The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 164: You All Have to Pay!

“Oh, you can see it directly?” Annan was a little baffled.

Annan verified his status panel repeatedly that he didn’t see any markers on him after becoming a Silver Knight.

“Or, are our churches all Silver Knights?” Annan asked.

If Annan learned that the Silver Sire priests would choose this advancement, he would have been much calmer previously.

But, Bishop Daryl shook his head with a baffled gaze, “No, most people in the church are not even Transcended, such as me.

“Although Transcending can quickly turn ordinary people into big shots, actual big shots don’t always choose the path of transcendence.”

“…En, that’s understandable.” Annan nodded.

After all, the Transcended in this world wouldn’t have a “clean death.”

Not only would the others turn the victim into ashes after death, but also a nightmare would form. All the secrets in the victim’s life would be revealed. Moreover, after someone of mortal nature acquired a certain level of status, he could be more influential than Transcended.

In every big family, at least one mortal wouldn’t choose the path of transcendence. That was to preserve political sparks.

In other words, it was to offer the option to flee.

Once the big shots decide to go to neighboring countries for various reasons, they could smuggle by boat at will. Unless the king wanted their lives, the Transcended assassins would not be able to pass the border. At most, assassins of mortal nature would be dispatched. But, the assassins of mortal nature wouldn’t be able to fight the Transcended of neighboring countries.

Even Annan sometimes suspected that “Annan·Austere-Winter” might be the ordinary person selected to “prepare for emergencies.”

“What about the Transcendeds in the church?” Annan asked expectantly.

Bishop Daryl said relentlessly, “No, and they won’t. Our Transcendeds in Silver Sire Church generally prefer to upgrade their profession to the ‘Silver Robe Wizard’ or other wizard-type professions. That’s because the church’s main job is to purify nightmares. Purifying nightmares can effectively make us more sensitive to sensing curses. This is the proficiency on high demands for the wizards. Wizards having poor perception tend to face more difficulty to advance.

“Those who can become Silver Knights are those who are extremely pious, extremely fanatical, and extremely rich.”

Speaking of this, Daryl looked at Annan in bafflement and even hesitated, “But now it seems that there should be exceptions…”

Don’t look at me like that!?

What else can I do?

I’m put into a desperate spot.

Annan coughed as usual, “My main profession is actually a wizard.”

“But seriously, Silver Knight is a compelling profession.”

Daryl said thoughtfully, “Although it’s costly for the fights, you can utilize it as a profession to protect yourself in critical moments.

“Better still, if you cannot advance into the Silver Rank, you can utilize Silver Knight as the main lead to advance into silver. The upper limit of this profession isn’t bronze but silver. If it isn’t for its demanding advancement requirements, many Transcended will choose it.”

In other words, its upper limit isn’t Level 20 but Level 30…

Annan said in deep thoughts, “Does this mean I’m guaranteed to attain Silver Rank?”

“Yup. It’s like the wizard apprentice profession that assists in attaining Bronze Rank.”

When Daryl heard this, his expression was a little weird, “But only a pious priest can be transferred to this profession. Your Excellency Annan, if our Silver Sire priest wants to be promoted in the holy order, he has to become a bishop. After being a cardinal bishop, you can no longer possess personal property.”

Now, I probably know why only a pious priest can advance to this profession.

Annan was silent, thinking to himself.

It should be because its attribute requirements were rather strange.

Perception at 12; Will at 8; Constitution at 8.

Typically speaking, it wasn’t hard for the swordsman profession to reach 8 in Constitution at Level 10. But according to this demand, they needed to invest 3 additional attribute points in Will. That made it difficult.

Those qualified had a significant talent gap as compared to the average healthy adult.

Moreover, the average population’s Perception attribute was 5, which meant those who weren’t trained as wizard apprentices had to clear the nightmare seven times additionally.

