A gentle voice echoed in Lilian's mind.
【Honest and trustworthy, forgiving of a nun's faults, compassionate and thoughtful toward the believers—very good.】
Hearing the Goddess of Light's words, Lilian knew she had managed to fool her this time.
The Goddess of Light probably had terrible eyesight, missing her petty calculations completely.
Judging by this setup, the Goddess's method of assessment was quite rigid. She only bothered reading what the believers were shouting in their heads, paying no mind whatsoever to what she, the Saintess, was actually thinking in her heart.
【Choose one, my child.】
Three cards glowing with golden radiance lined up in the center of her mind.
The first card:
【Gold Augment: Worth the Wait】
【Randomly acquire a learnable spell of one rank higher than your current rank, then gain +2 proficiency daily until it reaches EX rank.】
(Give it a shot, what if?)
The second card:
【Gold Augment: Tons of Stats】
【+2 to all stats, cannot exceed rank limit. Current stat cap: 10】
(Tons of everything!)
The third card:
【Gold Augment: Searing Spark】
【You immediately learn the unranked spell Searing Spark. Your Searing Spark can consume other sparks of a tier no lower than its current rank to advance.】
【Searing Spark: Consumes 10 MP to launch a ball of flame forward, dealing fire-attribute damage equal to consumed MP + Intelligence stat to the target.】
(A dime-a-dozen spell, but in your hands it possesses infinite possibilities. Be careful though—don't let the kid overeat.)
Lilian stared at the three cards, her eye twitching.
What the hell was "Worth the Wait"? Last time she picked a silver version of it, it randomly gave her the Basic Purification Spell with +1 daily proficiency. It took a whole ten days to climb to Level 2—gaining far less than if she had just casually cast it a few extra times herself.
If she randomly got an Intermediate Light Spell this time, haha, she would really be laughing her head off.
As for the second card, 【Tons of Stats】, it granted +2 to all stats, but the cap was locked at 10.
Adding two points to her Strength and Constitution would at best upgrade her from slightly stronger than a chick to slightly stronger than two chicks.
Besides, her Intelligence and Spirit were already at 9, so adding just 1 point would hit the cap, wasting half the stat points completely. It was a pure stat trap.
Her gaze locked firmly onto the third card.
【Searing Spark】.
Her skill bar currently contained only Basic Purification Spell and passive mana-regen Meditation, leaving her offensive options completely blank.
This spark took only 10 mana to cast once, meaning her 90 mana was enough to hurl it nine times in a row.
Plus the 9-point Intelligence bonus, her base cast dealt 19 points of fire-attribute damage right off the bat.
Her own delicate little body had a grand total of only 20 health points.
If she flung this flame onto an ordinary person's forehead, it could cremate them on the spot!
Not to mention it could evolve further in the future by consuming higher-grade sparks.
“I choose the third one, 【Searing Spark】!”
The first two cards dissolved into wisps of green smoke, while the third golden card shattered with a pop into specks of light, drilling through her glabella and settling into her right palm.
A tiny, scorching flame flickered in her palm, and a crisp prompt echoed in her mind:
【Ding! You have learned the unranked spell: Searing Spark!】
【Skill bar updated.】
【Go, my child, and let the power of light protect you.】
The holy golden light enveloping her head finally receded, and a wispy flame rose at Lilian's fingertips!
The street, previously struck silent by the divine miracle, erupted into a roaring wave of praise and cheers from the believers.
“It's a spell! Saintess Lilian has been granted a spell by the Goddess!”
Lilian let out a quiet breath and dispersed the flame with a wave of her hand, her face returning to a harmless, delicate smile:
“Boss Veto, please send someone to deliver the rye bricks and beast milk to the church. The believers are all still waiting on empty stomachs. Including what I just gave you, how many copper coins do I still owe?”
Veto wiped cold sweat from his forehead and let out a dry laugh.
The flame that had flared in Lilian's hand just now was no illusion. Not many people in this small town could cast magic so casually.
“Lady Saintess, you're treating me like a stranger.”
