The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 14 Unlocked Features

The flames flickered, and the guards from the City Lord's Mansion and Head Nun Alena quickly retreated to where Eric was.

But what surprised him a little was that they didn't seem to be so urgent anymore.

"Master... uh, what is this?" Leslie strode over and saw the broken wooden staff on his waist at a glance.

"The spoils of war."

Eric kicked the corpse on the ground. "This is the mastermind hiding in the hall at the end I mentioned. He's a necromancer who just escaped during the chaos."

"Necromancer..."

Leslie was stunned, then he realized what had happened to him when he was alone here, "Killed by the young master?"

"Yeah." Eric responded, "I chased after him. This guy was lying on the ground disguised as a corpse. I almost got ambushed. Luckily, I reacted quickly."

He said it lightly, but the danger was magnified a thousand times in Leslie's eyes.

"Master, don't take such risks next time. The undead may escape, but Master's safety..."

"Don't be so long-winded."

"Yes!"

After staring at the corpses for a few more seconds, Leslie suddenly understood: "No wonder those undead stopped fleeing."

Eric then understood why they were not so nervous when they retreated. "What's the situation inside?"

"We stopped and killed the last few undead that rushed out. I didn't see any others. I was worried about the situation on the young master's side, so I retreated first."

Eric took a look at the condition of the guards. Most of them were exhausted after the long battle and were greedily enjoying this short rest.

"Rest here for a while."

Eric ordered, "It's almost time to rest. Let's go back in and eliminate all the undead in this mine. That's our mission for today."

"Yes!"

The guards all breathed a sigh of relief and, not minding the harsh environment in the mine, began to rest on the spot.

"Mr. Eric."

Head Sister Alena came over, knelt down beside him, and scanned his face. "Let me check you."

Eric was startled. "Check what?"

"Spells like curses." Alena said, pointing her eyes at the staff at his waist, her meaning was very clear.

Eric thought about it and felt that it was difficult to guarantee that the necromancer had not cast any inconspicuous spells on him before he discovered him, so he asked the head nun to check.

What surprised him more was actually her initiative.

Although they were both busy fighting after entering the mine and had little communication, he could feel - especially now - that her attitude towards him had changed.

The head nun had a calm expression, as if she hadn't thought too much. She held the Holy Spirit pendant against her chest, lowered her eyes and whispered. A light green dot of light appeared out of thin air above Eric's head, and quickly expanded into a halo, swirling around his body and falling down, as if doing a full-body scan.

Eric didn't react until the halo disappeared after hitting the ground. Although the perspective had changed to first-person, the halo spinning around his body and falling seemed more and more familiar to him. As a warrior who charged into battle, he couldn't remember how many times he had encountered this skill before.

“…Purification?”

Purification: Divine spell. Removes all negative status effects from the target and restores a small amount of health. The chance of removing negative status effects decreases if the source of the negative status effects is at least one tier higher than the target's class.

Alena glanced at him. She was no longer surprised by his knowledge that was beyond his age and experience. "Yes, it's purification."

She quickly released the pendant and stood up. "I've checked it out, and there's nothing unusual."

After all, Eric had seen it countless times before, and he already knew the outcome before she even opened her mouth:

When Purification successfully removes a negative status, the aura will also be dyed with the corresponding color. Will-related negative statuses such as hypnosis and fear are black, action-related statuses such as imprisonment and slowdown are khaki, and physical-related negative statuses such as dizziness and bleeding are blood red.

If the release fails, the rotating halo will collapse directly, which is very intuitive.

Eric thanked the head sister, who just shook her head slightly and went to check the body of the necromancer lying on the other side.

He actually wanted to chat with her for a few more minutes, whether it was to get closer to her or to learn the technique of "Purification".

"Is it a matter of talent..."

He had learned Leslie's Storm Step after watching it twice. Before that, he had never received any explanation about this skill from the captain of the guards.

The magic he learned from Alena was either learned from her when she was explaining it to the monks, or she taught him personally. It was not enough to just watch.

The only explanation Eric could think of was that he was exceptionally gifted in the [Brave Man] class, and could master combat skills quickly and easily, but in the [Faithful Man] class, he was only a latecomer, and needed someone to explain it to him before he could understand and learn the skills of this class - and this was more like the way skills were learned in the game of his original world: he had to find an NPC.

It seems that I need to find a teacher specializing in divine arts in the future...

Eric thought so, his eyes glanced at Alena on the other side, paused, moved away, and then slowly moved back.

The nun had her back to this side, squatting there and carefully studying the corpse of the necromancer on the ground.

