Chapter 26 – Job Advancement

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In this world, when players reach level 20, their next job advancement becomes available. Players commonly refer to this as the “2nd Job Advancement.”

Apprentice Priests become Priests, and Apprentice Mages become Mages. In this way, some classes shed the “Apprentice” label they had when they first advanced.

For classes like Warriors or Archers, it was different.

Upon their 2nd Job Advancement, they were forced to choose whether to take a new path or continue steadfastly on their current one.

Even when hunting to earn gold, experience points still accumulate.

Although my growth rate was slower than others since leveling up wasn’t my primary goal, I had still managed to reach level 20.

After hitting level 20, I returned to Fox Tail. Before parting ways with Isolin, I asked her a question.

“Hey, Isolin. How difficult is the 2nd Job Advancement test?”

Isolin was level 21. She had already shed her “Apprentice” label and become a true Mage.

With a mature expression, she crossed her arms and began to advise me.

“The difficulty isn’t particularly high. For Mage Tower Mages, the test involved demonstrating their abilities in front of NPCs.”

“A test?”

“Yeah. They evaluated things like the power of spells cast without incantations, average casting speed, and pronunciation.”

“I see…”

“Of course, the Temple is probably different. They might test things like faith.”

“Faith…”

I trailed off at Isolin’s answer. How could someone like me, who didn’t believe in gods, have faith?

Even after becoming an Apprentice Priest, the number of times I had prayed to a god could be counted on one hand.

And even those prayers were half-hearted, so if a real god existed, they would probably look at me with disdain.

“Can’t I just bribe the examiner?”

If I could have donated gold to advance, I wouldn’t have been so worried. I muttered the question with a hint of regret, and Isolin responded as if it were ridiculous.

“Are you serious? Have you ever heard rumors of Temple NPCs taking bribes?”

“Never…”

“Don’t get your hopes up. Just go and do your best. If it’s you, Supreme, you’ll pass in one try.”

“I hope so…”

After parting ways with Isolin, I trudged toward the Temple. My usually light footsteps felt strangely heavy, likely due to the pressure of the upcoming 2nd Job Advancement test.

The difficulty of the 2nd Job Advancement test varied greatly among players. Some cleared it easily and quickly, while others remained in their 1st Job even after surpassing level 20.

Arriving at the Temple entrance with a troubled expression, I saw numerous players and NPCs passing by. Having spent the past week at the Temple, many NPCs recognized me.

“Oh, Priest Supreme! Hello!”

“Hello!”

The 12-year-old Supreme always had to be lively. I hid my inner emotions and put on a bright smile as I greeted people.

“You have no idea how much my son looks up to you. He was so disappointed when he came to the Temple recently and you weren’t there… Were you on some long-term mission?”

“Ah, you could say that…”

After exchanging pleasantries with many people, I entered the Temple and found the NPC overseeing the 2nd Job Advancement test.

[Level 60]
[Clergy Skill Instructor]
[Alfred]

A male priest wearing glasses. He was Alfred. Alfred greeted me warmly as I approached.

“Ah, Sister Supreme. I was just waiting for you.”

“For me?”

“Given your growth rate, I expected you to come looking for me around this time. Was I right?”

I took a step back at Alfred’s response. The fact that he had anticipated my growth rate meant he had been closely observing me.

For some reason, I found Alfred a bit intimidating.

“Uh, yes.”

“Just as I thought. One last question: Are you ready to take the test to become a true Priest?”

The test to become a true Priest. I had already prepared myself. I swallowed dryly and nodded.

“Yes!”

    [The Trial to Become a True Priest]

    You have begun to test your abilities.
    Prove your efforts to the Goddess.

• Temple Reputation: 2400/500 (Complete)

• Maintain a Clean Body: 0/1

• Pray before the Statue of Archeres: 0/20

• Audience with the ‘God’ in a Dream: 0/1

As soon as I answered, a quest window appeared. The first challenge, building Temple reputation, had already been exceeded.

It seemed I had unknowingly built up my reputation during my week at the Temple.

