I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

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[Special Power of Faith detected!]

[Activating Judgement! Priest's specialty [Devout Faith]!]

[Yes/No to begin]

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Looking at the newly popped-up message on the panel, Lis was somewhat puzzled.

Could experiences in a dream world also trigger a judgement?

He directly clicked "No," refusing the Priest profession's specialty.

Lis was quite familiar with [Devout Faith], the Priest profession specialty, because many Priests in his past life had chosen this specialty, and the bonuses it provided were significant.

Due to the special nature of the Priest profession, they needed to worship a divine being and receive a baptism from Divine Power, in order to officially advance to the Priest profession.

Thus, the vast majority of Priests were members of the Church of the Gods, with very few exceptions.

The essence of a Priest is to offer their Power of Faith to the divine and to receive power in return, so the more devout the faith, the more powerful the Priest could become.

By the time they reached the Legendary Priest stage, they were essentially walking representations of the All Gods on earth!

After his rebirth, once Lis discovered that he possessed the [All-Purpose] Talent, he had planned the basic specialties he intended to acquire for various Professions.

Naturally, he considered the Priest profession.

Lis had also wondered, since the Divine Revelation game world was a real place, what exactly was the situation for those players who chose the Priest profession? Did they truly have faith in the All Gods?

Lis was quite curious; honestly, he felt it was more in line with players' style to have faith in the Abyss Lord and Lords instead!

Could it be that Priest players had been freeloaders, taking advantage of the gods' Divine Power without true devotion?

Lis didn't have the power to explore these Hidden secrets yet, but he had already determined his future specialty as a Priest, and it was not the [Devout Faith] that the system had just prompted.

The effect of [Devout Faith] was to reduce the Priest's consumption when using Divine Arts, while also significantly increasing the compatibility with the worshipped divine's Divine Power, which was already a highly practical Skill for the average Priest.

But Lis didn't want to choose this one, as it wasn't very useful for him, especially since he had received education in the new age materialism and didn't think he could truly believe in a divine being.

Moreover, the standard Priest wouldn't help much in increasing his power.

So Lis chose to decline the mastery judgement of this Priest's profession specialty.

He wondered if this refusal would affect the subsequent process.

Lis pondered quietly, then he heard Priest Kelly's gentle voice.

"Open your eyes, Miles!"

He knows my name.

Upon hearing this, Lis opened his eyes to see Kelly looking at him with a smile in his eyes.

"Congratulations, Miles, you have become a messenger of My Lord. Hurry back and tell your uncle the good news."

"Don't forget to come to the temple on time tomorrow morning!"

It seemed that there was no impact; was the key point the power that reshaped his body?

Lis nodded his head and bowed respectfully to Kelly, saying:

"Thank you, Priest Kelly."

Then he ran out of the Black Temple in high spirits, imitating Rory's manner.

Kelly watched his retreating figure with even more joy in his gaze, then continued to test the other boys.

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Lis, armed with the information in his mind, walked through the rudimentary Luoxue Town toward his home.

Pushing open the wooden door, he saw the somewhat dark interior of his home. He called out, but no one responded; it seemed that his Uncle Rogel wasn't at home.

The Miles that Lis had incarnated into lived with his Uncle Rogel. His parents had died from attacks by wild animals in the mountains when he was a child, and afterwards Rogel had taken him in, and they lived together to this day.

Rogel had not married subsequently, perhaps because of Miles.

In the early days of Snow Ridge Town, it was difficult enough to support oneself, let alone someone with a child to look after.

Lis looked around at the quite rudimentary shed, its only advantage being that it was strong and firm enough not to collapse under the heavy snow of winter, and to block out the winter's chilly winds.

Lis lay on his small wooden bed, underneath which was a simple padding of straw topped with tanned hides.
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Seeing various animal hides and well-crafted arrowheads around the home, it seemed that his uncle was a Hunter?

The life of a mere Hunter in this world was far more dangerous than in his former life, given the presence of Extraordinary Magical Beasts.

Lis lay on the bed, staring at the wooden planks above while his mind pondered the matters of this dream trial.

There were too many strange things, including the Wisdom God, those peculiar prayers, and that Priest Kelly. Lis felt that the key might well be in the temple.

I've passed the test, and since I've been told to go to the temple tomorrow, it's probably to teach us what we should do as Priests, or perhaps to guide us in Priestly Extraordinary Abilities?

Something about this once Snow Ridge Town seemed off to me, the style didn't quite match.

Lis rubbed his head, exhausted by the morning's events; the twelve-year-old's body was starting to feel sleepy.

It wasn't long before Lis fell asleep in bed.

...

Lis suddenly woke up to the sound of the door opening after who knows how long.

Looking up, it turned out to be Uncle Rogel returning.

