Chapter 27 -Job advancement

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[Job Advancement Complete!]
[Apprentice Priest]
↓
[Priest]

[All skill performance increased by 20%.]
[New skill ‘Blessing of Archeres’ acquired.]
[New skill ‘Tranquility’ acquired.]
[New skill ‘Void Gaze’ acquired.]
[New skill ‘Hidden Facade’ acquired.]

As soon as I woke up, system messages flooded my vision. Blinking in a daze, memories of the past slowly resurfaced.

The private prayer room I had entered for my 2nd Job Advancement. It seemed I had fallen asleep while praying on the wool I had laid out.

Recalling the hazy dream, I checked my status. While my stats hadn’t changed from my Apprentice Priest days, I noticed several new skills I hadn’t seen before.

[Blessing of Archeres]
The blessing of Archeres, the Goddess of Abundance.
Greatly increases resistance to status ailments through divine power.

•  Player’s status ailment resistance +30%
• [Passive skill.]

[Tranquility]

• A prayer using divine power to calm a target’s agitation.
  
• Removes specific status ailments affecting the target.
  ※Removable status ailments: Confusion, Berserk.

[Void Gaze]
a̴̡̫͈͉̳̘̽͌̓͆͗͠ỏ̷͍̹̺̞̎͠͠n̶̯̗͙͙̂́͋͊̽͝ ̵̢̬̞̬̙̈́͒͂s̶̢̞̲͈̜̔͜o̷̧̮̫͚̜͗͌͘͜ẗ̸̞́a̴͖̞̩̖̼̩͂̅̈́ ̸͍̻̙͖̺̠̓ḿ̴̢̟͓̰̎͑͐ą̷̞͇̮̇ͅ

s̷̖͇̙̤̞͈̈́̈́̄͐̽͊̐̂͠o̷̮̅̄̒̐͂k̶̢̖̪̈͗͆̀͆̓̎õ̵̧̮͇̭̭̪̎͊̍̐̈͘̕l̴͈̈́̌̽̊͐͠a̵͕͉̻̠̱̙̔̎͌̓ ̸̢̛̯̜̟̹̼̾̑͋̾̚ȃ̷̤̤̱̖̳͙͓͓̰͓̇̉͌̈́̂̏̽m̶̖̺̣̙̳̼͈̣͍͓̑̓͌͆̏̈̉̔͐̀̔ͅs̶̝͙̻̗̟̮̙̐͂̽̾̈́̍͊̆͝ͅo̵̡̢̮̖̱͙̲̦̓̐͐́͑͝ͅ

[Hidden Facade]
ȯ̸͉̯̃͛͠ń̶̡̡͈̫̰̆͋͘b̶͓̪̐͌ ̴͍̮͕̆͛̃̿á̵̡͚̯͊́o̶̧̙̠̭͓̚n̵͚̈̈́̓͗͘q̶̨̞̲̄̈́ ̷̣̤̑̊̆̇x̵͇̳̖͕̖̃͆́̍͗

n̷̼͉͎̹̬͙̔̌͐̉͠o̷̡͚̰̯͚̘̽͑̾̏͛̃ņ̸̹͙͍̟͕̠̍̄i̴̳̓̉̐͠g̵̞̪͊̅̌̕͠ ̷̮͇͒̃͂̂̌̈́͠z̴̨̙͉̫̊̀͗̈́̉̀̆z̶̧̥͚̝̝̲̭̈́̋̃̾̿͝

After completing my 2nd Job Advancement, I had acquired four new skills.

While the first two skills had clear descriptions of their uses and effects, the latter two were completely incomprehensible.

All I could make out were the skill names.

“What is this…”

The descriptions beneath the skill names shimmered and shifted. Broken letters scrambled chaotically, making my head spin and giving me a strange headache.

My gamer instincts told me these were hidden skills, unobtainable through normal means.

Even if I asked other players who had completed the Priest advancement, I doubted I’d get a clear answer.

The NPCs in the Temple likely wouldn’t know either.

This world was based on a strange game that had suddenly swallowed people on its opening day.

It wouldn’t be surprising if hidden elements like this suddenly appeared.

However, I was worried about the potential drawbacks of these skills.

Their names alone—‘Void Gaze’ and ‘Hidden Facade’—had no connection to Archeres, the Goddess of Abundance.

A Temple Priest wielding powers unrelated to the Goddess’s divine energy? It was a situation that could easily be labeled heretical.

“Ugh…”

A sigh escaped me, filled with a mix of emotions—fear, anticipation, and a subtle, unsettling sense of superiority.

Frowning, I brushed my long hair back. As my fingers ran through the strands, I noticed something new.

