Chapter 28: The Lost Squad

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What is any of this supposed to mean...

Mo Tan sat on the ground, dazed for a moment. The attributes and talent that had appeared in his character panel proved quite clearly that everything that had happened earlier had not been a hallucination or some kind of daydream. However, it seemed that the Goddess of Dawn really had only wanted to find someone from another world for a chat. Nothing she had said to him was of any practical value, and it had all been so disjointed...

He would think about it again when he had the time. Perhaps one of his other personalities might take an interest in the matter, but for now, he would rather not bother. Living an easier life was better than anything else~

The elderly priest, who had occasionally been keeping an eye on him, hurried over and asked with concern after Mo Tan had climbed to his feet.

“Are you all right? If I didn’t see wrongly just now... you were blessed by the Goddess?”

Mo Tan paused briefly, then immediately recalled the substantial-looking holy light that had gathered around him when he had first regained consciousness. From the old priest’s somewhat excited reaction, it was obvious that this was not a normal phenomenon. At the very least, it had to be some kind of premium-tier visual effect...

Well, it seemed the Goddess of Dawn thought rather highly of him.

“I don’t know whether what happened just now counts as a blessing,” Mo Tan replied, carefully choosing his words. “I think I heard the Goddess speaking to me, and afterward I felt much better mentally. My whole body felt quite comfortable.”

Describing the sensation of having both his Intelligence and Constitution increased by three points as merely “quite comfortable” should not be a problem, right?

As expected, the old priest became extremely agitated. The moment he heard this, he dragged Mo Tan into the prayer room behind the church and asked, his woolly beard trembling, “What did the Goddess say to you?”

Had his dialect slipped out because he was too excited...?

For some reason, Mo Tan suddenly thought of that canine girl whose bark seemed to carry a regional accent.

Tsk, what a huge difference!

“Er, what did the Goddess say to me...?” Mo Tan suddenly blushed for some inexplicable reason. Then, rather awkwardly, he scratched his hair. “It’s rather difficult to talk about.”

Bang!

Without a word, the old priest knelt on the mat beside them, facing the divine statue that was forever shrouded in a hazy radiance. Trembling all over, he performed three bows and nine prostrations, then began muttering things like, “Goddess, forgive me!” “I really didn’t mean it!” “I wasn’t thinking about anything!” “Please, Your Excellency, don’t punish me with divine retribution or anything!” and “My heart is utterly sincere in its faith!”

Mo Tan: “? ...!!!”

He suddenly felt that the old man was rather adorable.

It took quite a while before the old priest finally stood up, his face pale. He looked at the ceiling and, after confirming that there seemed to be no sign of divine justice descending from above, turned back to Mo Tan and tugged awkwardly at the corner of his mouth.

“Lad, maybe think things through before you speak next time...”

You were the one who came up with some bizarre interpretation all by yourself! Why blame me!?

That was what Mo Tan thought, of course, but he would never say it aloud. He merely nodded solemnly before spreading his hands.

“The Goddess believes that I’m too weak. With my pitiful abilities, I’ll only embarrass her while traveling through the world—I mean, traveling across the continent.”

Here comes the important part~

What Mo Tan had just said could indeed be considered truthful in a certain sense. The Goddess of Dawn had said that he needed to temper both his mind and body, which obviously meant that she wanted him to become stronger. And why did he need to become stronger? Naturally, because he was not strong enough. What did “not strong enough” mean?

It meant that he was weak!

So there was nothing wrong with what he had said!

Like most people, Mo Tan occasionally had a slightly devious side. Every now and then, he would try to arrange a few benefits for himself...

“Too weak?” The old priest blinked twice, looking rather troubled. “As believers of the Goddess, shouldn’t the most important things be to remain firm and devout, and to extend a helping hand to those who suffer and to lost lambs? As for strength, shouldn’t one comprehend it gradually, step by step? Well...”

Mo Tan shrugged. “I don’t know what the Goddess is thinking either.”

“Mhm... yes...” The old priest nodded repeatedly. “The will of the gods is not something us mortals can casually speculate about. Let me think.”

He stood there pondering for quite some time. Then he walked over to a cabinet in the corner of the prayer room and carefully took out a rolled manuscript. With great solemnity, he handed it to Mo Tan.

