Knight: from Apprentice to the Almighty

Chapter 340: Chapter 327: Lodestar’s Morning Delight

Roland was slightly stunned by Lodestar’s question.

The Holy Son?

Accepting a Blessing?

’To receive a direct Blessing from one of the Deities would mean an unimaginable leap in Power...’

The temptation was almost impossible to resist.

He weighed his options for a moment before shaking his head firmly.

"No. Gloria is the Saintess of the Fiery Sun Church. She is the rightful centerpiece of this ceremony."

"Compared to me, she needs this Power more to face the current crisis and solidify her position within the Church. We are allies now, so her becoming stronger also means our collective Power will increase. As for me..."

Roland’s gaze was calm and resolute.

’There’s more than one path to increasing my Power.’

’Growing stronger by Plundering an ally’s opportunity is not my style.’

With that thought, Roland raised his head to meet Lodestar’s gaze and spoke frankly.

"No, great Dawn Messenger. I am not the Holy Son, nor am I the one chosen to receive the Blessing in this ceremony."

After he finished speaking, an amused expression appeared on Lodestar’s flawless face.

He watched Roland in silence, his gaze seeming to pierce through all pretense and see straight into the depths of his soul.

After a moment, he let out a soft chuckle and clapped his hands gently, a gesture of pure elegance.

"Kindness... and a rare sincerity. To hold to your principles even when tempted by Power is a quality more precious than many a shimmering Divine Attribute."

His tone was one of pure admiration.

Then, his tone shifted, becoming more ethereal and profound.

"Though I cannot see all the threads of fate as clearly as Ogma, I can glimpse enough to know... your future path is anything but ordinary."

"The fact that you can simultaneously receive Shire’s faint, dark favor and Suren’s gentle protection is proof enough of your special nature."

A glimmer of almost child-like curiosity and mischievousness shone in his eyes.

It was the kind of "amused" mentality an eternal being develops from looking down upon mortals.

"In that case..."

Lodestar smiled as if he had just made a casual, spontaneous decision.

"I think I’ll add a little variable to the mix. It might be fun, don’t you think?"

He didn’t even give Roland a chance to react or refuse. Before the words had fully left his lips, he casually raised his hand. A point of extremely pure light, as if containing the very source of all life and Hope, condensed at his fingertip.

Then, he gently flicked it in Roland’s direction.

The point of light instantly sank into Roland’s chest.

There was no intense pain as one might expect. Instead, an immense Energy, so warm it felt like the very essence of life was rejoicing, instantly surged through his entire body.

Roland could clearly "feel" intricate patterns imbued with Order, light, and the power of rebirth silently taking shape and spreading beneath his skin, like a hidden network woven from light.

However, this strange phenomenon did not last long.

The faintly glowing patterns that had just appeared seemed to exhaust their power. They receded like a quiet tide, quickly vanishing beneath his skin and disappearing completely, as if they had never been there at all.

The vast, warm current also fell silent, merging into the depths of his body without another trace.

Everything returned to normal, as if the divine touch had been nothing more than a fleeting illusion.

But Roland knew that a "Blessing" from one of the Deities—one tinged with a bit of playfulness—had already become one with him.

"Alright, you should go back now."

Lodestar’s words, gentle yet brooking no argument, seemed to strike Roland’s very soul.

The moment the words fell, Roland felt a slight, weightless dizziness.

Immediately after, the absolute light and silence around him receded as quickly as a tide, replaced by a sudden rush of sounds flooding his ears.

The grand and ancient choral chanting, the hum of flowing Energy, and the sound of his own somewhat rapid heartbeat...

The sensation was incredibly strange, like having been submerged underwater for a long time, only to finally break the surface and return to the noisy real world.

He blinked instinctively, his eyes adjusting to the light.

A familiar scene came back into view.

The massive crystal dome, the flowing river of golden light, the solemn Priests and believers, and the most dazzling cocoon of light on the central stone platform.

He was still standing on the viewing platform, in the same position as before, as if the conversation that had just transcended Space-Time to reach one of the Deities was nothing more than a brief, bizarre hallucination.

But the warm afterglow that had briefly surged and then quietly gone dormant within him was silent proof that it had not been a dream.

Just as Roland was trying to calm the turmoil in his heart, a line of gilded text, radiant yet soft, silently appeared and unfurled in his vision.

[Lodestar’s Morning Delight]

[The great Dawn Messenger, acting on a whim, has quietly bestowed upon you a glimmer from his vast Divine Attribute—a sacred gift from the first dawn, symbolizing rebirth and Hope.]

[This Blessing greatly enhances your Perception and affinity for all powers related to ’light,’ ’revival,’ and ’Order,’ and allows you to easily dispel any power of Darkness or corruption of equal or lesser strength.]

[However, this generous gift is also tinged with Lodestar’s signature, almost child-like mischievousness. Any Light Divine Technique or related ability you use has an extremely low probability of producing a random and often laughable side effect.]

[For example, a sacred purification that should be solemn and pure might temporarily turn the target’s colors dazzling and comical. A hymn of dawn intended to inspire might cause the recipient to involuntarily break into a jaunty dance.]

["May Hope and laughter always be with you—oh, and don’t be so serious, my dear child. The occasional mishap is just the dawn playing a little joke on you."]

After carefully reading the description of the Trait called [Lodestar’s Morning Delight] in his vision, a wry smile touched Roland’s lips.

This Blessing from a god, with its effects and side effects so clearly stamped with the Dawn Messenger’s personality, gave him a completely new understanding of this world’s Deities.

In his previous understanding, Gods always sat high above the clouds—majestic, solemn, and indifferent. They viewed mortals as insignificant, and their logic was supposed to completely transcend mortal emotions and amusements.

But from his contact with Shire’s secret whispers from the Shadow to now facing Lodestar’s mischievous gift of light, Roland was discovering that the Gods of this world, despite their unquestionable and boundless Divine Attribute, all seemed to possess some indescribable, almost "human" quality.

Suddenly, a vague phrase he had heard somewhere flashed through his mind.

’The Gods of this continent are, in essence, nothing more than a group of Transcendents whose Power has reached an unimaginable Realm. That is all...’

While he was lost in these thoughts, the ritual’s brilliance on the central platform had completely receded and dissipated.

Clearly, the Radiant Blessing ceremony was over.

As his gaze fell upon Gloria, Roland couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that the Princess before him was subtly different than she was before the ceremony.

It wasn’t a change in her appearance, but a deeper shift in her aura.

It was as if a restrained radiance now flowed around her, adding an indescribable sense of majesty and sanctity that somehow merged strangely with her original composure.

Gloria exchanged a few quiet words with High Priest Bordo, then walked straight toward him.

She paid no mind to Roland’s slightly scrutinizing gaze.

She came to a steady halt before him and got straight to the point, her tone as direct as ever.

"Lord Roland, the Duke... has sent a reply."