Chapter Fifty-Five: Registration

Arthur’s weapons were divided into three main categories: basic, military, and special. To truly unleash the power of a weapon, one had to reach a level of proficiency known as “mastery.” Ordinary people could achieve this state through long and arduous training, but the sole cost was the consumption of one’s “aptitude.” That was precisely why aptitude was considered so precious.

Unless one’s profession inherently possessed such abilities, in which case spiritual affinity could be compensated for by professional rank instead of consuming personal aptitude. In his previous life, the most fundamental abilities of Zhao Xu’s warrior class were “proficiency with basic weapons” and “proficiency with military weapons.” So this time, when it came to activating the “proficiency with basic weapons” and “proficiency with light armor” abilities granted to a cleric, he found it to be second nature and triggered them with ease.

If one remained a first-level commoner and did not advance to a basic adventurer’s profession, there would be no such compensation for spiritual affinity.

Meanwhile, Lei An, who had been observing for some time, could no longer restrain himself. He walked over and scrutinized Zhao Xu closely.

“Are you saying you’ve already mastered the use of those basic weapons?”

“You haven’t even undergone any relevant training before. You probably don’t even know what constitutes a basic weapon, let alone the fact that divine favor has never been known to increase weapon proficiency.”

Zhao Xu simply looked at Lei An, his expression entirely natural.

He didn’t need to explain, nor was he obliged to. The goddess herself was his greatest shield at the moment. Lei An’s line of thought would only lead him to consider that divine favor could indeed have such applications.

Zhao Xu’s only concern was to improve himself as swiftly as possible. As for Lei An, who was half an insider, he couldn’t be bothered to keep up any elaborate pretenses.

“All right, then. There are legends about certain divine children who are born with innate mastery of all sorts of special abilities,” Lei An said after a moment, convincing himself to accept this logic as he led Zhao Xu elsewhere.

The less time Zhao Xu spent here, the less attention he would attract. That also aligned with the will of the association.

Otherwise, why would a liaison officer like Lei An stick so closely to Zhao Xu?

“Master Lei An, aren’t we returning to the floating city next?” Zhao Xu asked, noticing that Lei An was still leading him around the church.

“You little rascal, planning to become a wandering cleric?” Lei An shot him an exasperated look.

“Wandering?” Zhao Xu was momentarily confused.

“You Earth players might not be required to adhere to such formalities, waiting for a group promotion and investiture. But you still need to register, otherwise if you go to another temple of the goddess in the future, do you expect to get by on just your cleric level?”

At Lei An’s words, Zhao Xu came to his senses. Clerics, too, needed to be officially registered.

With this registration, if he engaged in religious affairs, he could gradually climb the ranks. If he preferred adventure, then anywhere in the world, seeing his cleric status, other clerics and believers of the goddess would surely lend a hand in times of need.

This was an added layer of deterrence that clerics possessed, subtly surpassing even that of mages.

Before long, Zhao Xu and Lei An arrived at a rather hidden little house belonging to the church, set at some distance from the surrounding buildings.

“This is the archive of the goddess’s church personnel,” Lei An explained.

“So small?” Zhao Xu was astonished. How could such a little house hold many records?

“This is the Church of the Goddess of Magic. You don’t need to worry about trivial matters,” Lei An replied, too lazy to offer further explanation.

“Don’t most clerical affairs get registered and processed at the administrative hall?” Zhao Xu pressed, thinking that if everyone had to go through a place like this, it would be packed to the brim.

“It’s only because a batch of new clerics is being promoted these days, so the hall is noisy and crowded. If anyone recognizes you as someone who just arrived yesterday, it could cause trouble. A cleric in a single day—such a thing hasn’t happened in years; even His Holiness the Pontiff has to review it.”

What Lei An didn’t say was that the pontiff had known of Zhao Xu’s presence from the moment he arrived.

“All registrations from the administrative hall are sent here for archiving. You’re only allowed to register directly here because I pulled some strings, to prevent word from spreading,” Lei An continued.

