Chapter 313

Two Hundred Eighty-One: Healing Priest

Northern Tivyán, Church District.

During the night, the choir’s songs echoed deeply within the church district. The tall church buildings were brightly lit, and priests and nuns moved about under the light.

Deep within the church district, in a dim chapel, stood a small statue of the Holy Mother. In front of the statue, a large magical array was drawn. At the core of the array was a sun-like mark, inside which was an inverted triangle mark.

In the center of the room, there was a long dining table. Only one guest sat at the table: Vania, dressed in nun’s robes.

Vania sat alone at the long table. A candlestick in front of her held a lit candle, and on the table before her lay a sumptuous feast. High glasses filled with wine, and exquisite plates contained fruits, breads, and other delicacies, with the main course being a deliciously spiced grilled steak.

With silver utensils, Vania enjoyed the meal, cutting the steak into small pieces and placing them in her mouth. After savoring the taste, she nodded contentedly.

‘This is so delicious! This flavor is really amazing. Every time I receive this grace meal, it satisfies me… I never thought choosing the Path of the Holy Mother would come with such benefits!’

As Vania savored the delicious food, she thought happily to herself. The steak and its accompaniments were called grace meals, which she had received as a reward for successfully reporting Kock last time.

Vania quickly finished the meal, and just as she was wiping her mouth with a napkin, the door to the room opened. An elderly nun in black nun’s robes entered and walked beside Vania, who immediately stood up and bowed.

“Reverend Anre…”

“Hehe, there’s no need to be so formal every time you bow, Sister Vania. As believers in the Holy Mother, we should be more open-minded. For matters of etiquette, just be casual.”

The old nun, named Anre, smiled and said to Vania. Hearing Anre’s words, Vania straightened up. Anre looked at the empty utensils on the side table and continued with a smile.

“It seems you’ve finished the grace meal this time. If I’m correct, you’ve accumulated enough ‘Cups.’ Combined with your already qualified ‘Lamp,’ you now meet all the requirements for the advancement in spirituality. You can start the Advancement Ceremony.”

“Is that so… Thank you very much!”

Upon hearing Anre’s words, Vania replied excitedly. Anre also responded with a smile.

“Hehe, there’s no need to thank me. After all, you earned this opportunity yourself.”

The grace meals on the table beside Vania were prepared by some “Cup” extraordinary beings recruited by the Church. These “Cup” extraordinary beings were proficient in spiritual cooking, using special methods to process animal flesh, concentrating the “Cup” spirituality within and making it easier to absorb.

Spiritual cooking, in fact, shares a similar principle with the “Stone” path’s spiritual carving technique. Through the carving process, one harmonizes their inner spirit with the spirit within the stone, guiding it to gather and refine. It takes immense effort to convert the hard-to-absorb spirits from natural stones into more easily absorbed forms. Spiritual cooking follows a similar idea but transforms the process from carving to cooking. The cook essentially harmonizes with the spirits in the meat, converting them through the cooking process into an absorbable form.

Of course, due to the nature of “Cups,” some spirituality is inevitably lost during cooking. Cooking focuses more on transformation and requires significant energy and expertise. Therefore, using spiritual cooking to accumulate “Cups” is far less efficient than bl**d-eating methods. Societies that base themselves on spiritual cooking have almost vanished, making the Church the largest haven for “Cup” extraordinary beings using spiritual cooking.

The Church’s Path of the Holy Mother primarily focuses on “Lamps” with auxiliary “Cups.” Thus, they have a substantial demand for “Cup” spirituality, which explains why they recruit “Cup” extraordinary beings proficient in spiritual cooking.

After obtaining permission to advance, Vania prepared for the advancement under the Church’s arrangements. One of these preparations was accumulating “Cup” spirituality. The Church believed Vania lacked additional “Cup” spirituality, so they prepared sufficient spiritual cooking dishes for her consumption. Over the past few days, Vania consumed approximately ten points’ worth of spiritual cooking dishes, meeting the minimum requirement for advancing to Black Tier in the eyes of the Church.

In reality, Vania had already accumulated ten points of “Cup” through reading the secret transmission from Dorothy. After two battles with the Eight Pinnacle Nest, she still had four points of “Cup” left. She only needed around six points of “Cup” to advance, effectively getting four points for free.

“Now you finally have enough ‘Cups.’ But what surprises me is that your ‘Lamp’ has also met the requirements so quickly. Sister Vania, your devoutness is truly comforting…”

With a kind smile, Reverend Anre continued, and Vania responded with a smile.

“I have been blessed by the Holy Mother since childhood. Such devotion is expected.”

Vania said. In the Radiant Church, most extraordinary beings follow the “Lamp” path. The method for accumulating “Lamp” spirituality for priests and nuns is quite simple: various religious rituals and prayers.

Sincere, undistracted prayers, offered in a special way to the Three Saints, will grant spirituality if the faith is genuine. Large collective religious ceremonies, where sacrifices are made and collective prayers are offered, can move the Three Saints, resulting in more spirituality bestowed upon the faithful.

Daily prayers and participation in religious ceremonies are the primary ways for Radiant Church clergy to accumulate spirituality. Unlike other methods, their spirituality comes directly from the deities. Faithful followers offer sincere belief to the deities, who then grant them spirituality.

Therefore, Vania’s “Lamp” spirituality is full, which Anre finds reassuring, as it proves Vania is a qualified believer.

