Darian opened his eyes and saw Rhea staring at him seriously.
"I think I got my first ring... was I too fast?"
"Indeed." She nodded. "Well... this has happened a few times in the past. Getting a ring on the first run can happen if you have an Immortal-level Summoner and a huge opportunity falls from the sky."
She sighed, nodding to herself—it could only be that. "You got incredibly lucky. Despite the greater dangers, the speed at which you progress with a Summoner like that is terrifying. Not to mention, an even greater opportunity must've come up, right? You must've managed to kill a large number of Risen at once."
She finished, locking eyes with him, making it clear she wanted to know what had happened.
Darian, on the other hand, was speechless. Immortal-level Summoner? That had to be a joke.
But, luckily, it played in his favor. The problem was explaining the second part. He didn't even know what had happened to earn so much…
'The Risen Lord…'
Darian reflected, understanding. He hadn't killed him directly—he'd only purified his abyssal heart. That had probably led to his death later, at the hands of the other Risen Lords. But just destroying his heart and part of his soul at that moment had already given him this much… Imagine if he had killed him directly.
The actual amount he had received was several times greater than what Rhea imagined. Fortunately, it was impossible for her to know the truth—she could only sense that it was a lot. So, she concluded that he had gotten lucky and killed a bunch of regular Risen. Combined with his Summoner's bonus, everything made sense to her.
Darian had read about this in the library before: since Niara was a mortal-level Summoner, he needed a hundred times more to advance. The reason was that, the moment he formed the contract, her mark was imprinted on him.
The books said this mark came from the power of Divinity, which all natives possessed. That was what allowed Spiritual Guardians to evolve.
Darian had received a mortal mark. No matter what he did, that mark had almost a hundred times worse efficiency than even a median one. But, luckily, he had gotten a massive amount at once… At the same time, if he had a better mark, he would've evolved much faster.
He sighed and started thinking up an excuse. Fortunately, Niara was strong, so he could…
'Wait! Why did Rhea say it was a lot? Couldn't I have just stolen a strong enemy kill? How does she know I killed a lot of Risen instead?'
There was something he didn't know, something that made her conclude it had been many, instead of a single strong foe.
*Knock, knock.*
With the sound of knocking, the door to the room opened shortly after. The white-haired man Darian had seen before walked in.
"Here it is."
He handed a golden card to Rhea. Then, he gave Darian a sharp look for a few seconds. He had definitely sensed his first ring. He didn't say anything, but his eyes gleamed as if he had just seen something rare, something he had never expected in his life. Then, he turned and calmly left.
Rhea gestured for Darian to come closer. "Focus on extracting a little of your power to place your mark here. Imagine it like when you used your blessing before, and your ring will release its energy."
Darian nodded and saw a faint reddish aura appear around his body. Rhea had him touch the card, which absorbed some of the energy.
"Done. This is yours. It keeps track of all your Merit Points." She handed him the card.
Seeing his confused expression, she explained:
"Whenever you contribute to another universe as a Spiritual Guardian—whether in the Divine Protection Universe or in missions elsewhere—the Celestial Altar gains a bit of power. That power allows the New Arcadia Empire to bring things from other universes and benefit all of humanity. That's why everyone who contributes is properly recorded and receives equivalent Merit Points in return."
"These Merit Points can be exchanged for whatever you want. Including a lot of money to use on Earth. But there are also things the New Arcadia Empire brings from outside that can save your life during missions."
"You'll already receive a good amount of money every month, based on your power level. So, spending it on money doesn't make much sense. Later, you can check out what you want to buy. After all, you earned an amount even I don't have access to."
She finished, and Darian understood, feeling excited. These gains hadn't come just from the Risen Lord's death. It was because he was responsible for the destruction of the abyssal nest.
Then, he swallowed hard. How the hell was he supposed to explain this to her when everyone already knew how much he had contributed this time?
"Uh… yeah, I got lucky… my blessing turned out to be really useful in that situation…" He muttered slowly, trying to think of something.
"What's your class?" Rhea asked seriously.
