Rejuvenation

Lilin heard how grim Laria made it sound and sighed. "I had no idea things were this bad. What do we do now, sister? We can't just stand by and watch them be consumed by shadow, can we?"

Laria pondered for a moment. "Next, I'm going to perform a ritual to call upon Elune's power and cleanse the curses from their bodies."

"But the ritual will take a long time, and I'm afraid some of them won't last that long. Do you know how to make potions?"

Lilin nodded. "I do. When I was studying at the Temple of the Moon headquarters, I learned quite a few basic recipes from the alchemists."

Laria smiled. "That's good. My mount Lida has a backpack with plenty of herbs in it. Some of them can be used to make shadow protection potions. Go get them, brew some potions, and give them to the others."

Lilin nodded. "All right, I'll go now." She turned and hurried out of the hall.

Once Lilin was gone, Laria turned to Kalei. "Kalei, have you learned Rejuvenation?"

Kalei froze for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I only just started learning the spell, so I haven't mastered it yet."

Laria smiled. "I see. Rejuvenation isn't a dangerous spell, and this is the perfect opportunity for you to practice as much as you like. You'll master it soon."

"I'm confident I can heal these patients, but the shadow energy inside them is constantly draining their life force. I'm afraid that even if I heal them, they'll suffer serious aftereffects."

"So afterward, you'll need to cast Rejuvenation on every companion whose life force is weak. Can you do that?"

Kalei sensed the natural energy around him, then touched the Crescent Staff at his back. "I see. I'll give it everything I've got."

Laria nodded in approval. "Good." Then she lowered her voice. "Kalei, saving our companions is important, of course, but don't put yourself in danger. Remember to always keep enough mana in reserve, just in case."

Kalei looked surprised. "Priestess Laria, have you noticed something?"

Laria gazed through the window at the area outside the temple. "I don't know exactly what's going on yet, but I have a feeling this won't be so simple. There may be a trap waiting for us up ahead."

Kalei thought, As expected of someone who's lived for thousands of years. She may seem calm on the surface, but she sees everything clearly. He nodded. "I understand, Priestess. I'll be careful."

Having finished giving her instructions, Laria said nothing more. She went to the statue of the ancient priestess, sat down cross-legged beneath it, and began preparing for the ritual.

Seeing this, Kalei began his own work.

He drew the Crescent Staff his teacher had given him from his back.

The light radiating from the staff had grown brighter under the influence of the nearby Moonwell.

In the world of Azeroth, spellcasting involved using one's own energy to sense and guide the energy in the surrounding environment, gathering it and shaping it according to a specific spell model before releasing it. The process didn't actually depend on incantations or specific gestures; these were often just aids.

The main factors affecting spellcasting were the caster's own energy reserves, the concentration of energy in the surrounding environment, the speed at which they could sense and absorb energy, and their ability to use their mind to construct a spell model.

A high-quality staff was valuable for several reasons. First, it could store energy, temporarily increasing the amount available to the caster. Second, its special materials made it easy to resonate with the surrounding energy, speeding up absorption. Third, the inscriptions and arrays carved into the staff helped the caster focus and reduced the mental strain of constructing spells.

Thus, having a suitable staff was vital to any spellcaster.

After receiving Elune's blessing, Kalei's inner energy had increased considerably, and he could sense and absorb the surrounding energy much faster. Now that he had a new staff as well, both his spellcasting efficiency and the power of his spells were several times greater than before.

Holding the Crescent Staff, Kalei inspected the wounded one by one before stopping in front of a male elf with a grievous abdominal injury.

A Furbolg had torn a huge hole in the elf's stomach. It was a miracle he was still alive.

But after holding on until now, he had less than thirty percent of his usual life force left. If it continued to drain away, something unforeseen might happen.

Kalei raised his staff toward the wounded elf and began sensing, absorbing, and gathering natural energy. These steps went smoothly; now he had to construct the spell model.

For any spellcaster, constructing a spell model was always the hardest part.

Spell models were the accumulated achievements of countless predecessors, forged through hundreds and thousands of trials. Until one had mastered a spell, it was best not to change anything, or the consequences would be unpredictable.

To improve their spells, some people used specific gestures to aid them while constructing spell models with their minds.

That could certainly make spellcasting easier, but if you made casting gestures while casting a spell, wouldn't you be giving yourself away?

So, although Kalei faced many difficulties while learning spells, he was determined not to use gestures.

He used only one gesture when casting: pointing his staff at the target.

Kalei waited until the Crescent Staff was glowing sufficiently bright green before following the instructions for Rejuvenation and constructing its spell model.

In the past, he had often stumbled at this stage while practicing new spells.

But this time, he found that constructing the spell model went remarkably smoothly. His thoughts were clear, and the energy flowed readily at his command. The spell took shape in no time, and a green light shot from the tip of his staff toward the male elf.

At the same time, information appeared on his status panel.

"You have learned the intermediate class skill Rejuvenation. This spell can heal serious wounds."

"Current Rejuvenation: (12/100)"

Under the soothing power of Rejuvenation, the elf's haggard face immediately regained its color.

He'd finally succeeded. Kalei watched the elf slowly recover, overjoyed.

He hadn't expected to cast Rejuvenation so smoothly. His progress had jumped by twelve points in a single attempt, which meant his fundamentals had improved tremendously and he could train much faster. How could he not be happy?

The first time had been the hardest; the second came much more easily. Still, Kalei kept Laria's instructions in mind and maintained a steady pace.

By the time Lilin came in carrying supplies, Kalei had already healed eight people.

Rejuvenation wasn't a simple spell. It required refining and condensing the free-flowing natural energy into a purer, more concentrated form of life force, and the process took a fair amount of concentration.

After casting eight spells in a row, Kalei still had half his natural energy left, but he was mentally tired and had to sit down to meditate and rest.

Lilin was amazed that Kalei had used Rejuvenation to heal more than half the patients in such a short time. She didn't say anything, though, and simply handed him a basket of food.

Kalei had come from Maestra and hadn't eaten for half a day, so he was indeed hungry. He quickly took the basket and nodded his thanks, then picked out some sweet potato bread and began eating.

Lilin smiled, then lifted the basket and set it down beside Laria.

Laria hadn't eaten anything. She'd only drunk a little Peacebloom Tea to aid her spellcasting, then continued with her preparations.

Lilin knew that when a priestess performed ritual magic, she had to devote herself entirely to it and offer everything she had to the Moon Goddess. It wasn't a good time to eat, so she didn't urge Laria to have anything.

After setting down the basket, she began her own work.

Seeing the three of them focused on their tasks, the people gathered outside the temple didn't want to disturb them, so they gradually dispersed.

The vast temple was left with only Laria's low prayers, the soft sounds of Lilin grinding herbs, and Kalei's intermittent spellcasting.