WebNovels

Chapter 24 - Chapter 24 Aiwass's Plan

So you're a BOSS too, brother!

Aiwass immediately felt a sense of kinship.

Although Aiwass should theoretically be on the protagonist's side, he was well aware of his own wicked nature. He felt that he might not be far from becoming a BOSS himself.

Moreover, in Aiwass's view, a BOSS, in some sense, was a 'hero who took a wrong step.'

At least, that was how it was once everyone's standing increased from the mid-game onwards.

It was precisely because they stood on the wrong side, blocking the tide of the times, or because they took a wrong step for various reasons… that they became BOSSes and entered dungeons.

If they had taken the right step in those critical wrong choices, perhaps they would have survived. They might even have become extraordinary heroes. For they, too, harbored their own beliefs.

Take Samuel Mathers, the Holy Sword Guardian, for example.

He loved Avalon, the kingdom of his birth. Therefore, after the Avalon Kingdom was destroyed, he traveled the world, seeking power. He eventually found the technique to reforge the Holy Sword, transforming the key to St. Genevieve's Chapel, which he guarded, into the 'Holy Sword - red-hilt sword' once wielded by the ancient hero Galahad.

But what he didn't know was that this sword contained a powerful Curse. That was why it was broken and sealed by the Law Master Merlin.

Using this sword required a firm and pure will. Samuel, who picked up the red-hilt sword without warning, was almost instantly swallowed by the Curse that had brewed for centuries, his mind controlled by the light-attribute Phantom Demon born from the Curse. He ultimately became a key executor of the 'Avalon's Shadow' plan.

Aiwass carefully and reverently accepted the heavy key.

He knew how much Bishop Mathers valued this key, and he also knew that the Bishop was aware of its origin and worth.

He valued Aiwass so much that, to protect him, he was even willing to temporarily lend it to Aiwass for self-defense

At that moment, Aiwass had already made up his mind.

Besides his younger sister Yulia…

He would also change Samuel Mathers's fate, as a repayment for the trust and importance shown to him at this moment.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't difficult; he just needed to prevent Samuel from reforging the Holy Sword. A more fundamental method would be to prevent the destruction of Avalon.

And this was something Aiwass was going to do anyway.

Because their goals aligned.

In Aiwass's mind, the stakes of what he was about to do increased again. But he didn't feel burdened; instead, he was eager to try.

Just then, a thought popped into Aiwass's mind:

Although he genuinely didn't remember the main storyline, and he had pretty much forgotten all the important NPCs. He only remembered a few protagonist-side NPCs; he couldn't even recall when the others joined the party, and he hadn't read any of their personal stories.

But Aiwass remembered the BOSSes!

At least, he could rattle off details about the BOSSes in the main dungeons. Not only did he know their names, professions, and mechanics, but he even knew parts of their backstories for example, how they walked down their respective Paths.

So, Aiwass actually had a very mature and stable way to acquire 'comrades-in-arms.'

That was to prevent the fates of some individuals who were originally destined to become BOSSes.

The fact that they could grow into BOSSes that required players to defeat indicated that they all possessed considerable strength. If Aiwass could redeem some of these inherently good people at the right time, he would surely receive their feedback and assistance.

Coming back to his senses, Aiwass pretended not to know the key's value, but still showed great importance and gratitude to Bishop Mathers. He thanked him earnestly and swore that he would return it within two months.

This was not a conflict.

If nothing unexpected happened, the incident that caused Yulia to lose control should occur in a little over a month.

In that incident, at least three Third Level Demon Scholars, one Third Level Law Master, and one Fourth Level Arbitrator were involved. He knew the Arbitrator's weakness and might be able to prevent him from attending by manipulating things beforehand.

But the remaining four would still be difficult to deal with. Not to mention that they were Demon Scholars who had prepared in advance.

In the original story, the enemies were defeated through Yulia's sacrifice.