“This was left behind by my godfather,” the old priest said with a smile. “When he was young, he was a very powerful Discipline Priest. This manuscript records some of his insights into faith and divine arts. I’m rather lacking in talent in this area, so from now on, I’ll entrust it to you. Perhaps this too is the will of the Goddess...”

Here it comes!

This was exactly how it was supposed to go. Through some fortuitous coincidence, a white-bearded old man would impart an unparalleled secret art. Within an apparently ordinary technique lay a hidden opportunity capable of slaying gods and demons. It was like the Bare-Knuckle Fist that could kill anyone who stood in its way once mastered, or the Nine Swords of Solitude that could break through every martial art under heaven. At that moment, Mo Tan’s heart was pounding, his hands were trembling, and his entire being felt as though he had just consumed a miracle fertilizer~

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A white-bearded old man! An ancient, weathered manuscript! The white-bearded old man’s godfather, who might have been some hidden master beyond the mortal world!

All the conditions were in place!

He reached out and accepted it. Then he lowered his head and looked...

[Manuscript of Neva Fao]

Special Item

Use: Learn Skill: Edict: Shield; Activate/Complete Class Quest—Discipline Priest

Quest Requirements: [Perform Twenty Critical Heals: 0/20], [Pray Devoutly: 0/20], [Apply Edict: Shield to Friendly Targets: 0/30], [Priest Level: 2/15], [Holy Light Lore Level: 1/7]

Reward: Gain Class—Discipline Priest

[Note: A manuscript left behind by Neva Fao during his lifetime. Mister Fao was an ordinary, kind, unambitious man who had not yet transcended vulgar tastes. He lived a life without either great merit or serious fault... so there is nothing much to say.]

If there was nothing much to say, why did you say so much!? Are you insane!?

Mo Tan’s heart roared in protest. It seemed that Mister Fao’s utterly unremarkable life had dealt him quite a blow...

Setting aside his utterly unreliable train of thought earlier, however, this item was actually quite good. After all, players in the game Innocent Realm could possess multiple classes. Mo Tan’s original class was Priest, so gaining another class from the same branch but with a different specialization would clearly offer considerable benefits.

To give the simplest example, suppose a player who specialized in the Warrior class happened to obtain the Mage class. Many skills requiring high Intelligence would then be difficult for him to learn unless he painstakingly trained his mage abilities. But if he did that, his Strength would easily fall behind...

Thus, during the early and middle stages of the game, having more classes that were more varied did not necessarily make one stronger. After all, not every bald man was Kratos, and not every elite player specialized in everything.

What was more, after some classes leveled up, they not only failed to increase all attributes comprehensively, but could even deduct existing attribute points. After all, powerful mages generally did not have especially strong Strength attributes, while rangers who came and went like shadows were unlikely to be burly brutes...

Of course, those were only the usual circumstances... the usual circumstances...

There would always be a few unreasonable people in this world. No one could do anything about that~

Right, he had accidentally taken another long detour. Let us return to the matter at hand.

Although, given Mo Tan’s current level and Holy Light Lore, completing this class quest in the short term was hopelessly unrealistic, it was not as though he gained no immediate benefit. At the very least, he could learn a skill right away...

[Edict: Shield]

Active Skill of the Holy Light School

Requirement: Holy Light Lore Level 1

Cost/Restriction: 20 Faith

Effect: Creates an absorption shield on the target that is unaffected by any attributes. The shield absorbs a small amount of damage and reduces all damage the target receives by 5%. Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

[Note: Go! Warrior, go and bear more damage for me! In the name of the Goddess, charge forward and get beaten up!]

Compared with the two support skills Mo Tan already possessed, this damage-absorbing shield, with its mere thirty-second cooldown, was clearly highly cost-effective.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.” Mo Tan placed Fao’s phone into his pack and said gratefully to the old priest, “If one day I manage to fully comprehend it, I’ll return it to you.”

The old priest stroked his snow-white woolly beard and smiled.

“The Goddess guides you in your pursuit of strength, while I happen to possess a manuscript of my godfather’s divine arts from before his death. I imagine that all of this is simply fate’s arrangement.”

This was the advantage of dealing with believers in gods. No matter what happened, they could always explain it away with phrases like “the Goddess’s guidance” or “the arrangement of fate.” They never took anything too seriously.

(P.S. But please, do not get the idea of sending your boyfriend or girlfriend to live at a church for a while. The author bears no responsibility for any extreme consequences resulting from such an action.)

