Chapter 278: Improvemen

While the power in Lucien's blood was profoundly nurturing Lucien's soul, his skin started to get pale and dry, like an old mummy buried in a tomb for many years, or a dying poplar tree struggling in the desert.

Lucien's legs were trembling, his muscles became slack, and his heartbeat slowed down. However, his refreshed soul rose in the air and looked down at his withered body.

The creepy feeling came to Lucien so suddenly that it made him feel he was in the world of meditation.

When Lucien thought he was going to die when his Blessing power had been drained by the growth of his soul, some strange power penetrated into his body from Rhine's sharp teeth, and the great improvement in Lucien's soul immediately stopped. The remaining slight amount of Blessing power was stimulated by the strange power and thus started to rapidly recover in Lucien's veins.

The paleness of Lucien's skin gradually vanished, and his skin began to look tight and healthy again. There was an explosive power in his muscles, and although his heartbeat was still slow, it was steady and solid. As for Lucien's brain, now it worked even faster.

Rhine's let go of Lucien's neck, leaving a slight amount of numbing pain.

Rhine's body now looked a bit transparent, and there was tiredness in his silver-colored eyes, but his smile was still bright and elegant, "A distinguished gentleman is never stingy to pay."

Now Lucien could move his body again. After checking himself, he was surprised, "My soul... its power has reached the level equal to that of a fourth-circle sorcerer. My physical strength has reached the level of a level two knight... Are you alright, Mr. Rhine?"

Seeing that Rhine stumbled a bit and his huge wings started to shrink, Lucien hurriedly asked.

Rhine smiled, "There are many magic rites that can help people strengthen their soul and spiritual power. And ancient sorcerers just love doing this. But there are two problems: one is that very few sorcerers could afford these rites, and comparatively speaking, the cost of magic potions is much smaller. Therefore, sorcerers who really need these rites are those ones who either have a hard time improving themselves or must achieve a higher goal within a short period of time."

Knowing what Lucien was thinking, Rhine explained further, "The second problem is that these rites can leave side-effects, which are mostly from the materials consumed and used in the rites. People can also meet further obstacles because of their lack of understanding of magic. If the side-effects could not be eliminated soon, a sorcerer would need to rely more and more on similar magic rites, which might lead to one's twisted disposition. But you, Lucien, you have neither of the problems, because this is my pay for you in advance. What this rite just consumed was my Original Blood, and what nurtured your soul was your own Blessing power, so there is no side effects. Also, since your Blessing is Moonlight, it does not conflict with the power of a vampire."

Lucien listened to Rhine's words carefully and nodded.

"Although your physical strength has also been improved, since the further development of a knight depends on great willpower, unless you want to give up arcana and focus on becoming a knight, there's no way that you could become a grand knight. Of course, you can also do as what some of the sorcerers do to get strong but creepy physical body and longer lifespan... You know, this was why they started using human beings to develop different Blessings. For you, the winner of Holm Crown prize, magic and arcana knowledge should not be a problem at all."

Lucien was finally relieved. After a couple of weeks, when Lucien could handle the newly strengthened spiritual power better, he could try to hit the target of becoming a fourth circle sorcerer, which was two years earlier than expected.

"Mr. Rhine, when I become a senior-rank mage, I'll go and activate the devices you left. But, where are they?" Lucien asked.

Rhine pointed at Lucien's neck and said, "I left a mark on your neck, so I can cast my projection into your dream through it and talk to you. Of course, only under your permission. Also, you can reach me through the mark backwards as well."

Lucien quickly checked his neck using his spiritual power. Like Rhine said, there was an unnoticeable, crescent-shaped mark there, like a birthmark.

"I can tell you really don't want me to know too many details right now, Mr. Rhine." Lucien grinned.

"If you are really interested in knowing more, go to the Congress's Arcana Library and find those books about the history of the church. Read them carefully, and maybe you can find something interesting. The most shocking secret can be hidden in the most ordinary things." Rhine smiled. Then he put his right hand on his chest and excused himself, "After the rite, I'm too tired to maintain my projection. Now, I must go."

