Mysterious Technique: Dawnfire

Iver's screams immediately woke Lily.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw golden-red flames burning on Iver's body.

She was startled and immediately tried to get closer.

But a surge of heat roared and spread from Iver, and all the paper letters in the room began to burn. The billowing heat was like a storm—just opening one's eyes caused a burning pain in the eyeballs.

Fortunately, it only took a moment for Iver to realize what was happening.

He endured the excruciating pain and closed the book, the flames on his body dissipating like an extinguished alcohol lamp.

Correspondingly, Iver immediately radiated a golden glow like the dawn.

His burned body healed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye; the new skin became smoother, the new eyeballs clearer and brighter... even the burning hair extinguished the flames and grew back quickly, becoming longer and softer.

The only problem was that his clothes were burned to a crisp, and the originally maroon chair beneath him was charred black.

The paper in the room was still burning—to prevent a fire, Lily immediately flicked her finger, causing countless gray threads to emerge from the void and shatter the flames along with the paper.

"—What happened?"

Less than ten seconds later, Ligeia, with a serious expression, rushed in.

She looked at the completely naked Iver, but showed no embarrassment. Instead, she asked with the seriousness and care of a doctor, "Have you been affected by the Grimoire?"

"...may be."

A hint of fear flickered in Iver's eyes. "This book is pretty ruthless. This is the first time I've ever failed to read it..."

The excruciating pain that burned his flesh still left him covered in cold sweat.

Ligeia looked closely at Iver, then raised a possibility. "What if you didn't actually fail?"

Iver was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

He suddenly remembered that Ms. Maya had indeed said... this was her "favorite Grimoire".

The transmission of Grimoire is a one-time event, and the power contained within it also has a natural "cooling-off period." After receiving the transmission, it temporarily becomes an ordinary book. Moreover, even if it reverts to Grimoire, someone who has already received the transmission once cannot receive it a second time and can only treat it as a storybook.

... If that's the case, does Meiya like its story? That's unlikely.

The stories in this book are quite interesting, but they're really nothing special. There aren't any particularly touching plots or surprising twists. Meiya doesn't have much time, so there's no reason for her to read it frequently.

Unless what she wants is the effect of "failed reading".

Ms. Maya at least at the Third Level, and possibly even the Fourth Level. If this book can only be read normally by those below the Third Level, then she probably wouldn't be able to read it either, just like me. Her reaction might even be more intense.

but...

Iver looked down at his arms.

He could clearly sense that the muscle definition on his body had almost faded to nothing, yet his body had become more powerful.

Just like a body accustomed to air conditioning always feels cold inside, after a period of fitness training, the body is filled with heat— Iver's body was originally warm, but now it has become even warmer and hotter.

The results of the training were subtle, allowing Iver ample time to train again—like breaking through the level cap after reaching the maximum level and reincarnating back to level one with his attributes.

Iver hadn't exercised much for several months and felt his body was getting stiff. Although Isabel had noticed he still had some muscles, that was mainly due to the optimization and transformation of his body after advancing to the next level with "Flesh Dedication".

Before that, due to prolonged sitting in a wheelchair, Iver had developed a slight belly. Even though "Flesh Dedication" beautified Iver's appearance, and even though the extraordinary power of the Third Level enhanced his body, Iver still felt that his desire to exercise had significantly diminished.

But now it's different. He feels an explosive power surging through him, and he even feels an excitement that makes him want to run.

Iver's skin became whiter and smoother, as if it were glowing; even his hair quality improved significantly.

It was as if, after being burned by those flames, all the impurities and ailments in my body were swept away—

It was like receiving a powerful Illumination Spell, dispelling the pain within his body; or like receiving a complete fire ritual, restoring him to his peak condition. The only difference was that the Candle Master's methods were very gentle, while the Dawn Angel's methods were so painful that Iver was still somewhat frightened and would break out in a cold sweat whenever he thought about it.

... But thinking about it a little, Bishop Mathers is already forty-six years old this year. Ms. Maya must also be quite old.

But she looked like she was in her early twenties... Even if the Sacrificial Fire Method would restore one's mindset to a youthful state, the effect on her was simply too good. Iver originally thought that this was because Meiya possessed a fairly powerful and skilled Sacrificial Fire Method, or that her Path Trait was related to this.

result...

"... Could she have used the punishment for failing to learn this Grimoire as a beauty treatment?"

Iver's expression was subtle.

It's not impossible...

At the cost of feeling the pain of having one's entire body, organs, and senses scorched by flames—enduring for a few seconds—one's body, now in its forties or fifties, returns to the youthful state of a teenager or early twenties, restoring energy and vitality to peak levels and beautifying every detail of the body.

This should be a good deal for most women... no, for most slightly older women.

He instinctively looked at Ligeia: "You... haven't used this book before?"

When Meiya made excuses earlier, she mentioned Meg. Both are professors at the Royal Law University and have been there for many years. Clearly, they know each other.

"I know it, it's the Morning Crow Grimoire."

Without even looking—of course, you couldn't see her height— Ligeia said directly, "But I can't see."

"Reading this book requires a lot of life force. 'Illumination' does not replenish life force; only 'fire worship' can. Moreover, I have no adaptability to the Dedication Path and cannot read a single bit."

really.

