Iver's Plans

So you're a BOSS too, bro!

Iver immediately felt a sense of kinship.

Although Iver was theoretically supposed to be on the protagonist's side, he had a pretty good idea of how rotten he himself was. He felt that he might not be far from becoming a BOSS either.

Besides, in Iver's view, a so-called BOSS was, in a sense, "a hero who took one wrong step."

—At least, that was how it was from the middle stages of the game onward, after everyone's status had risen.

They became BOSSes and entered dungeons because they had chosen the wrong side and stood against the tide of the times, or because they had taken a wrong step for various reasons...

If they had made the right choice at that crucial turning point, they might have survived. They might even have become great heroes. After all, they, too, held their own convictions.

Take Holy Sword Guardian Samuel, for example.

He loved his homeland, Avalon. Thus, after the Avalon Kingdom was destroyed, he traveled the world in search of power. Eventually, he found a technique for reforging the holy sword and reforged the key to the Chapel of St. Genevieve, which he guarded, into the "Holy Sword - Red Hilt Sword" once wielded by the ancient hero Galahad.

But he did not know that the sword contained a powerful curse. That was why it had been broken and sealed by the mage Merlin.

To use this sword, one had to possess a firm and pure will. Samuel, who picked up the Red Hilt Sword without warning, was almost instantly swallowed by the curse that had been brewing for hundreds of years. The Light Attribute Phantom Demon born from the curse seized control of his mind. In the end, he became a key executor of the "Shadow of Avalon" plan.

Iver carefully accepted the heavy key.

He knew how much Bishop Mathers valued this key, and he also knew that Mathers understood its origins and worth.

Mathers valued Iver so highly that, to protect him, he was even willing to lend Iver the key temporarily for self-defense—

At that moment, Iver made up his mind.

Aside from his younger sister Yulia...

He would also change Samuel Mathers's fate, repaying the trust and regard shown to him at this moment.

Strictly speaking, this would not be difficult. He only needed to stop Samuel from reforging the holy sword. The more fundamental solution would be to prevent Avalon's destruction.

And that was something Iver already intended to do.

Because their goals were aligned.

In Iver's heart, the task he was about to undertake had once again grown larger. But he did not find it burdensome. Instead, he was eager to try.

At that moment, a thought surfaced in Iver's mind: although he truly did not remember the main storyline, and had basically forgotten all the important NPCs, he still remembered a few NPCs from the protagonist's faction. He did not remember when the others had joined the party, nor had he watched any of their personal storylines.

But Iver remembered the BOSSes!

At the very least, he knew the BOSSes in the main storyline like the back of his hand. He knew not only their names, classes, and mechanics, but even parts of their backgrounds—for example, how they had embarked on this path.

In that case, Iver actually had a mature and reliable way to acquire "comrades."

—He could prevent the fates of people who were originally destined to become BOSSes.

The fact that they could grow into BOSSes that required players to defeat them meant that they must all possess considerable strength. If Iver could redeem some fundamentally decent people at the right moment, he would surely earn their gratitude and assistance.

Coming back to himself, Iver pretended not to know the value of the key, while still treating it with great importance. He thanked Bishop Mathers earnestly and swore that he would return it within two months.

There was no conflict between the two matters.

If nothing unexpected happened, the incident that caused Yulia to lose control should occur in a little over a month.

At least three Third Level Demon Scholars, one Third Level Law Mage, and one Fourth Level Arbiter would participate in that incident. Iver knew the Arbiter's weakness. Through some advance preparations, he might be able to prevent the Arbiter from arriving.

But the remaining four would still be extremely difficult to deal with. Not to mention that they would be Demon Scholars who had prepared in advance.

In the original storyline, the enemies had been defeated only through Yulia's sacrifice.

To save the player and Iver, she deliberately lost control multiple times, ultimately fully awakening the Paradox Flame Butterfly. Relying on the last remnants of her rationality, she controlled the Paradox Flame Butterfly and killed those enemies, then had the player drag Iver away.

