The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 6: I used all my strength because I was worried that my output would not be enough

When Sophie returned to the City Lord's Mansion after sending the letter, she saw maids running around busily. Seven or eight guards were standing in a row in the spacious courtyard, and a middle-aged man who looked like the captain of the guards was saying something to them.

The little nun looked at it for a few more seconds, and then several gazes were cast at her, so she quickly quickened her pace.

Back in the guest room, Sister Alena was waiting for her.

"Has the letter been sent?"

“It’s been sent!”

Sophie became excited when she mentioned this. "Just then, a church messenger was waiting at the monastery. He took the letter and flew away immediately. He disappeared in an instant. He flew so fast! I didn't know the wings of the Winged Man were that big when they spread out—"

Looking at Sophie who was stretching her arms out as wide as she could but still felt it was not enough, Alena couldn't help but smile and then said:

"The Saint's reply won't arrive for at least three or four days. Sophie, do you want to stay here and wait, or leave with me to take care of some things?"

“…Huh? What’s going on?”

Alena briefly explained, then thought of Eric's so-called prophecy and added, "Even if you go there, you don't need to participate in the battle. It will be enough to gain some experience."

Since Sophie left the Holy City, she had never considered the possibility of being separated from her, so it was natural for her to be with her now.

"Then pack up your things and get ready to go."

Sophie returned to her room and packed up her limited luggage and clothes.

Just as she finished, she saw several guards walking through the courtyard below the window.

Walking in front of the guards was the young master of the City Lord's Mansion.

Eric's destination was the armory in the city lord's mansion.

It is called an armory, but in fact it only contains swords and armor used by the guards of the city lord's mansion. However, the quality is not bad, and they are all works of the dwarf master craftsmen in the city.

At his uncle's request, Eric came over to pick out a set of equipment for himself.

First of all, weapons.

The sword he wore during the ceremony that morning was a relic of his father's. Although it was light and sharp, it was impossible to use it to kill the undead, so he had put it back for display.

"How about this one?"

Captain Leslie of the guards picked up a well-maintained longsword from the shelf. "It was delivered to the City Lord's Mansion just last month. It's the latest work of the dwarf swordsmith."

Eric took it, looked at it, gestured with it a few times, and then handed it back to him. "It's a bit long. I don't think it can be used in the mine. Let's change to a shorter one. You too."

"Is it long? Then try this one."

Leslie stepped aside, picked up another sword, and handed it over.

【Orui standard sword】

"A standard straight sword with a straight blade, relatively short in length and excellent in balance.

A masterpiece of dwarven craftsmanship, light, sharp, and easy to use. The craftsmanship is imbued with the gratitude of the city dwarves.

Eric swung it twice. The familiar feel made it easy for him to use it, because this was the weapon he usually used for sword training.

"This one will do."

At the request of the captain of the guards, several guards who came with him also changed into this standard straight sword that was easier to move.

Afterwards, Eric picked out a light but well-protected chain mail, but it was a little dirty, so the captain of the guards said he would clean it for him later.

After choosing the weapons and armor, it was not yet time to put them on. Before leaving, Eric went to his sister's room again.

Irene was in a daze every day and her time awake was short, but when he passed by, she already knew he was going out.

Eric sat down on the edge of the bed, and his sister leaned over and he lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers.

"This state won't continue. Irene will always be sober."

Regarding his father's last wish, his uncle hasn't expressed his opinion yet, but it should be almost done by the time he comes back, Eric thought, and then he will send Irene to the magic academy.

Looking into her twin brother's equally blue eyes, Irene rolled her eyes and a smile appeared on her tired face.

Although she had no idea what was going on, she always had complete faith in him.

After saying goodbye to my sister, it was time to set off.

The two Holy City envoys got on the carriage, and a group of guards sent by the City Lord's Mansion rode over on horseback - including Eric.

The city lord Edgar saw off the team that was going to fight the undead, motivating the guards with rewards and encouraging his nephew with courage, although everyone knew that he would rather go there himself.

"Okay, it's getting late, let's go."

