Leonidas stood to his full height, no longer lowering his head. His body brimmed with power. He was certain that if he fought Maw again now, he could simply overwhelm her with his Mana.
Before, about 10 max power Mana Blades was his limit, but now it was easily closer to 50. The change was enormous, and it didn’t even account for the margin Leonidas could improve the efficiency by with his newly formed Mana Sense.
Leonidas shook his head, his eagerness returning as he dove into the Knowledge Well.
It was easily an hour more before he returned, but when he did, he did so with a content feeling in his heart.
The Blessing Units required for Promotion were indeed reliant on talent. To receive a 50% reduction, Leonidas was most definitely a 90th-percentile talent.
This made Leonidas feel good for a moment, but ultimately, the 90th percentile was only as good as how many people he was competing against.
It was exceptional if his competition was only a sample group of 10. But, if it was millions, or even billions, that meant there was a long line of people better than him.
Leonidas knew it was the latter case. Someone else might have been satisfied with this, but he was not.
There were other variables Leonidas had to contend with as well. For example, the less affinity a God had for a Class, the more their Apostles had to pay to Promote within it.
Goddess Yves seemed to lack Mages, so it was possible her affinity for the Class was low, meaning Leonidas’ performance might be even more impressive than it seemed. But, there was really no telling for now.
The second thing Leonidas had confirmed was the ‘Oneness Level’ Goddess Yves had mentioned.
He had panicked a bit when the Goddess mentioned his control over Scholar’s Eye and Mana Blade. Since Blessings were handed down by Gods, he wasn’t sure how they’d feel about him making the power his own. But, it seems he had been too cautious.
A given Blessing was separated into several levels of mastery.
The first Entry Level, the second Proficient Level, the third Mastery Level, the fourth Oneness Level, and the final Evolved Level.
The Evolved Level represented an Apostle’s ability to apply a Blessing in a way it wasn’t intended for. Technically, Leonidas had already accomplished this with Mana Blade, which means that Goddess Yves’ analysis had missed the mark.
That said, spotting a Blessing at the Evolved Level was difficult unless you saw a person actually use it.
This made Leonidas sigh another breath of relief, because it meant Goddess Yves wasn’t just spending all day observing him. Or, more accurately, she couldn’t just casually observe him period.
If she could, Leonidas would have already been exposed.
‘That’s enough of that, let’s choose our next Blessings.’
Leonidas had already had a lot of time to think about this so his choices came like a flood and without the slightest hesitation.
The first was the Level 2 Mage Blessing, Mana Shield.
Leonidas’ run-in with Milon today reminded him that he wasn’t the only one with long-ranged attacks. If not for him awakening a seed of his Mana Sense, his life would have been forfeit.
Of course, if it wasn’t for him being lost in this awakening, he would have noticed Milon’s approach long ago. But, he still wanted this added protection.
The name Mana Shield spoke for itself. Its creation formed a small circular shield, the diameter and thickness of which were dependent on time, Mana investment, and proficiency.
At its strongest, it could weather the strength of several Level 3 attacks without faltering, so long as these attacks weren’t levied by Mages which tended to have Blessings that surpassed their Levels.
In the beginning stages, Mages were especially powerful. Fighter Classes would begin to close the gap later on, especially if they were Unique Promotion Classes, but in the Missionary ranks, the Mage was the undisputed king.
The second was the Level 2 Mage Blessing, Tremor.
Tremor was an Earth Elemental Blessing, and was as such very limited in its usage.
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It had to be remembered that upon Promotion to the Deacon ranks, the number of Classes the Mage Class split into was numerous. Among them, there was the Elementalist Class which specialized in Elemental Magic.
Without touching this level, Elemental Magic of the Missionary ranks tended to be weak, and that was especially so for Leonidas who planned to become a Warlock and not an Elementalist.
Due to this choice, Leonidas didn’t plan on priming his Mana toward a certain element, preferring to keep it neutral. As such, his Elemental Blessings wouldn’t be very powerful.
Even so, Leonidas had his reasons for making this choice.
He believed that if he combined Tremor with a tail whip into the ground, he could multiply the effects. He would be able to extend the effects to a three-meter diameter from the original one-meter limitation.
With such a range, Leonidas would be able to cause real havoc in battle. To Fighters, unstable ground was the worst type of counter.
The third was the Level 3 Mage Blessing, Scholar’s Mind.
It was the evolved version of Scholar’s Eye. It had a greater calming effect, but this was only the tip of the iceberg.
It increased thinking speed, fortified one’s mind against mental attacks, and also increased memorization success when activated.
