Chapter 221
Ascension Ritual
Eivass obtained unexpected information from Ibn.
He still hadn’t fully believed… that Aziz was a killer sent by his foster father.
But with the triple confirmation from Hooked Demon Jack, the Ripper, and Ibn, it was now basically confirmed that the Curse Master Aziz bin Abdul who appeared during the Ascension Ritual was indeed a real person, and most likely the murderer who cursed Eivass’s parents to death.
This condensed into a clear clue.
However, the more clues, Eivass’s confusion grew.
He initially only wanted to know who killed his biological parents and whether his foster father was the murderer. Since the information from dreams might not be entirely true, Eivass decided to verify the intelligence he had obtained.
But the more he verified, the more complicated and far-reaching this matter seemed.
Why did his grandfather Jacob hide his name and live in seclusion in Eagle Cape Village? What were the manuscripts he wrote? Why did Aziz suddenly come to Avalon? What was his foster father looking for in the Church, even to the point of faking his death? Why did Noble Red have to curse Jacob to death? What was the “Divine Entity” they were looking for in Avalon?
These seemingly unrelated matters were all clues that seemed to be entangled with him, and he couldn’t break free.
Fearing he would forget later, Eivass recorded all his doubts in his notebook.
After Eivass mentioned the name Aziz, he clearly felt that Ibn the Professor became more attentive.
If before, he was just casually teaching out of respect for Princess Isabel… now, it was as if he wanted to pass on his legacy to Eivass.
Eivass understood Ibn’s intentions clearly – he was too old now to cross the desert again and seek out his old enemies with just a name. Moreover, he no longer wished to return to the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi.
However, Eivass also had a grievance with Aziz, and perhaps in the future, he might have a chance to avenge him.
Under the guidance of this veteran Curse Ritual Mage, Eivass quickly mastered curses.
Of course, it was learned rapidly by paying experience. Ibn’s understanding of curses was very profound, and Eivass mastered this mystical art with only five experience points. It would be a shame not to learn it at such a cost-performance ratio.
Now, Eivass’s Demon Scholar class panel had become like this:
Demon Scholar LV17: [Basic Ritual – Level 4 (0%)], [Demon Contract – Level 4 (90%)], [Curse – Level 3 (14%)], [Shepherd’s Method (Essence) – Level 3 (5%)], [Demonology – Level 3 (5%)]
Demonology could no longer provide levels for the Demon Scholar class, and Shepherd’s Method (Essence) was simply practiced less.
In contrast, the level of Shepherd’s Method (Flesh and Blood) had been raised quite high:
Priest LV19: [Basic Prayer – Level 3 (3%)], [Fire Worship – Level 4 (5%)], [Lighting – Level 4 (15%)], [Blessing – Level 2 (0%)], [Shepherd’s Method (Flesh and Blood) – Level 6 (5%)]
Once Eivass completed his Priest class promotion and raised his Priest class to the Third Tier, his two Path levels would be unbalanced again. At that time, he would no longer be able to use the Shepherd’s Method on Little Butterfly and Shadow Demon to feed them experience.
Before promoting, Eivass had been feeding them as much of his blood as he could every day. He completely exhausted himself, falling into a deep slumber every day – anyway, he lived in the Silver and Tin Hall, which was safe enough with the Camera Spirit’s protection. Moreover, Lixia lived right next door to Eivass, so he didn’t need to reserve mana to protect himself.
Therefore, Eivass directly fed all his mana every day… including the mana recovered after praying, and the anemia also helped train Eivass’s “Fire Worship” skill.
This made Eivass’s Sacred Four Skills relatively low-level, and thus easier to upgrade – except for Prayer, which steadily improved with “daily quests,” the levels of other skills could be slowly raised by healing himself occasionally and then recovering his own mana.
To Eivass’s surprise, Lily had already entered the “Witch” profession in just a few days. She had even mastered a rudimentary shapeshifting technique, able to turn clothes into mice – this required at least Level 3 shapeshifting, meaning Lily had most likely raised her Path of Love to Level 9 in just a few days.
Considering she used a Grimoire to change her Path Adaptation class, and her Path of Love was changed using an ordinary Occult Classics book mixed with many explicit pictures… Lily’s adaptability to her Path of Love seemed to be even higher than her Path Adaptation!
The Ascension Ritual was approaching. Eivass was not nervous, but Yulia was quite anxious.
However, in Eivass’s opinion, Yulia had no reason to panic.
The reason was simple.
Besides Lily, who had already been promoted once and could team up with her as a “Witch” through the Path of Love… the former Meg, and the newly born Lixia, were also going to participate in Yulia’s promotion ritual this round.
The World Champion descending to play in a silver tier match.
Lily, Yulia, Lixia – Eivass couldn’t imagine this combination losing.
Presumably, the newcomers promoted to the First Tier this time would never expect that among their peers was an alternate account of Avalon’s strongest Fifth Tier expert.
