Chapter 175: The Candle and the Moth
[Candle of Giving Darkness lv1]
[Glor – Divine Ability]
[Requirement: 20 Mana, Long Prayer, 10% Life]
[Domain/Summon – Radius 15 meters]
[The Ancient Exiles sealed the darkness overflowing in their pupils within candlelight; this technique was once used to resist the abyss erosion, and was also used by some Heretical Schools for Sacrifice Rituals. Is light the only thing that exists eternally in the abyss?]
[Summon a lightless candle that seals darkness. Within the candle’s duration ([Ability Level X 60 seconds]), it absorbs all light sources within its range. Allied existences, including yourself, within the candle’s range gain [Basic Night Vision] and [Shadow Affinity: Reduce damage from non-shadow sources by 20%], and recover [Ability Level x 1%] Life per second. Enemy existences within the candle’s range have their vision reduced by 50%, and take [Ability Level x 6% caster’s life] of mixed Glor and Shadow damage every 3 seconds. If the target is afflicted with blindness or other vision-impairing states, this damage is increased by an additional 100%. The candle can be destroyed; if destroyed, it will unleash a [Thirst for Light] towards the target.]
Upon being promoted to Candle Holder, Li Wen naturally gained the inherent abilities of this class.
From the description, this is also a very powerful ability that can synergize with Li Wen’s existing abilities. Especially the synergy with “Thirst for Light”; after the light-thirsty effect lasts for five minutes, the target can only act under direct sunlight or firelight, otherwise, they will fall into madness and self-harm. However, in actual combat, unless it’s a night battle, such opportunities are not common. But now, with the “Candle of Giving Darkness” that can absorb light sources, this effect can be reliably triggered.
Not to mention that it is a large-area divine ability that combines damage, recovery, buffs, and debuffs, with virtually no drawbacks except that the candle can be destroyed. Although even if it is destroyed, it is equivalent to using “Thirst for Light” once on the enemy, repeated “Thirst for Light” will remove the state, so Li Wen must pay extra attention to this. It is best not to let the candle be destroyed during combat.
Li Wen then looked at the newly acquired trait “Lost Moth,” which is of purple quality, meaning it is of Mystic grade. If someone were to naturally possess a trait of this caliber, they would undoubtedly become a highly anticipated hero or villain in the future.
Of course, all of this has nothing to do with Li Wen, who is a Player.
Excluding paths like The Path, which belong to pillar deities, whenever a Transcendent completes a promotion, they will receive random traits corresponding to the path and stage. However, Li Wen has only reached Stage Two, yet she received a Mystic-grade trait. She does not believe this can be explained by luck; rather, it is more likely that the moth left behind by Saint Floranne caused this situation.
[Lost Moth – Mystic (Purple) – Glor]
[Neither guided by Glor nor favored by the deep dark, this is the fluttering of the soul.]
[Burn a certain amount of Life to instantly move to a light source within a 30-meter range, leaving behind an afterimage of embers at the original location. Those who touch the afterimage will suffer flash blindness, shock, and other effects, and take Glor damage equal to 100% of the burned Life. With continuous use, the consumed Life will increase with each use. Upon continuous use three times, gain the state “Lost (24 hours): Cannot accurately reach your intended destination.” Upon continuous use more than five times, gain the state “Soul Tremor (24 hours): You will be unable to cast spells.”]
This is another extremely powerful trait. With Li Wen’s current strength, the role of Lost Moth even surpasses the Mythical-grade trait Witch Stance to a certain extent.
In the low stages, teleportation and spatial movement are extremely rare abilities. Equipment like the Shattered Eye of the Transcendent, which can perform spatial jumps and has no strict requirements for the user, not only requires a lot of Mana based on the jump distance but also has a cooldown of fifteen to thirty days after each use before it can be used again.
Although Lost Moth can only teleport a short distance, it only requires burning Life to use, and as long as the HP bar is long enough, it can even be used multiple times.
As is well known, for Players, Life is the most unimportant resource.
Not to mention Li Wen, who can convert Life and Mana consumption into Twilight Erosion progress with Witch Form. She is undoubtedly getting further and further down the path of “difficult to kill.”
Overall, the promotion to the Path of Light Chasing has greatly increased Li Wen’s strength beyond her expectations. If she were to face an Agent of the Wolf Pack Club again now, even if that agent were in their prime, Li Wen would still have a chance to fight them.
Of course, this promotion seems to have brought not only benefits.
Li Wen glanced at the “Primal Fear” entry in her status bar. When Transcendants complete their path promotion, they always suffer various influences. It could be the insignificant gaze of a Great existence, the echo of Spirituality when traversing a bottleneck, or some not entirely extinguished memory.
However, whatever it is, it always dissipates with the passage of time, as has always been the case. But “Primal Fear” is an exception; it is a state that persists as long as it is not actively removed, and it has extremely obvious negative effects.
[Primal Fear]
[You are always awakened by fears deeply rooted in the depths of your dreams. What is it? What should it be?]
[Do not stare at the sun for too long.]
Should I try it?
As this thought arose, Li Wen felt her heartbeat stutter, as if something bad would happen if she did. Of course, it might also be a long-held illusion caused by witnessing the sun fall.
After thinking about it, she decided to give up trying, at least for now.
Li Wen is unsure if this is a state that is inevitably obtained during the promotion to Candle Holder, or if it is the result of a special ritual.
Speaking of rituals… Li Wen glanced at Moria.
This priest was still standing in the center of the now extinguished ritual magic circle. Noticing Li Wen’s gaze, he nodded quite friendly and congratulatory.
In the promotion ritual Li Wen devised, the most crucial part was Moria—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say so.
This is because the ritual was designed by her referencing the story of Abel: Tyril Abel went to his death in fire, and was reborn from the ashes, thus ascending to Sainthood.
The most indispensable element in this story is not the fire, not the ashes, and certainly not Tyril Abel himself. It is the Ancient Sun God as the observer and witness, because it was under His gaze that all of this happened, allowing Abel to ascend. Only with that deity as the absolute observer did all of this hold meaning.
And Moria is the absolute observer representing that deity in this ritual. Apart from the advent of Glor the Saint, he is the most qualified and the only one qualified to play this role, for he is the Eldest Son of the Holy See, the closest to Glor.
