Chapter 165: Ready to Kill (1)

Kai hummed a tune as he strolled through the Solarian Church’s main church.

"

Hm hm hmm

, so the Minerva issue has been resolved.”

It wasn’t an illusion that he seemed to be in a good mood.

I can’t believe I got a skill like this just because I became a complete Solarian Apostle.

It was thanks to the new passive skill that he acquired which led him to be in a good mood.

Even if it weren’t Kai, anyone who gained such a skill would find themselves humming.

[

Solarian Body - Passive

]

Grade: Mythic

All stats increase by 20% when the sun is in the sky.

It was a Mythic grade skill that automatically boosted all stats by 20% during daylight hours! Just the existence of this passive skill alone raised Kai's power to an incomparable level from before.

But this is just the beginning.

Kai was looking for someone as he walked through the main church.

There should be a job NPC somewhere around here.

A job NPC was someone who taught players new skills.

He intended to learn new skills while his current streak was going.

"There he is."

It wasn’t hard to find the NPC. After all, Kai had learned skills from this NPC before when he came for his class change.

As Kai approached, the cleric bowed his head. "Welcome, brother. Have you come to learn new powers?"

It seemed the fact that Kai was now a Solaris Cleric was only known among the bishops. Therefore, the normal cleric was unaware of it and treated Kai casually.

"Yes. May I see the list?" Kai replied.

"Of course," the cleric nodded.

Then, the skills available for Kai to learn appeared in front of him.

I’ve already learned enough regular skills. What matters now is...

Exclusive skills for the Solaris Cleric, the Apostle!

[Support Skills – 12 Skills Available]

[Holy Magic Skills – 19 Skills Available]

[Exclusive Support Skills for Solaris Clerics – 5 Skills Available]

[Exclusive Holy Magic Skills for Solaris Clerics – 2 Skills Available]

"

Huh

?" Kai tilted his head in confusion.

His level was nearly reaching 300 now.

And yet, only seven skills are available?

His first reaction was confusion, but he soon shook his head.

Well, MID Online’s focus has always been quality over quantity when it comes to skills.

Brushing aside his concern, he began looking at the five support skills first.

[Upgrade]

Grade: Unique

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Upon using this skill, the next three skills cast by the user will have greatly enhanced effects.

Cooldown: 10 minutes

[Solar Field]

Grade: Unique

Consumes 5,000 Holy Power to declare a 20x20 meter area centered around the user as the Solarian Domain.

Within the Solarian Domain, the user’s stats and regeneration rate increase.

Evil beings that step into the domain take damage per second and cannot be healed.

The size of the domain increases with skill level.

Cooldown: 12 hours

[Final Attack]

Grade: Unique

Consumes 3,000 Holy Power to turn the next attack into defense-ignoring damage, tripling the damage dealt.

Cooldown: 3 hours

[Sun Clone]

Grade: Unique

Permanently consumes 5 Benevolence stats to create a clone of the caster.

The clone possesses 70% of the caster's abilities and explodes upon death, dealing damage to enemies.

Cooldown: 24 hours

"

Wow

...!"

All the skills were of Unique grade! Moreover, each of their effects was too powerful to ignore.

Upgrade, Solar Field, and Final Attack are skills I can use frequently. But Sun Clone... that's a bit tricky.

What was required to use Sun Clone wasn’t Holy Power, but Benevolence stats.

Kai currently had six stats that could be enhanced with Benevolence points—Strength, Stamina, Intelligence, Agility, Holiness, and Dignity.

In other words, consuming five Benevolence points meant a total loss of 30 stat points!

Hmm. This isn’t a skill I can use often.

Feeling slightly disappointed, Kai turned his attention to the exclusive holy magic spells for the Apostle.

[Wrath of the Sun]

Grade: Unique

Consumes 30,000 Holy Power to unleash an intense sunlight that scorches all targets within the area.

Cooldown: 5 minutes

[Chasing Light Arrow]

Grade: Unique

Consumes 10 Holy Power per arrow.

Light Arrows automatically pursue a designated target.

Cooldown: None

"

Phew...

At least that's a relief, I think."

There were no skills among the holy magic spells that consumed Benevolence stats.

But I’m sure there will be more skills like that as my level increases.

Skills as enticing as Sun Clone would likely emerge. However, Kai would have to sacrifice his precious Benevolence stats to use those skills.

Consistently raising Benevolence stats is key for a Solaris Cleric.

Realizing this once again, Kai opened his inventory and asked, "I’ll learn all six of these skills. How much will it cost?"

"600 gold."

"Yes, 600... Wait, how much?"

"600 gold, brother." the cleric replied with a soft smile.

"...Is there no chance of a discount?"

"Even if the high priest himself came, we couldn’t offer a discount."

It was a solid, impenetrable refusal. Eventually, Kai reluctantly handed over the 600 gold with tears held back.

How is it nearly ten million won for a single skill... I know they’re all Unique grade skills with amazing effects, but still...

It was to the point that without money, playing the game seemed nearly impossible.

Fortunately, Kai was in a position where he could comfortably pay the equivalent of 60 million won.

Money keeps rolling in... and the broadcasting station will pay me soon too.

With a sigh, Kai handed over the pouch of gold to the cleric, and a message appeared.

Ding!

[You have acquired the Upgrade skill.]

[You have acquired the Solar Field skill.]

[You have acquired the Final Attack skill.]

.

.

.

Though the unexpected expense stung a little, a greater sense of joy followed.

I only had Holy Explosion for a holy magic spell before.... Now I’ll have a bit more breathing room.

Players always got an itch when they acquired new gear or skills. Kai was no exception. The only difference was that he was someone who could control his desires well.