Princess Isabel was also much calmer this time. According to Janis, during the last Ascension Ritual, when Ibn assigned the promotion ritual to Isabel, Isabel became increasingly nervous as she watched, pacing around the room like a millstone. Finally, she couldn’t bear it any longer and personally stepped in to complete the latter half of the ritual.
Sherlock’s side was also ready.
Considering that he and Eivass would be going to Eagle Cape Village in Shepherd’s Bay Country for an investigation… he himself was fine, but Eivass’s promotion this time could not afford any mistakes.
If the previous Eivass was just a Moriarty, or at most a contemporary that Princess Isabel cared about. Then now, he was a true core of the kingdom’s power – as a minister to be appointed, if something happened to him and Sherlock while they were adventuring in the countryside, it would be a huge problem.
So Sherlock had made up his mind this time. Even if he didn’t get promoted this round, he would ensure Eivass’s promotion went smoothly.
A Third Tier Priest would have some ability to protect himself. Even if he failed his own promotion, he could still use his Law Master profession to accompany Eivass and Isabel in their further promotions… the problem was not significant.
Lily, Yulia, Lixia.
Eivass, Isabel, Sherlock.
As the sun set, they simultaneously began to set up their Ascension Rituals.
“–The Nine are complete.”
Eivass changed into his priest’s robe.
He chanted softly, and the Butterfly of Paradox Flame on his shoulder descended, landing on an incense stick and slowly igniting it.
Then, Eivass pressed the smoking incense stick to the center of the Hexagram.
Sherlock’s fingertips were soaked in Holy Water, and he flicked it out, chanting solemnly: “Discard three…”
“–Hengwo, Lord of Scales and Feathers, Amber.”
Isabel prayed softly.
These three names were the Pillar Gods of the Path of Love, Path Adaptation, and Twilight Path, respectively.
After deliberation, the three of them chose the same method of excluding paths.
Maintaining as much consistency as possible would prevent a situation where one person could cooperate with a certain path, but their teammates couldn’t.
Since Lily was not participating this time, it didn’t matter if the Path of Love and Path Adaptation were excluded.
“The Six bless me.”
Eivass pointed the incense stick at six silver ornaments in sequence, while chanting the names of the remaining six Pillar Gods:
“Hourglass. Candlemaster. Great Philosopher. Silver Crown Dragon. Twin. Father Snake.”
As he clicked them one by one, the six silver ornaments gradually turned black.
And I…
“–Devotion to the Path of the Candlemaster.”
Eivass declared.
He returned to his soft bed and fell into a deep slumber.
Unlike the feeling of the New Moon Ritual, the Full Moon Ritual always exuded a sense of peace and tranquility. It was like returning to one’s mother’s embrace… or like relaxing in a hot spring and slowly falling asleep.
His consciousness slowly sank into a dark, deep sea, falling into the Dream Realm in a state of clarity.
When Eivass woke up again, the first thing he did was look to his left.
He paused for a moment.
–Because this time, there was no one on Eivass’s left.
“…I’m the first one?” Eivass frowned deeply.
This didn’t seem good either, it seemed like another predicament –
Like in a PVP instance where all opponents were alternate accounts, this time in a PVE instance, all his teammates were newcomers…
But even so, shouldn’t he be the first one to enter?
And at this moment.
Eivass saw a bright flame light up in the pitch-black space.
The Butterfly of Paradox Flame slowly flew from his head, circled around, and landed on his fingertip, looking him in the eye.
…Butterfly of Paradox Flame?
This was the power of a Sin Scholar…
Eivass was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
It should be like how the Bone Sculptor used his own skill as a sculptor when making bone staffs… Although Eivass used the skills of a Sin Scholar when making Illusion Cards, due to their power attribute, they were still judged as equipment for the Path of Devotion.
–That makes sense.
Eivass breathed a sigh of relief.
He had a rare equipment advantage this time, and might even enter earlier than others’ alternate accounts… This time, it wasn’t necessarily all newcomers.
Well then, let’s see who the main examiner is this time…
Eivass thought this and looked up, preparing to gaze at the giant statue in the center.
But to his surprise, there was no statue in the center this time.
“What are you looking for?”
A flippant young voice came from behind Eivass: “Looking for… me?”
Eivass turned around and saw a young man, about twenty years old, leaning on the back of his chair, propping his face with his left hand, and smiling as he looked at him.
He had messy black short hair, and wore a round monocle in his left eye. His smile was so warm that it almost felt sinister, and his features were exceptionally beautiful.
The young man wore a dark blue robe, held a staff in his right hand, and a short sword hung at his right waist.
Although the other party was not a giant.
Since he could leave his seat… it meant that he was not a “candidate” this time.
“…You are?”
Eivass asked politely.
“Nice to meet you.”
The young man said with a smile, “You might have heard my name. I am Merlin.”
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