Chapter 231

Chapter 223: Scholar

Following the records on the stele, Dorothy began her advancement ceremony. Fortunately, this secret room was specially designated by the Star Number Repair Association for such ceremonies. The magical array within the secret room had been specially crafted to provide support for all Extraordinary Beings from Apprentice to Black Earth Tier on the “Enlightenment” path.

After thousands of years of inactivity, the magical array in the secret room finally restarted. Accompanied by Dorothy’s chanting, the symbols of spirituality above the array started to glow one by one. First, the largest “Enlightenment” symbol at the center, followed by the other five smaller symbols of spirituality around it.

As the chanting ended, a prompt appeared in Dorothy’s mind, requesting guidance. Just as months ago, Dorothy agreed to guide herself.

Subsequently, the symbols of spirituality in the array suddenly shone brightly. Dorothy felt as if an invisible wind swept through her consciousness, causing a momentary chaos. Her thoughts seemed to expand boundlessly, making it hard for her to locate herself. It took a while before her thoughts started to contract, and she gradually regained her sense of self.

When Dorothy’s consciousness returned to clarity, she believed her advancement ceremony was complete. She prepared to rise, but noticed that the magical array around her was still glowing, clearly indicating that the ceremony had not ended, and she hadn’t experienced any increase in power.

“What’s going on? I followed the method on the stele, and all conditions for advancement were met. Why am I stuck here? Could there be a problem, or is the information on the stele incorrect?”

Dorothy pondered, and just then, a piece of information appeared in her mind.

“Select the tier you wish to simulate.”

‘Select the tier to simulate?’ Seeing this information, Dorothy was surprised and puzzled. But with more detailed information from the ceremony itself, she understood what was happening.

If it were any other tier profession, the advancement would have already concluded. However, Scholars were different. After advancing to Black Earth Tier, there was one more step: selecting a simulation.

A Scholar could choose another branch on the “Enlightenment” path to simulate, gaining some of its main abilities. This meant that Dorothy could now select from “Puppet Master,” “Thunder Mage,” “Diviner,” or “Dream Interpreter,” and gain part of their abilities. In her next advancement, she could choose another branch. Each time a Scholar advanced, they could select a branch on the “Enlightenment” path to simulate. The simulated abilities would be weaker and incomplete compared to the original versions, and preparation was required beforehand.

‘Oh wow, so this means I get to choose my profession again, and every time I advance, I can pick a new skill set. Eventually, I might master most of the abilities on the “Enlightenment” path. This truly lives up to being a Scholar, knowing a little bit of everything.’

Reflecting on the Scholar’s abilities, Dorothy thought to herself. Then she began to seriously consider which branch to simulate first.

‘It seems like there are many options. Puppet Master could enhance my current combat style. Thunder Mage could boost my direct combat capabilities. Diviner could further strengthen my intelligence gathering. Dream Interpreter’s effects are unclear…’

Considering these branches, Dorothy thought carefully. She had to make a cautious choice, as once selected, she would only be able to use the abilities of that branch until reaching White Tier.

After much deliberation, Dorothy made her decision. She chose to simulate the “Puppet Master” branch, which was close to the “Cup” branch.

She was already very familiar with the combat style of zombie puppets, and using them would come naturally. Moreover, after completing the advancement ceremony and deducting 5 points from each spirituality, her overall spirituality would drop significantly. However, her reserves of “Cup” and “Stone” were still decent, and she could afford to lose some points. Additionally, she had accumulated many zombie puppets and developed tactics centered around them, providing a solid foundation for the Puppet Master abilities.

“Hmm, let me take a few more steps down the Puppet Master path…”

Muttering to herself, Dorothy continued the ceremony. After choosing Puppet Master as her first simulation branch, the four smaller symbols of spirituality in the array dimmed, leaving only the largest “Enlightenment” and slightly smaller “Cup” symbols glowing.

After the ceremony ended, all the symbols of spirituality dimmed momentarily. Dorothy slowly stood up, feeling her consciousness unprecedentedly expansive, with rapid thoughts and a hint of uncontrollable excitement.

After a while, Dorothy gradually restored her mental state to normal. Looking at her hands, she murmured,

“So… I’m now a Scholar? A Scholar specializing in ‘Cup,’ a Black Earth Tier Extraordinary Being…”

Dorothy mused, then removed the zombie puppet ring from her hand. Looking at the corpses on the ground, these were the “participants” from the “First Dorothy Cup Chess Tournament.”

Seeing the participants, Dorothy waved her hand, lifting four of them up without wearing the zombie puppet ring. They began to chat and celebrate, congratulating Edric on his victory.

Now, manipulating zombie puppets was Dorothy’s innate ability, no longer requiring the zombie puppet ring. She could control up to four puppets at once, unlike the two-limitted version of the ring, which needed additional spirituality to increase the limit. With less than four puppets, Dorothy didn’t need extra spirituality.

Additionally, Dorothy’s range of manipulation had significantly increased. Within a radius of 5 kilometers, she could control up to four puppets freely. Beyond 5 kilometers, she could reduce the number of controlled puppets to extend the range, with fewer puppets allowing for greater distance. Controlling a single puppet allowed her to extend the control distance to 10 kilometers.

While maintaining the maximum of four puppets and a 5-kilometer radius, Dorothy’s spirituality consumption remained relatively low.

Of course, besides increasing the control quantity and distance, Puppet Master had other abilities. These were basic enhancements, though there was no chance to test them now.

After examining the Puppet Master abilities, Dorothy discovered a significant issue: the deficiency in spirituality for the Scholar path.

After advancing to Scholar, Dorothy now had 10 inherent “Enlightenment” spirituality points, or 10 “Enlightenment” blue bars, with spirituality recovery speed returning to 4 points per day.

However, Dorothy had no auxiliary spirituality. Although she had simulated Puppet Master’s abilities, she wasn’t the original Puppet Master.

Typically, Black Tier Extraordinary Beings had auxiliary spirituality blue bars in addition to their main spirituality blue bars. So, the original Puppet Master would have both “Enlightenment” and “Cup” blue bars, allowing “Cup” to recover automatically.

Though auxiliary blue bars were fewer than main ones, they could significantly alleviate the need for spirituality among Black Tier Extraordinary Beings. With both main and auxiliary spirituality recovering automatically, regular combat power could be guaranteed.

But Dorothy was different. As a Scholar by essence, Puppet Master’s abilities were simulated. Pure “Enlightenment” path Scholars had only “Enlightenment” blue bars even at Black Tier.

“d*mn, does this mean I’ve simulated Puppet Master’s abilities but lack the auxiliary “Cup” blue bars? Is my spirituality sufficient?”