The group of people set out one after another in a long line, leaving the City Lord's Mansion at a not-so-slow pace, passing through the streets of Ourui City, and walking out of the south gate of Ourui City as the sun was setting, entering the wilderness.

The terrain began to show more undulations, and on both sides of the road, which could barely be called flat, weeds gradually grew dense, and patches of small woods, some scattered and some connected, could be seen everywhere. The field of vision was greatly limited by these disturbing factors.

Eric rode his horse and looked around.

Outside the city, there is a desolate wilderness with no human habitation. It really feels like the Middle Ages...

He had lived here for sixteen years, and this wasn't his first time out of town, but every time he did, he felt that what he saw was different from what he remembered. The wilderness was always growing dangerously.

"Once you leave the city and go into the night, be careful. There are not only wild beasts and robbers in the wild, but also some unclean things."

Captain Leslie rode parallel to Eric. "But if we keep up this pace, we can reach Valais just before dark."

Eric nodded. They were at the rear of the procession, ahead of them were the carriages and baggage carrying the two Holy City envoys, and further ahead were the guards exploring the way. The wild road was rugged and difficult to travel quickly.

"With so many of us, even if there are robbers, they probably won't dare to provoke us."

"Young Master is right, but I'm afraid there are some who are blind...especially those refugees from outside."

After passing through a somewhat dark forest, the view on both sides became wide again.

Eric felt Leslie beside him relax a little, and then saw a small hand reaching out from the carriage in front, resting on the window, and then half of the head popped out and looked around.

"..."

As soon as their eyes made contact, Sophie drew back.

But the image of the blond young man riding a horse was imprinted in her mind, making her want to take another look.

She felt that she just wanted to see something good, just like being stuck in the woods for a long time and wanting to take a breath.

But if you are misunderstood, it will be troublesome:

She has dedicated herself to the gods - at least in the past few years.

Sophie stared at the receding scenery outside the window, feeling confused. It took her a moment to realize that she was not the only one in the carriage.

"...We are still in the wild." She said to the head nun who was looking at her.

"Ah."

Across from her, Alena sat as still as a mountain, seemingly oblivious to her wandering thoughts. "Before they set out, the captain of the guards said they wouldn't reach Valais until dark. Judging by the light, it's still quite a while."

"Yeah... It's a good thing they came together, otherwise it would be pretty scary walking in this wilderness just for us."

Coming from the Holy City, they had always taken the main road, never this kind of wilderness path. But there was no other way, this was the main and shortest way to Valais.

Alena just smiled, then she too pulled open the carriage curtain and looked outside for a moment.

"Is there a problem, Sister Alena?" Eric rode up to catch up.

"Nothing." Even though they were traveling together, Alena didn't want to communicate too much with him. "Just looking around."

Eric said nothing, nodded, shook the reins in his hand, and controlled the horse to go forward again.

"...What are you doing?" His voice came from the front.

What are you doing?
Sophie was also very curious. She stuck her head out again, but found that she could not see anything. She moved to the window opposite. She did not notice the head nun standing so close to her and could not help shaking her head.

Eric followed another carriage carrying supplies and was watching the movements of the guards on it.

What on earth are you doing...

Sophie's view was blocked, so she couldn't see and could only keep leaning out.

"You'll fall if you go any further." Alena pulled her.

"…Mrs. Head Sister."

Sophie shrank back, embarrassed.

"If you want to see it, look from here." Alena couldn't do anything about her and pointed to the small window in front that could be opened.

"……May I?"

"Let's see. We still have quite a while on the road. I know it will be boring."

Alena didn't say it too directly. Sophie was different from her after all.

Entering a monastery to practice is just a unique experience worth remembering in the future life of this noble lady - sending daughters to a monastery to practice for a few years and then taking them back to get married has become a very popular trend among the nobles - she also has the right to pursue worldly happiness.

"Yeah, I'm just a little curious," Sophie explained.

"Yeah." Alena was not curious. She knew everything and was willing to pretend not to know.

The little nun opened the small window in front of the carriage. The driver turned his head to look, and she quickly whispered that it was okay and she was just taking a look.

On the carriage in front, a guard was holding a wooden stick and stirring something in the wooden box in front of him.

