Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 423 - 422: Breaking a Lock

In the Cecil domain, inside the Church of the Holy Light, Gawain, along with Amber and Pittman who had just come out of the Alchemy Factory, found Wright.

At this moment, Wright had changed out of his severely damaged armor and put on the roughly stitched Holy Light Cleric’s robes. Compared to the exhausted and gloomy appearance when he had just returned to the domain, his mental state was obviously much better now. As Gawain led people into the church, he was wiping the shelf used for placing classics in front of the pulpit, looking calm and composed.

But Gawain knew that true calmness and composure had already left this priest. At this moment, he was just waiting to take up the career of the Holy Light once more.

Undoubtedly, accepting examinations and cooperating in research to help everyone understand the mystery of mortals bypassing gods to gain Holy Light Power is also part of the Holy Light career.

"Looks like you’ve rested well these past few days," Gawain nodded, looking at the re-energized Wright before him, "How are you feeling now? Has your body undergone any changes?"

"No, everything is fine, the Holy Light remains as always," Wright showed a gentle smile. Despite his face being marked by a startling scar, his smile still carried a feeling of reassurance and trust, but then he frowned slightly, "But I don’t know if it’s just an illusion, recently I always feel something about the church... is not quite the same as before."

"Something about the church not quite the same as before?" Gawain asked curiously, "What’s different?"

"I always feel like someone has entered the church," Wright confessed frankly, "But I can never see anyone’s shadow."

Upon hearing this, Gawain and Pittman instinctively looked at Amber, who was standing beside them, lost in her own world.

Immediately awakened from her trance, the half-elf young lady exclaimed, "Hey, why are you looking at me?! Do I look like someone who just casually sneaks into... casually sneaks into the Church of the Holy Light? I’m the Shadow Chosen! I have principles..."

Before Amber could finish her exclamation, Gawain shook his head, "I also think this matter has nothing to do with you — the most valuable thing in this church is just a few crystal glasses, hardly likely to catch your attention."

Amber nodded in agreement, wearing an expression of shameless pride, while Pittman beside her watched Wright with an intriguingly curious gaze. "Perhaps it’s a slight perception dislocation after breaking through mental limitations... interesting, quite interesting..."

Before Wright could speak, the small old man asked proactively, "I heard you’ve completely given up belief in the Holy Light?"

By this point, Wright could naturally face and talk about such matters. He nodded frankly, "I’ve chosen the path I believe to be right — an empty idol cannot uphold the righteousness of the Holy Light. Compared to the Holy Light, I now believe more in the morals I hold dear."

Pittman nodded, "Let me see your Holy Light."

Without hesitation, Wright opened his hands, and a vague and clear radiance floated around him.

Gawain looked at the radiance hovering in the air, feeling as if something flashed through the glow but upon closer inspection, it was merely dust particles floating in the air.

Pittman seemed unaware of these; he simply observed closely the way Wright casually summoned the Holy Light and asked in more detail, "You don’t need to pray anymore when summoning the Holy Light? Then is there a substitute casting process?"

"To merely call for the Holy Light’s response, there’s no need for spellcasting, much like innate casting. However, to unleash more powerful Holy Light Power, a casting ceremony is still required — only the step of praying to God in divine rituals has been omitted. Also, directing the Holy Light during casting uses up one’s mental energy. Initially, I wasn’t very accustomed to it, but now I’ve gotten used to it."

"This shows you have excellent magical talent — Druids believe in one thing, and that is what clergymen call ’spiritual gifts’ are actually a kind of magical talent," Pittman mused as he rubbed his beard, "Moreover, although you can now summon quite high-intensity and purity Holy Light, you must have very few Holy Light skills you can actually release?"

"That’s right," Wright didn’t question why Pittman knew such details, simply answering all the small old man’s questions cooperatively, "In most divine arts’ casting processes, praying to deities is the most crucial component. Without it, what’s left of the casting chants or spell moulds can scarcely support divine arts’ operation. So now I can only cast a limited few divine arts — though their strength seems to have increased, their types have indeed reduced."

"That’s because you’re not a mage; you haven’t learned to use a mage’s methods to deduce spell moulds. Thus, despite possessing strong Holy Light, you can’t utilize it effectively... but that’s not an issue; we’ve already researched considerable results in the field of conversion between divine arts and magic. Kamel is even an expert in this area, he should help you enhance those casting skills... for now, let us study the way you manage to control the Holy Light yourself..."

Gawain next to him couldn’t help but ask, "Does Wright’s process of controlling the Holy Light have anything in common with the Druids of the past?"

"Honestly, it feels different..." Pittman furrowed his brow, "You should know, the ending of Druid faith back then was due to the ’White Starfall’ event, which can be considered as irrefutable evidence of the fall of the God of Nature. All Druids witnessed the fall of the God of Nature firsthand, and regardless of their willingness, they lost their faith at that time, or rather the target of their faith. Subsequently, nature theurgy also stopped working, as Druids grasped nature magic without any pressure or restriction from the gods—Wright was different."

