Holy Name

Some of these Holy Name blessings had appeared during the previous upgrade, but most were unfamiliar, brand-new blessings. Gagnor's attention was first drawn to a blessing ability that looked exceptionally powerful.

Blessing: Avatar of God: Upon use, raises every attribute by 50 points beyond its limit and grants Divine Skin. Lasts for three seconds. At the end of the duration, the user's soul is lost.

Every attribute increased by 50 points!

Divine Skin!

Gagnor was somewhat shaken by this.

He did not think three seconds was particularly short. After all, with all his attributes increased by 50 points, his speed would inevitably become outrageously fast. Even with only three seconds, he could probably complete many actions.

But dying immediately afterward made it pointless.

And it seemed this was not death in the ordinary sense, but "losing one's soul." Gagnor was not entirely sure what that meant, but he figured it had to be more thorough than ordinary death.

So although he was stunned by the power of "Avatar of God," Gagnor quickly abandoned that option and turned to examine the other Holy Names.

After several hours of filtering and consideration, he ultimately found himself hesitating between two Holy Names.

Both Holy Names were excellent, and both had entirely positive effects. Neither reduced his attributes, nor had side effects such as fate or instant death after use.

One of the Holy Names granted the blessing "Ambidextrous."

Blessing: Ambidextrous: Turns both of your hands into dominant hands, making them more flexible and stronger.

Gagnor had trained in archery and swordsmanship, so he knew exactly how important flexible hands were.

If both his hands became dominant and were further strengthened, it was not difficult to imagine that his combat ability would improve significantly in a very short time.

Moreover, he had heard that the leader of the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group possessed this blessing, and that his dual-sword technique was exceptionally sharp.

Flexible hands offered many benefits beyond combat as well. Some operations involved in potion-making, for example, required great precision. Ambidextrous would certainly improve Gagnor's potion-making ability as well.

After pondering for a moment, Gagnor looked at the blessing granted by the other Holy Name.

Blessing: Return to Youth: Rapid growth state, lasting one year. During this period, your body will continue to grow naturally. You will learn any knowledge faster and gain more from it. Even with entirely passive growth, you will gain at least a 5% increase to all attributes. Your limits and body size will also increase. Each attribute can increase by up to 5 points, and your body size can increase by up to 10%.

Comprehensive rapid growth, with up to 5 points in every attribute!

Compared with "Ambidextrous," this blessing was more powerful.

Its drawback was that he could not obtain its full effects immediately. Instead, he would need to supplement it with various kinds of training and study, and it would probably also be affected by factors such as diet and sleep.

If he did nothing, he would gain only a pitiful 5% after one year. That meant all his attributes combined would increase by only three or four points, making the blessing rather underwhelming.

Could he maintain a disciplined lifestyle for an entire year?

If he could, this blessing would be well worth it.

Otherwise, it would not be worth the investment.

Wait, how exactly did the increase in body size work?

Gagnor was slightly puzzled. He immediately focused his attention and looked into it. As long as something fell within the scope of his cognition, he could obtain more detailed information from the panel by concentrating on it.

After receiving a more detailed explanation, he understood.

Body-size growth was calculated according to length.

For example, he was currently 175 centimeters tall, so a 10% increase would make him 192.5 centimeters tall. If something was 9 centimeters long, a 10% increase would make it 9.9 centimeters—9 centimeters being the length of his middle finger.

Seen this way, even a 5% increase in body size was fairly substantial.

Gagnor mulled it over for a while longer before finally steeling his heart.

Wasn't it just one year of discipline?

He would choose it!

He looked over the other information about the Holy Name once more.

Holy Name: Alexstrasashen

Affiliation: Greater Dragon

Bonuses: All attribute limits +5, Constitution +1, Spirit +1, Strength +1, Intelligence +1, Agility +1

Blessing: Return to Youth

Selected Holy Name Alexstrasashen.

Upgrade!

After the upgrade was complete, Gagnor examined his panel again.

Holy Name: Adakonyanus

Level: 3

Constitution: 11/31

Spirit: 21/31

Strength: 12/31

Intelligence: 17/31

Agility: 17/31

Experience: 55/1200

At that moment, just as during his previous upgrades, a string of indistinct information drifted through his mind.

"May you obtain something more precious than youth..."

Gagnor fell into thought.

But with such a fragmentary statement, it was obviously impossible to figure anything out.

Whatever. At least it didn't sound like a curse.

It was already deep into the night. The camp was utterly silent, and the effects of the Pain Relief Potion had nearly worn off. Gagnor soon fell into a deep sleep.

He slept until dawn.

The next day, refreshed and full of energy, Gagnor returned to South Sea Town with several Gray Eagle Mercenaries.

First, he sold the Magic Core Shard for twenty silver coins at the Hunter's Guild he passed along the way. Then he returned to his residence and carefully examined the three Blood Elf relics that were unsuitable for public display.

The first was the Blood Elf's bone.

The main reason Gagnor had brought a bone back was that he had thought of how Blood Elves could obtain the memories of the dead by consuming corpses, even when the corpses were extremely ancient.

Although he did not possess the Blood Elves' abilities or appetite, this reminded him that corpses might contain even more secrets.

So he had deliberately kept one piece.

He looked the bone over from side to side and carefully put it away. Then Gagnor turned his attention to the white rod-shaped object.

Apart from its more regular shape and the few mysterious patterns engraved on it, the thing looked just like a bone. It was almost no wonder he had failed to notice it at the time.

Fortunately, his panel ability had prevented him from overlooking this mysterious object that lay beyond his cognition.

Gagnor studied it for half a day but could not identify it at all. The only thing he could say was that it felt very comfortable in his hand.

Could it be a weapon?

But why did it have no blade?

Seeing that he could not figure it out, Gagnor had no choice but to put it away as well. He then picked up the final Blood Elf relic—the Spatial Magic Ring.

Item: Spatial Magic Ring

Level: 7

After reaching level three, the ring's previously unknowable level had become knowable as well. It seemed that an unknowable level meant it was five or more levels above his own.

Level seven. It was not as high as Gagnor had imagined.

He had originally fantasized that this thing might be level twenty.

But regardless, for Gagnor in his current state, a level-seven Spatial Magic Ring was already practical enough—as long as he learned even a little magic.

Therefore, after examining it for a moment, Gagnor left the room and had Marcus find a mage for him in the Gray Eagle Camp.

"You want to learn magic?"

"Yes, Master Hayes," Gagnor said with great respect. His opponent was one of the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group's few mages, and he was level four. His status was far higher than that of a level-one alchemist like Gagnor.

Master Hayes shook his gray-white beard and extended one hand expressionlessly, palm up.