Because of the angle, Sophie still couldn't see, but Eric, who was riding beside her on horseback, could see clearly that he was stirring a box of fine sand.

The fine yellow sand was stirred and moved, occasionally revealing a corner of the chain mail buried within. According to the guards, this was a cleaning process.

Chain mail is made of iron sheets and iron rings, and is particularly sensitive to moisture, so it can only be maintained and cleaned in this way - after all, it is not magical equipment, otherwise self-cleaning would be the most basic function.

The guard stirred, pounded, and kneaded the mixture, and Eric watched as he fished the freshly polished mail from the sand.

"It's much cleaner now."

After patting it a few times to shake off the fine sand in the cracks, the guard handed the chain mail to Eric next to him, "Master, take a look."

He took it casually, and his arm suddenly dropped down, almost taking the person down with him.

The guards quickly supported him, took back the chain mail, and put it back into the carriage.

"Walker!"

The chief guard at the back started cursing.

"Don't you know how heavy the chain mail is? The young master is still riding! Get off and run!"

As he sat back on his horse, Eric cursed in his heart.

"...It's okay, no need to get off." He gestured to Walker who was about to climb down from the carriage. "It's not convenient right now. I'll try again when we get there."

The captain of the guards who rode over glared at Walker fiercely, gave the young master a few words of advice, and then went to inspect the front.

Eric shook his arms as he watched the chain mail being thrown back into the sandbox.

It was a set of knee-length armor made of fine steel, weighing probably more than ten kilograms. He almost couldn't catch it, but the guard took it easily. There was a big difference in strength between the two.

This is not surprising. The guards of the City Lord's Mansion are at least third-level warriors. According to the profession settings of "Crown of Thorns", they are above level 30.

Although he belongs to this professional system and has been training since he was a child, perhaps because he only awakened his past life memories and the related professional system today, he is only level 1 now, and his attributes are not good enough.

Eric opened his panel, his eyes swept over the basic attributes, and landed on the career-related content below.

……

[Professional: Brave Person (Level 1)]

Occupation: Swordsman (apprentice)

Level: 1 (Experience: 0/40)

Ability: One-handed sword mastery

Skills: "Basic Swordsmanship"

……

[Brave Man] can be understood as a physical melee profession in the four major profession systems of "Crown of Thorns", commonly known as the warrior system. Players of this profession system will gain double bonuses to strength and constitution attributes when upgrading.

There are many kinds of career subdivisions in "Crown of Thorns", but they must be gradually unlocked through the job transfer system as the strength, that is, the level, increases. [Swordsman] is one of the choices for the first step of the [Brave Man] career system. It is Eric's default career, and you will get an additional agility bonus when you upgrade.

The growth of each sub-profession is divided into three stages: apprentice, skilled, and senior, but it does not mean that you need to complete every step of the process.

The upper limit of the initial occupation level is 15. When the upper limit is reached, you can choose to upgrade the occupation rank, thereby raising the upper limit of the occupation level by 15 levels, while unlocking new skills at this stage. You can also choose to switch to a new occupation.

For example, when Eric reaches level 15, he can choose to upgrade his profession from Apprentice Swordsman to Skilled Swordsman, or choose to change his profession to one of the two newly unlocked professions, Highland Warrior and Light Infantry.

The Eric in his past life's memory, even with a broken right arm, could still fight his way in and out of the player team with just his left-hand sword. He was extremely ferocious and obviously had profound attainments in swordsmanship. This also provided him with a promising career path choice now.

However, as a ten-year veteran player, he has played all four major classes in Thorns of the Soul Crown and has his own understanding of the combination and growth of each sub-class. The warrior class is especially the class of his main account, so there is no need to copy it rigidly.

After all, he is no longer playing games now - "using all his strength because he is afraid that his output will not be enough" can really kill people.

Eric is only level 1 now, so there is no need to worry about these things for the time being. What really concerns him is the subsequent content on the career panel.

……

[Second Occupation: Devout (Level 1)]

Occupation: Monk (Apprentice)

Level: 1 (Experience: 0/40)

Ability: "Mastery of Sacred Artifacts"

Skill: "Prayer"

……

Eric was somewhat confused when he saw this entry.