Pittman glanced at Wright and said, "Even if you don’t plan on believing in the Holy Light anymore, you probably didn’t see it die in front of you, right?"

Gawain couldn’t help but admire the sharp and unique language art of this little old man — if it were anyone other than Wright, any other believer of the Holy Light would have likely caused a violent scene by now. It’s truly baffling how this old man managed to live so long while being so cheeky. Perhaps he initially learned Druid spells to avoid being beaten to death immediately after sinking into verbal missteps?

And though Wright has already broken free from the constraints of the Holy Light, he still seemed slightly uncomfortable after hearing Pittman’s straightforward words. He then shook his head with a slightly helpless smile, "Of course, I didn’t see... at that time, there were only my own emotions in my mind."

"That is the difference. When Druids gained the ability to freely cast spells, the God of Nature was already dead, and nature theurgy was already ineffective - all of these were established facts. But now, has the Holy Light died? Has theurgy of the Holy Light failed? Obviously, both have not."

Gawain did feel like saying that the Holy Light had died indeed, let alone the Holy Light, the God of War is dead, the three goddesses of fertility are dead, and even the Reaper has died - it’s a mystery how that was accomplished...

But he could only mumble these in his heart. Whether people would believe if he said these facts aloud is another matter, and he doesn’t dare to fully ascertain if the divine status of the Holy Light is vacant now - after all, believers of the Holy Light do receive responses when they pray.

Moreover, he understood Pittman’s implied meaning:

Druids gained the ability for free spell casting because the God of Nature truly perished. Without being bound by godly constraints, Druids could cast spells freely.

While Wright... he forcefully obtained Holy Light power with the Holy Light still alive.

"Among the Druids, there are many who specialize in researching the period of the White Starfall, and we’ve always believed that the precondition for mortals to transform divine arts into magic and use freely is the fall of the corresponding god, causing its constraint to disappear," Pittman said, his expression progressively becoming serious, as he looked at Wright, "However, upon seeing you, I had a thought - perhaps the real breakthrough doesn’t lie with the gods, but within the mortal himself."

"Could there be another possibility," Gawain decided to subtly remind to prevent Pittman’s reasoning from veering off track, "if perhaps the Holy Light also fell just like the God of Nature, only no one knows this, hence every believer of the Holy Light is self-restricting..."

"...Ah, that’s quite a bold thought," Pittman looked at Gawain in surprise, but after a moment he began seriously pondering the possibility of this bold idea, "Since there are no Holy Light believers among us, we might boldly hypothesize this assumption, however, a problem remains – Wright, didn’t you still believe in the existence of the Holy Light while breaking free from faith constraints?"

"Yes," Wright answered solemnly, "Even now, I still feel the Holy Light exists, even though I no longer believe in it."

"Anyhow, our conjectures point to one direction – the so-called constraints of divine arts seem to exist solely within our own hearts?" Pittman raised his eyelids, his expression slightly puzzled, "Could it be that as long as a follower believes they can be unfettered by the gods, they really become unconstrained, able to utilize the power of corresponding divine arts themselves?"

"That’s impossible," Amber shook her head incredulously, "If it were so simple, over the years there would have been several liberated clergymen, have someone already successfully converted divine arts into magic? I remember there was a Holy Light cleric who tried using magic circles to control the Holy Light? Didn’t he end up failing..."

"Perhaps it’s due to insufficient ’self-assertion’? Or maybe the spirit hasn’t completely detached from the influence of faith?" Pittman spoke his speculation, ultimately looking at Wright, "Do you recall your feelings and thoughts when you broke free from faith constraints and obtained Holy Light? Hmm... I understand might not be a pleasant memory for you, but this is really crucial for our research."

"It’s okay, I understand," Wright offered a gentle smile and then slightly furrowed his brow, reminiscing the moment that changed everything, before breaking the silence after a good while, "I remember at that time I had only one strong thought... If gods are unreliable, then I’ll trust myself."

"If gods are unreliable, you’ll trust yourself?" Gawain repeated the phrase, "Just because of that thought?"

"Just that one thought, and it was my sole thought back then," Wright said, "My mind was blank except for that thought resonating loudly, and under the impetus of it, I completely abandoned all reliance and hope on gods, and at a brief moment... a very transient moment, I felt like I broke through something, like a lock, then when I came to, I had regained the Holy Light."

Pittman stroked his beard again: "Broke through a lock, huh..."

(Recommended reading ’Regular Pentahedron’, a tale involving transmigration and rebirth (?), considered a fledgling story, and I’m mainly observing whether it gets disheartened...)