Chapter 345: Chapter 19: Growth of Faith Power
Itâs night, Resentment Forest.
âCrackle!â
In a clearing deep in the forest, a bonfire sizzled and burned, the sound of wood crackling and popping in the flames.
Four young adventurers sat around the bonfire.
Triss poked burning pine resin into a tree hole with her dagger, and the flames that burst forth illuminated the dark red star-shaped mark behind her ear.
Sirius tore open a charred rabbit leg, and the oil splattered onto the leather armorâs shoulder buckle, sizzling into a series of tiny silver blooms. His meat-stained fingertips caressed the hiltâs relief, the dark patterns shimmering with a golden hue under the firelight.
Hilia sat dutifully at the side, holding the silver staff, and devoutly performed her routine prayers with clasped hands.
âGoddess of Light above, your devoted servant Hilia prays to you here⊠Thank you for blessing these fireflies that glow in the darkness, lighting our path ahead; thank you for granting this old elm tree to shelter us and keep us warmâŠâ
âMay this night be so, every night.â
Finally, she solemnly traced a cross over her chest, marking the end of Hiliaâs prayer.
Meanwhile, a notification popped up on Lynchâs system panel:
[Believer Hiliaâs Faith Proficiency +1]
The Power of Faith in the Light Cathedral truly grows fast; in six years, it has now reached the Second Order Level, purely in terms of energy strength, itâs now no less than Lynchâs Spiritual Field.
Having such a great treasure before him, itâs almost impossible not to covet it, so Lynch has never stopped his research into Faith Magic over the years, experimenting, analyzing, and even daringly separating a sliver of his own Soul Power to connect with it.
After extensive research and experimentation, Lynch ultimatelyâ
âmade no real progress.
Without making a strong spiritual connection, that cluster of Power of Faith floating in the Light Cathedral remained a dead object; no matter what method Lynch used, he could not manipulate or mobilize that power.
Of course, these years of research werenât entirely unfruitful, and the notification before his system panel was one of Lynchâs gains.
In an instance where he tied a portion of his Soul Power to it, Lynch unexpectedly discovered that he had gained the ability to sense believersâ inner voices, although that sliver of Soul Power was soon overwhelmed by the believersâ willing power, it gave Lynch some additional ideas.
Subsequently, he tried a few more times in that direction, managing to establish a certain degree of connection between a part of his Soul Power and the Power of Faith.
Such a connection didnât allow him to use this Power of Faith, but it did enable him to view some information about the Power of Faith, including each believerâs devotional status and the state of each prayer.
Eventually, Lynch made a surprising discovery: each time a believer prayed, his system panel would receive a message, allowing him to specifically check the believerâs level of devotion to the Goddess of Light through it.
[Believer: Hilia]
[Devout Believer of the Goddess of Light lv2, 36822/50000]
What a marvel.
Sirius asked, âHilia, are you done? Iâm so hungry Iâm about to drool.â
Hilia put down her silver staff and nodded, âYes, Iâm done.â
Sirius handed the torn rabbit leg to Hilia, then gnawed on the remaining part himself, complaining while eating, âI really donât understand you religious folks, why get so obsessed over this, praying before eating, before sleeping, always praying.â
Hilia sternly said, âOne must not disrespect the gods.â
Sirius replied nonchalantly, âDoes this Goddess of Light really have such charm? Why? Just because of that so-called Saintessâs mass in the square?â
Hilia said, âWe all witnessed the miracle.â
Sirius rolled his eyes, âYouâve been fooled. My, uh⊠I heard someone mention it, that so-called miracle is nothing but the Wizardâs Magic, a Wind Element Spell and a Spirit Magic, driven by some Wizard behind the scenes.â
Lynchâs means on the square might deceive ordinary people, but not someone like Sirius with a family connected to the Transcendent and the Nobles.
Unexpectedly, Hilia didnât refute, but instead said, âThe real miracle isnât the Saintessâs mass, but all the changes here over the years. Six years ago, we were still struggling for food, yet now, even the poorest child has clothes to wear.â
Sirius pouted disdainfully and said, âIsnât it all pushed by that Wizard, though I donât know the reason, he surely has some unspeakable purpose!â
Hilia smiled and said, âThen how do you know that the one pushing all this wasnât guided here by God? Your so-called unspeakable purpose, who can guarantee thatâs not Godâs will at work?â
Oh, dearâŠ
Lynch, munching away beside them, couldnât help but twitch his lips. Whatâs this? The legendary âafter crossing the customs, there will be great scholars to debate scriptures for meâ?
Sirius was left speechless.
After thinking for a moment, he continued to ask, âSpeaking of which, have you ever met that person behind the scenes?â
Hilia asked perplexedly, âWho are you talking about?â
Sirius said, âThe Transcendent who set all this in motion, the one people are spreading as the Guardian.â
The previously silent Triss obviously focused her attention here as well.
Hilia shook her head, âNo one can see the Guardian; he isnât a servant of God but merely pushed all this under Godâs will. After accomplishing all this, he hid himself, and no one knows where he is now.â
Sirius continued asking, âBy the way, between the Guardian and your Light Churchâs Red-clothed Archbishop, Holy Daughter of Light, who is stronger?â
âWellâŠâ
Hilia was clearly stumped, but after thinking for a while, she continued, âI donât know, the Guardian is only a legend, and the adults in the Church Court wouldnât actively discuss himâŠâ
However, after some thought, she added, âBut I heard my teacher⊠Iâve occasionally overheard the bishops chatting, they say that before in Feiyan City there was an evil Black Wizard, even the Saintess was imprisoned by him. In the end, it was the Guardian who defeated the Black Wizard to rescue the Saintess, so the Guardian might actually be more powerful.â
Triss asked, âHas the Church ever left any trace of the Guardian?â
Hilia questioned, âTrace?â
Triss said, âGarments worn, personal items used, Iâve heard the Holy Daughter of Light is supposed to be his student, havenât you heard the church mention these?â
Hilia was taken aback, âI donât know, who did you hear that from?â
Triss furrowed her brow.
She had been here investigating this Guardian of Feiyan City under her mentorâs instructions for some time; the plan was to figure out his true capabilities, or at least his approximate strength level.
However, upon arriving, she realized this task was akin to climbing the sky; this Guardian seemed to exist only in legends passed down by word of mouth, as if nonexistent. Never mind understanding his strength and abilities, no one even knows if heâs male or female, where he came from, or how old he is.
The only thing certain is that his strength exceeds Wizard Level, because Tristan and her mentor were from the same school, and had he beaten Tristan, his strength must have surpassed that of a Wizard.
âMy Archer, come, have some rabbit leg.â
Sirius offered the piece of roasted rabbit leg to Lynch nearby, the dripping golden oil sizzled on the burning charcoal making a âsizzle! sizzle!â sound, the aroma titillating the senses.
âThanks.â
Lynch took the rabbit leg and began to eat it. To his delight, it was as delicious as it smelled.
Sirius, being considerate, asked, âWhy arenât you joining the conversation? What is it? Do our topics not interest you?â
Lynch replied earnestly, âJust listening to you all is enough for me.â
Sirius, eager to please, said, âYou should be more outgoing, being talkative and good with words is what makes ladies like you, right, Triss?â
Triss remained expressionless, being a member of the Nobles and a Transcendent being. If not for the mission, she wouldnât even be here talking with these two mortals, let alone have anything in common to discuss with them.
âRustleâŠâ
Just then, suddenly, from the side, an unexpected situation arose!
âAwooooo!â
A long howl of a wolf exploded in the forest, and immediately, a giant wolfâs head emerged from the thicketâŠ
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