The spirit shook his head, feeling that he was getting off-topic.
‘When you enter a state of meditation, it is possible to access the Knowledge Well. Unfortunately, as a Fallen Disciple, the information you can access is very limited. But, to the current you, it’s more than you can learn in a lifetime.’
Leonidas was stunned. This was enough of a benefit. He really didn’t feel like anything else was more important.
‘The second is the ability to sense hideouts within a certain range and be immune to whatever traps they may have within.
‘The third is connected to your Knowledge Well. It can also be used to trade Blessings. Right now, you can only receive Blessings from one God considering you do not have a Shadow and you have yet to become an Apostle, so this feature is useless to you.
‘However, do note that the Exchange items within the Knowledge Well haven’t been added to in several millennia… we Fallen Apostles are practically extinct, you may very well be the last or maybe the first in centuries.
‘Still, to the current you, the stores within the Knowledge Well are more than you can imagine.
‘And that third benefit is connected to the Fourth. A Fallen Apostle is a walking Temporary Shrine, and a Fallen Disciple has a small bit of this.
‘Under a God, usually only Level 7 Priests and above could build Temporary Shrines, and they would need a whole host of materials to do so. However, a Fallen Apostle can perform a ceremony they need anywhere, any time. In addition, they gain the same abilities all Temporary Shrine have…
‘I.e., they can suppress the Blessings of other Gods.’
The spirit looked toward Leonidas seriously.
‘This is your most powerful ability as a Fallen Disciple. However, it requires Blessings to use for you because you are not a Fallen Apostle. In addition, if you use it within the territory of a God, you will be killed immediately, without recourse as this is the number one way to expose yourself.
‘This is an ability you should only dare to use in the direst of situations and if and only if there is no Church in the nearby vicinity.’
Leonidas nodded solemnly.
‘These are the main four. As for the rest, they are small abilities in comparison you can learn of on your own using the Knowledge Well.
‘Now, I’ll exchange these corpses for you. These two are not worth much, but this Level 3 Missionary is worth 8 Blessing Units. Use it wisely. For you, earning so many Blessings would be impossible.
‘Once you are finished, I will give you the last thing I have for you. After that… You will be on your own.’
Though the spirit said 8 Blessing Units, Leonidas only seemed to hear 8000 silvers. He couldn’t even fathom such an amount of wealth, it felt too far out of reach. Of course, he had no idea that he was missing out tremendously. But, the spirit had his own reasons for limiting him to this much.
However, he wasn’t distracted by this thought for long as his mind was sent into the Knowledge Well. It took nothing more than an instant for his surroundings to change.
Leonidas found himself in a shadowy world filled with large swaths of black. It felt as though most of it had been cast in a perpetual shadow. Large, abandoned buildings hung over the horizon, forgotten and lonely.
If Leonidas had to describe this world in a single word… It would be sad.
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He could almost imagine Fallen Apostles of old walking the streets, laughing uproariously, mingling as though this moment would last a lifetime. Yet, it hadn’t lasted so long. It too, much like everything else, came with an expiry date.
Leonidas took a deep breath.
After he composed himself, he realized that the view he was looking at was from within a building. But, he had no choice to explore this world around him. It was clear that as a Fallen Disciple, he had no right to step into the world below.
Shaking his head, Leonidas turned his head toward a stone well that sat before him. Other than the windows of this dark room, it was the only other feature.
It looked almost eerily similar to Yves' stone well. But, Leonidas didn’t think much about this, how much could two wells differ from one another?
‘Exchange…’
Lights flashed before Leonidas, immediately showing him a long list of items. It was so long, in fact, that Leondias felt overwhelmed.
Was this the result of the Exchange not being updated in centuries? How was this even possible? Just how many things could they have accumulated over the years to reach such an astronomical sum?
‘Don’t get distracted by some things. Unlike Gods who will only sell things that align with their Faith, we Fallen Apostles have no such qualms. Things of darkness, lightning, blood, sacrifice, elements, warriors… we have them all, that is why the list is so long.’
Leonidas was startled. “You entered with me?”
‘No.’ The spirit rolled his eyes. ‘Your body never left its location. Do you think you got transported? If that was possible, how would we ever have died out?’
Leonidas was still stunned for a moment before understanding. If he concentrated, he could still feel his main body as though he was drifting between a dream and a state of wakefulness.
“If I didn’t actually enter, then these items…?”
‘The prices here are slightly higher than they would otherwise be. Part of your Blessings are exchanged to manifest them to your location.’
Leonidas felt that this was quite fantastical, but he quickly accepted it. He knew so little about this world, who was he to say what made and didn’t make sense?
“Then… What would you suggest?” Leonidas asked.
‘Hoho.’ The spirit chuckled. He was less surprised the second time Leonidas asked for help, but he still found it pleasing. Though this brat wasn’t very talented at all, at least he wasn’t annoying.
‘Well, the first question you have to ask yourself is which of the three Classes you will choose.’
Leonidas’ brow furrowed. He had read about the three Classes before. When one became a Missionary, you could choose to become either a Healer, a Fighter, or a Mage.
He had never really thought about which path to take because he simply didn’t have enough information. All information about Classes that came after this had always been redacted or simply not mentioned at all. How was he supposed to choose like this?
Also, beyond this, he wasn’t even sure if he had a choice or not. Weren’t these things based on talent? So, wouldn’t the choice be made for him?
Then again, with how trash his talent was, did it still matter which he chose? If he would suck either way, should he choose randomly?
“I don’t know.” Leonidas finally said.
The spirit nodded. ‘The three Classes are very broad. They seem to shove you into a box right from the very beginning, but the truth is if you drew out the Advanced Classes like a network of tree branches, later down the line, there would be an infinite number of places where the wires would get crossed.
‘Ultimately, though, if you want the Class with the most potential options in the future, it would be the Mage Class. It’s always possible to stop being a Mage and become a Healer or Fighter after paying an appropriate price. But, the vice versa is impossible.’
“Then I should choose Mage?”
‘Well, not so fast. Not everything in the world comes free. If things were like this, maybe everyone would choose to be a Mage. But, do you know why most are Fighters and the second highest population is Healers?’
“Not everyone can become a Mage?”
‘No. Everyone can become a Mage. In fact, anyone can become a Healer and anyone can become a Fighter.’
Leonidas’ brows furrowed before he came to an understanding.
“The cost is different for different people?”
‘Exactly right. The Mage Class’s Blessings scale depending on how poor your talent is. The worse a talent you are, the more expensive they become. There are no shortage of individuals who have high enough talent at the onset, but are forced to shift away from the Mage Classes after reaching a certain Level.
‘Though Healer and Fighter Classes work this way as well, especially at higher Levels, the penalty is much less severe and daunting.’
“Then how do I know if I can become a Mage or not?”
‘I have no way to officially test you without wasting the small number of Blessings you have. But, there is a crude method.’
“How?”
‘How long did it take you to enter the Knowledge Well and how much of the room can you see?’
Leonidas brow furrowed. “The time was too short for me to say… As for the room… All of it?”
The spirit didn’t know how to respond to this. Was he wrong? Was this Leonidas actually an idiot?