After that, Yulia's soul vanished. She became part of the Paradox Flame Butterfly.

And Iver could not simply call in reinforcements—during this incident, he would seal a Phantom Demon and use a Shadow Demon, while Yulia would also reveal that she was a Phantom Demon Egg. Aside from Yulia, it was best not to reveal either of these two secrets to anyone.

Originally, Iver had planned to resolve the incident with the Phantom Demon sealed in the Blank Card.

Now that he had this "holy sword," Iver felt much more confident.

"...Then let's continue studying."

Bishop Mathers steadied himself and reluctantly accepted the existence of someone "more talented than himself."

He then taught Iver his knowledge even more seriously. "Illumination Spell isn't about emitting a flash of light. Its principle is similar to that of the sacrificial fire—you regard illness, curses, and fatigue as 'darkness,' then dispel them with light. Since you're illuminating them rather than burning them away, you disperse them through the faint heat within the light. Thus, the process is more stable, slower, and safer.

"Imagine that you are a candle, and your palm is the candle's wick. Draw on your Fire Attribute to ignite your own vitality, or use an external flame to help fuel it. That will save some of your mana. But since you possess the Path Power of the Flame Container, you don't need to be so frugal.

"Then you only need to continuously pour in Light Attribute mana and gently stroke the other person's forehead, the back of their head, or their heart with your palm. Inject the light drawn from burning your vitality into them, and it can be used to soothe the spirit, dispel curses, or heal injuries..."

Illumination Spell was very simple. As long as one possessed a little Light Attribute mana, it could be learned with ease.

Iver did not use Experience Points to accelerate his learning. He mastered it in only a dozen minutes, proving that he truly possessed talent.

Afterward, he quietly spent three Experience Points to learn Blessing Art. But he did not demonstrate it—Blessing Art was the most difficult of the Sacred Arts. Learning a simple sacrificial fire art instantly could still be explained by Iver's innate Flame Affinity.

But Blessing Art was not a technique that could be learned immediately.

It involved strengthening allies, sanctifying locations or items, creating holy water, and other methods... It was extremely complicated. He spent more than an hour just listening to the lecture.

And Iver had spent a full three Experience Points to learn it, which proved its difficulty. This showed that Bishop Mathers's initial calculation had been completely correct—for Iver, Blessing Art really was three times as difficult as sacrificial fire.

In other words, Iver had spent four Experience Points to save two or three days and a week of time—it was absolutely worth it.

Because what he lacked now was time.

—Tomorrow night would be November's full moon.

The days of the full moon and new moon each month were the two designated dates for advancement rituals.

The success rate of a ritual during the full moon was twice that during the new moon, while the chance of obtaining a rare trait was higher during the new moon.

In a month and a half, he would have to participate in a difficult battle. Before then, he had at most three chances to advance.

If Iver advanced without any class-level bottlenecks, he could probably advance to Priest, Demon Scholar, and Priest respectively during the full moon, new moon, and full moon.

If he missed this day, Iver would have to wait another two weeks before advancing. Before completing an advancement, excess skill levels would not be converted into class levels. That would result in wasted Experience Points... and directly cause his subsequent plans to collapse.

If Iver wanted to create his first Blank Card within a month and a half, he had to complete at least these two Priest advancements, and he had to complete the first advancement tomorrow. Otherwise, with only half a month remaining, he definitely would not have enough time to raise his Priest level to 19, even if he took shortcuts.

—Fortunately, the two people at the Pelican Bar had provided him with precious Public Experience!

Iver still had fifty Public Experience remaining. If he distributed it evenly among the four Sacred Arts, raising each by one or two levels, he could raise his Priest level to 9! That way, tomorrow, he could enter the Dream Realm during the full moon and complete his first advancement ritual... and directly illuminate the Second Layer of his Dedication Path!