The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 426: Rule Breaker (3)

“Hm. What should I do?” Kai muttered as he stared intently at the stat window before him.

The fact that he had just destroyed another main episode had already vanished from his mind long ago.

I’ve been playing games long enough. Anyone who plays for a while ends up deleting quests here and there, right?

For Kai, this kind of situation was practically routine. He wasn’t a newbie experiencing episode deletion for the first time. He was a seasoned veteran.

Honestly, I didn’t expect it, but I did gain 150 Benevolence stats and pass 4,000 in Strength thanks to it.

Perhaps because of that, his whole body felt overflowing with power.

“Just as expected...”

Kai stood up and moved his body around for a moment, then nodded and murmured, “Every time the first digit of a stat changes, it feels like the growth jump is bigger.”

When his Strength stat had gone from 100 to 200, he hadn’t noticed much difference. However, when it went from 1,000 to over 2,000, and again when it went from 3,000 to over 4,000, he had always felt the need to train just to adjust. This time was no different. To adapt to his increased Strength, he would have to intensify his training again for a while.

I don’t think there’s any need to increase Strength further... Then should I use the rest of my points on Stamina?

Kai’s gaze moved to his Stamina stat. His Stamina had now passed 380,000. It was high enough to rival even some raid boss monsters. On top of that, his magic resistance was exceptionally high, and his physical defense wasn’t low either. After some thought, Kai shook his head.

At this level, I definitely won’t be killed in one-go. Not even by Muldine, even if he’s a top-tier god.

That meant it was better to focus on offense than defense.

“Offense, huh.”

Kai got lost into deep thought. He doubted that simply raising his Strength stat further would drastically improve his combat power.

If I want real growth, it’s not about increasing stats... I need to gain a relic or raise my rank.

Kai furrowed his brow and closed his eyes, recalling his conversation with Eos.

He clearly said I already knew the answer.

When he had asked about the way to raise his rank, Eos had smiled and replied that he already knew the answer, that all that remained was to write it down on the answer sheet. That riddle-like reply left a heavy stone sitting on Kai’s chest.

I already know the answer...? I don’t think I do.

If he knew how to raise his rank he would have done it already since he was the one who wanted to protect Helik and defeat Muldine the most.

“Hmm...”

Kai let go of his impatience and began slowly going over the information he had gathered.

First, the relic will take time.

He had heard something about that from the former apostles during their meeting.

They said I would obtain it once my conviction solidified.

Which meant it wasn’t something he could get in a short time.

Then what about his rank?

Eos said my power already surpassed the limits of a human.

Eos had judged that if Kai could just attain the proper rank, he would be able to stand equal to Muldine.

“My rank... rank, rank...”

In truth, obtaining a relic and raising his rank had much in common.

It’s the same for the gods of the Celestial Realm. They all need to be certain of their own convictions.

But he himself had no certainty in his conviction. All he had was a wish to infuse freedom into his sword, and to call freedom the conviction that defined his life made even him hesitate.

In other words, it means it’s hard for me to firmly establish my own conviction...

So why had Eos spoken as though he already knew the answer?

Kai opened his photo gallery window and began checking through the screenshots he had taken one by one.

“The source of all holy power in this world is the world’s administrators... in other words, the gods. When the gods become firm in their convictions, holy power is generated. The reason they want many followers is related to this. The more followers who walk the path of their convictions, the more footprints they leave behind, and the greater their divinity becomes. In other words, conviction is holy power itself...”

Kai suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence.

“Wait a minute?”

Amid the storm of scattered thoughts in his head, something began to align.

Conviction is holy power itself?

How could he have overlooked something so simple? With that realization, Kai immediately looked to his stat window.

When the leading digit in the Strength or Stamina stat changed, I could clearly feel the growth.

Naturally so, as anyone would immediately feel it when a part of their physical body changed.

But what about parts that aren’t physical? Like Intelligence or Dignity, for example?

Kai shook his head. Even when those stat values greatly increased, he never really felt a tangible difference. But that didn’t mean they had no effect. As his Intelligence rose, his spellcasting became smoother and more organically connected. Even the speed at which he performed quadruple-casting had increased. The same was true for Dignity. Lately, no monsters dared to attack him first.

Then... What about Holiness?

Kai’s eyes grew calm. It felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together, as if someone had placed a light bulb in his mind and turned it on.

“So that’s what it was.”

Each time his Holiness stat increased, his rank had been steadily rising as well. It just hadn’t come with the kind of obvious effects Strength or Intelligence did.

That’s why I never noticed it. There’s no way a player would be able to sense something like that.

