Chapter 506
Brand of Two
Eivass quietly and obediently completed a full prayer for the Lord of Scales and Feathers. He was grateful to the Lord of Scales and Feathers – the God of Lightning-Fast Final Payments, the God of Generosity. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
Looking at Lily, who was standing quietly at the end of the bed, Eivass’s heart stirred and he reached out towards her. There was no need for a special incantation, nor any materials. A blessing from the Amber Heavenly Envoy descended instantly—
—Illuminator·Calming Blessing!
In an instant, Lily’s brain, which had been somewhat tired and stiff from immediately waking up, became clear. The messy thoughts and lingering nightmares were immediately dispelled. She felt her thoughts become so clear, as if the whole world had become bright because of it.
Immediately after, a light suddenly burst forth from Lily’s body. The radiant light flashed and disappeared, having already completed a healing for Lily equivalent to the “Illuminate Spell.” This was the evolved “Radiant” skill!
Generally speaking, each person can only receive one blessing. Upon receiving a new blessing, it would replace the previous one. This was because blessings either came from different Heavenly Envoys and Pillar Gods, or were different gifts bestowed by the same Pillar God.
If a blessing prayed for by a Priest fell on inanimate objects, it could indeed last longer. For example, consecrating salt, water, or some accessories was much simpler than blessing a person. Blessings cast on people were easily disrupted by other blessings. Therefore, although Priests mastered the art of blessings, they could only have one long-lasting buff from a Priest on their person when entering a dungeon.
For example, the “Fortitude” or “Valor” buff for melee tank classes. The former increased HP, attack, and defense, helping tanks withstand large amounts of damage. The latter increased base attributes of Strength and Constitution, and also increased resistance to Fear, Charm, and Shock. Although the latter was not very significant when fighting BOSSes, it was very useful against Players.
Mages usually received “Calming” or “Exaltation,” while Assassins and Hunters could only receive “Swiftness.” Priests received “Vampirism” or “Valor.” The former was not actual bloodsucking, but referred to life-steal ability. Because this was a racial trait of the Child of the Moon, it was called thus, similar to “Vampire’s Touch,” and could be used to replenish the Priest’s HP consumption. The latter was to increase HP cap, to prevent the healer from being instantly killed.
Applying a different, suitable buff to different professions was a very important basic common sense. A 20% conditional trigger and dual-attribute bonus from different multipliers could be quite significant. Swiftness, in particular, offered a 20% increase in movement and attack speed, which greatly improved the feel of Hunters and Assassins. If a few teammates were buffed, the Priest’s lack of output in the dungeon could be compensated through buffs.
When Eivass first started playing this game, he was scolded by an Assassin teammate for an entire dungeon because he applied the wrong buff. At that time, Eivass considered Assassins to be a DPS profession, and as a fragile class prone to dying, he gave the Assassin “Fortitude” to increase his output and prevent him from dying. Of course, it was mainly because this profession was too rare and in the lower tiers of the meta, so Eivass was not very familiar with it.
However, the Assassin, who was accustomed to the “Swiftness” blessing, found his feel completely messed up, and even his rhythm was thrown off. In a fit of rage, he started scolding Eivass. Since the blessing ritual took ten seconds to cast, it could basically only be used before battle. Casting a blessing during combat was equivalent to abandoning the front line.
Although Eivass retorted at the time, questioning why the other player didn’t say anything about the wrong buff then and only complained during the fight, after the argument, Eivass thought about it and agreed that it was indeed his own fault. So, Eivass diligently researched information from the forums and studied it thoroughly, memorizing all possible scenarios for how Priests should apply buffs.
The Illuminator, whose healing amount was much lower, instantly became a T0 profession, the darling of the version after this specialization was released… because they could cast three buffs on each person, and casting buffs only took one second to channel! This instantly increased fault tolerance, power, and professional flexibility. Before this, Priests required materials to cast blessings. Although not much, this money had to be paid by the Priest themselves. And since blessings could be cast on multiple targets, many professions chose to form a team to receive buffs from mainstream professions.
Hunters and Rogues were in the lower tiers because they needed “Swiftness” to maintain their feel, and this blessing could only be cast individually by a Priest. Although the Illuminator’s buffs were single-target, they were free! Not only that, but the Illuminator also provided a free ranged heal when casting buffs. Although this also meant piano-like operation, to maximize benefits, one needed to constantly switch buffs to trigger the free heal. Buffs that had already been cast could not be re-cast, and sometimes abruptly switching off a key buff could lead to teammates dying or their burst damage being swallowed. So, there was still a level of difficulty involved.
But even the lowest-spec Illuminator was useful by casting three buffs on everyone and then goingAFK. Another enhancement was that their targeted heal, “Illuminate,” had become a ranged heal, “Radiance.” Targets blessed by an Illuminator were effectively marked. And it changed from a channeled spell to a resonating spell. Specifically, it was no longer a spell that required holding down the button, continuously consuming mana, and allowing only slow movement while maintaining the state. Instead, it became an instant cast spell with a one-second cooldown. The healing per second was like pulses, transforming from a smooth curve into blocky steps. The healing amount also changed from multiple small numbers per second to one large number per second.