To save the player and Aiwass, she deliberately lost control multiple times, eventually fully awakening the Paradoxical Flame Butterfly. Using her last shred of sanity, she controlled the Paradoxical Flame Butterfly to kill those enemies and allowed the player to pull Aiwass away.

After that, Yulia's soul perished. She became a part of the Paradoxical Flame Butterfly.

And Aiwass couldn't just call for help either because he would seal a Phantom Demon and use a Shadow Demon in this incident, and Yulia would also expose her identity as a Phantom Demon Egg. It was best that no one knew these two secrets of his, except for Yulia.

Originally, Aiwass had planned to resolve that incident using the Phantom Demon sealed in the blank card.

Now with this 'Holy Sword,' Aiwass felt much more confident.

"…Then let's continue studying."

Bishop Mathers steadied his mind, reluctantly accepting the existence of someone "more talented than himself."

So he more earnestly imparted his experience to Aiwass: "Illumination, so-called, is not about emitting a flash, but rather a principle similar to Sacrificial Fire treating illness, Curse, and fatigue as 'darkness,' and then dispelling them with light. Because it's not burning but illuminating, dispelling them through the faint heat in this light. So this process is more stable, slower, and safer.

"Imagine yourself as a candle, and your palm is the candle's wick. Ignite your life force by drawing upon your fire attribute, or you can use an external flame to aid combustion, which can save you some of your mana. However, you have the Path power of a Flame Vessel, so you don't need to be so frugal.

"Then you just need to continuously input light-attribute mana, gently caress the other person's forehead, back of the head, or heart with your palm, injecting the light drawn from your burning life into them. This can be used to soothe the mind, dispel Curses, heal injuries, respectively…"

Illumination was very simple. As long as one had a little light-attribute mana, it was very easy to learn.

Aiwass didn't use experience to accelerate his learning, and he still learned it in just over ten minutes. This proved that he indeed had talent.

Afterward, he paid three experience points and quietly learned Blessing. But he didn't show it because Blessing was the most difficult of the Sacred Arts. Being able to instantly learn the simpler Sacrificial Fire could be explained by Aiwass's innate affinity for fire.

But Blessing was not a skill that could be learned instantly.

It involved strengthening allies, as well as sanctifying places or items, creating holy water, and other methods… It was very complex. Just listening to the lecture took over an hour.

And the fact that Aiwass spent a full three experience points to learn it was proof of its difficulty. This indicated that Bishop Mathers's initial estimation was completely correct for Aiwass, Blessing was indeed three times as difficult as Sacrificial Fire.

In other words, Aiwass used four experience points to save two or three days and a week's worth of time which was entirely worthwhile.

Because what he lacked now was time.

Tomorrow night would be the full moon of November.

The full moon and new moon days of each month were the two designated days for advancement rituals.

The success rate of the ritual during the full moon was twice as high as during the new moon, while the new moon had a higher chance of producing rare modifiers.

He would participate in a difficult battle in a month and a half. Before that, he only had three advancement opportunities at most.

If Aiwass didn't cap his level at all, he could probably advance to Priest, Demon Scholar, and Priest during the full moon, new moon, and full moon, respectively.

If he missed this day, Aiwass would have to wait another two weeks to advance. And before completing the advancement, overflowing skill levels would not convert into class levels. That would lead to a waste of experience… which would directly cause the collapse of subsequent plans.

As long as Aiwass wanted to make the first blank card within a month and a half, he had to complete these two Priest advancements at least, and he must complete the first advancement tomorrow otherwise, with only half a month left, even if he took shortcuts, it would definitely not be enough to raise his Priest level to eleven.

Fortunately, the two from the Pelican Bar provided valuable public experience!

Aiwass now had fifty public experience points left. By evenly investing them into the four Sacred Arts, raising each by one to two levels, he could raise his Priest level to nine!

This way, he could enter the Dream Realm tomorrow during the full moon to complete his first advancement ritual… and directly light up his Dedication Path to the Second Level!

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