The two of them continued praising the Goddess for a while longer. Then Mo Tan received a string of messages from Shuangye. In essence, she was saying that if he was online, he had better return to the base immediately. It seemed that some trouble had arisen.

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It was still early, and the time Mo Tan had planned to switch accounts had not yet arrived. He therefore hurriedly said goodbye to the old priest and, after replying to Shuangye, jogged back toward the barracks as quickly as he could.

Before he even reached the base, Mo Tan noticed that the atmosphere around him was somewhat tense. The autonomous army soldiers, who were usually few and far between, seemed to have suddenly multiplied, and everyone’s expression looked unpleasant...

After walking quickly for a while, he soon saw all the members of the Fenrir Squad standing not far away. They were gathered around Nader, chattering and discussing something. Shuangye stood a little farther off. The moment she saw Mo Tan, she waved to him, then turned and said something to Nader.

“You finally made it.” Nader strode over and nodded at Mo Tan. “Emergency mission. The Ignition Squad, which was assigned patrol duty today, still hasn’t returned to report. The higher-ups have ordered every squad to conduct a search as quickly as possible. We’re responsible for the area southwest of Layered Rock City. Get ready to leave.”

Yinna, who had followed him over, rolled her eyes and pouted.

“I wonder what’s wrong with those people ‘up above.’ The patrol is only late, yet they’re making such a huge fuss over it...”

“Exactly.” The lizardman monk Salazar walked over while sliding his hands into his gauntlets. “They probably just went somewhere to drink and slack off. They’re wasting my time.”

Crab, on the other hand, seemed rather enthusiastic. He hefted his extremely heavy-looking great axe and laughed.

“It wouldn’t be bad if we ran into some trouble. It would give us a chance to stretch our muscles!”

“If you keep tempting fate...” Nader glared at him. “I’ll stretch your muscles for you first.”

Crab immediately wilted. He was fairly formidable when bickering with Salazar from time to time, but no one had ever seen him joke around with Nader. He seemed quite afraid of him.

“Crab and Salazar got into a fight when they first arrived,” Yinna whispered into Mo Tan’s ear. “The captain beat them both up, and those two thorns straightened right out afterward.”

Mo Tan suddenly understood. So it had been a matter of applying enough force to establish authority...

“All right. Now that Black Fan is here, there’s no point in delaying,” Nader said gravely. “I also think the order from above is a little strange, but we’re taking their money and living on their land. When it’s time to work, we work. Let’s go.”

With that, the group left the city in grand procession...

Or perhaps in scattered groups...

Or maybe they simply wandered out at a leisurely pace.

Mo Tan noticed that at least three or four squads were heading roughly in the same direction as his own group. Even more teams were setting out west and south, respectively, displaying a clear sense of purpose.

“Looks like this emergency was within those people ‘up above’s’ expectations,” Shuangye said softly. At some point, she had moved to Mo Tan’s side. “Their objectives are far too obvious.”

Mo Tan shrugged and tilted his head toward her.

“What exactly happened?”

“Just what the captain said.” Shuangye adjusted her glasses and spread her hands. “I was wandering around near the Mages’ Guild when I received the notice, so I immediately called you over. Good thing you were online.”

“Yeah. I’ve been rather busy lately...”

The two of them continued chatting intermittently. Before long, the squad had left Layered Rock City and begun exploring toward the northwest. Geographically speaking, this should have been the very edge of the Marshall Territory. Since it was not an official road and there was little commercial exchange with the territory beyond the border, the area was deserted. They could barely see a few travelers.

Of course, “searching” really meant that everyone walked along chatting. No one believed that anything could truly have happened to the missing squad. Even Nader had begun yawning, apparently intending to wander around once and then hurry back to report that the mission was complete.

But in situations like this, something usually happened.

For example...

“Help!”

Bang!!!

Nader moved as swiftly as lightning. With a whip kick, he sent Crab flying several yards away, then cursed loudly.

“That damned mouth of yours ought to be sewn shut! Everyone, stay alert! Prepare for rescue!”

Whoosh!

A fist-sized fireball rose from Shuangye’s palm, followed immediately by an oval halo of light that appeared beside her.

When Mo Tan turned around, he had already cast a Resilient Prayer onto Nader. The radiance flickering at his fingertips illuminated the earth, which seemed somewhat dim beneath the setting sun.

“Everyone, be careful.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The End

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