In truth, while Vania has accumulated “Lamp” spirituality for over a year, she was still short by a bit. This shortfall was made up for by the “Lamp” secret transmission sent by Dorothy.

“Alright, now that everything is ready, let’s get down to business. Come here, Sister Vania, I’ll perform the Advancement Ceremony for you.”

As she spoke, Reverend Anre walked to the Holy Mother statue in the room, and Vania immediately approached.

“Now, kneel before the compassionate Holy Mother…”

Reverend Anre continued, and Vania knelt before the magical array in front of the Holy Mother statue, on the sun mark containing the inverted triangle. She then assumed a prayer posture.

With everything prepared, Vania began reciting the incantation she had memorized, and as the incantation echoed through the space, the magical array beneath her glowed faintly orange-yellow.

…

On the northern outskirts of Tivyán, outside the East Gate of Royal Sacred Crown University, lies Green Shade Town.

At night, in house number 17 of Green Shade Town, Dorothy sat in her study. On her desk lay a gas lamp and the book “Navigation of the Literary Sea.”

Dorothy flipped through the pages of “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” reaching the page with Vania’s contact information. Just moments ago, Vania had sent her an important message: she had finally advanced to Black Tier.

After the Kock incident, Dorothy had known Vania had the opportunity to advance as a reward for reporting Kock. Dorothy had been monitoring Vania’s progress, and now, after some time, Vania had succeeded in advancing.

‘Sigh… The Church is quite efficient. This is the benefit of having a big organization backing you. As long as you have enough merit, everything is arranged for you. Unlike me, who has to handle everything myself.’

Dorothy thought as she read Vania’s detailed account of her advancement process. With the advancement permit, the Church had provided everything Vania needed: spirituality, ceremony, guidance, and more. Unlike Dorothy, who had to do everything herself.

Dorothy then shifted her attention to Vania’s new rank. According to Vania’s description, she was now a Black Earth Tier, primarily focused on “Lamps” with auxiliary “Cups,” and titled as a Healing Priest.

A Healing Priest’s main abilities include healing and mending injuries. They can rapidly use spirituality to heal themselves or others, even remotely, and over considerable distances. They can also enhance others’ bodies remotely, increasing strength and physical fitness.

Healing Priests can suppress many toxins and diseases, delaying their onset. By touching someone, they can discern the state of their body, identifying illnesses and injuries. When touching an extraordinary being, they can even check their spiritual accumulation.

Beyond active abilities, Healing Priests also have passive abilities. They possess stronger remote vision and insight than ordinary guides. Beyond the “Lamp” passives, they also have “Cup” passives, giving them physical resilience akin to a Thirster. This means Vania will have a constant effect similar to the bl**d-Eating Sigil, enhancing strength and endurance.

Finally, Vania’s spirituality bar included ten points of “Lamp” and five points of “Cup,” providing a stable source of “Cup” spirituality.

‘Remote healing, remote enhancement, body inspection, toxin delay… This skill set feels like a classic game healer role… No wonder it’s called a Healing Priest?’

After carefully reading Vania’s description, Dorothy thought. This rank felt like a traditional online game’s healer class, capable of remote healing and buffing, except this healer has a thick health bar and considerable strength.

‘I didn’t expect Vania to become a healer-type. She was originally my main fighter. Fortunately, this grandmother profession not only heals but also boosts strength and health, improving combat power.’

Dorothy continued thinking, feeling somewhat envious of other mixed-class professions. Not only do they have additional spirituality bars, but they also have additional passive abilities.

Dorothy’s Scholar profession simulation does not include those passive abilities. For example, a proper Puppet Master should also have Thirster-level physique and strength enhancements.

Like Vania, she has both “Lamp” and “Cup” passive abilities—concentration, remote vision, and physical resilience. In contrast, Dorothy’s pure “Enlightenment” Scholar profession only has the “Enlightenment” passive, which is efficient memory and information processing.

“In any case, Vania has taken another step forward. If needed in the future, her combat power will be even stronger.”

“Sister Vania has successfully advanced. Sister Neve has been making good progress recently and will soon be able to undergo the Advancement Ceremony…”

As Dorothy spoke, she turned the page of the “Navigation of the Literary Sea” to check on communications with others. When she reached Neve’s communication page, she noticed a new line of text.

‘Neve sent this? What could be so urgent at this hour?’

Seeing this, Dorothy pondered and began carefully examining Neve’s message. The writing was hurried and messy, and judging by the time, it seemed to have been sent earlier. However, when Dorothy hadn’t placed the “Navigation of the Literary Sea” in the magic box, the lack of incoming information hadn’t triggered a spiritual alert, so she hadn’t noticed.

“Miss Dorothyia, please allow me to take a few days off. There’s an emergency at home that requires me to return!”

Reading the words on the page, Dorothy frowned slightly and wrote back.

“Can you specify exactly what the emergency is?”

Seeing her written words merge into the page, Dorothy used the Puppet Mark to remind Neve to check her messages. After waiting for a while, a reply appeared before Dorothy, still hurried and messy.

After reading Neve’s response, Dorothy’s frown deepened.

“It’s a sickness! Miss Dorothyia, my father suddenly fell gravely ill! I am currently on my way home with Grandpa Butler. He says my father was cursed by the Pharaoh’s curse!”