“You’ll need a quiet place to hear Archeres’ words. After finishing your bath, come find me. I’ll guide you to the prayer room for those taking the Priest test.”

Having spent a week inside the Temple, I knew where the bathhouse was.

After parting ways with Alfred, I headed there. Naturally, it was divided by gender.

In real life, I would have gone to the men’s side. But now, I was unmistakably a 12-year-old girl.

I confidently walked into the women’s bath without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the bath was empty.

In truth, players didn’t need to bathe. Why would beings who didn’t even need to relieve themselves need to bathe? A quick wipe with a wet towel was enough to clean off a bit of sweat.

Players were flawless, new humans who didn’t even produce dirt.

After entering the bath, I examined my body in the mirror before stepping into the hot water. The girl reflected there was perfect, even if I had sculpted her myself.

“Hmm…”

My satisfied smile at my own body ended there. I shook my head and stepped into the hot bath.

The warm water gently enveloped my body, melting away all tension. I floated lazily in the water, completely relaxed.

After finishing my bath, I went to find Alfred with my warm body. He guided me to a private prayer room.

“Here we are. Well then, I’ll be going…”

Alfred turned to leave, as if his role was done after guiding me to the prayer room. I quickly called out to stop him.

“Wait! How long do I need to pray?”

“Hmm.”

Alfred left with only a cryptic smile in response to my question.

“Sigh…”

What else could I do, left alone like this?

I sighed and opened the door to the prayer room.

The inside of the prayer room was very simple. The windowless, enclosed space felt stifling.

The only decoration was a statue of Archeres in the center of the room.

The method of praying to the Goddess was simple. Kneel before the statue, clasp your hands reverently, and close your eyes.

Having spent a week at the Temple, I had long since mastered the art of prayer.

I knelt on the hard stone floor, placing the wool I had earned from shearing sheep beneath my knees.

Before beginning to pray, I peeked at the Goddess statue with one eye.

The armored Goddess held her sword high, gazing at some unknown place.

To me, prayer was a continuous stream of thoughts.

Rather than offering meaningless prayers to a Goddess who wouldn’t answer, it was more productive to entertain myself with amusing imaginings.

Time passed, whether slowly or quickly, I couldn’t tell.

After entering the prayer room, the clock visible only to players had disappeared.

It had been a while since I had time to myself. Random thoughts chained together endlessly.

Even though it would never happen, and I would do everything to prevent it, what would I do if I returned to reality?

It was questionable whether I would return to my original body. Would I return as the adult man I once was, or as the 12-year-old girl, Supreme?

If it were the latter, that wouldn’t be so bad.

“Haah…”

My legs were numb from kneeling for so long. I lay down on the wool and looked up at the Goddess statue.

Wasn’t prayer supposed to come from the depths of one’s heart? For me, lying down was my form of prayer.

I lay there, staring blankly at the Goddess’s face.

In truth, the posture didn’t matter. Even lying down, the quest conditions for offering prayers continued to update.

Comfortable and relaxed, drowsiness crept in. No matter how hard I tried to keep my heavy eyelids open, it was futile. I let out a long yawn and surrendered to sleep.

Though my body had succumbed to sleep, my mind remained clear. Just as I began to question this strange sensation, a great light appeared.

A familiar light. The divine energy that flowed out whenever I used a skill.

The clear presence of a god appeared before me, yet no sense of faith arose within me. I simply felt indifferent.

The god circled around me, as if appraising me.

After circling for a while, the sphere of light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.

    [The Trial to Become a True Priest]
    You have begun to test your abilities.
    Prove your efforts to the Goddess.

• Temple Reputation: 2400/500 (Complete)

• Maintain a Clean Body: 1/1 (Complete)

• Pray before the Statue of Archeres: 20/20 (Complete)

• Audience with the ‘God’ in a Dream: 1/1 (Complete)

The moment the quest conditions were completed, something dark and murky writhed into existence where the white light had been.

From within the black energy, I felt an intense gaze.

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