the Cursed Holy Knight known as "Holy Sword Guardian Samuel"! Good news, everyone: this book's current follow count has already surpassed three thousand! So far, this should be the smoothest to write and best-performing book Cat has ever written...

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