Veto bowed like a cooked shrimp, waving his hands frantically:
“The sixty copper coins you gave are more than enough for the rye bricks! As for those two large barrels of fresh beast milk, consider them my offering to the Lady Goddess!”
Lilian raised an eyebrow.
Fresh beast milk wasn't cheap goods; she had originally prepared to clean out her savings.
After all, being watched by a deity in front of a street full of believers and then turning around to buy sour, spoiled overnight milk was an embarrassment she couldn't afford.
This boss sure knew how to play his cards right.
Lilian nodded slightly:
“The Goddess will remember your devotion, Boss Veto.”
“Ah! Thank you, Lady Saintess!”
Veto yelled toward the back kitchen at the top of his lungs, “Hurry it up! Load the best spotted-cow beast milk and rye bricks onto the cart and deliver them to the church!”
The surrounding believers cheered excitedly.
Lilian turned and left amid the crowd's praises.
Once out of everyone's sight, she could no longer suppress the grin on her face.
The market price for two large barrels of fresh beast milk was at least around four silver coins, and buying it by the bowl would be even more expensive.
Dismissing the believers for just sixty copper coins while scoring a free offensive spell on the side was a fantastic deal.
The shop assistant pushed the wheelbarrow down the main road, while Lilian took a shortcut back to the convent.
Just as she turned onto the gravel path in front of the church, she saw a dense crowd of believers kneeling beneath the main entrance steps, the two sides arguing until they were red in the face.
Atop the steps, Fina stood with her hands on her hips, pointing at the believers below and shouting at the top of his lungs:
“Listen up, all of you! That wonderful Saintess you keep praising couldn't bear to spend money on proper food for you! She ran off to the bakery and insisted on buying rock-hard rye bricks for you to eat!”
Several scrawny believers looked at one another and muttered in low voices:
“Those hard lumps... the elderly definitely won't be able to chew them...”
A flash of malice glinted in Fina's eyes, her voice turning shrill:
“Would I lie to you? I kindly advised her to buy freshly baked white bread, since everyone's been waiting on empty stomachs for so long! And what happened? Not only did she refuse to listen, but she even publicly humiliated me and incited the passersby to chase me away!”
Fina wiped away non-existent tears:
“She's the high-and-mighty Saintess holding the offerings the people donated to the Goddess, yet she can't even spare a single bite of decent bread for you!”
The believers erupted, whispering back and forth.
“How could this new Saintess be like this...”
“We kneel here praying early every morning. Do we only deserve to gnaw on rocks?”
“Nonsense!”
Several fanatical older believers in the crowd angrily countered, “The Lady Saintess is always so gentle and merciful! How could she possibly do such a thing!”
The two groups shoved and jostled, spit flying everywhere.
Fina's eyes swept toward the alley entrance, catching sight of that slender white robe. Raising her chin high, she pointed her finger straight at the approaching Lilian:
“My, my! Look, everyone, your Lady Saintess is back! Why don't you go ask her whether she prepared those lethal rye bricks for you?”
A few believers squeezed out of the crowd, looking anxiously at Lilian: “Lady Saintess, did you really buy rye bricks for us?”
Lilian walked up to the steps and stopped.
She blinked her big eyes, speaking in a mild and completely open tone:
“Oh yes, I indeed bought rye bricks.”
The two older believers in front stumbled, taking two steps back:
“How could this be... Rye bricks are as hard as rocks, how can we chew them!”
Beneath the steps, complaints and curses immediately filled the air:
“Sister Fina was right! The new Saintess doesn't care about our lives at all!”
Fina bent double with laughter on the steps, just about to open her mouth to mock her.
Squeak, squeak.
The heavy grinding of wooden wheels echoed across the bluestone road outside the gate.
The bakery's assistant rolled up his sleeves, wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Clear the way! Sorry to keep the Lady Saintess and all the believers waiting!”
A rich, piping-hot aroma of milk drifted on the wind, washing over the steps.
The chatter before the steps fell completely silent. The Adam's apples of several believers bobbed violently, their gulps audibly distinct.
Beneath the stone steps, Lilian lowered her hands, a smile slowly creeping into her eyes.
Rate on N.U.