The silky hem of the dress fell to the ground and was unconsciously gathered in front of the body, wrapped in black, outlining a perfect half of the roundness below the waist.

The monastery is so nutritious...

No. Before his thoughts could completely wander, Eric quickly stopped them and shifted his gaze, which had become increasingly focused on one point.

Let’s talk about finding a divine teacher after we return to camp.

He opened his attribute panel again and scrolled down to the content of the career system.

Because he had to chase the Necromancer before, he didn't look carefully at the attribute bonuses after changing his job, but now he has time.

[Professional: Brave Person (Level 2)]

Occupation: Swordsman (skilled)

Level: 17 (Experience: 225/1780)

Features: 『One-handed Sword Mastery』, 『Subtlety』

Skills: 『Basic Swordsmanship』, 『Storm Footwork』

After the career stage is promoted from apprentice to skilled, a new feature is unlocked, which can be regarded as a reward for further improvement in this career.

『Sharp』: It is easier to find the weak points of the target and cause more damage.

"Hmm... not quite the same."

In the original "Crown of Thorns", the description of this feature is more intuitive: critical hit rate and critical hit damage increase by 5%.

Eric didn't care too much. He didn't change his job to an advanced class, but instead upgraded the rank of the basic class "Swordsman". The purpose was not for this, but for another feature that would be unlocked in the third stage, "Chasing Front".

Chasing: When a Physical Melee skill hits, it adds one additional attack damage. Unlock requirement: Swordsman (Experienced).

Because of this god-level characteristic, almost all players who choose this career path will upgrade the "Swordsman" to the advanced level, and Eric is no exception.

"Raise your level as soon as possible."

His gaze shifted to the second class system below. After upgrading, the "Monk" class also unlocked new features.

『Piety』: Increases the effectiveness of all divine spells by 5%.
In the early stages, the effect of this feature is better than nothing, and he also values ​​the features of the third stage.

"Master."

Leslie squeezed through the crowd of guards and handed Eric an unreasonably large piece of tough jerky. "Eat something."

He took it and marveled at the amount of jerky before looking at the others, "Have you all gotten your share?"

"They've all been distributed. This is for the young master and Sister Alena," said the captain of the guards.

Eric applied a little force and split the jerky in two.

After eating, drinking and resting, the group rested in the dark mine tunnel for almost an hour to restore their mental and physical strength before setting off again.

Without the Necromancer making trouble in secret, the process of going deeper into the mine became extremely smooth. The undead encountered on the way had no resistance and were not organized. They just wandered around in twos and threes in a daze.

Eric and Alena once again became the main force in destroying the undead. With the golden light, when the dagger stabbed out or the sword fell, a rotten corpse would fall to the ground.

It didn't take long before they finally arrived at the underground hall that Leslie had explored before, which was also the end of the mine tunnel.

There were only a few undead left, and they were destroyed one by one.

When the last corpse fell, Eric saw a depression in the deep rock wall with the help of the light from the overhead illumination.

He looked over and saw a small space in the rock wall that looked like a laboratory. It was very simple, without any proper facilities, and was very dirty. There was a pile of rotten meat and bones on the ground, and a rotten corpse that had been dead for a long time was tied to the platform in the middle.

"It seems he's still a civilian researcher..."

Alena came over and heard Eric mutter this.

"This should be the necromancer's laboratory." She glanced around and looked at Eric again.

Whether it was the necromancer or the hall at the end of the mine, his "prophecies" were all fulfilled. It seemed that the gods really favored her and shared their vision with him, which made her even more unsure of how to deal with it.

God...

If you really need a spokesperson to convey your will, even if you don't choose the current Pope or a saint, why not choose someone who at least looks more like a messenger of God?

Although judging from his appearance alone, this handsome boy with blond hair and blue eyes is absolutely suitable.

But she really couldn't see his piety - he was more like an unbeliever who only paid lip service to faith - and she couldn't see what his true purpose was deep in his heart.

Alena could only vaguely feel that she was not within his sight.

This might be something to be thankful for, because he doesn't care about her attitude, and doesn't need her to express any stance...

“—That’s quite disappointing.”

"..."

"What's wrong?" Eric looked at the head nun who suddenly looked at him.

She looked at him. "When you say 'disappointed' you mean..."

"Poor!" Eric sighed. "I thought there would be something better here."

I was leading a small team to open up new land. I finally reached the deepest part, but there was only a broken laboratory. I couldn't see anything. Was it to send beggars away?
(End of this chapter)