As the association’s liaison, Lei An’s rank was high enough that unless the association’s president gave other instructions, he was the full representative within the Church of the Goddess.

Zhao Xu could only grumble inwardly that if this were the Church of the God of Justice, even if Lei An worked miracles, he’d still have to obediently take him to queue at the administrative hall.

Lei An’s face was already familiar throughout the church. After exchanging a few words with the guards at the door, the two of them were allowed to enter.

After passing through a corridor and stepping through a concealed door, Zhao Xu was stunned.

Inside the little house was a space as vast as an Earth stadium. Filing cabinets towered to the ceiling in endless rows. People riding on flying carpets delivered stacks of documents to the upper tiers, while clergy on the ground bustled about, pushing carts full of records.

“Don’t gawk. There are other entrances, and this is a specially modified space,” Lei An cautioned Zhao Xu.

Curiosity would only draw unwanted attention.

Lei An led Zhao Xu straight to a desk, where several robed clerical workers were busy with their tasks.

After giving a few instructions to the lead clerk, he signaled for Zhao Xu to step forward.

Following the supervisor’s orders, a young female clerk came over to handle Zhao Xu’s registration.

Throughout the process, Lei An did all the talking, instructing the clerk on exactly what to fill in. Zhao Xu, the principal party, didn’t say a word.

Seeing that the supervisor made no objections, the young clerk could only grit her teeth and record as instructed.

The entire process was simple, with even some verifications and data checks being skipped.

It wasn’t until the end that the female clerk realized she hadn’t gleaned much information about the man before her.

“All right. As for the ceremonial robes and ritual implements, I’ll collect them for you later. There’s no need for a new holy symbol either; just use the one you already have,” Lei An said with satisfaction.

As Lei An and Zhao Xu prepared to leave, the female clerk finished organizing the documents, ready to pass them along to the next stage.

“How odd, this is the first time I’ve seen someone of such mysterious origin,” she muttered to herself.

Hearing this perfectly fluent Mandarin, Zhao Xu, who was accustomed to the translated common tongue, looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected to encounter another player even in this tightly guarded place.

So even the church exploited players, to the point they had to work side jobs in-game?

Sensing Zhao Xu’s gaze, the female clerk looked up as well. She immediately realized the truth and exclaimed in delight, “Oh, you’re a player too? Why haven’t I seen you around the church before?”

“Let’s go,” Lei An interrupted, urging Zhao Xu away.

---

“Xiao Ke, you know what? Today I actually saw a player getting promoted to cleric at the archive!”

The girl looked up in surprise. “Peipei, that can’t be right. Aren’t the players on the list of three hundred supposed to wait another day or two?”

“No, it’s true! I know every player in the Church of the Goddess, which is why I was so curious. The whole time he was accompanied by another mage, and the man himself didn’t say a word,” Peipei, the clerk, replied indignantly.

Xiao Ke lowered her head, recalling a man who had come and gone in a hurry, disappearing without a trace.

She remembered his words and asked in disbelief, “He’s already a level one cleric?”

“Of course! The supervisor personally instructed me to fill out the form. Who would dare lie about a thing like that?”

Xiao Ke could only describe the man’s appearance in a tone of shock.

After she finished, Peipei nodded repeatedly. Xiao Ke hurriedly asked, “Do you know where he is now?”

“He’s gone, obviously taking the adventurer’s path.”

“That’s so infuriating! I asked him earlier today to teach me how to comprehend domains, and it turns out he’s been hiding such a huge secret all to himself!”

---

That evening, Zhao Xu logged off early. Now that he was officially a level one cleric, his progress was on par with the top players.

He was confident that, having lived two lives, he’d soon outpace the others in leveling up.

“Xu, come check out the forum’s trending post—today’s number one!” Zhang Qi called out as soon as he saw Zhao Xu log off.

Zhao Xu jumped down from his bunk, walked over to Zhang Qi’s side, and glanced at the screen. Instantly, his expression froze.

“Shocking! Player completes cleric training in a single day! Breaks all career records across the entire network!”