Paladin was a noble and glorious profession. It was nothing like its crippled counterpart in the game, which had enjoyed a brief moment of glory in version 3.0 before declining. Supposedly able to heal, deal damage, and tank, it could do everything but excelled at nothing. In this real world, however, Paladins held a very high status.
Professionals such as Warriors and hunters could not begin to compare with Paladins in status, and becoming a Paladin was nowhere near as easy as it was in the game.
To become a Paladin, one had to comprehend the Holy Light, and passing its trial required a righteous heart. Anyone who successfully comprehended the Holy Light had to possess inner purity. The truly wicked could never comprehend it.
That was precisely why Paladins enjoyed such a good reputation.
The Paladins established during the First War had quickly spread across the entire continent. Even the somewhat isolationist Gilneas had failed to stop their spread.
The Book of Energy dissolved into motes of light and merged into Rex's body. Rex discovered that the Holy Light within him, which had previously been stable and obedient to his control, now seemed to have been detonated. It began rampaging wildly, completely beyond his control. Under normal circumstances, his body would already have burst apart, killing him. The Holy Light brimmed with positive energy and could soothe every wound, but that did not mean it was gentle. When roused to fury, it could annihilate any enemy.
Strangely, however, this raging Holy Light did not harm Rex at all. Each collision increased the Holy Light within him a little more, and his strength began climbing steadily. He had originally possessed only early tier-eight strength.
In Azeroth, each tier was further divided into three stages: early, middle, and late. The late stage was also commonly called the peak.
Rex had broken through to become a tier-eight Paladin only a year earlier. His strength had grown slowly over that year, leaving him nowhere near the middle of tier eight. With his original aptitude, becoming a tier-nine powerhouse would have been the limit of his future achievements. Hero Rank was out of the question. Given his current circumstances, even reaching tier nine would have required another ten years. A tier-nine powerhouse in his thirties, in the prime of his life, would have counted as a genius in Azeroth. As for Arthas, whom Rex constantly compared himself to, he was a peerless genius.
The surging Holy Light drove Rex's strength higher and higher. After fifteen minutes, he had broken through to the middle of tier eight, and the power of the Book of Energy had not weakened at all. Instead, it was growing ever stronger, and Rex's strength continued to rise. The 1,000 gold coins spent on the Book of Energy had been well worth it. By the time the Holy Light within him reached late tier eight, the book's power had reached its peak.
Countless motes of light had coalesced into a single force that surged through Rex's body, cleansing it. A warm sensation welled up inside him, making him drowsy. Forcing down the urge to fall asleep, Rex shook his head lightly. If he fell asleep now, even if he woke up having reached tier nine, he would be among the weakest at that tier, lacking control over his own Holy Light.
I can't sleep. I absolutely can't sleep. Rex reminded himself over and over, almost as though he were hypnotizing himself.
Gritting his teeth, he fiercely resisted the drowsiness. He had reached the most critical moment: the breakthrough from peak tier eight to early tier nine. The Book of Energy's power seemed inexhaustible, assaulting the sturdy fortress of tier nine without pause. Azeroth had many peak tier-eight powerhouses, but few ever reached tier nine. Breaking through the bottleneck between those two tiers was simply too difficult. It was a fortified stronghold, standing tall like the Greymane Wall.
Rex did not know whether he had imagined it, but a cracking sound rang out, followed by a flood of Holy Light. The raging, disobedient Holy Light suddenly grew docile. With the breakthrough, the seemingly inexhaustible power of the Book of Energy also vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind. The now-gentle Holy Light circulated continuously within his body.
Golden radiance erupted from Rex and shot into the sky. Bathed in the surging Holy Light, he looked utterly divine, like a deity from myth descending into the mortal world. Of course, that would have been true in an ordinary world. In this world where magic existed, the sight was not particularly astonishing.
Only after a long while did the Holy Light erupting from his body slowly begin to fade. Rex's gaze shifted from sharp to serene.
"So this is tier nine," Rex murmured to himself.
Rex was now far more than five times as strong as he had been at tier eight. He believed he could defeat his former self with a single blow. This was the strength of a tier-nine powerhouse. Advancing beyond tier five brought a qualitative transformation, and the same was true of advancing beyond tier eight. If he could reach Hero Rank, the increase in strength would be even greater.
Sensing the Holy Light within him, Rex said admiringly, "The Book of Energy truly lives up to its name. It actually gave me a perfect advancement without leaving any hidden problems."
"Your Highness?" Heavy footsteps sounded, followed by an inquiring voice outside the door. Although the Holy Light that had erupted inside the room had been brief, its brilliance had already drawn the attention of the patrolling guards.
"Everything's fine. Go tell Cecil to wait for me at the training grounds!" Rex gave the brief order, strode over to the weapon rack, and picked up a broad, hefty Greatsword. It was a two-handed weapon, making it obvious that he followed the retribution path as a Paladin. He strode outside. What was the first thing to do after a major increase in strength? Test his current abilities, naturally. Very few people could serve as his opponent after this breakthrough, and Cecil was one of them.
Cecil, who was at peak tier nine, was the ideal opponent for Rex. By the time Rex reached the training grounds in the Military District, Cecil was already there. Rex had stopped by Monroe's place on the way and given him a few instructions, namely to have Romen make some antique-style boxes specifically for storing Hearthstones.
That had taken up some of Rex's time, causing him to arrive a little later than Cecil.
(End of chapter)
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