Chapter 9: Precept Upgrade |
[Main Rule: Absolution — Forgive the wrongdoings of others, sparing them from the invasion of sin!]
[Precept Feedback: Every time you forgive someone, you will receive an Essence Bonus from them.]
[Current Bonus: Downs — Life Bonus (Attribute Value of one).]
''I see. So the Power of Faith can sublimate the way a Precept is fulfilled to a certain extent, allowing the feedback to inch closer to its true essence?'' Nemus mused, carefully savoring the sensation of the Holy Nails embedded within his body.
Originally, absolution required him to personally target another individual and genuinely grant them a pardon, but now the conditions were no longer so rigid.
At the same time, absolution used to only yield a Life Bonus, but the variety of obtainable bonuses had now expanded.
However, since Downs was currently the only person he had forgiven, he still only possessed the Life Bonus provided by the shepherd.
''It is still a bit lacking. The faith simply is not enough. Right now, there are only seven Holy Nails in my body, which merely represents twenty-one years worth of the Power of Faith.''
Finback Village consisted of over a hundred households, with a population hovering around five hundred. Although everyone was nominally a believer, only about two hundred or so actually prayed on a daily basis.
This Power of Faith would flow from the small shrines in every household and converge upon the Divine Idol inside the church.
Afterward, the lion''s share of the Power of Faith would be transmitted to the God of Precepts. Only a fraction would remain, gradually infusing the church''s Divine Idol with increasing miraculous power.
Nemus opened his eyes and gazed at the Divine Idol of the God of Precepts standing before him. Based on the conversion rate of three years'' worth of faith for a single Holy Nail, the idol still contained roughly seven hundred years'' worth of the Power of Faith.
Factoring in natural dissipation, he could easily estimate that the God of Precepts had likely not extracted any faith from this idol for three whole years.
''That aligns perfectly with the time I fell into the Abyss. It seems the God of Precepts suffered considerable damage back then,'' Nemus pondered, a surge of dark delight rising in his heart.
''But that is to be expected. After all, a portion of His Divinity Count currently resides with me.''
Having formulated a few theories regarding faith, Nemus stood up, his joints releasing a series of sharp cracks and pops.
With a slight circulation of his Breathing Technique, Nemus immediately sensed that his Life Aura had grown dim.
The Life Aura was the direct reflection of a person''s underlying attribute value.
Overdrawing the aura would forcibly squeeze out all its attribute values, leaving the Life Aura with only enough strength to sustain bare survival.
Its current dimness indicated that Nels''s physical body only had about two to three years of lifespan remaining.
Furthermore, its potential had been utterly depleted. Unless a miracle occurred, this body would never have a chance to advance to the Iron Rank.
The Esoteric Breathing Technique was also rendered ineffective, making it impossible to directly harness the aura for temporary enhancements to damage demons.
Of course, with his current attribute values, Nemus no longer needed such temporary buffs.
After his attribute value broke through the limits of the Black Iron Rank and reached thirteen, Nemus had not officially transitioned into the Iron Rank, but he had nevertheless acquired Extraordinary Traits as a result.
This was entirely different from the Immortality trait a physical body gained when possessed by a Lesser Demon.
Right now, Nemus had acquired two distinct Extraordinary Traits.
The first was called — Entry-level Exception.
This was essentially the temporary enhancement previously granted by the Esoteric Breathing Technique—the ability to directly damage demons possessing the Immortality trait—only now, it had been permanently solidified.
The second was called — Grace of Absolution.
He obtained this trait because he had become a Precept Holy Knight through the Absolution Precept. Its effect was straightforward: one who forgives others shall also be forgiven. It granted him total immunity to any damage with an attribute value of ten or below, partial damage reduction for attacks exceeding a value of ten, and simultaneous mitigation of negative conditions such as mental pressure and curses!
These two Extraordinary Traits were intimately connected to the Holy Nails embedded within his flesh. As long as the Holy Nails did not dissipate, the traits would remain active.
Nemus briefly assessed his current condition and confirmed one crucial detail: armed with these two traits, he could now hold his own against an Iron Rank entity using the methods of a Holy Knight. This was the true terror of a Precept Holy Knight—a bottlenecked warrior could forcefully shatter their limit, directly acquiring relevant Extraordinary Traits and tremendously augmenting their own combat prowess.
The Precept Church had not become one of the premier religious powers on the Material Plane purely on empty fame.
"Very well, you have gotten what you wished for. I just hope you don''t perish before I do," the old pastor said, looking at Nemus. A fleeting trace of lament flashed through his eyes before he turned and walked toward the confession area.
Nemus stared at the man''s aged back, but what he was actually calculating was the probability of successfully taking the old man down if he launched a sneak attack right now.
Ultimately, however, Nemus abandoned the idea. It was never wise to fight an opponent on their home turf.
A priest''s combat power surged significantly while inside a church. The root cause was that holy light could, to a certain extent, channel the surrounding Power of Faith for enhancement.
Furthermore, there was a very high chance that holy relics had been buried within the church''s foundations during its construction. In times of dire need, those relics could unleash devastating power.
On another note, Nemus was immensely curious about the secrets the old pastor was hiding.
Nels had been exiled to this remote village because he suffered a bitter falling out with his family after exposing some of their scandalous affairs.
But what about the old pastor?
He was an Iron Rank powerhouse, a standing that surpassed eighty percent of the priests in the world.
How could a man of his caliber end up as a stationary priest in such a tiny village?
This was no longer a mere case of a great talent being squandered on trivial matters; it was a severe and egregious waste.
In an era plagued by general instability, the problems an Iron Rank priest could solve were enough to guarantee the safe livelihood of tens of thousands, if not more.
''He arrived in this village before Nels, goes without a name, and took rather good care of Nels,'' Nemus pondered as he scoured Nels''s memories, trying to dig up more clues about the old pastor.
For example, according to regulations, Nels should have resided in the church''s dormitory area, but the old pastor allowed him to live in a house provided by Village Chief Opper instead.
There were also the occasional heart-to-heart chats where the old man would offer Nels words of comfort.
Other than that, there was barely any useful information.
It did not even add up to the amount of information the old man had inadvertently exposed today.
In Nemus''s initial calculations, his radical demands today were merely meant to be a drastic opening bid, akin to ''threatening to tear off the roof.''
He had fully expected to engage in several rounds of tense negotiation with the old pastor before finally compromising to reach the more reasonable ''opening a window'' phase.
For instance, compromising from a fully unleashed Precept Holy Knight with Holy Nails driven all over his body, down to a mere initiate who only accepted a single nail.
However, once the old pastor asked if he came from the Dartmenerly family and then muttered to himself about letting go, Nemus''s plans had grown far more aggressive.
He adopted a firm stance, demanding to receive the full set of precepts today.
Astonishingly, the old pastor agreed, behaving throughout the entire process as if he owed Nels a profound debt.
''How interesting. It seems I will need to investigate the old pastor''s background through other channels,'' Nemus thought, his keen intuition sensing that the old man''s presence in this village was tied to some deep hidden secret.
And this secret most likely had significant ties to the Dartmenerly family, or perhaps even the Precept Church itself!
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