Chapter 85 : Chapter 85

Chapter 85 - How to Handle the Will of the Stars (2)

Another week passed.

‘This is hopeless. I have to quit.’

Artier looked at the Holy Light disappearing in vain and came to a conclusion.

Despite Ropin's encouragement (?), Artier had not successfully cast a single holy magic spell so far.

This was even after reducing the amount of his existing swordsmanship training and doctrine classes to focus more on holy magic training.

‘Even if Ropin's affinity drops, I have no choice. It's right to drop this.’

While this was happening, the Hellmorphs were gradually getting stronger.

But since he wasn't catching monsters, Artier's level was at a standstill. His skill levels were better off, but some skills that grew based on practical experience also showed no growth.

In particular, it was a big problem that the proficiency of his most important skill, Perfect Counter, was stagnant.

“Ropin.”

Having made his decision, Artier went to find Ropin without hesitation.

Ropin, who was buried in a pile of documents, smiled as soon as he saw Artier and stood up from his seat.

“Ah, I was just about to go looking for you.”

“Pardon? For me?”

It would be about holy magic anyway.

Just as I was about to cut him off, thinking that, a truly unexpected word came out of Ropin's mouth.

“I think I've figured out the reason for the lack of progress in your holy magic training.”

“……Pardon?”

“Divine power with weak cohesion, and thus, difficult-to-use holy magic. The situation you're experiencing is a very rare case even in our Rata faith. So, with His Holiness's permission, I checked the ancient holy scripture.”

The first Pope was the creator of most holy magic spells.

And surprisingly, the ancient holy scripture contained information about a situation like Artier's.

“If this is true, we should be able to manifest your holy magic for sure. Now, prepare for an outing!”

“Pardon? No, I was……”

Artier hesitated and stopped.

Ropin had gone out of his way to investigate for a long time and find a method.

He couldn't bring himself to say he was quitting now, his conscience pricked.

Besides, he was also secretly looking forward to it.

It wasn't that Artier wanted to give up on holy magic either.

“Yes, I'll get ready.”

In the end, Artier returned to his room and put on the armor he had left untouched for a while.

He couldn't understand Ropin's intentions at all.

‘There aren't any hunting grounds we can go to just the two of us, are there?’

Excluding the Hellmorphs that can only be met on the battlefield, if one were to look for good beings to hunt, monsters were a prime example.

Monsters hostile to humans, like Gnolls or Goblins.

But these days, it was hard to find them.

They too were being slaughtered by the Hellmorphs.

With weaker cohesion than humans, they couldn't even put up a proper fight and were being systematically annihilated by the Hellmorphs.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes. Let's depart.”

Ropin took Artier out of the castle gate and started heading somewhere.

“Among those who learn holy magic, there are sometimes people with a peculiar constitution.”

“Peculiar constitution?”

“The will of the divine power they draw up is so strong that they are conversely consumed by that will. The world wants too much from that person.”

If an individual's thinking power is mana, divine power is the thinking power of the world.

According to Ropin, the reason Artier's Holy Light kept scattering was because the divine power did not want to be used that way.

“You will probably be able to use certain holy magic spells more easily than anyone else, but it will be very difficult for you to use other holy magic spells.”

“What would that holy magic be?”

“Hahaha, we'll have to find that out now.”

With those words, Ropin stopped walking.

“Here?”

Artier was at a loss for words and stared blankly at the entrance before him.

The writing on the sign was too blurry to read, and nothing could be seen down the stairs.

But Artier had a feeling he knew what kind of place this was.

It was definitely an abandoned underground cemetery.

“What's wrong? Isn't it the perfect place for a battle?”

“That's true, but… wouldn't it be disrespectful to the deceased?”

The monsters that would appear in a cemetery were obvious.

Undead.

The only monster at this point that wouldn't fear the Hellmorphs, and a good hunting ground for them.

But when Artier thought about where those undead came from, he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling.

Adventurers who died in ruins had fallen to their own devices, but weren't these just people who had died ordinary deaths?

“Don't think of it that way.”

But surprisingly, Ropin shook his head firmly.

“The undead are not the deceased themselves. They are merely puppets controlled by the lingering resentment from their lives. Rather, putting them to rest again is what is truly for their own good.”

“If that's the case…… I understand.”

If a Grand Magus said so, he had no choice but to believe him.

Artier drew his sword and slowly entered the cemetery.

“Oh, and try to maintain your Holy Light as much as possible during battle.”

“Pardon? The Holy Light?”

“That's right. Through that, I will try to deduce the holy magic that suits you best.”

“But my Holy Light disappears quickly even if I neglect it for a bit.”

To maintain a Holy Light during battle when it was difficult to maintain even while standing still and chanting?

‘I don't want to do this…….’

It felt like his feelings would pop out as words at any moment.

But he couldn't afford to make a bad impression on an NPC who played an important role in the main quest.

“I know it's difficult, but I ask this of you. It might surprisingly help with your training.”

