The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 157: Soldiers of God

The [Cleric] sub-class trainer waited in a nondescript, empty street in North-West Kruxol, hidden behind the [Potion Shop].

He was wearing a large, white robe that spread across the street, with a golden cross embroidered across the chest.

"Greetings. I am Fjord, a Cleric who has kept armies healed through two large, gruelling wars. Are you interested in joining the order of Clerics? We are emissaries of the gods, with great powers to heal and strengthen our allies. I can set you on the path of a Cleric, or do you want further information first?"

This was his default message when meeting an unaligned Mage.

As Fjord had raised his head to speak, Cael could make out that this trainer was a bald Italian-looking man with a long, pointed black mustache. Not quite the same traditional, white-bearded wizard figure as the Pyromancy trainer.

On the way here, Cael had been side-tracked a couple of times while navigating this rarely-visited part of Kruxol, and had run into the [Geomancer] and [Pyromancer] trainers on the way. He had checked on their skill trees and sub-class perks, so he figured it would be worth asking the Cleric trainer for information first so he could compare his options.

"What information could you give me?" he asked.

"Well, all there is to say about the Clerics could fill a book. So I'll mention a few subjects of interest. Firstly, and probably what you're most interested in, you could ask about our skills and sub-class perk. Secondly, you could ask for general information about the sub-class. Other than that, feel free to ask about the history of the Clerics, and things like the Marsa War, the Jormungandan split, and our relation to the gods."

The Jormungandan split sounded like it might be relevant to a future world event, since the world serpent Jormungandr would almost certainly be relevant to the Ragnarok plotline. Knowing about it in advance could be useful if it came up later.

"What was the Jormungandan split?"

"In times long past, clerics were first and foremost the priests of local gods, especially deities of earth, fertility or the harvest. That is, until, a few centuries ago, a group broke away to seek power from the World-Serpent - Jormungandr! These clerics grew more powerful than the original, because they were less weighed down with priestly duties. Eventually, they gathered their allies and won the Kama War, the most important conflict involving clerics since the end of the runic age. Since then, the Clerics have generally been viewed as less of a priestly role, and more of a form of magic. Nonetheless, the 'cleric' tag stuck, because this form of magic was closely associated with those famous tales that every child knows, of ancient religious wars where priests on each side would strengthen and heal their men between battles. It's like how we call it the 'missionary position,' but you don't have to be a missionary to do it."

By now, the 'cleric' or 'druid' classes were an MMO staple, so games would include them while ignoring the religious connotations. In this case, the game seems to have hand-waved it briefly before ignoring it near-completely.

"Alright. What can you tell me about the skills and sub-class perks?" Cael asked.

"I will show you the skill tree for the Cleric sub-class," the trainer replied.

A skill tree, with the skills greyed out, appeared in a window in front of Cael. A few later skills had their names hidden, and there were a few empty slots for skills that required scrolls to learn them.

"Bear in mind that these are not all of the skills that a Cleric can develop. You can also gain many more skills with scrolls, and by doing high-level quests you will get many powerful spells. These skills are only the ones which are unlocked purely by levelling up your Cleric skill."

Cael scanned the skill tree carefully.

A large part of it was dedicated to powerful healing spells, as well as passive skills which increased healing power. He could make out a few, strong offensive non-elemental spells, including [Black Star] and [Judgement]. Unlike the other sub-classes, these skills were based almost purely on INT, and did not require an elemental affinity to strengthen them. While this typically made them slightly weaker, since elemental affinity was a fairly high multiplier, for Cael they might get stronger.

He plotted out a rough line between buff-enhancing passive skills, which increased the length, power, and potency of buffs. He would have to make a rough detour through a few healing skills in order to pick up a valuable buff which increased HP regeneration. That would allow his HP to replenish quickly. Most of the Cleric active skills, other than the rare offensive ones, were for healing, but if he mostly focused on passive skills then he could increase his buffing ability considerably. There were, however, also a few useful miscellaneous skills that increased MP and strengthened non-elemental spells, and these would be promising.

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As he closed the skill tree window, Fjord resumed speaking. "As for the sub-class perk, you get a boost to non-elemental spells, an increase of 5% healing power, the ability to cast 7 buffs at once, and a 3% increase to buff effect. And all of that just for joining the sub-class! So, want to join?"

"Sure."

A prompt appeared, and he confirmed his choice of the [Cleric] sub-class.

[Congratulations! You have entered the [Cleric] sub-class. Fight and use Cleric skills in order to increase your skill EXP, to unlock and develop many new skills.]

At the beginning, he just had two skills: [Holy Grace], a healing spell which makes allies' defensive skills stronger for 10 seconds, and [Divine Mandate], an offensive spell which dealt half-decent damage and briefly slowed an opponent.

"So far, you only have basic spells, but worry not! I will give you a choice between two powerful [Cleric] spells, but first you will have to prove your worth by passing three simple sub-class quests," Fjord said. "For your first quest, you will meet a Crusader who is trying to cross a treacherous passage. You will be unable to use offensive spells. Instead, you must use buffs to help him ford the passage. Do you think you can handle it? If so, I will send you to the location."

