The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 24

Chapter 24
Eivass’s Plan

“So you’re a BOSS too, old brother!” Eivass immediately felt a sense of kinship.

Although Eivass was theoretically on the protagonist’s side, he was very aware of his own rather wicked nature. He felt that it wasn’t too far off for him to become a BOSS himself.

Moreover, in Eivass’s eyes, a BOSS was, in a sense, a “hero who took one wrong step.”

—At least, that’s how it was from the mid-game onwards, once everyone started to up their game.

It was precisely because they stood on the wrong side, blocking the tide of the era; or because they took a wrong step for various reasons… that they became BOSSes and entered dungeons.

If they could have taken the right step during a critical, mistaken choice, perhaps they could have survived. They might even have become admirable heroes, as they too had their own beliefs.

Take Samuel, the Guardian of the Holy Sword, as an example.

He loved Avalon, the country of his birth. Therefore, after the Avalon Kingdom was destroyed, he traveled the world seeking power. He eventually found the technique to reforge the Holy Sword and recast the key to St. Genevieve’s Chapel, which he guarded, into the “Holy Sword – Red-Hilted Sword” once used by the ancient hero Galahad.

However, he was unaware that this sword contained a powerful curse. This was why it was broken and sealed by the Mage Merlin.

One had to possess a resolute and pure will when wielding this sword. Samuel, who picked up the Red-Hilted Sword without any warning, was almost instantly engulfed by a curse that had been brewing for hundreds of years, and his mind was controlled by a light-attribute Phantom Demon born from the curse. He ultimately became the key executor of the “Shadow of Avalon” plan.

Eivass cherished the heavy key he received.

He knew how much Bishop Mathers valued this key and that he was aware of its origin and value.

He regarded Eivass with such importance that, to protect him, he was even willing to temporarily lend it to Eivass for self-defense—

At this moment, Eivass had already made up his mind.

Besides his sister Yulia…

He also wanted to change Samuel Mathers’s fate, as a way to repay the trust and regard shown to him at this moment.

Strictly speaking, this was not difficult. All he had to do was prevent him from reforging the Holy Sword. A more fundamental solution would be to prevent the destruction of Avalon.

And this was something Eivass was already intending to do.

Because our goals are aligned.

In Eivass’s heart, the things he was about to do gained further weight. But he didn’t feel burdened; instead, he was eager.

Just then, a thought popped into Eivass’s mind:

Although he truly didn’t remember the main storyline, and had basically forgotten most of the important NPCs. He only remembered a few NPCs from the protagonist’s faction, and for the rest, he had no idea when they joined the party or had even seen their personal storylines.

But Eivass remembered the BOSSes!

At least, he knew the BOSSes of the main story dungeons like the back of his hand. He not only knew their names, professions, and mechanics, but even some of their backgrounds—for example, how they ended up on their path.

Therefore, Eivass actually had a very mature and stable way to acquire “comrades.”

—That is to prevent the fate of some people who were originally destined to become BOSSes.

The fact that they could grow into BOSSes that players needed to defeat indicated that they must possess considerable strength. If Eivass could redeem some of these fundamentally good individuals at the right time, he was sure to receive their feedback and help.

Coming back to his senses, Eivass pretended not to know the value of the key, but still showed great importance and gratitude towards Bishop Mathers. He thanked him earnestly and vowed to return it within two months.

This did not conflict with anything.

If nothing unexpected happened, the incident that caused Yulia to lose control should occur in a little over a month.

In that incident, at least three Third Tier Demon Scholars and one Third Tier Law Master, along with a Fourth Tier Arbitrator, were involved. He knew the Arbitrator’s weakness, and by acting in advance, he might be able to prevent him from attending.

But the remaining four were still very difficult to deal with, not to mention that they were Demonic Scholars who had prepared in advance.

In the original storyline, the enemies were dealt with through Yulia’s sacrifice.

