Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Sparkle.../

The dress itself was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, so much so that it seemed to even sparkle under the sunlight.

It was regal in a way, making Erile remember some of her grandmother's clothes in her closet, albeit different from those, this one was more to her tastes.

It covered from her legs to her shoulders leaving close to no gap in between, but despite being a one-piece, she knew the dress would be very comfortable.

To complement the dress, there was a simple silver tiara with an unknown symbol right in its center, the tiara also had a greenish cloth tied around it, which would cover the back of her head, going all the way to her waist past her shoulders.

The texture of the cloth was superb, smooth, and cool to the touch, it was a pleasure just to hold it in her hands…+

From the mixture of colors to its overall appearance and purpose, it was as if this dress was made for her.

[Regalia of a Dreaming Priestress Set (Epic)

Rating: 6-Star

+50 to Mental Power and Soul Power

Spiritual Body ratio = 1.2

Set Effect: Paradise Delusion

Grants its user Immunity against Mental disorders and enhanced resistance against Physical disorders proportional to their Mental Power and the Holy Index of its wearer

Gives the Temporary Skills: Detect Emotions 5-Star; Calming Presence 5-Star; Holy Power 5.5-Star; Amplify 6-Star; Manifest Holy Defender 6.5-Star

Requirements: Mental Power: 50; Holy Index: 65%

Description: …

]

For an Epic set, it was pretty underwhelming. Of course, the Stats it gave were rare and most to no one knew they existed, but that also meant their uses were a mystery to most.

Its unique Set Effect was great, and it also gave away a new term Dale would only learn about in the future, which was one of the reasons he felt so disappointed he hadn't acquired it before when he had the chance.

That being the Holy Index.

Holy Index refers to one's affinity to the powers of their chosen deity, nothing else, it was as simple as that… And it was to no surprise Erile's was high, there was no need to measure it at all.

Nonetheless, hers was so high that in fact, she amplified it. Within a given range of course.

And it would only grow stronger from here on out.

Most of its skills were also directed towards what a Player would consider "Roleplay", but for Erile, those were exactly what she needed.

A Skill to detect and feel the emotions of those around her, a Skill to calm those around her, a Skill to set her Holy Power towards a certain range, which would help her in her training, a Skill to amplify said powers, helping her in better sustaining it as she made use of it, be it for training or her usual activities, and finally, a defensive Skill in case a problem arose.

Manifest Holy Defender was a Skill that created a Paladin with a full set of Skills and Items to fight for her for a set amount of time.

It was pretty decent on its own, but its power came from a mixture of several Stats together, those being Mental Power, Soul Power, Mana, Spiritual Body, and the Holy Index.

Together with the belt from the Karkavan, she would possess enough Stats to create a Boss Level Defender. He just needed to get it from Sarferato when he had the chance.

Maintaining the Defender was difficult and by no means was it an easy thing to do, however, things would only improve from here.

Lastly, aside from the Set, Dale also sourced two rings for her to use, both with abilities meant to help her as she took care of her responsibilities within the Church.

He gave her many Skills that would work well together, knowing what kind of training she would go through in the future.

Aside from being a gesture of faith, it was also meant to progress his Quest to help her become a proper Saintess. Everything was connected.

Albeit even if there was no such Quest, Dale would still pursue strengthening her as she was a pivotal part of Resko's ecosystem. Or better put, will become.

"This… It's beautiful… Just where did you find it?" Erile asked as she held the dress, amazed

"It's… Somewhat complicated, but I've recently acquired it after going through some… Troubles, let's leave it at that." Dale said awkwardly as he tried to come up with an excuse

"I wasn't trying to press you for an answer, I was just curious." She replied with a smile as she looked at the dress

Despite her words, Erile felt disappointed, letting her imagination run wild as she tried to think of possible explanations for the items' origins.

"... Can I really have it? Considering everyone's situation, having such a dress would be…"

"Don't, didn't I tell you already to stop undermining yourself?"

"... You didn't…" She whispered, but Dale heard it loud and clear

"Then I'll say it now, stop doing so. You're much more capable than you give due, and a simple dress isn't enough to quantify it."

'Crap, I forgot this was something I addressed later… How awkard…'

"... You barely even know me."

