Chapter 4 Crimson Lotus Tempering Magic
At dawn, the two finally arrived at the West Suburbs forest.
Since it was deep winter, most Beasts were hibernating, but some low-level Beasts that were resistant to the cold were still active, so it wasn't safe.
Generally speaking, for ordinary people like Mina who couldn't use magic, encountering a Beast basically meant their end, or at least severe injury.
Commoners who were injured and had no money for medicine could only choose to endure it.
If they unfortunately lost their ability to work, most would find it difficult to survive the deep winter and would only die from hunger and cold.
Rustle, rustle...
The surrounding bushes stirred, and Mina's heart leaped into her throat. She fearfully moved closer to Dick.
In the dozens of previous lives, Dick hadn't encountered any Beasts in the West Suburbs, even though the route was the same.
“Is it a problem with the Demon King profession...?”
Dick remembered the System's introduction. As a Demon King, he would attract Beasts, regardless of their level. As long as they smelled him, they would come.
But the West Suburbs forest was full of low-level Beasts with no intelligence.
Although they were attracted to him, they wouldn't sit down and make friends; they would only want to eat him!
Dick slowed down, and soon three gray level-five Snow Wolves appeared, blocking their way and baring their fangs.
Snow Wolves were pack Beasts, but these three adult Snow Wolves didn't call their companions. They probably judged that they could easily handle Dick and Mina.
“Mina, you have high Holy Knight talent. Now I will teach you how to fight.”
Among the nine magic professions, the Holy Knight was a highly tanky frontline shield, specifically responsible for taking damage.
Dick took off the shield on his back and drew the matching long sword. He covered the sword and shield with magic power, emitting a faint silver light.
This was something a Holy Knight had previously pawned to Andor to buy medicine. It usually just hung on the wall as decoration.
“Roar—”
The three Snow Wolves pounced. Dick immediately raised his shield to resist, standing firm as a mountain and blocking a round of attacks.
“Damage Reflection!”
“Shocking Curse!”
“Binding Spell!”
...
After several spells in succession, the three Snow Wolves fell directly in front of the shield, twitching continuously, and were then killed one by one by Dick with his sword.
“An excellent Holy Knight can not only take damage but also control and debuff enemies, control the field, and rescue...”
Dick patiently taught, constantly answering questions and dispelling doubts, giving Mina her Holy Knight enlightenment.
With the accumulated knowledge of ninety-nine lives, plus becoming a max-level Holy Knight several times, Dick could be considered the best teacher in the world.
“Now, take off your chest piece,” Dick said calmly.
Mina heard this and didn't ask any more questions. She directly unfastened her chest piece, revealing the soft lining.
Suddenly, Dick pressed his right hand against her, and a warm energy came, starting from Mina's heart and spreading to her limbs.
Mina was completely stunned, and soon she moved shyly. It was the first time she had experienced something like this.
“Don't move. I'm opening up your channels to help your body adapt better to magic power.”
Opening up channels was an extremely special method. Dick needed to mobilize the magic power at the origin of Mina's heart and let it flow through all her limbs and bones.
The benefit of doing this was that Mina could get through the early stage faster, and her foundation would be more solid, which would also help in the mid to late stages.
Undoubtedly, opening up channels was an extremely difficult task, and generally only top nobles or Royal Family descendants could enjoy it.
Mina didn't understand but felt it was amazing. Seeing Dick's serious expression, she could only stand still obediently, but her body never stopped trembling, and she kept moaning softly.
After a few minutes, Dick let out a light breath and motioned for Mina to put her chest piece back on.
“You need to open up your channels once every day from now on, until you are promoted to a level 10 Holy Knight, understand?”
“Oh, yes, I... I understand,” Mina replied with her head down, the blush on her face not yet faded.
Afterward, the two encountered many waves of Beast attacks, but they were all perfectly resolved by Dick, and even turned into practical combat teaching classes.
Mina was indeed exceptionally talented. She learned very quickly, and finally even used her sword and shield to block a wave of Beast attacks, successfully advancing to Holy Knight level two.
Dick knew very well that Mina had the potential of a Hero. If she was carefully cultivated, she would definitely become a high-level Holy Knight in the future.
However, there were many people with the potential of a Hero, but there were only nine Heroes. Sweat and luck were also of utmost importance!
Not long after, deep in the dense forest, Dick found the cave containing the Witch's inheritance. It was connected to an underground river, and the terrain was very complex.
But Dick was familiar with the path. He led Mina left and right, and soon found a tombstone deep inside.
This was the tombstone of a Witch from tens of thousands of years ago. Her life experiences were recorded on it in ancient script.
Witches known as Doomsday were not simple, and this one was particularly significant.
She was once a max-level Mage, who amazed an entire era and was the strongest Hero of that time.
It was just a pity that she was as miserable as Dick. She had no peace in her later years and finally died alone in this dark cave.
As the two approached, a pale green spirit emerged from the tombstone, like a legendary ghost.
Mina was startled and immediately hid behind Dick. She had heard many stories about ghosts eating people before.
“Future fated one, I am the supreme expert from the Valancy Continent, known as the Doomsday Witch who destroys the world... Worship me devoutly, and you will obtain the Doomsday inheritance!”
Alice was full of arrogance. The only master she acknowledged was this Witch, so she also inherited the title of “Doomsday.”
“Dick, should we worship?”
“Worship what? It's a waste of time.”
Dick curled his lip, walked forward, kicked over the tombstone, and then dug out the coffin underneath.
When it was opened, there was a female skeleton holding a simple magic book, and there was also an ordinary silver ring on her finger.
Dick completely ignored the magic book because he could already recite its contents backward.
The most important thing was that silver ring. A disposable miniature magic array was inlaid inside, which was the lifelong effort of this Witch.
After taking off the silver ring, Dick told Mina to keep watch outside, while he sat down cross-legged on the spot, preparing to absorb the Doomsday inheritance.
Taking a deep breath, Dick cut his finger with a small knife and dripped a drop of blood onto the silver ring.
Buzz—
After a piercing buzzing sound, the silver ring shattered.
A complex magic array appeared out of thin air. This was the lifelong effort of that Witch—the Crimson Lotus Tempering Magic Array.
Instantly, crimson lotus-shaped flames ignited, completely covering Dick in the center of the magic array.
But Dick was not burned by the high temperature; instead, he felt incredibly comfortable. All his pores opened up, and all the impurities in his body were expelled.
Some old hidden injuries and knife scars on his skin were also repaired one by one. Dick felt completely refreshed.
And the real highlight was at the origin of his heart.
Crimson Lotus Tempering Magic, what it truly tempered was the magic power at the origin of the heart, increasing its strength by 30%.
Permanent and without any side effects!
This was a very exaggerated improvement. The increase in magic power strength was of great significance, and various magic-related things could benefit from it.
At the same time, Dick had two other talents that could increase magic power strength.
One was the Mage profession's 「Magic Energy Amplification」, which could increase magic power strength by 15%.
The other was the Healer profession's 「Empowerment Resonance」, which could increase magic power strength by 10%.
But these were effects only available when the talents reached the perfect level, which generally could only be enjoyed in the late stages of the profession.
However, Crimson Lotus Tempering Magic could directly increase it by 30%, which was more than the two talents combined, and it could be used in the early stage. This was simply too good.
Even Dick, who had been reborn a hundred times, had to admit that this Witch was truly a genius, an unparalleled genius.
It was just a pity that Crimson Lotus Tempering Magic could not be replicated. If it were forcibly analyzed, the silver ring would shatter prematurely and become useless.
This Witch's patent awareness was quite strong.