“What’s this…”

A pair of gloves I hadn’t seen before now adorned my hands. Their provocative design covered the back and palms with thin black fabric, secured by rings. They looked like they would flutter away if the rings were undone.

       [Enlightenment]

• Level Requirement: 0
  
• Equip Restriction: All Classes
  
• Mana Regeneration +15 per second
  
• Cooldown Reduction +10%
  
• Spirit +3
  –He has begun to watch you–

I frowned as I checked the glove’s information.

If my memory served me right, ‘Enlightenment’ was supposed to be a ring, not gloves.

And its stats were lower than this.

Perhaps all of this had started because of the ‘Enlightenment’ ring?

No, it was certain. The day Isolin gave me the ring, I had that strange dream. This had all begun with the ‘Enlightenment’ ring.

It was an item that sent shivers down my spine. I immediately tried to unequip it through the system menu.

[This item cannot be unequipped.]

But the gloves remained. The system only repeated the same message. Fine, I’d try another way. Frowning, I began to claw at the gloves.

“Ugh!”

But that didn’t work either. The thin fabric clung to my skin as if alive, merging with it.

Every hair on my body stood on end. The eerie sensation made me rub my gloved hand against the stone floor, but all I got was a sore hand.

–Knock knock

While I was struggling with the gloves, a knock came at the door. I perked up, focusing on the sound, and recognized the voice.

[Sister?]

It was Alfred. I quickly composed myself, stuffing the wool into my inventory and wiping away any drool.

I straightened my wrinkled robes and cleared my throat.

“Y-Yes!”

[Ah, have you finished your prayers?]

“Yes, I have.”

[Did you have an audience with Archeres?]

“Yes, of course!”

I had completed the quest conditions and advanced. That sphere of light had undoubtedly been the Goddess.

[Congratulations!]

Alfred cheered brightly at my response. The sound of clapping from behind the door suggested he was genuinely happy for me.

“Ah, thank you!”

[I’m eager to see your new form. Could you open the door?]

I frowned at Alfred’s request. If he came in now, he’d notice the gloves on my hands.

“J-Just a moment!”

What should I do? What should I do?

My head felt like it would explode. Lost in thought, I began pacing around the Goddess statue. No matter how much I rubbed the gloves against the wall, they wouldn’t come off.

In desperation, I started biting at the gloves with my teeth.

“Ugh!”

[Sister?]

“J-Just a second! I fell asleep while praying, and there’s some drool…!”

[Ah, haha! It’s fine. I’ve done that before. The Goddess is merciful; she’ll forgive everything.]

“B-But the drool stains are a bit unsightly…!”

Click-click

As I frantically bit at the gloves, the doorknob began to turn. It seemed Alfred couldn’t wait any longer.

Click!

The moment the door opened, I quickly hid my hands behind my back. I looked up at the man entering with an awkward smile.

Alfred’s eyes lit up as he looked at me, and a bright smile spread across his face.

“Ah, I knew the Goddess would bless you, Sister.”

“Y-You can tell?”

“Of course. I serve the Goddess as well.”

“Ah, I see.”

I kept an eye on Alfred’s reaction while fidgeting with my hidden hands. He didn’t seem to notice anything unusual. Even when I subtly revealed the gloves, there was no reaction.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“As a newly ordained Priestess, the Temple has a gift for you. Please follow me.”

“A gift too…?”

“You can look forward to it.”

It seemed there was a gift to commemorate my 2nd Job Advancement. I nodded and followed Alfred.

“Here. Take this.”

What Alfred handed me was a pure white set of holy robes and a necklace. The robes had stats comparable to a decent set of armor, while the necklace was a purely cosmetic item.

“Thank you…”

After all the formalities, I left the Temple wearing my new robes. The soft fabric brushing against my skin felt incredibly pleasant.

The streets were nearly empty at this early hour. Only a few drunkards lying in the alleys or early risers heading to work were around.

No guards were in sight.

Then, an idea struck me, and I stopped walking.

Why not test my new skills?

I had no idea what effects they had. They could either help or hinder me in battle. It was better to test them in a safe place first.

The first skill I decided to try was ‘Void Gaze.’

As soon as I activated the skill, the world lost its color. The red brick streets melted into a murky crimson, and the white Temple turned a dull gray.

The boundary between light and dark blurred. I initially thought the skill might function like night vision goggles. But the moment my gaze met an NPC in the distance, his face turned pale, and he doubled over, retching.

–Ugh…!

An indescribable feeling washed over me. When I raised my hand to touch my face, the colors returned.

“Oh…”

I had gained a bizarre power.

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