To save the player and Eivass, she actively lost control multiple times, ultimately fully awakening the Butterfly. Using her final shreds of reason, she controlled the Butterfly to kill those enemies and allowed the player to pull Eivass away.

After that, Yulia’s soul perished, becoming a part of the Butterfly.

Eivass also couldn’t casually call for help—because he would seal a Phantom Demon and use a Shadow Demon during this incident, and Yulia would also reveal her identity as the Phantom Demon Egg. Besides Yulia, it was best not to reveal these two secrets to anyone else.

Originally, Eivass had planned to use the Phantom Demon sealed by a blank card to resolve that incident.

Now that he had this “Holy Sword,” Eivass felt much more confident.

“……Then let’s continue our studies.”

Bishop Mathers steadied his mind and reluctantly accepted the existence of someone “more talented than himself.”

He then more earnestly imparted his experience to Eivass: “The so-called Illuminate Spell is not about emitting a flash, but operates on a principle similar to Fire Worship—seeing illness, curses, and fatigue as ‘darkness,’ and then dispelling them with light. Because it’s illumination rather than burning, the faint heat within the light dispels them. Therefore, this process is more stable, slower, and safer.

“Imagine yourself as a candle, and your palm as the wick. Ignite your fire-attribute to burn your own life force, or you can use external flames to help combu- which can save some of your mana. However, you have Path Power for a Flame Vessel, so you don’t need to be that frugal.

“Then you just need to continuously invest light-attribute mana, and lightly caress the opponent’s forehead, the back of their head, or their heart with your palm, injecting the light you brought forth by burning your life force. This can be used to soothe the spirit, dispel curses, and heal injuries…”

The Illuminate Spell was simple. As long as one had a little light-attribute mana, it could be learned easily. Eivass did not use experience to accelerate his learning, yet he mastered it in just over ten minutes, proving his talent.

He then spent three experience points to quietly learn the Blessing Spell. However, he did not display it—because the Blessing Spell was the most difficult among Sacred Skills. While he could instantly learn simpler Fire Worship spells, that could be explained by his innate affinity for fire.

But the Blessing Spell was not a skill that could be learned immediately. It involved strengthening allies, consecrating locations or items, and creating Holy Water, among other complex methods. He listened to the lecture for over an hour.

The fact that Eivass spent a full three experience points to learn it proved its difficulty. This showed that Bishop Mathers’s initial calculation was entirely correct—for Eivass, Blessing was indeed three times as difficult as Fire Worship.

This meant that Eivass spent four experience points to save two to three days and a week—which was completely worthwhile.

Because what he lacked now was time.

—Tomorrow night is the full moon of November.

The two days of the full moon and new moon each month are the two designated days for Advancement Rituals.

The ritual success rate during the full moon is twice as high as during the new moon, and the probability of obtaining rare traits is greater during the new moon.

He would participate in a difficult battle in a month and a half. Before that, he had at most three advancement opportunities.

If Eivass did not deliberately cap his levels, he could probably advance as a Priest, a Demon Scholar, and then a Priest again during the full moon, new moon, and the subsequent full moon, respectively.

If he missed this day, Eivass would have to wait another two weeks to advance. And before completing the advancement, any excess skill levels would not be converted into profession levels, leading to wasted experience… which would directly cause his subsequent plans to collapse.

As long as Eivass wanted to create the first blank card within a month and a half, he needed to complete at least these two advancements as a Priest, and he had to complete the first advancement tomorrow—otherwise, with only half a month left, even with a shortcut, he definitely wouldn’t have enough time to raise his Priest level to 19.

—Fortunately, the two individuals at the Pelican Bar provided valuable public experience!

Eivass still had fifty points of public experience left. If he evenly invested them into four Sacred Skills, raising each by one to two levels, he could bring his Priest level to 9!

This way, he could enter the Dream Realm tomorrow during the full moon to complete his first Advancement Ritual… and directly light up the second layer of his Path of Devotion!