A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

Conjuring a golden halo between her hands, Miss Thana gained a gentle and holy feeling, looking like a compassionate and benevolent old woman.

Nisha did not need to feel the effect of hte spell herself to know that it was a potent healing spell.

Before she had the chance to observe the inner workings of the ability in detail, the pure holy radiance gained a sinister shadow with an ominous dark layer isolating the healing effect.

Like a drop of ink staining a cup of water, the sinister stillness smothered the light and took over the spell until nothing but a deathly stillness remained between the priestess hands.

Dispelling the spell, Miss Thana followed up with an explanation.

“Spells that priests use are quite different from normal abilities, while monks have access to some skills that others cannot imitate.

The reason for that is simple and complex at the same time, which is faith.”

Nisha almost wants to ask a question, because she is not very informed regarding faith, and sometimes the elf also doubts whether it is a real thing or not.

Still, asking a senior priestess whether faith is real or not is really asking for a beating, regardless of believing or not.

“By offering prayers and holding ceremonies, both monks and priests communicate with God and obtain the ability to channel some of the divine ability through their own bodies.

The rank and the number of times they are able to activate them is decided through communion with God in prayer in advance, depending on the favour accrued in service.”

While the dragon had been somewhat aware of the common sense regarding the church, it was still enlightening to have it laid out in a concise manner.

It was also very fascinating for Nisha that Gods personally bestowed spells and skills on their followers, these abilities had been deeply personal so far and depended on an individual's effort.

But unexpectedly, clergy had a way to channel abilities beyond their rank!

Although the elf wanted to ask the questions burning in her mind, she wanted to let the old priestess finish her explanation first before getting more clarifications.

 

“Alternatively, if a priest or monk runs out of prepared abilities, it is also possible to invoke the presence of a God on the spot and beseech their mercy, using multiple times the base cost to succeed.

Naturally, this also makes it impossible to spontaneously act above one’s own rank, as the cost becomes impossible to pay, even when substituting part of the cost with precious materials.

It’s also a tremendous burden on the body to support the channelling of divine spells beyond one’s means, so most clergy only dare to challenge the next rank or risk their physique breaking down instead.”

Despite straying from the original topic, Nisha did her best to commit every detail to memory.

These were deep insights into the workings of magic spells and physical skills, far beyond what was taught at the academy.

It was very beneficial for the elf to grasp more knowledge related to spells and skills if she intended to fashion some of her own in the future.

While the standard spells and common skills generally approached an ideal ratio between cost and performance, there was a decent chance that a Variation of a regular spell improved some aspect and Unique skills almost always outperformed them entirely.

Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to pass Unique abilities down to others, as they involved mysteries that an individual needed to comprehend by themselves;

At least Variants had a chance to be turned into a skill book.

The dragon had her own pride, she derived several abilities so far from the principles she inherited through her bloodline.

[Solar Flare], [Midnight] and [Wax and Wane] all fell into the category of Unique, they were impossible to replicate without grasping the mechanism behind their existence.

Although she did not discover all of their applications yet, they were already a cut above her other abilities.

“Naturally, there are more intricacies and other specialities, but they are not necessary to compare abilities based on faith with those of adventurers and magicians.

To create a new spell or skill, there are three fundamental components besides the mana or aura cost.

Casting a spell is the process of imposing your will onto reality and making changes, whereas a skill takes the present condition of your physique and turns possibility into a new outcome, exhibiting a change.”

Miss Thana flared her aura and mana respectively as she explained the concept, underlining her words at appropriate moments.

While she introduced the topic from a theological point of view, it still allowed the elf to grasp  a difficult topic with little issue.

 

“First, you need a mental image of the outcome you desire. Whether it’s an offensive skill, a defensive spell or anything else, the cultivator needs to know what the desired outcome is.

Imagine you want to cut a rope apart, then it is not suitable to picture a mace made of elements, a rather dull object.

Secondly, willpower! From raw energy, you convert the myriad possibilities into the image you desire, transforming potential into power.

And lastly, understanding, at least a general idea.

Similarly to the first point, it is impossible to make a sturdy shield if you do not have the knowledge how protection wards off a blow.

Naturally, this does not mean that you have to study it in-depth, or learn how to make physical shields before you can make a shield spell, but it vastly improves the quality of the spell with some general knowledge.

Given that the image and the required knowledge is there, strong willpower can make up for the deficit in the other two aspects.”

Drawing a wide arc, Miss Thana held a faint smile and enjoyed her tea after throwing a big bomb towards the lass.

Neither of them spoke for the time being as the dragon brooded over her words and the old priestess watched as her adorable brows furrowed in frustration or smoothed out when the girl made another connection between her memories and the new knowledge.

Frankly, there was no big secret divulged, it was just difficult to locate all the different pieces normally and condense them into a set of methods.

As a senior figure of the Hall of Life and Death, Miss Thana enjoyed a complete heritage thanks to the temple records.