I should check my special titles too before I get on the move.

He had gotten a total of three special titles after his recent class completion. Mythical Player, Fourth Apostle, and Witness of the Sun.

Without hesitation, Kai opened his title compendium.

[Mythic Player]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to the first player to acquire a Mythic grade class.

Effect: All stats increase when facing NPCs or players below Mythic grade. (This effect remains even when title is unequipped.)

[Fourth Apostle]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to the one who became the fourth envoy of Helik.

Effect: Skill - Descent can be used. (This effect remains even when title is unequipped.)

[Witness of the Sun]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to those who have witnessed the Solarian God Helik with their own eyes.

Effect: An additional 50% is acquired when gaining Benevolence stats. (This effect remains even when title is unequipped.)

"

Hmm?

"

None of the titles provided an immediate boost in power. That was somewhat disappointing, but Kai soon shook his head.

There are no Mythic grade players or NPCs yet, so... I can always benefit from the extra stats. And getting an additional 50% whenever I acquire Benevolence stats is nice. But what’s Descent?

Kai immediately checked the skill information for Descent.

[

Descent

]

Grade: Mythic

Permanently consumes 20 Benevolence stats to summon the past Solaris Clerics into the caster’s body.

Duration: 1 hour, Cooldown: 1 hour.

"... What?"

After reading the skill’s description, Kai immediately furrowed his brows.

Everything else is fine, but... it consumes 20 Benevolence stats?

In other words, using this skill once would result in a loss of 120 total stat points! It was a devilish skill that demanded the sacrifice of stats.

However...

Summoning the past Solaris Clerics directly into his body was a power granted only to Kai, the Fourth Apostle walking the same path. Thus, the effect wouldn’t be insignificant.

Of course, Kai understood that much, but he still didn’t have the courage to use it.

"Only in a moment of extreme crisis... maybe just before death..."

He doubted if the day would ever even come to use this skill.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Kai left the main church without hesitation.

There are still many issues to resolve within the main church, but that’s not my job.

After all, the corruption within the Solarian Church had already been swiftly and accurately rooted out by his hands. The rest was up to Albert and the bishops assisting him. Of course, interrogating Bernard and Morak was also their responsibility.

They promised to share any new information with me, so there’s no need to worry about that.

Having registered the Solarian Church’s main church as a return location, Kai immediately used the teleportation gate.

"Where would you like to go?"

"To the Ebony Tower."

In an instant, Kai was transported to the Ebony Tower and headed for the desk on the first floor.

"Please state the purpose of your visit."

"

Oh, um

... I have something to receive from Korona. Were there any special instructions left for me?"

"Something to receive...

Oh!

Are you perhaps Kai?" the female wizard at the desk exclaimed, and clapped her hands.

Quickly realizing her mistake, she continued in a quieter voice, "There is. I was instructed to escort you directly to her office when you arrived... However, well..."

The female wizard carefully lifted something and handed it to Kai. "Could you please put this on, just in case...?"

Kai looked at the item she offered and asked in a bewildered tone, "...A necklace of magic resistance? Why this all of a sudden?"

"Th-the Tower Master... She's been under a lot of stress. She kept saying that when you came to collect the item, she'd kill you first before anything else. So, just in case..."

It seemed that Kai's request had been harder to fulfill than expected.

Swallowing nervously, Kai forced a smile and shook his head. "Come on. Korona wouldn't actually kill me, right? She’s the Tower Master, after all... I’m sure she’s very understanding..."

"No, you’re wrong. Our Tower Master is very narrow-minded. Her spinster hysteria is no joke. Trust me, I would know."

Growing more anxious from her persistent warnings, Kai put the necklace around his neck and switched his gear to the Tyrant of the Sea set.

Now my magic resistance is very high.

Though he doubted she’d kill him outright for a favor he did for Parsanax, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of her attacking him.

Kai nervously approached Korona’s laboratory and carefully knocked on the door.

—Who's there at this hour?

"

Um

... it’s Kai. You remember, right? I came to see you with Parsanax..."

Click!

Before Kai could even finish speaking, the door suddenly flew open, and a skinny arm shot out. The hand grabbed Kai by the collar and yanked his entire body inside.

N-not magic? No, apart from that, what kind of strength is this...?

Before he could resist, he was pulled into the room and found himself face-to-face with a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness.

"My client..."

"K-Korona, how have you been?

Haha

..."

Korona, the Tower Master of the Ebony Tower, who had already looked unwell, appeared to have lost even more weight in the past two months.

"

Whew

...

Argh

..." With trembling hands, Korona patted Kai’s shoulder and asked in a desperate voice, "H-hey... could I just... kill you once? You’re an adventurer anyway. You’ll revive."

"That might be a bit of a problem... Could you refrain from doing so, please?"

"

Ughhhh!

"

As if the world was being unfair to her, Korona slumped to the floor and began to cry uncontrollably.

"I spent two whole months... only getting three hours of sleep a day to make that thing... I didn’t even have time to eat properly, so I could only manage two meals a day... and you won’t even let me kill you once?"

"Normally, not allowing that would be the right thing to do."

After struggling to comfort her for a while, Kai helped Korona back into her seat.

Once she calmed her breathing, Korona glared at Kai and pulled out a small ring box from her robes and threw it at him.

"So, this is...?"

"The monstrous item you wanted two months ago. The thing that made me want to kill you a thousand times over." Crossing her arms, she stared intently at Kai. "It’s finished."

Her eyes were filled with exhaustion, but they also gleamed with immense pride.

Feeling as if he had been enchanted by her, Kai carefully opened the ring box.

Click!

As the box opened with a satisfying sound, a brilliant ring emitting a soft, pale purple glow was revealed.