"Try me."

There was a flash, and Cael was teleported to a large, green field. This seemed to be an instanced zone used for this quest. It took about ten seconds for the field to load, due to lag, but soon the pixellated, misty array of green took on clear shape. A few small ponds of white flowers glistened in the sunlight around the edges of the field's flowing, soft grass. Ahead of him, he could see a short, dusty mud-brown valley at one edge of the field, walled by treacherously balanced piles of round rocks. It looked like some of the large rocks would cascade down at the slightest disturbance.

An NPC named [Geoffroi (Crusader)] was standing on the edge of the fields, facing the valley calmly. He wore a worn-out iron chain mail armour, with a white cloak hanging majestically over it and a black cross painted over his chest. By his side he held a tall wooden shield, which stretched from the ground to his shoulder, and looked dusty and scratched like the armour.

In the small valley ahead of him, another Crusader lay dead and crushed to the ground. His equipment and appearance were almost identical.

A message flashed up on the screen:

'Geoffroi's compatriot has died, after sadly failing a Strength check. Please help Geoffroi to avoid the same fate, by buffing his Strength until it's high enough to pass the Strength check. He is already close to the required amount, so one basic Strength buff should be sufficient.'

The Crusader waited calmly, facing rocky passage. Cael cast a strength buff, and the Crusader set off, steadily holding off a large, round rock which rolled towards him from the right.

[Quest complete. Congratulations! The Crusader successfully completed his journey.]

Cael was teleported back to face the Cleric trainer, who gave him his next quest.

"Well done. You have begun to learn the importance of the support role. For your next quest, you will see it in action, in a battle. You will be transported to a battle between two warriors of your level. The fight is even, so it's up to you to make a difference. Pick one party, and use healing and buffs to help them win out. The quest will be a success when the opponent dies. Once again, you will be forbidden to use offensive spells. Good luck!"

This time, Cael was teleported to a cloud-like plain, which was currently empty. Once again, there was significant lag during the teleportation, and this time it took him around 20 seconds before his new location even began to load.

Nonetheless, it finally displayed, with fields of wispy, bright white clouds stretching on - seemingly endless - in every direction.

Before the fight began, a grey-brown window appeared displaying two options:

[Which side do you choose?

The Crusaders have greater HP, greater shield skill, and the chance to weaken the opponent for 10 seconds. Their HP and Constitution are very high, their equipment is advanced, and their Strength is above-average .

The Templars have greater attack power, greater sword skill, and the chance to slow the opponent for 5 seconds. Their HP and Constitution are high, their equipment is advanced, and their Strength is high.

Choose wisely!

He recognized this menu as the same format used for selecting dungeon options as a party leader. It had the same, black-veined dark-brown buttons, like a plank of wood after being drenched lightly in ink, and silvery text. However, this time it lacked the emerald green 'Save' button at the bottom, which would generally be used to confirm your selection. This meant that whichever side he selected would automatically be chosen.

Both options were themed after religious warriors, which made some amount of sense given the clerics' backstory as priests in religious wars.

He looked through the perks of both sides carefully, to check if either would have a significant advantage. They sounded fairly evenly-matched, both quite defensive and relying on their high HP to grind their way to a win. It would be a war of attrition either way. In this context, the Templar's higher Strength and higher damage-per-second would probably give a slight edge, since offensive advantages generally meant more at this level when units had few defensive skills or ways to mitigate damage taken. Sword skills here were much more effective than shield skills, since these units wouldn't have many effective shield abilities to use. Further, the 5 second slowdown seemed more effective than the 10 second weakness, given that a slowed enemy would have difficulty attacking or defending and would lose momentum.

He selected the Templar option, and the button turned a dull red colour, but nothing happened. After fifteen seconds passed, he tried selecting it again. Still nothing.

After five seconds, the menu finally faded from view. It must have been lagging. A round, roofless stone building emerged majestically around him, with its grey stones shimmering brightly over the almost blinding white-grey cloud carpet.

The two NPCs soon materialized in front of him, separated from him by an elegant gold-lined glass panel.

The Crusader looked the same, still wearing the large white robes over his rusty iron armour and shield. His enemy, the Templar, wore similar armour but had a flowing white mantle with a red cross painted on it, accompanied with a white shield.

They faced each other from opposite sides of the circular building.

However, Cael noticed that the blue bubble which blocked offensive magic didn't load. The two NPCs faced off for ten seconds without moving, as if waiting for the fight to trigger.

A new prompt appeared:

[ERROR! No team selected. Please select a side to begin the fight:

Crusader

Templar]

Seemingly the game hadn't registered his selection of the Templar team. He tried to guess at why. The menu used by dungeon party leaders, which the team select menu here had been based on, allowed you to de-select an option by pressing it twice. During the lag after his initial choice, him pressing Templar again must have de-selected it. This meant that the game continued and loaded the fight, only to trigger a failsafe which prevented it from running without one team being selected as the player's.