But those having the wizard apprentice profession would have progressed deeper into the wizard pathway instead. After all, they were more secure in attaining the Bronze Rank profession that way.

Where would they find the time to slowly temper their bodies and temper their will?

“I know a senior Silver Knight. Many Gold Rank assassins have failed their attempts in his hands.”

Daryl sat on a chair and reminisced, “He isn’t a bishop, but he is indeed a believer in Silver Sire. He once killed a ‘Shadow Hunter’ with his own hands, a Gold Rank curse hunter. He can use divine art that is inclined towards offense compared to the other priests. After all, his curse reactivity is at the Transcended level, unlike our ordinary priests who don’t store curses with us.

“For example, he can use molten silver coins to form a giant hand to grasp the enemy. This will almost guarantee the opponent’s death by turning them into a terrible silver sculpture in the process. He can also shine out dazzling silver light and bring persistent healing effects and buffs to his comrades. The buff effects are beneficial. It can enable the priests whose Strength is at the commoner’s level to repel the Bronze Rank Swordsman face-to-face.

“If you have a chance to go to the capital, I can write you an introduction letter.”

“I just want to ask.”

Annan hesitated for a while, “For that veteran Silver Knight, his roots are…?”

“He is the Noah Kingdom’s former Chancellor of the Exchequer.”

Speaking of this, Daryl looked at Annan with a vague pity, “He is now the chairman of Noah First Bank and the board member of Noah Second Bank and Iris Bank. But you can rest assured… After all, your fortune will definitely be more than his when you become an adult!”

“……”

“…” Annan choked on his saliva for a moment.

Adulthood…? Inheriting Austere-Winter Dukedom?

Annan looked at the golden-toothed fat man with his mouth slightly raised and decided to change the subject decisively, “I’m here cause I want to ask if my guards want to embark on the Transcended road, what do you recommend?”

“Have they decided? Is it their own decision?” Daryl’s look was a little serious.

Annan nodded and said with certainty, “Yup. They are all under the swordsman profession. They are in good health and have a solid foundation. But they have no specialties. So I hope to get them advancements with slightly a lower entry standard and a better future. “

“In that case…” Daryl thought for a long time.

He said slowly, “Then, I recommend these three professions ‘Guardian,’ ‘Berserker,’ and ‘Swordmaster.’

“A guardian is a profession who is proficient in defensive warfare, one-to-many and many-to-one combat. Its promotion requirements are to successfully block more than 10 attacks in a nightmare and have a relatively balanced physical fitness.

“The Berserker lives up to its name. It is powerful in terms of frontal assault. You accumulate more bravery as the battle continues. As your injury worsens, your Strength will continue to increase. To advance into the Berserker profession, you need to have enough Strength and a sturdy Constitution. Berserker’s advanced requirement is to kill the enemy in a badly wounded state in the nightmare and die alongside the enemy.

“Once the Berserker’s advanced requirements are met, at least one self-harm type of curse will inevitably appear. If you select that self-harm type of curse, you can smoothly advance into a Berserker.”

As Daryl recalled, he said, “For swordmaster, it is an advancement that specializes in one-on-one combat. It may be the hardest attainment for a swordsman of their age. They first need to hone the Basic Swordsmanship to a certain level. Then, they need to be agile.

“They need to use their learned swordsmanship to kill all enemies without taking any damage. This is almost the only way for all aged swordsmen to change their profession. Moreover, they tend to get a lighter and swifter body than themselves in their nightmares, so this is not hard for them.”

“I see.” Annan nodded.

It seems the swordmaster advancement isn’t a viable option.

This was mainly because Annan didn’t dare to reveal “Nightmare: Betrayer” to the players for the time being. In “gallery,” Amos didn’t have the swordsman profession and no sword in his hand.

However, there seemed to be possibilities for the first two options.

I shall talk to the players when the time arrives and let them choose.

But, this information is quite valuable.

Hahaha, y’all have to pay! (Cracked Voice)