"... I know enough and I've seen enough to say those things. Not everyone can cross half a continent and dozens of dangerous environments just to confirm a message they heard in their head."

'I dug this myself... Once again, another blunder from mixing the future and the present…'

"... It wasn't a message in my head, it was an oracle." Erile replied with a small smile as she looked back at the dress

"Yeah, I'm not the only one that thinks the same it seems." Dale added with a laugh of his own as he looked at her

"..."

[Erile's intimacy has increased greatly]

Atop her head, the cheerful crimson heart spun rapidly before a small piece of it fell to the side, slowly growing in size as it became a new, somewhat tame heart.

"Seems like we've reached an agreement."

"Keep them, I'm sure they'll serve you well." He added with a smile as he pointed at the box of items

/Nod…/

"Now, there's only one thing left for me to do…"

"Wait, there's something I would like to give you…" Erile said in a hurry as she quickly got up, running to a side room, leaving David behind as she ran

"..."

"..."

"I refuse." David exclaimed plainly with heavy eyes as he looked at the Altar

"I didn't even say anything." Dale retorted as he looked at David

"You think I'm stupid? I felt and saw you gaze at me multiple times, don't treat me as if I'm new to the game, I know what you're really here for, that sword told me everything I needed to know." He said as he took a glace at Caladbolg floating on the side

"... We need to go…"

But before Dale could finish his words...

"We? There's no 'we' in this my friend." David interrupted as he cringed

"Go whenever you wish, leave me here, where I belong… Her bosom."

"..."

Dale's expression darkened as he knew where this was going...

"It has been a century since I felt so alive Dale, to be held by a priestess and carried around, hearing her words, giving her comfort while under the shade of a tree in the sun…"

"And you came here to destroy everything!" He said with great distress and disgust as he looked at Dale

"..."

"I know what you want, you want to drag me to some deplorable hole somewhere while strapping me to your hard ass before splattering me in the blood of your foes."

"If I could spit I would!" He added with great indignation

"..."

"Leave me be, my role has already been played, I deserve a moment's rest with someone who truly cares for me, forget about me as my time has come."

/Rolls eyes…/

Before Dale could say anything, David continued.

"Also, I saw what you did there, I didn't think you had it in you but you've made quite some progress in one sitting! Nice clothes, the rings are particularly good, the gems are simple but they complement her quite well, I'll give this setup a 7.3 out of 10."

"..."

Dale remained silent throughout his monologue, pensive...

"Now now, I'm aware you must be eager to ask: "Just what is lacking in this? I think they're pretty good" But we can leave that for later since she's on her way back." David said as he imitated Dale's tone of speech

"Listen my boy, I'll be frank, there's only so much space in her life for one of us! But since I'm not exactly up for it anymore I'll give her to you, that seems to be the trend these days..."

"Wanna hear some tips? She has a mole right on her…"

Alright, he had heard enough.

"Shut it... Please."

"Close your mouth before something terrible happens to the both of us… Please." Dale replied as he held his head in frustration

"Ahem... You're right, my bad, I lost it for a moment." David replied as he closed his mouth in a hurry, fearful for his life

/Tremble.../

Thankfully for him, right above the Church, dark clouds converged, but once David stopped talking, they dispersed as if they were never there, letting the golden sunlight fall onto the Church once more…

/Step step step!/

"I'm back! Sorry for making you wait."

Before long, Erile returned amidst hurried steps while holding a large, closed jar.

As she walked, the jar made a sloshing sound, it had a liquid of some sort inside it, and it for sure wasn't water…

However, it was no mystery to him what it was.

"H-Here. Take it."

"No need to rush, I won't be going anywhere. But what is this? Have you been brewing wine or something?" Dale asked with a chuckle as he remembered a joke Sarferato said when he was first introduced to the liquid as well

"No! It's nothing of the sort… This hmn… It's hard to explain." Erile replied quickly, somewhat embarrassed as she passed the jar to him

"Go on, I'm all ears." He said as he opened the jar

/Crunk!/

The moment he removed the seal, his nose was welcomed with a gentle, fragrant smell akin to that of vanilla.

The liquid itself was golden yellow, and it even seemed to shine somewhat.

It looked somewhat thicker then water, but not as viscous as honey.