As soon as he finished the last sentence, Rhine's body turned into countless black bats, flying everywhere in the space. Then, they all disappeared.

The World of Souls went back to being the colorless and silent world again.

"It was just like pigeons flying up on the square, but they were bats." Lucien smiled and murmured, but no voice could be heard.

After looking around the hall, Lucien looked at Ivanovszki's body. He was a tough enemy, and his Blessing was indeed a big trouble to sorcerers. Were it not for Lucien's many powerful magic items and the fact that they were of the same level, Lucien would be the one who needed to run for his life.

Lucien got really lucky when Ivanovszki lowered his guard after he entered the World of Souls. After all, it was not an easy thing to kill a Saint Knight who was fast and agile.

Ivanovszki's whole set of armor had been completely damaged, so Lucien could only pick some pieces. Maybe they could be used as alchemical materials in the future.

Ivanovszki did not have any rings, necklaces, amulets or belts, because of his special Blessing. He only had a heavy sword and a pair of silver-gray gloves:

"A divine heavy sword built for cleansing sorcerers—Cleanser: level three high rank heavy sword (requires both hands). Before senior-rank, user's magic defence can be improved by one level. Every time when the target is hit, the physical attack is doubled by the holy power attached."

"One can only rely on power!—Ogre Glove: level five middle rank. User's power can be improved to the level of an ogre leader, which is equal to that of a level five grand knight."

Although both of the items were more of less damaged by the toxic gas, Lucien was confident that he could fix them.

Putting the two items in his magic pouch, he decided to give Leo the sword and keep the gloves to himself.

Lucien also searched Ivanovszki's clothes and tried to see whether there was more that he could find about Ivanovszki, but the effort was in vain. Ivanovszki was very careful. Except for a small money bag, Lucien found nothing.

After dealing with the body, Lucien stared at the black-and-white castle hall and his mind started wandering—who was the person behind Ivanovszki? Did the person know anything about this world? Were any other wise creatures here? ... What were the secrets of gods? What was the immortal side of the world? A world whose physics and chemistry were so similar to what Lucien had learned on Earth...

...

In the material world, Dry Vine Castle.

"Cardinal Nevskiy, sorry for troubling you and the night watchers..." said Count Witte, brimming with energy and vitality, "Please get Nikonov."

Having lots of strange magic items and spells, Nikonov managed to escape when Count Witte was distracted with killing Carleena.

Since Nikonov could tell that Count Witte was only overusing his body to get back to the peak time of his power temporarily, if he could make this fight last longer, quite possibly, he would be able to kill the count. However, the church had received the message at that time, so he had to withdraw immediately.

Wearing a red robe, the cardinal looked upright and kind. His blue eyes sincerely looked at the count and said, "I'm very sorry for my mistake, Count Witte. I did not find what was hiding behind your disease... the curse."

"Now that they dare do so, they must be very confident with hiding the curse. It's not your fault, Cardinal." The count smiled, and then he switched the topic, "By the way, Cardinal, I've sent my will about my heritage to His Majesty using my own secret way safely. I'm His Majesty's knight, and I believe that there is no better way than let His Majesty select my inheritor."

Nevskiy nodded and smiled, "Proper decision, Count Witte. His Majesty must know your will and select the best inheritor for you. I'm sure the selected one will be as outstanding as you. Well, I gotta go back to the church now."

"Walk Cardinal Nevskiy out," said the count to a knight standing beside him.

Watching Cardinal Nevskiy walking out of the hall, the count suddenly took a few steps backwards from the great sense of tiredness. At the same time, a sneer appeared on his face.

When the red-robed cardinal left the castle with several pastors and bishops, in the light of dawn, Nevskiy looked up and started to cross in front of his chest with his right hand.

The vertical was shorter and the horizontal was longer.