Chapter 4: Healing, the System, and Temple Secrets
"Huh?"
Suddenly spoken to, the Silver-Haired Girl, who had been watching the dome with great interest, was startled. She quickly turned her head and saw the Black-Haired Warrior staring at her with a strange expression. For some reason, she felt a bit guilty and instinctively looked away.
"Nothing... I just think you're quite interesting."
Seeing the other party's reaction, Joshua withdrew his gaze. He didn't press the matter further. After all, he had only just met this Divine Mechanism Girl, and it was normal for her to be wary of strangers. As for the strange feeling he had, he could only set it aside for now and investigate it slowly later.
"Let's go, let's head to the church first."
Saying this, Joshua stood up and walked toward the door. The Silver-Haired Girl hesitated for a moment, then followed.
The Saint Lawrence Cathedral was located in the center of Moldavia City. It was a magnificent building constructed from white marble, with a towering spire that seemed to pierce the clouds. At the entrance stood two stone statues of paladins holding greatswords, their solemn expressions intimidating all who approached.
Pushing open the heavy brass door, Joshua walked into the church. The interior was spacious and bright, with sunlight streaming through the colorful stained-glass windows, casting mottled light and shadow on the floor. At the far end hung a huge statue of the God of Might and Justice, holding a balance in one hand and a longsword in the other, its gaze stern as it looked down at all who entered.
"Lord Count!"
Seeing Joshua enter, a young apprentice priest in a white robe immediately came forward to greet him. "You're here to see the High Priest? Please wait a moment, I'll go inform him right away."
"No need, I'll go find him myself."
Joshua waved his hand, then walked straight toward the side hall. The Silver-Haired Girl followed closely behind, curiously observing everything around her. This was her first time in a human temple, and everything felt novel to her.
In the side hall, the white-haired High Priest Artemis was organizing ritual items. When he saw Joshua enter, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Lord Count? You're back? I heard you went to the Black Forest to deal with those Chaos Monsters. How did it go?"
"It went well, but I got a little hurt."
Joshua shrugged, then pointed to his left shoulder. "I came to ask you to help me heal."
"Of course, no problem."
Artemis nodded, then gestured for Joshua to sit on the chair beside him. He took out a crystal disc from the cabinet and began to chant a spell.
The Silver-Haired Girl stood to the side, watching the process with great interest. She saw white light gather on the crystal disc, then transform into a warm radiance that enveloped Joshua's body. The wounds on his left shoulder began to heal at a visible rate, and the broken bones slowly reconnected.
"Hmm... this is the first time I've seen human healing magic. It's quite interesting."
The Silver-Haired Girl muttered softly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Joshua ignored her and instead focused his attention on the system panel that had just appeared before him.
[System Activated]
[Host: Joshua Radcliffe]
[Profession: Chaos Warden]
[Level: Gold Mid-rank]
[Experience: 12,450/50,000]
[Skills]
[Purifying Radiance: Aura-type skill. During combat, deals a small amount of purification and damage to all Chaos creatures, items, and spell structures within a radius of meters around the user. This effect stacks once per second.
— Impure power shall return to order.]
[Chaos Nemesis: Your understanding of Chaos's weaknesses and characteristics is so profound that any concealment, stealth, or invisibility attempts by Chaos-attribute enemies will be detected by you. Damage dealt to Chaos-attribute enemies is multiplied by 1.2.
— Demons and monsters, you have nowhere to hide. Evil spirits and devils, you are lambs to the slaughter.]
[— Traits —]
[Unlit Flame: Negative status effects inflicted on you by the Chaos side have minimal effect. Except for a few special powers, they cannot affect your body or soul.
— Even unlit firewood is still the prototype of fire.]
[Evil-Burning Radiance: When killing enemies on the Chaos side, gain an additional 30% experience. If killing these monsters originally granted a reward, that reward is doubled.
— The blood of Chaos is the source of fire.]
[Mobile Sanctuary: Aura-type trait. The area centered on you, with a radius of level x level, can be considered a temple of the Order Gods. Current range:
— Facing Chaos, no judgment is needed. The ground beneath your feet is the sanctuary, and you are the judge and executioner.]
After roughly reviewing the attributes, Joshua had only one thought.
The profession of Chaos Warden truly lived up to its name. This series of talents and traits was practically tailored to counter Chaos. The warrior felt that if he were in good condition, he could take on a hundred Chaos enemies alone, and with the Azure Orb's recovery, he might even be able to solo them without taking damage.
Moreover, since he had crossed over, in just two months, he had gone from Silver High-rank to Gold Mid-rank. Wasn't this speed a bit too fast?
Just as the warrior was marveling, the Silver-Haired Girl sitting nearby yawned in disappointment.
— So human healing is just shining light back and forth? What about forging flesh and blood? Do humans actually consist of light? Otherwise, why don't they need raw materials for repairs?
As she was thinking, Ying suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her... Strange. She felt like she had been wanting to sleep a lot lately. She was a Divine Mechanism; she shouldn't feel tired...
Just then, the milky-white radiance faded, and the once-glowing crystal disc dimmed.
"Preliminary treatment is complete."
Letting the two apprentice priests withdraw to rest, the somewhat tired Artemis wiped the sweat from his forehead. He took a breath and said, "The priests of Moldova handled it well. The bones in your left arm have all reconnected. At least you can hold things now. With a Gold Warrior's recovery rate, as long as you avoid major movements for a little over a month, you'll be back to full strength. As for the missing bone in your shoulder, you'll need to eat more animal bones and such to speed up growth. Even Holy Light can't do anything about that."
"That's enough."
Trying to make a fist, Joshua looked at his left hand, which could finally clench tightly, and showed a satisfied smile. "By my own estimate, it would have taken three or four months to reach this point. This treatment saved me a lot of time. You've done me a great favor."
At this moment, the white-haired priest was putting away the crystal disc. Hearing this, he immediately turned around seriously and said, "This isn't a favor, my lord. You'll have to pay for this."
"Of course. Why would I not pay?"
Nodding helplessly, Joshua stood up from the chair, looked around, and said somewhat puzzled, "I've been away from the main city for almost a month, but I didn't expect the church to still have only a few of you. I came today hoping to find that Gold-rank old bishop. Healing me would be much easier for him than for you, and it would save you the trouble, Artemis. Haven't they returned from the Far Sea Holy Mountain yet?"
"The trouble doesn't matter... But they won't be coming back, my lord."
As he said this, Artemis had just finished putting the crystal disc and various crystal ornaments on his person back into the cabinet, locking them with a divine spell. The white-haired old priest turned around with a strange expression and said, "Actually, I should have told you this a long time ago, but I think I was too excited to see you after so long and forgot. Come, take a look."
With that, he spread his hands and showed Joshua the peculiar emblem on the right chest of his priestly robe.
"Black ring, sacred thorns..."
Looking at the icon on the other's chest, Joshua frowned and muttered to himself, "Plus the cross of justice... Wait, Artemis, you?!"
The warrior was stunned.
"Yes." Nodding readily, the old priest showed a complex yet proud smile. "I, Artemis, am now the Archbishop in charge of Saint Lawrence Cathedral!"
(To be continued.)