Contrary to the physical excitement, Iver felt a significant depletion of his life force... similar to the depletion he felt when he was sacrificed to summon the Shadow Fiend. After being injured by the Three-Legged Crow's mud cart, Iver had nearly half of his life force burned away by the Morning Crow Fire.

This level of vitality depletion would require more than a week of rest even for Third Level superhuman. Without proper rest, it could even lead to obvious symptoms of premature aging.

For those who cannot use Sacrificial Fire Method, this can be considered a momentary burst of health and vitality gained at the cost of life; but for priests, the value of this book is frighteningly high.

Iver speculated that Meiya's youthful appearance might even be maintained by this book.

This is far too precious—it would have been fine if I had saved her life. But I hadn't done anything at all.

This made Iver hesitate to accept it.

"I'll take a few days off and try again," Iver decided. "If I still can't get into it by then, I'll give the book back to her."

"You want to learn the Dawnfire?"

Ligeia raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it too late?"

"Do you know about the mysterious techniques involved here?"

Iver somewhat surprised. "Has Ms. Maya already learned it?"

"No," Ligeia replied, "She was too strong when she got the book. But her daughter—the girl named Vivian— learned it."

"Vivian..."

"Yes. The weaker the Dawnfire is, the easier it is to learn. You have to endure the burning sensation of the flames to finish reading this book in order to learn it. This is because the Dawnfire is in conflict with illumination and sacrificial fire to some extent."

Ligeia comforted her, saying, "If you ask me, the 'lighting' and 'fire' that the Candle Master provides for you are much more useful."

"'Dawnfire' is the feeling you just experienced—the flames of the Dawn Angel ignite you, causing your life force to burn uncontrollably, unleashing unparalleled power. Whether healing others, burning others, or purifying the souls of the dead, it can unleash power far greater than before... The only problem is that this burning cannot be stopped or interrupted."

"Once you start burning, you'll be burned to the brink of death by the Morning Crow Fire in just a few seconds. After that, you'll start to recover quickly to the state before you activated 'Dawn Fire,' but in this process, your life force will have been irreversibly depleted. And the stronger your life force and the stronger your body, the hotter and more poisonous the flames will be."

Iver seemed to be deep in thought.

... Simply put, it's a burst state that continuously burns blood, right? And after the burst, there's only a brief moment of near-death, after which you quickly recover to health.

That should actually be quite useful.

He immediately thought of a way to use this mysterious technique—

"If my life force can recover quickly, even faster than it burns, wouldn't I be able to burn the Dawn Flame forever?"

Iver asked, "Doesn't that mean I can obtain the power of the Dawn Angel?"

Ligeia's expression suddenly became very strange.

She slapped Iver's thigh, making a crisp sound.

"No, child? Aren't you in pain? What are you dreaming about?"

"... Oh, indeed."

Iver realized what was happening.

This burst skill is indeed very cost-effective, and it's even worthwhile to build a dedicated skill set for it. As long as you can continuously and quickly replenish health, or periodically and quickly replenish your health, you can make this skill the core of your build.

But Iver is a little afraid of pain.

The pain was excruciating; Iver's mind went blank, and he was completely unable to think.

Then we need to find another way...

"If I could acquire a large amount of resistance to fire damage, would that reduce the damage from this fire?"

He then raised another possibility.

Ligeia thought for a moment, "That's possible. But it's not really worth it—as far as I know, to gain effective resistance against Dawnfire, you need at least a Golden Entry Path Trait. It's better to choose one that suits you."

"Unless you can only choose this Golden Entry, then you can go back and read this book. But don't read it first and then look for the corresponding entry; that's not worth it."

"Indeed..." Iver nodded in agreement.

As expected of an elder, he is indeed very experienced.

"Put on some clothes first, young master. It's a bit cold."

As Lily spoke, she brought over the clothes she had found, intending to help Iver put them on—thankfully, they hadn't been burned in the flames.

"It's okay, I'm not cold..."

Iver said it casually, but still reached for his clothes. After all, looking at Ligeia like that, even though Ligeia didn't react at all, still made him feel somewhat ashamed...

Just as he was getting dressed, the Flame Butterfly that had been quietly perched on his shoulder took flight.

Upon seeing it, Iver Time Stop putting on his coat.

He gazed at the fluttering flame butterflies and fell into deep thought.

... Oh, right.

Phantoms have no nerves, meaning they don't feel pain.

Flame Butterflies can regenerate. They can be summoned and reborn once a day... They're not afraid of being burned to death or killed while near death. They can even use Dawnfire to directly explode into the enemy.

It hatched from its shell and exploded—that's it.

Furthermore, as Fire Attribute phantom demon, its base fire resistance might also be very high...

Flame Butterfly looked at Iver with a puzzled expression:? Iver quickly made up his mind, smiled and nodded at her, revealing a gentle and harmless smile.

Do you like reading?

He asked softly.

The Flame Butterfly fluttered around, even more puzzled:??

Ligeia immediately understood and asked with interest, "What did it answer?"

"She said she liked it."

"Iver replied."

Flame Butterfly:??? No, I didn't say anything! Update complete! Thank you to the generous guild leader for the generous donation, thank you so much!