The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 425: Rule Breaker (2)
“But what about the other dragons?”
The dragons who had fallen to the Middle Realm with Eos. Did Kai have to use Memory Dive with each of them one by one too?
Eos lightly shook his head at Kai’s question. “They are no longer gods, but I can still help them recall their memories with what remains of their divinity, so don’t worry.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“I believe they will all become reliable allies for you just like me.”
“That sounds fun.”
What would Muldine feel, getting hit by Breath from the dragon he trusted?
With a small smile, Kai asked one last question. “Eos, how can I raise my rank?”
“Rank?” Eos gently smiled. “You already know the answer.”
“Pardon?”
Kai asked because he didn’t know and yet he was told he already had the answer. It felt like a riddle and tilted his head.
“Look back on everything you already know. You have the answer. All that’s left is to write it on the answer sheet.”
It seemed Eos had no intention of telling him directly, but his attitude was understandable.
“Things gained easily are also easily lost, aren’t they?”
“Nothing is better than realizing something on your own,” Eos stood up from his seat, looking at Kai like a proud teacher.
“This has been a truly meaningful time.”
“Not at all, this was a priceless experience for me. Thank you sincerely,” Eos bowed at a full ninety degrees to show his gratitude.
Considering that he was once a god, it felt strange.
“Well then, I’ll be going now.”
“Are you headed to Whitehall?”
“You know that too?”
“Well, what you plan to use requires a bit of preparation, doesn’t it?”
“You’re truly amazing.”
“I’ll open a teleport gate for you. It’s close anyway.”
“Close...? Come to think of it, where exactly is this lair located?”
He had just followed the red dragon and didn’t know the location of Eos’s lair.
“Hmm? It’s underground in the plains east of the Kingdom of Rashion.”
Kai’s eyes lit up when Eos casually said the location.
“East Rashion...?”
“That’s right. Is something wrong?”
Of course there was. That land now belonged to him.
With a bright smile, Kai asked, “Have you paid your land tax by any chance?”
***
Kai contentedly looked at his now-full inventory as he walked through Whitehall.
As expected of a dragon, and a Lord at that, he sure has a lot of wealth.
Jewels and ores gathered over 10,000 years, and even piles of gold coins. Eos’s lair was nothing short of a treasure vault.
There was still plenty left even after taking this much.
It went without saying that a dragon would never have paid taxes. Thus, Kai received the overdue taxes of 100,000 gold in a single lump sum, and made a deal with Eos to collect 10,000 gold in annual taxes moving forward.
1 billion in one go. Games really do make earning money easy.
With a joyful heart, Kai stopped by a snack shop to buy some treats, and headed somewhere. It wasn’t the Celestial Garden, but rather an open area slightly outside the city of Whitehall. Smoke rose from the chimney of a hut located there.
This smell... It's been a while.
Feeling excited at the strong herbal scent that pricked his nose like a traditional medicine clinic, Kai stepped into the hut, the Smile Clinic.
Sensing someone’s presence, the girl brewing medicine turned her head. “Welcome... huh?!”
The girl's eyes widened.
Kai smiled and greeted her, “Hi, Ayana.”
“Kai!” She threw herself into his arms like a football player charging forward.
“Ahem!”
He hadn’t noticed when just looking at her face, but now that she was in his arms, he realized how much she had grown. She had been much smaller back when they had lived together.
“Why did you come so late!”
“Well, I was busy...”
“Mhmm. No, it’s okay. I’m just grateful you came at all.”
Ayana seemed so happy to see Kai that she clung tightly to his pants and wouldn’t let go.
“I bought these on the way. Eat them later,” Kai, who remembered the snacks and candies she used to love, gave them to her as a gift.
“These are my favorites... Thank you!”
“It’s nothing. It’s been a while after all.”
While the two of them chatted, Ayana’s father quietly stepped out toward the entrance.
“What’s all the commotion... Oh?! Is that you, Kai?”
“Yes, have you been well?”
“Oh, we’ve been doing well thanks to you, Kai. Oh right, we heard the news.” His eyes sparkled like those of someone looking at a person they admired. “Not only did you become a count as an adventurer, but now I hear you’ve risen to the rank of Grand Duke.”
“I just worry I might be wearing clothes that don’t suit me.”
“Not at all. We always knew you would become someone great. You’ll do wonderfully, I’m sure of it. Truly. Ah, if only my wife were here at a time like this to prove how sincere I’m being...”
“Now that you mention it, I don’t see your wife around.”
“She went to visit her childhood friends in Libertia. Ah, that’s your territory too now, isn’t it? No one but you would go so far to care for us demi-humans.”
As the conversation started to drag on, Ayana scolded her father, “Dad, sit down and talk.”
“Oh dear, look at me. Please, come in.”
Once seated, the three of them began a proper conversation.
“So what brings you here today?”
“I have some ingredients I’d like to request.”
Though honestly, Kai still wasn’t sure if these should even be called medicinal herbs.
“Of course. It may sound arrogant, but there are very few ingredients I haven’t handled before.”
“This will probably be your first time.”
Just as Ayana’s father tilted his head, Kai placed two ingredients on the table. A still-beating heart and a long horn.
“This is...” Staring at the ingredients, Ayana’s father’s eyes slightly trembled. “I don’t know what they are, but I feel a very negative energy coming from them.”
“They are the heart of a demon archduke, and the horn of the Demon King.”
“W-what?!”
Both Ayana and her father jumped in shock at the appearance of ingredients that only fairy tale heroes would carry.
“I-I’m sorry, but I’ve never handled materials like these before.”
“Please don’t feel pressured. Just think of it as a beast’s heart and a beast’s horn.”