No matter how realistic this world felt, it was still a game. Unless the system gave a notification, there was no way to detect those factors as a player.

In this game, holy power is directly tied to conviction.

He had finally found the answer to which stat he should invest in.

He slowly said, “Distribute all remaining stat points to Holiness.”

[Would you like to invest 275 stat points into Holiness?]

“Yes.”

[+1,100 Holiness.]

Once again, the Witness title proved its worth. Thanks to it, Kai’s Holiness stat jumped from 4,720 to 5,820.

At that moment, the torch that had been casting a soft light began to flicker. Kai was currently inside a private training chamber at the main temple of the Solarian Church. A sealed space where no wind could possibly blow.

What the...?

Before he could realize what was going on, light began to seep out from Kai’s body.

Fwoooosh!

As Kai watched the radiance pour out from himself, he felt something indescribable.

I feel peaceful.

It felt like sinking into a hot bath after a long, exhausting day. Comfort. Warmth. An energy that brought total freedom with not a single worry.

The light that had brightened the chamber like midday gradually returned to its origin, Kai’s body. The hazy trance that felt like a dream faded, and a notification window appeared.

Ding!

[Your Holiness stat has surpassed 5,000.]

[Your conviction has been strengthened as a result.]

[You now possess holy power too great to be held within the vessel of a human being.]

[You have surpassed human limits, but you are one step short of attaining the rank of a Transcendent.]

[Due to your rank increase, your physical balance has become nearly perfect.]

[When fighting opponents of a lower rank, damage received is reduced.]

“Hm.”

He didn’t feel drastically different. Yet his entire body was full of energy, and his movements felt light.

Rather... it feels like the overwhelming power I held has vanished.

Of course, that was just a feeling. The overwhelming power that could split seas and crush mountains was still within him. It had only gone quiet. A true ruler did not reveal their claws without reason, after all.

“And...”

Kai swiftly got into stance and threw several straight punches into the air. With each burst of air, a satisfied smile spread across his face.

Was this what it meant by perfect physical balance?

The awkwardness he had felt from the Strength stat had completely disappeared. He still held immense power, but his body moved no differently than it would in the real world.

“Still... just one step short?”

The message said he was one step away from attaining the rank of a Transcendent.

That one step must be the Holiness stat.

His current Holiness stat was 5,820.

So the Transcendent rank begins at 6,000?

Kai shook his head with an irritated expression.

There was one thing he was now certain of.

This system clearly wasn’t designed with players in mind.

A stat of 6,000. Not even he, who encountered rare opportunities like fast food whenever he felt like it, had reached that level easily. Naturally, he couldn’t imagine an average player ever attaining it.

“But I think I’ll be able to.”

As mentioned before, he was an irregular who consumed rare opportunities like daily meals.

Kai slowly said, “Bless.”

Radiant holy power surged around his body once more.

[You have been blessed.]

[All stats increase by 55 for one hour.]

Cleric’s Blessing. In other words, the upper limit of the Bless skill was level 10, increasing all stats by 50.

But my Bless is level 11.

That was because of the absurdly overpowered special title, Champion, which he had earned in the Duel Arena. That title forcibly boosted the level of all skills by one, and that wasn’t the end.

“Holy Frenzy.”

The enhanced version of Supernova. The moment it was activated, it consumed Holy Power like a hippo, but it had more than enough to consume, enough to consume for hours and still leave leftovers.

So spit it out.

Something worthy of that cost.

The system responded.

[All stats increased by 160.]

[If holy power is insufficient, the skill will automatically cancel.]

Bless and Holy Frenzy. Kai was the only Cleric in the world who could raise all stats by 215 through buff skills.

Kai looked at his stat window.

[Holiness: 6,035]

His Holiness was at 6,000. Even if someone invested every single stat point into Holiness with each level up through normal means, that number would only be achievable around level 1200. However, Kai had reached that absolute wall at just level 685. At the same time, the messages he had been waiting for slowly appeared before him.

Ding!

[The holy power you possess rivals that of the gods in the heavens.]

[Countless gods express awe and admiration for your holy power.]

[Some lesser evil gods feel fear toward you.]

[Though born human, you have temporarily surpassed the limits of your species.]

[You have temporarily acquired the special title: Transcendent.]

[Your physical balance is now temporarily perfect.]

[All your senses have temporarily entered the realm of the Transcendent.]

“Transcendent, huh?” Kai murmured softly as he closed his eyes.

Even the sound of dust settling in the quiet training chamber could be heard. Even if it was a power that could only be used while both Bless and Holy Frenzy were active...

“It’s not a bad feeling.”

A satisfied smile spread across Kai’s face.