HPxLOTM: A Wizard's Path to Divinity

[Harvest Church]

Just after finishing his nightly wash, Emlyn had barely lain down when a massive shadow suddenly loomed over him.

He instinctively flipped over, nails instantly stained with a crimson pattern—then froze. "Father? Sneaking in like that—trying to scare someone to death?"

Father Utravsky offered a mild, apologetic smile. "Apologies. There's a Sanguine outside asking for you. Go meet him."

"Huh?"

Emlyn scratched his head in confusion. "What kind of urgent business makes them show up this late? Besides…I don't even have friends there..."

He stepped out of the church quickly, only to find a handsome man in a sleek, perfectly tailored suit standing at the entrance. The man lowered his head from time to time, tidying his collar or brushing off imaginary dust from his shoulders.

Emlyn blinked. "Why are you here, you suit-obsessed freak?"

"Oh, Ernes said you were looking to buy the Trapped Ghost Residue Powder. I happen to have some. What, you don't want it?"

Lald looked up and returned the jab with a smirk. "Doll-obsessed freak!"

———

The next morning

Edward received a response from the Evernight Goddess:

"This is your own affair. A god shall not interfere. But the Sanguines are not your enemy."

Alright then, got it.

One moment she says she won't interfere, and the next she's hinting the Vampires aren't the enemy. How much more obvious can you be?

———

Later, Edward arrived at Harvest Church. Emlyn was seated in the last pew, yawning and lazily scrubbing the same spot over and over with a rag.

"Morning, Emlyn."

"Morning."

Emlyn waved sluggishly. "I sent someone with the message last night. Thought you'd show up right away."

"Sorry, I was…busy with something else."

From the look of him, it was obvious Emlyn had no clue what had happened last night. As expected from the empty-headed silly Mr. Moon.

"...…"

Emlyn touched his own face, puzzled. "What's that look for? Feels like you're thinking something nasty about me."

"No, just thinking…you're really a refreshing breeze amongst the Sanguines."

"???"

That…didn't sound like a compliment.

"Ahem. The Trapped Ghost Residue Powder—you wanted it. I've got 30 grams. It's 560 pounds, plus 40 pounds for my commission. Total: 600. How's that?"

He added, "Just so you know, the real market price isn't that high, but the seller I found insisted on this rate. Nothing I could do."

"But—"

Emlyn took out a tin box and passed it over. "But he threw in a little extra—said it's a gift to offset the markup."

Edward raised an eyebrow. A freebie?

He opened the box and saw, besides some glittering powder, a small blood-red ring.

Emlyn explained, "Says it's a sealed artifact, but I tried it last night—didn't seem to do anything. No wonder he gave it away."

The moment Edward touched the red ring, a surge of information flashed into his mind:

"Wearing this ring grants the abilities of a blood clan: flight, teleportation, and moonlight transformation, along with enhanced regeneration.

The side effect: each use triggers a curse that can only be dispelled through sincere prayer to the progenitor."

…What? This is no minor gift.

This was at least equivalent to a Sequence 5-level sealed artifact—and the side effect was practically negligible.

Edward instantly grasped the meaning—this ring was an apology from the Sanguines for what had happened last night.

Had the Goddess intervened and mediated with Sanguine Ancestor? That would explain her "non-interference" message from this morning.

Wow. The Goddess really had his back.

So…accepting this ring meant the entire matter from last night was officially over?

"What is it?"

Seeing Edward fall into a thoughtful silence, Emlyn asked curiously, "Not happy with the price?"

"No, it's fine."

Edward nodded. "Help me thank your contact."

"Bah, he's not my friend! Just a business deal."

Emlyn snorted in disdain.

Edward took out six crisp banknotes and handed them over. "Here. Count it."

"No need."

Emlyn stuffed the money into his pocket. "Alright, if you need anything else, come find me. I've got more work to do."

Nowadays, Father Utravsky had trained Emlyn into a proper clergyman—he couldn't sit idle in the church even if he wanted to. What was the term? Ah yes—"eyes that see work."

"Later."

Edward Disapparated back home.

He found Lilith still buried under the covers, only her little round butt sticking out. Without ceremony, he scooped her up.

The little cat blinked in confusion as Edward slipped a blood-red ring over her right front paw.

Though the ring had been sized for a finger, it immediately enlarged to fit around her soft paw pad, then shrank again to snugly settle into her fur, hidden from view.

Lilith wriggled her paw uncomfortably, trying to shake the ring off—unsuccessfully.

"Lilith, feel anything new?"

She tilted her head and thought hard. "I think…I can turn into a bat, fly, turn into moonlight, and teleport! Eh? Aren't these the powers of those bad guys from yesterday?"

"Exactly. This is their apology for offending Miss Lilith."

Lilith beamed. "Hmph, good they know their place! Miss Lilith the Big Cat forgives those silly little kittens!"

