Eternal Dream

Now that Alisa found out about the leveling cap, she thought it was about time to leave the town, but there were some more things she wanted to experiment with. It was not long before she arrived at the church. The building didn't look much different than the churches she was familiar with from other games, but it had a medieval look and feel to it like no other.

The inside of the church was bright and spacious, with white, spotless walls and grand windows. It was simply furnished and decorated: just some black benches for people to sit on, and pictures of people Alisa wasn't familiar with. At the end of the hall stood an altar covered with a dark-blue cloth. The cloth was embroidered with a silver crescent moon surrounded by many stars. On the altar lay a book with the candles on each side, bearing a bright blue-silver flame. On the wall behind the altar was an engraving of a woman with long ears and a crescent on her forehead. She had a peaceful expression and looked truly beautiful.

Alisa couldn't see a priest anywhere, just some people sitting in prayer, so she also sat down on a bench in the middle of the hall. Suddenly, an elderly human woman entered the hall through one of the back doors. She was clad in a dark-blue robe and had short white hair. She was clearly a priestess of this church and Alisa immediately got up to approach her.

"Excuse me, priestess…"

"I am Bishop Amara, " she said as she observed Alisa. "How can I help you, child?"

"What kind of church is this?"

"This is a church of the Goddess Lune."

"Goddess Lune?"

"You haven't heard of her?" asked the priestess somewhat surprised. "Lune is the goddess of the moon and the stars. It is she that created life on this planet: the plants, beasts, humans, elves…all of life was created by her—or so we believe."

"So, does everyone in this world believe in Lune then? And who is that woman on the wall?"

"No, every kingdom and every race has their own beliefs. The faith of Lune is mostly embraced in the Kingdom of Fenra and amongst the various elf kingdoms. Some praise the sun, some the mountains, and others worship chaos and darkness. As for the woman on the wall…that's the prophet, Lunara. She was the first elf to be born, and it was also she that spread around the faith of Luna, but you haven't come here just to learn about all of that, have you?"

"You got me," said Alisa. "Actually, I would like to become a priestess."

"Oh? Now THAT I haven't seen coming," said Amara. "A wizard wanting to become a priest is a first, even for me."

"Is it not possible?"

"It is. Of course, it is. I was just surprised. But I must warn you, we do not teach the way of shadows here if that is what you're after. Lune teaches us only the way of light: harnessing the divine light of the moon to heal and support the creatures of this world is our duty."

"A bit of light is exactly what I need right now," said Alisa determined.

Amara observed Alisa's face as if to determine if she was lying. "Good," said Amara. "Let's perform the ceremony then. Come with me." Both both of them went through one of the doors behind the altar and entered the kitchen. It appeared that the priests didn't only work in the church, they also lived there. Amara didn't stop and went through another door to the backyard.

"Right, I haven't asked for your name yet, child," said Amara as she arrived in front of a basin in the middle of the yard. The basin was made of a single slab of dark stone, was around 90 cm in height, and was filled with a translucent liquid. If observed more carefully, one could see that the basin was engraved with strange runes all around its body.

"My name is Alisa Adderley."

"Alisa, inside this basin you can find moon water. As its name implies, it is water that has been blessed by the holy light of the moon." Amara took out a flat stone bowl and filled it with the moon water. For some reason, the moon water inside the basin didn't decrease.

"First of all, we need to cleanse your body from the impurities and sins that have gathered since your birth," said Amara and poured the water over Alisa's head. She filled the bowl once again, but the moon water inside the basin still didn't decrease. "Now, drink it. Wash away the sins of your past. Free yourself from the darkness hidden inside of you."

Alisa did as she was told. The moon water didn't taste much different from normal water, just a little sweeter and even more refreshing.

[All attributes have been increased by 10% for 1 hour.]

[Experienced gain has been increased by 10% for 1 hour.]

Alisa opened her eyes wide in disbelief. That was a tremendous increase in power. Even though it might not feel like this in the early levels, later on, it would be the dream of every player. Just the experience buff alone was already a great help for leveling. If only she could drink it as much and as often as she could, she wouldn't need to care about any other buffs like spells, potions, and food anymore.

"Amara, is it possible to buy some of this water?"

"Buy it?" chuckled Amara, shaking her head. "I am afraid not. Many want it, but no one could take it for themselves. No one knows why, but it is impossible to store or to carry it away. It would simply dissipate. Only this little bowl, which was part of the basin itself, can carry some of the water."

"That's a shame."

"It is. Not only can it strengthen your body, but it can also heal and cleanse it. Truly a miracle of Goddess Lune. Alright, let us carry on," said Amara and took out a blue crescent hanging on a necklace. "Put it on and kneel."

"I, Alisa Adderley, hereby swear in the presence of Goddess Lune to use the power granted to me today to protect and preserve the good of this world, and to never misuse it for evil."

Alisa followed Amara's instructions and repeated the oath. The moment she spoke the words, the crescent on her neck started to glow for a brief moment.

[You have unlocked the Priest class.]

[You have received Intelligence +2 and Wisdom +5.]

[You have entered the Moon Covenant.]

[Mana Regeneration Increased by 5% during the night.]

"From this day forth, you are a priestess of Lune as long as you keep that necklace on you," said Amara. "As you can see, the oath is pretty loose and open to interpretations. If you were to become a paladin, it would be more specific and constricting."

"Thank you," said Alisa. "Now I just need some spells."

"I can teach you. The first spell is provided for free, but the other ones you will have to buy."

"There is nothing free in this world."

"I see you spoke with Rowen," said Amara with a slight smile. "Anyway, here are the spells you can buy right now."

Amara gave Alisa a booklet, which was almost the same Rowen gave her back then.

[Smite (Tier 1)]

[Deals holy damage to a target with 200 potency.]

[Heal (Tier 1)]

[A quick and efficient way to quickly restore a target's health with a potency of 200.]

[Renew (Tier 1)]

[Heals a target's health instantly for 60 potency and then 290 potency over 12 seconds.]

[Medica (Tier 1)]

[Dispels a single detrimental (Tier 1) effect (poison, sleep, paralysis, curse) from a target.]

Alisa decided to get these four spells for now and bought them for a total of 1 gold and 50 silver coins, as one spell was a gift. Priests didn't have many ways to fight, especially in the early stages of the game. Therefore, they usually had to depend on their teammates to protect them and deal damage while the priests kept them alive.

[Name: Alisa Adderley] [Title: None]

[Race: Half-Elf]

[Class: Priest]

[Jobs: Herbalist (level 15), Cook (level 5)]

[Level: 1] [EXP: 0%]

[HP: 1070] [MP: 800]

[Strength: 10] [Stamina: 12] [Dexterity: 16]

[Intelligence: 86 (+1)] [Wisdom: 51 (+1)] [Haste: 10]

[Charisma: 12] [Luck: 12 (+6)]

Alisa glanced at her attributes and was dumbfounded. Even though her level was back to 1, her attributes stayed the same. She has never seen that before. Many games allowed you to learn every class on a single character, but they would always reset the levels and attributes once you switched to a new class. Therefore, you had to level each class separately.

This wasn't the scenario this time: Alisa could level each class separately and her attributes would just keep on growing without ever resetting. It was an overpowered cheat. The more classes she would level, the stronger she would get. All she needed was time. She thought about attaining the elite status before, but it might not be necessary anymore.

Alisa grew ecstatic and started to laugh like a madman, which startled Amara. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you that happy to become a priest?"

"Yes, I am very happy," grinned Alisa. "Oh, you cannot even imagine how happy I am right now."