It was great for seeing through illusions and deciphering traps laid by both Thieves and Mages, and it also had the added effect of replenishing one’s focus, acting similar to a Fatigue Potion.
The fourth and final Level 3 Mage Blessing was the familiar Mana Hand.
At its simplest, Mana Hand granted a Mage telekinetic ability, using the Mana as an extension of the body.
Unlike many other Mage Blessings, it scaled with one’s Mana Pool. The larger one’s Mana Pool, the more Mana could be given to the formed Mana Hand, and the more strength it had.
Some powerful Mages were able to lift and crush rocks weighing more than a ton!
Of course, at Leonidas’ current level, he would be lucky to move a hundred pounds, let alone crush a rock weighing that much. However, this was also because he had yet to grow his proficiency in this Mage Blessing.
The main reason Leonidas had chosen this Mage Blessing, though, was for the next step in his saber training.
Now that he had grasped Mana Sense, it was time.
However, Leonidas knew that since the spirit required him to take this step before moving forward, whatever lay ahead would be incredibly difficult.
Mana Sense took advantage of one’s Mana sensitivity to blanket your surroundings, giving a three-dimensional view of everything around you.
Leonidas couldn’t even begin to fathom what kind of weapon technique necessitated such overpowered senses.
Leonidas exhaled.
He would have to trade for the next level of saber training with the Fallen Apostles. Unfortunately, it was expensive.
The general rule of thumb was that techniques were worth about 20 times the price of an equivalent mission. However, the spirit didn’t clearly mark what ‘Level’ the saber training regimen he had prepared for Leonidas was, all Leonidas could see was its price.
<500 Blessing Units>
Leonidas shook his head.
According to that pricing scheme, this technique was Level 5, which was even a step beyond Deacon Bruthers’ current level.
As of right now, Leonidas only had 336 Blessing Units left after his promotion.
‘Should I…?’
Leonidas thought of trading in the Basilisk eye, but he decided against it in the end.
Even if he had enough for the technique now, he wouldn’t act on it. His reason was simple: Anabel.
It was about time he gave her the security she needed.
…
Leonidas’ eyes slowly opened, a small surge of wind spreading out around him.
Lady Eve met Leonidas’ gaze, her brows arched in surprise. She had been staring at Leonidas for a while and still couldn’t seem to get enough.
“Level… 3?”
Leonidas stood, nodding.
“How is that possible…?”
“Goddess Yves reduced the Blessing Units I needed to Promote, the total cost was only a fraction of what it should be.”
“That’s possible too…?”
Lady Eve felt like her understanding of things was slowly being thrown into upheaval the more time she spent around Leonidas.
“Yes. It would likely be similar for you too, if—.“
Leonidas shook his head at Lady Eve’s frown. The aversion in her eyes was strong to the point she immediately went on guard before he could even finish.
They both knew that Lady Eve’s true talent lay in being a Healer. Even if she didn’t receive the same benefits as Leonidas, the fact Goddess Yves’ affinity with Healers was so high meant that the barrier to entry was naturally low.
However…
“Never mind. How many Blessing Units do you need to Promote?” Leonidas asked.
Lady Eve’s jaw set.
“I need 1027 Blessing Units.”
Leonidas nodded slowly, but he was inwardly shocked, both by the number and Lady Eve’s mental fortitude.
This explained why she had been stuck at Level 2 for so long. At the same time, it made the fact she was Level 2 at all highly impressive.
Knowing that she had to accumulate so many Blessing Units, the fact Lady Eve was willing to invest in those Substitution Dolls and making her nephew a Paladin was even more admirable.
The mental fortitude of this woman was not small, and that made changing her mind all the more difficult.
‘The older she becomes, the higher that price gets as well. She’s already past her physical prime, she would need to reach Level 3 to reclaim some of her youth, but she wouldn’t be able to return to her peak unless she entered Level 4 or consumed a Blessing on that Level.’
This led to another matter that made Leonidas’ heart stir.
Healers and Mages had naturally longer lives than Fighters, Healers especially. If Lady Eve was a Healer, her waning prime wouldn’t even be a problem.
Leonidas’ gaze involuntarily softened from their usual dullness. He didn’t even realize it had happened.
For a moment, the images of Lady Eve and his mother seemed to layer atop of each other.
Both were exceedingly strong-willed humans, both were willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals, and both were willing to give up the prime of their youth for their convictions.
Lady Eve’s heart quaked when she spotted Leonidas’ odd expression, but it unwittingly flared up to anger.
She clenched her fists and bit her teeth, her gaze hardening.
“I don’t need your pity.”
She spun on her heels, her steps light and fast as she vanished through the doorway.
Leonidas watched as this happened, unsure of what to do.