Then she suddenly lit up. "Wait, can they catch me a few more times? Then I can get even more gifts—for you, Audrey, and Susie too!"

"Uh…probably not, but thank you for thinking of us, Lilith."

"Of course~ Miss Lilith always shares the best things with you all, especially my favourite—rats! But none of you want to eat them!"

"…Next time, I promise."

Edward actually considered whether he should catch a few field mice to share with Lilith. After all, field mice were eaten in many places and were even considered a delicacy in some regions.

He shivered inwardly.

Lilith lifted her right paw. "Edward, look! Tell me—does it look good~?"

"Yes~ Very good."

"Heehee~"

"Right, Lilith—do you want to give it a name?"

She thought about it seriously. "It's the thing Lilith wears on her leg, so I'll call it Lilith's Leg Ring!"

"…Great name."

Edward complimented her with great reluctance.

Wearing a "leg ring" on a cat named Lilith was one thing…but if it were the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith wearing it?

Hiss—No, he mustn't go there. Can't keep thinking about it!

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, the window was tapped. Reflected in the glass was a beautiful woman in a black Gothic court-style dress—Sharron.

She took a step through the glass and appeared inside the room. Her face was deathly pale, her sapphire eyes calm as a still pond.

"Mr. Edward, thank you for last night."

Lilith immediately turned her head toward the window, then back at Sharron, curious how she had come in.

Edward smiled.

"No problem. We help each other. If I ever run into danger, and Miss Ex…ahem, Miss Reinette lends a hand, that'll be enough."

"She definitely will."

Her tone was firm—obviously, she had Reinette's approval.

"Miss Sharron, I assume you didn't come just to thank me?"

Sharron nodded. "Correct. I'd like to purchase three things from you: the Scarlet Lunar Corona, the Beyonder characteristic of the Wraith, and that mummy."

"No problem. May I ask your offer?"

"My teacher says the Scarlet Lunar Corona and the Wraith's characteristic can be exchanged for another favour from her. As for the mummy, she asked that you name the price."

"You want me to set the price?" Edward thought for a moment. "That mummy is a necessary material for your promotion to demigod. In that case…I'd like to trade it for a demigod-level Beyonder characteristic. What do you think?"

Sharron didn't hesitate. "Agreed. Which path do you need?"

"Not sure yet."

That would depend on which pathway he needed for Sequence 4.

"You can owe me for now."

Sharron frowned slightly in thought. "Alright. But please determine it as soon as possible. Searching for demigod-level characteristics is not an easy task."

"I'll do my best."

"As for the Scarlet Lunar Corona and the Wraith's trait…"

Edward took out both items and handed them over. "Deal."

Sharron's doll-like face showed no emotion. "Thank you, Mr. Edward. Is there anything you'd like me to pass on to Teacher?"

"Not at the moment."

"Understood. I'll take my leave, then."

Her figure quickly turned transparent and appeared again in the glass.

"Oh—one more thing. To lure out Steve and the others, we intentionally exposed the Brave Hearts Bar. We won't be going back there for a while. If you need us, just use your messenger."

"Got it."

"Thank you again."

This time, Sharron truly left.

Lilith immediately leapt onto the table and stepped on the glass with her little paw.

"Edward, her ability is so cool!"

"You know…your new teleportation ability is even cooler."

"Oh, right!"

She was delighted for a few seconds but then pouted.

"But my teleport only works under the moonlight…and so does the moon-phase transformation."

Those were vampire abilities after all—the sealed artifact couldn't escape its origin. Edward had no choice but to comfort her:

"Well, cats are naturally night creatures. Isn't that better than needing sunlight?"

"You're right~"

"But remember—every time you use it, you have to pray to the Sanguine Ancestor. Otherwise, bad things might happen."

"Got it~"

Edward gently stroked her soft fur, lost in thought.

The issue with the vampires was settled for now. But the revenge on that demigod thief?

That was still pending. And the best option for that…was undoubtedly Pallez.

But…

How should he communicate with that old man?

He rubbed his chin and pondered—

Maybe just go straight to him with Dunn and Klein. Klein should be "resurrected" by now anyway. He must really miss his brother and sister.

He had hesitated before, worried the Evernight Goddess had special plans. But after several interactions, Edward understood—what she truly cared about was Klein's gradual growth until he became the Lord of the Mysteries.

The process? That wasn't important.

In fact, the more Klein engaged with family, the deeper his emotions and ties, the stronger his drive to fight the apocalypse—and the more urgent his desire to grow stronger.

Crack!

Audrey's figure suddenly appeared. Her expression was serious. "Quick!"

"Huh?"

"The banquet's tonight. We need to use the remaining time to reinforce our practice!"

"Oh, okay."

…Why did this feel like a cram session just 15 minutes before the exam?

———

[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.