However, the fight being loaded incompletely seems to have meant that a few aspects failed to load. For instance, the rag-tag 'audience' which generally watched these quest fights, which Cael had seem in a promo video about sub-classes, did not materialise. The blue sphere around the fight seems to have also failed to load, and Cael remembered a blue spark fizzling away right after the game moved on from the team selection menu. The game had seemingly produced an erratic version of the fight.

However, did this mean that he could use offensive spells? He checked quickly whether he could charge a Mana Sphere, and he could. But he cancelled the spell without casting it. Both of these warriors were tough and scaled to his level, so it would be best to let them weaken each other before striking. With his buffed INT, he would stand a good chance against them, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

Besides, NPCs of the Crusader family were known for a strict code of honour. If anyone disturbed a duel between them, they would probably team up to fight this enemy. So Cael could have to deal with both at once.

After slowly lumbering to the centre of the round building, the two combatants began to fight.

To his annoyance, the fight was cautious and slow, with each side whittling away at the other from behind shields. At this rate, it might take a few minutes, even though it was just a basic Cleric quest. While he used [Holy Grace] to heal his side, this triggered the NPC fighter using a slew of defensive moves for a few seconds which just drew out the fight further.

He checked the quest log, and saw that the quest only required the other side dying, not his warrior actually dealing the final blow. Since the NPCs were both enemies which could drop items, and these items would be scaled to his level, it would be more beneficial to kill them. As long as the Crusader died slightly earlier, he should still be able to claim the quest completion.

As such, he targeted both of them with a [Magic Missile]. Due to his high INT, this took off about 40% of their HP each, despite the level scaling.

The 'Crusader' warrior charged towards him, but fell to the ground after a [Spark]. However, the Crusader valiantly got up, and urged his fellow warrior to join him, screaming something about 'smiting the unchivalrous.'

Soon, the other warrior followed, but Cael had begun to charge a [Mana Sphere] and cast it at the Templar, who fell backwards at the powerful impact. A further [Mana Beam] weakened him until he was almost on par with the Crusader's HP. Finally, he sent the Templar flying back with [Mana Strike], making sure that the Crusader was closer to him and would be the first one struck by a [Magic Missile] AoE attack.

Joining the Cleric sub-class had increased his MP, and lowered the MP cost of non-elemental spells, meaning that these simple spells were now very low-cost and he still had enough for a few spells. Skills like [Spark] and [Mana Strike] barely drained his MP reserves at all.

After Cael cast [Dark's Tendrils] and another [Magic Missile], both of the warriors were dead.

For his troubles, he got [Crusader Light Armour], a black-and-white [Templar Cape], which enhanced Constitution, and a pair of white [Templar Gloves] with a red cross on them, which increased the power of buffs cast on the user by 5%. He wore the [Crusader Light Armour], since it was better than the armour that he was currently wearing, and the [Templar Gloves]. The gloves were actually quite over-powered at this stage, and players probably weren't supposed to have them at this stage. It was an oversight that they had been given to the Templar NPC here on the assumption that players couldn't take them.

Wearing the gloves increased the power of his INT buffs, including the hidden ones, and made his high INT even more extreme.

After half a minute, he was teleported back to Kruxol.

"Congratulations on completing this quest. Your journey as a Cleric has begun!" Fjord said. "Did you notice the difference which healing and buffs gave to your side? For your next task, I will summon a small goblin. Damage it using [Divine Mandate], then heal it with [Holy Grace]."

A green goblin, around knee-high, appeared in a burst of smoke beside Fjord. Cael first attacked it with [Divine Mandate], causing it to stumble back and frown, before healing its HP back with [Holy Grace].

"Very good. You may now kill it with an offensive spell of your choice, and take its gold stash."

Cael quickly killed the goblin with a [Mana Beam].

"Excellent," Fjord said. "Well, killing goblins for their hoarded gold is all well and good, but, in the process, make sure not to become as gold-obsessed as the goblin! Otherwise, maybe we'll have to kill you too. Now, for your next quest, the final one before you get a choice of powerful spell scrolls. Actually, wait. If you want, you can take a short break. What do you say to that?"

"No thanks, I'll take the quest."

"Very good. Now, padawan, please go to the North of Kruxol and fetch the [Sublime Nectar Flower], which can be used to enhance your new healing spells."

Wait.

"Did you just say 'padawan'?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"...Fair enough. Alright, I'll do that."

"Very well. Be on your way, grasshopper."

Sighing, Cael checked his map and saw that the quest item's location had been marked out. He walked out of Kruxol cautiously, following this guide.

As he started on his way, he saw the dead body of the Pyromancer that had tried to attack Dr1fter. Although the burns weren't enough to kill this Mage, they had made it too painful for him to walk back in time and were worsened when his Guildmates tried in vain to drag him back. A few opportunistic archers, probably from the Hashin or DeathGang, had sent a scattering of arrows towards him which was enough to seal his fate. Although it was difficult to tell from behind the large crowd, Cael could now clearly make out the Pyromancer's name: [JoofAgate].

What a queer name.