"..."

"What is it? Is there something in my face?" Dale asked as he looked at Erile

"N-No, I-I… It's nothing…"

"..."

Although he said nothing, Dale smiled.

'She's embarrassed.'

'She was exactly like this when she first showed it to me, and the reason is simple.'

'It's color… It's quite unique. And she's quite self-aware…'

'A needless worry, but one that has its place for a girl.'

'Given her circumstances, one day she's living in a nearly empty church, and in the next one she has a bucket of yellow liquid... People are bound to frown at this situation.'

'I teased her quite a bit last time…'

"Well… Sorry but… Can't say I'm into it…"

/Thud!/

"S-Stop it!" Erile exclaimed out loud, her face extremely red as she knocked her hand against his shoulders

"Ouch ouch! I wield!" Dale said out loud as he laughed a little

"..."

Erile looked away, completely red.

"Ahem… I imagine this is the Golden Dew, right?"

"Eh? You know about it?" She asked with a look of utmost surprise, not expecting Dale to actually know what it was at all

"It isn't?" Dale teased once more as he smirked

"IT IS!"

/Chuckle…/

While he laughed, Dale closed the jar, putting it on the side as he turned to face Erile.

In short, Golden Dew was Holy Water, it was a byproduct of the Holy Energy of the Church converging into a substance with miraculous properties.

There are many uses for it, the biggest and most efficient of them being alchemy, followed by rituals, be them performed by Wizards, the Church, or someone else.

However, by itself, the dew can be consumed to grant the user a temporary increase to all of their Stats and a small permanent strengthening, but it's not as direct as one may think.

It will also detoxify the body of dangerous elements, purify curses, heal internal injuries, calm the mind, and a bit more. That is how the strengthening of the body is performed.

In the past, Dale consumed it daily to strengthen his body during training, however, it was only after he found out about some of the applied uses that he let Yumi use all of it for potionmaking before letting it be distributed to the Villagers.

The reason for that was he was already strong enough, they were not.

The only problem with the dew is that only 0.1 Miligrams are produced daily, with the Saintess present, as she is an amplifier of Ju-Arkesios Divinity, this amount is increased to 0.2 Miligrams, close to nothing regardless.

To produce it, Erile has to channel the looming power in the Church gathered throughout the day through a special source, condensing it into a dewdrop.

It's an extremely tiring process, especially if it's done before bedtime, one of the reasons why he gave her so many recovery items.

Unfortunately, she can't condense all of this energy, she isn't proficient nor resilient enough to do so, as such, a lot of this looming power is 'lost', although, in truth, David will recover most of it by reabsorbing it, albeit not all.

The rest will scatter into the environment, causing the Church's hill to be full of energy and the underground catacombs to be purified gradually.

Once more priests are added to the Church, this amount will increase naturally, currently, the Church should have enough energy to produce around a liter of it every day, or two under the Priestess amplification, which when diluted and properly distilled into potions, can likely be fed to hundreds as 10 Milligrams of the resulting potion is enough for an individual's daily consumption.

Not nearly enough for Resko's current population but enough for them to be fed on a cyclical period of a few days per person.

"Phew… Since you know about it, I won't explain it any further." She said with an upset gaze as she crossed her arms

"Why not? Is there anything weird about it?" He asked with another tease

"You! Gros! Humph!"

With that, she got up from her seat, storming out of the hall with a completely beet-red face and closed fists, leaving both Dale and David behind.

"... Sigh… Thank you… I'll take good care of it." He said out loud as he watched her run away

He didn't know if she heard his words, but he said it regardless.

"... Welp, you did it, congratulations. You got me... /Whispers/..."

"Let's go… Before I regret it." David said out loud as he scoffed at Dale

"You talk as if you had an option..." Dale replied as he grabbed David, strapping him to his waist

'He really thinks I didn't hear him curse me?'

"Yeah yeah, keep talking like that, you'll laugh until I take a bite out of your ass."

"As if you would do that."

"Damn straight." David said with a nod

After exchanging some more words and storing the jar in his inventory, Dale left the Church, closing the door behind him gently.

It didn't take long, however…

[Erile's intimacy has increased greatly]

"Huh?"

Dale was hit with another curveball.

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Notes