Guiding a junior was always a worthwhile endeavour, even if the elf did not belong to the [Seven Stars Church].

She hoped that before she entered her last rest and started the last journey, one of them would exceed her own cultivation level and replace the old priestess as a guiding light for the next generation.

Whether or not they were from the Hall or the Church was not that important to Miss Thana.

 

“There is only one real difference between a divine spell backed by faith, or a regular skill by a regular cultivator.

It’s also the reason why healing spells are almost exclusive to the Church.

Do you know why that is?”

Although the young girl was bound to figure it out anyway since she had all the puzzle pieces at her hands already, the priestess still gave her a nudge in the right direction.

While the result was the same and she had no doubt that the lass was a smart one, helping to push a boat along the current was still a good deed, notwithstanding that the elf was going to be stuck in that state for a long time unless disturbed.

Fortunately, one reminder was enough for the dragon to figure out the difference, her eyes lit up with a bright light at the realisation.

“It’s the God’s interference! Instead of using one’s own willpower, image and knowledge, the priest or monk channels it through their own body and turns a regular spell into a faith based spell instead!”

Suddenly, a whole new avenue of abilities was in reach for the elf.

While she did not believe in a particular denomination or was a stout believer, she knew a pair of Goddesses in person!

The light in her eyes still intensifying, she looked towards Miss Thana and waited for more.

“Well done, that’s the basis of divine abilities.

You have been following the progression of the [Blackroot Plague] recently, yes?”

Seeing the lass nod her head, the old priestess turned sombre at the mention of the disease.

It was an old, ugly enemy that once again reared its head in the present.

The Church had sent urgent messengers towards the palace, urging the commencement of swift measures, but they were helpless to do more.

Yet it was all they could do at the moment, despite readying their priests and preparing for the arrival of the plague, which was all but inevitable.

“It’s not hard to find out the names, effects and purpose of most spells in the library of the different Halls, they are open to all visitors.

You can take a look if you are interested, there are some fairly interesting concepts around that are hard to find elsewhere.

The spell I want to talk about is [Purify], a third rank spell.

It’s a mainstay of the Fire, Light and Life and Death Hall, which every priest should learn as long as they belong to those Halls.”

 

Normally, Nisha would have inserted plenty of her own questions in the conversation by now, but the dragon was highly fascinated by the idea of abilities powered by faith and their applications.

She even had a faint, yet unrealistic desire to create a version of her own, for others to employ, but she did not even have the faintest idea how faith was generated or how to obtain some of it.

Figuring that it would be blasphemous and likely rude to ask a priestess how to establish her own church, the elf held back that question for now.

“First, the image. It’s fairly simple: purify the harmful elements, heal the damage to the body.

Second: willpower to mould the spell, which a God has ample amounts to spare.

Lastly: understanding how to recognise the harmful parts, how to safely eliminate them and heal the damage.

The element chosen to perform the spell does influence the overall principle, but you can certainly make it work with Wind or Earth or anything else as well as long as you have a good understanding of the nurturing care for earthen healing or the cleansing pervasiveness from a gentle breeze.

Nevertheless, the strong image for Light, Life and Fire generally has the best effect for [Purify], while other spells lean more towards other elements.

I am excluding several steps here, but you should get the overall idea.”

Miss Thana trusted in the excellence of the little lass, she had a clever spirit, a strong thirst for knowledge and bright eyes that belied a lively spirit hiding beyond them.

As long as she put in some effort, it would be rather trivial to learn [Purify] on her own.

Given that an image crystal showed a proper image and the accompanying manual described the effects and functions of an ability, it was not too difficult to learn them.

With only a manual, the difficulty spiked but it was still possible.

“Now the question I want you to think about. Why are the spells used through faith much more effective at treating the [Blackroot Plague]?”

 

Considering that the two ladies drank tea and chatted casually, the older priestess acted like a teacher for the elf in all but name.

Instead of serving the answers on a silver platter and ignoring the underlying reasons, leaving the girl ignorant, she asked leading questions and interjected at appropriate times to guide her.

Therefore, the lady picked up the kettle and added a new set of leaves to boil another pot of tea, watching with a faint smile as the young elf went through another round of furrowed brows and pouting lips.

Around them, the acolytes and senior priests gave them a wide berth, not daring enough to intrude on an influential figure in her leisure time.

Unless they were called to come closer or run an errand, the perfectly maintained lawn around the pavilion was the same as a heavenly moat.

“Ah! I got it!”

Elated at a sudden epiphany, the elf slapped the table with great force.

Despite having the knowledge that the required parts for the abilities were derived from the Deities of the various Halls, the energy still came from the cultivator and it did not enhance the inherent quality of the spells and skills.

Nevertheless, the dragon had an inkling after thinking about the [Blackroot Plague] and [Purify], wondering how they overlapped and how priests took care of the illness.

Still, it was better to ask the old priestess for confirmation.