[People of faith] can be understood as clergymen. Pastors, nuns, and even priests and paladins, among other sub-professions, all belong to this professional system.

He had played it before and was familiar with it, but the problem was that a character in the game could only have one profession and there was no such thing as part-time work.

Is it because he is now an NPC template?

Eric could recall quite a few dual-class or even triple-class bosses that could both fight and heal, or after a few close combat blows, they could jump far away and throw a fireball at you, which was quite shameless.

For example, the villain high priest Xinmagu, although his health bar has never been shown, it can be seen from the plot that he is a dual-professional mage and priest.

But the Eric in his memory was just a pure swordsman. He never released any other professional skills during the battle, let alone the very conspicuous divine arts.

——Is it because he obtained the Saint's token and released divine magic, so he unlocked a new career system?
For a moment, this was the only possibility Eric could think of.

But the question that follows is how his second professional system will grow. Will it be completely synchronized with the first professional system, or will he gain experience independently?

If it's the former, everyone is happy. If it's the latter, then it's a bit useless - the benefits of each professional system increase in the later stages, and the result of trying to take care of both ends is often that neither develops well.

"...There weren't any small animals or anything. Were they all scared away?"

Eric looked around on his horse, wanting to find a wild wolf or rabbit to kill and see how much experience he could gain.

If you can't balance...

Eric's future career path was divided into two parts.

One is a bloody road that leads to facing death;

The other was an unknown and smooth path that shone with divine light—all he knew was a clergyman of a combat profession, and he was still unfamiliar with how to become, rather than play, the role of, a guide for God.

While thinking, Eric walked his horse, slowing down his pace and slowly returning to the back of the team.

He glanced unconsciously as the carriage carrying the two nuns passed by.

The clergy in this world have a stable job, comparable to passing the civil service exam in his previous life.

Although he was a hereditary noble and very strong, the risks were also great - if there was a war, they would nominally have to go to the battlefield themselves, but people in the church did not have such an obligation.

Moreover, his current goal is to become the successor of the Saint. Any growth in the profession of "Faithful" will be transformed into substantial help.

If he couldn't do both, he would have to give up the ultimate swordsmanship that he had practiced since childhood and had already seen the future.

“…Now it’s all about faith.”

Eric sighed, suddenly thinking of his uncle.

The sound of horse hooves.

A little wind blew in the wilderness, making the weeds bend down and the trees sway and rustle.

A group of people continued to move forward half relaxed and half vigilantly. The sun gradually set, the shadows lengthened, and the color of the sky slowly changed.

The gorgeous afterglow of the sunset did not last long, and darkness soon caught up and gradually enveloped the surroundings.

"We're almost there, cheer up—"

Leslie, holding a torch, rode to the center of the team and said, "Don't let those country bumpkins think that the guards of the City Lord's Mansion are just some lax hooligans."

"Everyone in Dent County would say we are a good leader with good soldiers." A guard said.

"That's praising the Earl, it has nothing to do with you."

Leslie glanced in the direction of the voice and spurred his horse forward. "But if you don't behave like a soldier, you'll only bring disgrace upon the Earl's reputation."

In the carriage, Sophie, who had accidentally fallen asleep, had just woken up and was staring at the darkness in a daze.

Hearing some noise outside, she stuck her head out.

"Is it almost time?"

"Almost there," answered Eric, who was following on horseback, also holding a torch.

"Well, we're finally here..." Sophie leaned against the carriage window, looking ahead. She wasn't fully awake yet, but she was able to communicate with him normally.

Eric also looked at her for a moment.

The headscarf is tilted when sleeping...

The head nun Alena was probably around 28 or 29 or 30 years old, and this little nun who was a follower was no more than 16 or 17 years old, with smooth skin, red lips and white teeth, and looked like she was from an aristocratic family.

The wind was whistling, and Sophie, as if sensing the gaze from the other side, turned her head to look at him, but her expression suddenly became terrified.

"what!"

In the light of the fire, a black shadow jumped out of the darkness without warning and pounced on the noble young master on his horse.

Long chapter, please recommend and read



(End of this chapter)