“Are you asking me to mix the two together...?”
“No. You must not mix them. Absolutely not,” Kai strongly emphasized. “I would like them prepared separately. Especially this horn, I want it in drinkable form, and...”
Looking at the heart, Kai continued saying, “As for the heart, please make it into pill form.”
“Certainly... but I’ll need some time. I have to study the ingredients and figure out which herbs to combine in order to amplify their effects.”
“That’s not a problem. How long will it take?”
“Two weeks... Yes. Just give me two weeks.”
When he said it with confidence, Kai nodded.
Two weeks.
That was perfect. Two weeks from now, the matter would be settled one way or another.
***
Kai decided to spend the two weeks it would take to finish the medicine on final preparations.
First, let’s check my condition.
When he opened his stat window, the dazzling numbers instantly caught his attention.
[Kai]
Class: Solaris Cleric
Level: 685
Title: Envoy of God
HP: 308,700
Holy Power: 457,500
Stats
Strength: 3,862 Stamina: 3,087
Intelligence: 3,199 Agility: 2,157
Holiness: 4,570 Dignity: 2,029
Benevolence: 859
Remaining Stat Points: 425
Poison Resistance +30
Magic Resistance +101.5%
Nature Affinity +200
Effectiveness of skills that consume Holy Power +50%
Damage dealt to demons/undead +100%
All Attack Power +10%
Power of all skills +15%
All Stats +10%
.
.
.
It was dazzling. So dazzling that even the most ornate words felt insufficient to describe it.
The total sum of all stats is around 19,000.
At a simple rate of 5 stat points per level, that would be nearly level 4,000. Of course, most rankers increased their stats through gear, skills, achievements, and titles.
Even so, there probably isn’t anyone with as many special titles as me.
The Benevolence stat played a significant role as well. That stat stood at 859. It was a cheat-like stat that raised every other stat by 859 points.
And as shown in the stat window, all those stats are 10% higher.
That was due to the special title earned from defeating Archduke Kinessa, the effect of the Archduke Slayer title.
In that case, my Holiness stat would actually be over 5,000.
Of course, the base stat was still in the 4,000s.
“Hmm.”
Kai closed his eyes and thought about what he could do from here to grow even stronger. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
I have two weeks.
Fighting blindly without a plan wouldn’t get him far. It was far more efficient to create a detailed plan and follow it.
First, stat distribution.
After returning from the Demon Realm, Kai had gained exactly 85 levels. Most of those levels had come from the war against the Black Dragon guild.
Where to invest these 425 stat points is important.
Including the Witness titles, he could boost a total of 1,700 raw stat points. He carefully considered how to distribute the remaining points.
First, eliminate Dignity.
When facing a top-tier god like Muldine, human-level dignity was completely useless. There was no way someone like him would be intimidated by a high Dignity stat.
Intelligence... This much is enough already.
The biggest reason he had raised Intelligence was for Gravity Field, Hellfire, and Absolute Zero. Now that those skills were supported by over 3,000 Intelligence, they were strong enough.
Investing more into Intelligence would be inefficient.
So Intelligence was crossed out. Naturally, Agility was also out.
Agility boosts dodge rate, critical chance, and critical damage...
But those had little merit when fighting someone like Muldine.
That leaves...
Only Strength, Stamina, and Holiness.
“I should put a bit more into Stamina first.”
He had no idea how strong Muldine would be, but if he got killed by a single attack, then everything would be for nothing.
As long as I don’t die instantly, I can survive somehow.
He had Sunlight’s Warmth. In other words, if he could survive just one turn of Muldine’s attack, he was confident he wouldn’t die.
“So, I’ll invest 150 stat points into Stamina.”
Ding!
[Stamina increased by 600.]
[Stamina: 3,087 → 3,687]
[Current HP: 368,700]
Good. Now, that leaves 275 points.
Strength and Holiness. Kai weighed the two stats, and leaned toward Strength.
My Holiness stat is already overflowing.
The energy cost for using Holiness skills had been significantly reduced. On the other hand, due to the effects of various titles and skills, his Holy Power recovery speed had greatly increased. In short, Kai’s current Holy Power was like an endless sea that never ran dry.
Then Strength it is...
Just as Kai’s finger moved toward the Strength stat on the interface, an unexpected message appeared.
Ding!
[Eos has restored the memories of the dragons.]
[Realizing they were used by Muldine, the dragons are filled with deep rage.]
[Relations between the Dragons and the Church of Muldine have changed to Hostile. The two factions will not stop fighting until one is destroyed.]
[The 43 dragons, including Eos, now feel immense affection toward you.]
[+1,849,520 Fame.]
[By turning against Muldine, destiny has been altered.]
[Main Episode: Dragon Age activation requirements have disappeared.]
[Dragon Age episode no longer exists.]
[47,120 related quests no longer exist.]
[The Solarian God Helik has realized the truth behind the birth of dragons.]
[She sheds tears for the dragons and fervently praises you for freeing them from Muldine’s grasp.]
[+100 Benevolence.]
[Due to the effect of Witness of the Sun, your Benevolence stat has additionally increased by 50.]
“Huh...?”
Kai’s finger, which had been moving toward Strength, stopped midair. He continuously reread the messages that appeared in front of him.
I didn’t mean for this to happen...
Cold sweat ran down his back even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Not long ago, the CEO of Pegasus had come all the way to Korea. He came just to beg Kai to please leave some of the Demon Realm content intact but Kai had completely wiped out a main episode presumed to be of similar scale.
“Uh... hmm.”
After thinking it over for a while, Kai eventually shook his head and muttered, “Hah! I give up. Anyway, 150 Benevolence stats, nice.”