"Support…"
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Yes! You know how I got so much?" he said, and she stayed silent, curious. "I discovered there was an endless sea of Chaos Crystals in that place."
She nodded, understanding. Darian continued:
"First, let's go back to the beginning. My blessing is of the healing type. But I did something different, I didn't exactly use a blessing already made in the library."
He watched her eyes widen when he mentioned 'healing type.'
But after he said the second part, she narrowed her gaze.
"Hold on, I'm not trying to create one from scratch. But I used the foundation of the three existing Healing Blessings to create my base. I felt it was possible..."
"That's even crazier, something really stupid! Didn't your Summoner stop you?!" She interrupted him, clearly irritated.
Darian fell silent.
"I told you not to try to be greedy and go after things that are too big. Others have tried something similar, and in the end, even those who got a lot of rings only used the basics of the various accumulated blessings—they never managed to go beyond that. Combining several concepts and ideas created by different people? What the hell were you thinking?! In the end, the result of this foolishness is a brutal death, your power will never increase properly."
Darian stayed silent... she seemed like an angry mother scolding him for his reckless actions. But internally, he sighed in relief. So, this was really possible, and now he could use his power in different ways without drawing too much attention.
"Well... it's done, I believe in my choice," Darian said, but looked away from her, who was staring at him seriously.
"Idiot... do you know how rare it is for someone to have a Healing Blessing? If you had just chosen one and evolved, you'd be one of the most requested and important supports in the empire. Now... it's hard for you to get beyond the basics in those blessings." She said seriously, making it clear how much she was worried about his future and safety.
Darian was left speechless. She barely knew him, but she was worrying so much about a stranger. With a sigh, he finished:
"Well, going back... my partner and I, by luck, had bought some Earth Crystals. Then we found several veins full of Chaos Crystals inside the nest. So, I got an idea..."
He explained that the basic power of the Purifying Light Blessing could help keep the life energy inside the crystal and eliminate corruption. It was something anyone who read the blessing could confirm as one of its uses.
Then he burned all the energy he had and set a big trap in a spot in the second offensive line of the nest.
"My partner and I told them our idea. In the end, everyone worked together and attracted all the Risen from the second line to the spot, like a giant wave. The Chaos Crystals, full of life, were buried, so they suddenly hit them. The Risen were momentarily paralyzed by that power, which repelled theirs, invading their bodies. After that, it was easy to kill them, with everyone attacking together."
Darian said, almost smiling:
"You can ask everyone who was in the second line. I even asked the commander's permission, who was in the first line. His name was Ceug. He was mad at first, thinking it was a waste of time, but after we did a test, he was really surprised when he saw the result. Unfortunately, the really powerful Risen from the first line weren't stupid enough to fall for this."
"I did all that at first, then I went back to my place. Those from the second line went to help in the more advanced battle."
Rhea listened, doubtful. She'd never heard of a method like that. But also, there were almost no records of a healer with the Purifying Light Blessing. Maybe this was really possible in some specific situations, like in the Abyssal Nest.
She scoffed. "There are still 13 days until the others return..."
"Huh? Wait, how did I come back? Wasn't I supposed to stay for thirty days?" Darian asked, making an innocent face.
"It's not very normal, depending on the amount of Merit Power accumulated in the soul... If you're too weak, it overloads you. So, you're brought back early, to properly absorb everything." She commented calmly, then sighed.
"Unfortunately... all those with three rings from Earth, who should've been in the second battle line... they lost all their power and were taken back to their homes. They died in the nest. As for Ceug... I'll ask the Empire to inquire with other planets about him."
Darian listened and made a serious expression. Internally, he was relieved. He'd gotten a good excuse, and one that couldn't be confirmed since everyone in the first and second lines died. He had to use the people he already knew had died; but the dead don't speak. At least, he hoped they wouldn't…
Rhea sighed and said:
"Well, you have family, right? You should go home and enjoy as much as you can. That adventure was just a training session, I hope you didn't forget that. Soon, you'll have to face the real deadly dangers."