“Huu, I understand.”

As Artier shook his left hand as if flicking something off, a beautiful sphere of light appeared on his hand.

[Holy Magic: Holy Light has been activated.]

Holy Magic: Holy Light (Lv.2): Illuminates a holy light that increases all stats of yourself and allies by 2%. This effect can stack with others' Holy Light.

Soon, as they entered the depths of the cemetery, a clattering sound was heard, and half-rotten corpses popped out from the graves.

[Lv.25 Revived Dead (Small)]

‘The level is appropriate.’

The moment I was about to habitually wrap my body in Wild Protection, the Holy Light in my left hand shook unstably.

“Yikes……”

“Focus!”

Artier reacted immediately to Ropin's shout, but it wasn't easy.

Just swinging the sword lightly made the light flicker.

It felt like walking on a sensitive sheet of thin ice.

Not even a single second of mistake was forgiven.

“Heok, heok……”

Just one battle left Artier feeling fatigued.

Watching the zombie fall, Ropin nodded his head.

“It's a success. Your divine power was moving unconsciously just now.”

“What kind of movement…… was it?”

“I can't say for sure yet. Let's proceed a bit more.”

After that, Artier continued to hunt while roaming the cemetery.

‘Was fighting always this hard?’

Artier couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted to say and held it back.

It was the first time his head hurt while fighting.

For a brain that had only worried about dodging, cutting, and what skills to use, it was an excessive task.

Swish…….

But now, there was a clear flow of divine power that even Artier could recognize.

When a battle began, he could feel the Holy Light vibrate minutely and wrap around his armor and sword.

“Hmm… it might be an expression-type.”

“Expression-type?”

“Just like magic, holy magic is divided into several types. Among them, the expression-type refers to techniques that exert effects by directly emitting divine power. Like your Flame Cleave.”

In other words, it meant it was a direct attack skill.

Artier thought it wasn't bad.

Crack!

Soon, as the battle continued, the amount of divine power draining from the Holy Light began to increase.

Now, the size of the Holy Light was decreasing by about half during battle.

‘Huh?’

Since when?

Artier realized that the Holy Light was being maintained even when he looked away for a moment.

‘What's this? Did it become easier to control as the Holy Light got smaller?’

That time gradually increased.

At first, it was about 1 second, but later it increased to 3 seconds, and then to 5 seconds.

Naturally, the time it took for Artier to defeat the zombies also became shorter.

“Huu.”

“Let's rest for a bit. If you maintain holy magic any longer than this, it will strain your body, no matter how much you have the sacred relic.”

After about an hour of hunting, Artier and Ropin took a short break in the passage.

“When will I be able to find the holy magic that suits me?”

“In my opinion, it will take at least a month. But your will is important.”

Ropin said with a bitter smile.

“Usually, when learning something, you have to learn the basics step by step before learning high-level skills. But you are now in a state where you cannot climb several steps. You have to climb a path that is no different from a cliff, so it's only natural to feel lost.”

“I see……”

The situation was frustrating, but Artier's expression was not that bad.

That was because it had been a long time since he had gone out for a hunt.

‘It’s been a while since I've been able to stretch my body, and my skill proficiency is also rising, right? I hope it continues like this in the future.’

It was less than 10 minutes later that Artier got up from his seat.

“Are you planning to leave already?”

“Since we're out anyway, I plan to properly warm up my body.”

“Hoho, I think I know why you were able to become a supreme-grade mercenary. Still, please make it so that this old man can keep up.”

[You have leveled up.]

After that, another change occurred when Artier's level went up.

[The Secret Seeker title is activated.]

Twinkle!

From the grave right next to him, something was emitting an abnormally bright light.

“What's this?”

When Artier approached to check, it was an old piece of parchment with nothing written on it.

“What is that?”

“I don't know either.”

“Hmm……. A piece of parchment in a damp underground cemetery like this.”

At those words, Artier carefully examined the parchment.

Judging by its worn appearance here and there, it was not a recently made object.

“Was it being protected by something like magic?”

“No, I don't feel any mana. For it to be so delicate that even I can't detect it, it would have to be a dragon or an outstanding Grand Magus, but wouldn't it be difficult to find either in this underground cemetery?”

Artier nodded at Ropin's words.

There was no way an item created by such a being would be left in an abandoned underground cemetery like this.

‘But seeing that the title was activated, there must be something.’

The Secret Seeker does not react to abandoned items.

This parchment was clearly 'hidden'.

There was no reason to hide an ordinary piece of parchment for no reason, was there?

For now, Artier pushed the parchment into his inventory.

“Shall we head back for today?”

“Let's do that. This underground cemetery seems to have been sufficiently purified.”

“Where are we going tomorrow?”

“Look forward to it. We will go to a hunting ground befitting your level.”

Ropin wore a confident expression.

And so, Artier had to spend the entire next month roaming only underground cemeteries.

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