Rogel was only around thirty years old, but he looked much older than Priest Kelly. He wore deep grey leather armor stained with dust and black mud, signs the chill winds of the Luoxue Mountain had left indelible marks on his face, his brown hair greasy and dirty as it hadn't been properly cleaned in a while.

He appeared quite tired, but upon seeing Lis, he couldn't help but smile.

"Little Miles, how did the test go this morning?"

"I passed, Priest Kelly told me to go directly to the temple tomorrow."

"It doesn't matter if you didn't pass, what?"

Rogel learned from the town mayor that only two or three people were expected to pass the test. With so many children, he figured it would be tough for Miles to make it through. Just as he was about to offer some words of comfort to his nephew, he suddenly paused and asked with an uncertain tone.

"You passed the test?"

"Yes, Uncle Rogel."

Lis nodded, giving Rogel a definitive answer.

"Phew~ That's fantastic, Miles!"

Rogel's face lit up with surprise as he tossed aside the longbow and sack he was holding.

He lifted Lis with both hands and said cheerfully,

"I never expected my nephew to be so talented! Keep it up, Miles!"

Lis struggled uncomfortably for a moment, realizing it was futile against the considerable strength of this seasoned hunter.

"To celebrate, let's have meat stew tonight."

"I caught a deer today and brought back a leg."

While talking, Rogel put Lis down and retrieved a deer leg, already skinned, from a sack nearby—an extraordinary delicacy in Snow Ridge Town.

Rogel took the deer leg to prepare it outside the house and added,

"Miles, you need to eat more meat. It's not good to be frail if you're to become a priest of the Wisdom God!"

Listening to Rogel's words, Lis suddenly felt something was off.

What the heck, since when did priests need to train their bodies?

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The next day, at the town center of Snow Ridge Town, the temple of the Wisdom God.

Early in the morning, Lis was woken up by Rogel and hurriedly taken to the temple.

Rogel clearly held sincere reverence for the Church of the Wisdom God, which seemed to have a very high status among the townfolk of Snow Ridge. Could the legends actually be true?

But for now, it appeared that there was only one priest within this church of the Wisdom God, Kelly.

"Today, we are here to learn how to gain favor with My Lord and become a better priest."

Kelly stood in front of three children, smiling kindly.

Lis, one of the children, nodded obediently, while sneaking a glance at the other two.

One was his good friend Rory, and the other was someone he didn't know well, seemingly named Akhar, a skinny and tall teenager who looked about fourteen or fifteen years old.

"Priest, what should we do then?"

Rory raised his hand and asked curiously.

"No rush, just follow my lead."

Kelly held a Holy Scripture that emitted a faint white glow, looking quite charming.

Too bad there were no girls present to appreciate the scene.

Is this the main event then?

Lis was also secretly looking forward to it. Was the real action finally about to start?

But then, Priest Kelly began to train the three young boys.

Lis had thought the training would involve meditation, reciting Holy Scriptures, and sensing spirits—all of that sort. However, the reality was completely different from what he expected.

Priest Kelly first led them in a devout prayer to the Lord of Wisdom, settling their spirits.

Then he took the three on a run around Snow Ridge Town, circling the small town four or five times before taking a short break, followed by strength training.

Lis, busy moving a rock up and down, felt somewhat dejected.

Although he had been a Mage and not a Priest in his past life, he knew that Priests normally did not train like this.

Wasn't this the kind of training warriors did?

Why did the Church of the Wisdom God seem so whimsical?

But...

Lis glanced at Rory and Akhar, who, gritting their teeth, were diligently training, their faces flushed with effort.

They didn't seem to have any doubts, behaving as if it were expected of them.

Thinking back to what Rogel had said the day before, could it be that the true profession of the so-called Priests of the Wisdom God was actually that of a warrior?

Feeling his muscles ache, Lis pondered.

He didn't fear the hard work of training, but the frustrating feeling of missing the mark was bothersome.

No, there had to be some key element he was missing.

The tough training quickly consumed the morning hours.

"Let's take a break,"

Priest Kelly stood up, wiped off his sweat, and spoke.

He had kept up with the three boys during their training, and his own effort was much greater than theirs.

He had already taken off his robe and set it aside, sweat glistening on his well-built chest.

Seeing the three kids lying on the ground, spent and bruised, Kelly thought for a moment. From his hand, a white light burst forth, enveloping Liz and the others.

"Divine Arts [Light Injury Healing]!"

As Kelly's voice echoed, Lis and the others felt the pain in their bodies ease considerably, and the bruises began to fade under the glow of the white light.

Rory and Akhar, feeling the strange sensation, looked at Kelly with anticipation. If they trained hard, could they learn to wield this peculiar Divine Art like Priest Kelly?

Lis's expression, on the other hand, was more solemn.

Was this Divine Art?

It was clearly a first-level Transmutation spell [Light Wound Repair]!