The downside was also the piano-like operation. Even without casting buffs, one had to repeatedly press “111111”… essentially leaving no opportunity to output damage. It was more in line with traditional MMO Priests, emphasizing that if you dared to take a sip of water during combat, you would die. Compared to the Torchbearer, who, after gaining “Blazing Body,” could continuously drain mana to heal the entire group just by turning on the “Illuminate” aura, requiring almost no operation except for toggling the healing aura, leaving both hands free to hold a shield and even have time to shoot a few shots or swing a hammer, the Illuminator’s floor and ceiling were raised, while the complexity of the operation clearly increased.
However, Eivass found it quite reasonable at the time. The design of any long-term game generally followed a pattern: the mechanics in the early stages of the server were always easy to understand, and later, new things with incredible mechanics, complex operations, and skills that looked like lengthy essays that made people dizzy would gradually appear. And the strength of these new things would most likely be commensurate with their learning costs.
And for Eivass, this profession also had an important advantage: emergency rescue. Although small numbers and large numbers did not make much difference in the game, and even small numbers could prevent healing overflow, in the real world, the healing amount directly related to the healing effect. Therefore, large numbers meant instant potent healing—ranged instant potent healing, capable of healing someone back from the brink of death in one go, and the effect of dispelling negative statuses would also be much better. This was far more significant than the Illuminate Spell.
“By the way… what time is it?” Eivass asked.
Lily was closing her eyes in astonishment, feeling the buffs after being blessed. Hearing Eivass’s question, she opened her eyes and replied, “It’s about four in the morning.” Lily paused and then asked, “Do we need to have breakfast now?”
“Ah, no,” Eivass declined. “You go back and rest too… thank you for the hot towel.” As he spoke, Eivass took the towel and wiped his face, indicating that Lily’s sudden awakening to look after him had been meaningful. His newly formed skin seemed somewhat sensitive, and there was a strange sensation when it was wiped.
Four in the morning… Putting the towel back, Eivass murmured to himself. Although he didn’t know what time the ritual started, it was generally around midnight. The ritual time was a twenty-four-to-one ratio with the real world. So, the ritual had been going on for about four actual days. This meant that they hadn’t jumped from the early stages of the first day to the end of the third day, but had indeed gone through all that time, only their consciousness had been blurred.
Combined with the benefits the Lord of Scales and Feathers had given him, Eivass had a rough idea of the whole picture. … That is to say, when I underwent the Ascension Ritual, the Bear Heavenly Envoy or His Apostles could sense me in the Dream Realm.
Thinking of this, Eivass became somewhat nervous. Avalon did not teach knowledge about the Bear Heavenly Envoy, and few people were familiar with or believed in the Bear Heavenly Envoy, so there wasn’t much information about Him currently. Eivass only knew that three of the Bear Heavenly Envoy’s four major Apostles (when He was a Pillar God) had left, but he didn’t know if He had recruited any new Apostles. If He were to ascend again, He might encounter other Apostles. Although they were likely not as strong as the City Breaker, it would be difficult for Eivass to encounter another Pillar God like the Lord of Scales and Feathers who was actively plotting against her.
And… it was even possible that next time, the Bear Heavenly Envoy Himself would come. Based on Eivass’s understanding of the Bear Heavenly Envoy, He was absolutely capable of such a thing.
Thinking of this, Eivass’s heart tightened. —He clarified one point: Until he understood the situation in the Dream Realm, or found other shelters, he would not ascend the Demon Scholar profession for the time being. After all, he didn’t know who the “invigilator” for the next Ascension Ritual would be. If it were Candlemaster, Silver Crown Dragon, Twin, or Lord of Scales and Feathers, that would be best, as Eivass had a good relationship with them. Although he didn’t know Hourglass, He was always troublesome and would certainly intervene in such matters. But Pillar Gods like Amber, Hengwo, Great Philosopher, and Father Snake, who were quite reclusive and generally didn’t manage affairs, might completely ignore it. If he were caught by the Bear Heavenly Envoy in the Dream Realm, it would be a huge problem. Although the imprints were not yet full…
“Hmm…?”
At this moment, Eivass suddenly felt a burning sensation in his chest. He looked down and found that on his newly formed skin after shedding his skin… in addition to the Silver Scales on the back of his hand and the Crystal Snake Scales on his right forearm, a fresh Bear Claw scar had been branded onto Eivass’s chest. The wound was even clearer and deeper than before.
【You have obtained the Trait: Authority – Brand of Two】
【Authority – Brand of Two: The Bear Heavenly Envoy’s future claw strike declares that your life will end with such a blow. This is the second brand, its number must not be seven—】
—Using “Essence of Enyo” as a medium, the Bear Heavenly Envoy’s understanding of Eivass deepened!
