With this spell, although Ekta was still the second weakest witch in the monastery in terms of overall strength—her body remaining fragile, her abilities simple—if considered purely as artillery, her value on the battlefield now rivaled even Hattie!
No wonder she was so excited, the first to leap up and shout.
Charles smiled, and after calming Ekta down, he checked in with the other girls as well. Other than her, the other witches had also seen improvements in their Strength.
For instance, Hattie, whose spellcasting abilities had increased—now she could cast 5th-level spells; yet the greatest boost clearly went to Theresa, who felt herself one step closer to 8th-level spells. Perhaps before long she, too, would be able to cast the overwhelmingly powerful 8th-level spell Sunburst.
Overall, everyone had gained significantly. Except for Nidalee—seeing the others' elation, her lips pouted as she felt a bit wronged.
Charles, however, paid her little mind, for he had already prepared a present for her.
He next opened the system, first spending two thousand Purification Points to level up his own dormitory, scriptorium, training grounds, clinic, and altar—all his main constructions—ensuring they would now provide even better effects.
Among them, the upgraded altar's improvement was visible to the naked eye: it could now generate up to twenty Purification Points per day.
Having done this, he turned and, system panel in hand, prepared to construct some new buildings.
After reaching Level 3, he had unlocked a whole slew of new constructions: for example, shrines dedicated to the Goddess of Life that could be built elsewhere, allowing the monastery an additional branch, as well as portals enabling instant travel between the main monastery and its branches.
However, none of those were his focus today. Instead, he chose something else.
The Baptistry.
By name, it seemed a place for conducting baptisms; in practice, it was a monastery facility that enabled the production of Level 3 units: it allowed members who had already joined the monastery to change their class directly to Life Domain Pastor.
The Life Pastor—the only class among all pastor specializations to focus exclusively on healing, perfectly in line with the doctrine of the Goddess of Life.
Many might have the erroneous impression that pastors all wore soft, form-fitting robes, frail and dainty, hiding behind warriors to heal or dispel conditions, delicate little girls.
In truth, that's wholly mistaken: true pastors wore scale armor, bore shields, and wielded maces at the very front lines.
Ironically, it's often the warriors who hid in the back, shooting arrows and attacking at range, relying on their pastor brothers to hold the line and keep dangerous foes from reaching the ADCs.
Ahem!
Back to the pastors—healing the wounded is indeed among their abilities, but far from the main one: their true power lay in channeling the might of their deity to drive out or destroy the undead, granting rest to the dead.
As for healing, blessing, or lifting curses.
The Life Domain Pastor was the only one dedicated to healing. At 5th level, with a single 3rd-level spell "Aura of Vitality," they could restore two blood-soaked barbarians from near death to full health.
That level of healing placed them third among all classes.
Oh? Who's first, you ask?
Ahem, this time it's not the paladins. It's the Divine Soul Warlock—yes, the very path Lisa would take when she grew up.
That's what made a tier-zero class: part of its strength was shown right here.
As for second place—it was precisely the present Charles intended for Nidalee.
"Nidalee," he called. "Come with me."
Behind him, the somewhat dejected Nidalee looked up in surprise: "What for?"
Charles strode outward: "Giving you a new part-time job. Don't ask. Just follow!"
Nidalee wouldn't dare defy him, and hurried after. They left the lobby together, and Charles spent six hundred Purification Points. With a soft milky glow, the new Baptistry was soon completed.
From the outside, this construction resembled a small marble chapel, with a cross-shaped sigil at its highest point.
Entering through the main gate, apart from the statue of the Goddess of Life and the preacher's dais, there were no pews for listeners.
Instead, at the chapel's center, shimmered a softly glowing golden spring.
Entering the chapel, Charles's eyes flashed with system text only he could see. Without hesitation, he strode to the dais, overlooking everything below, then commanded Nidalee: "Take off your clothes, get in, and receive baptism."
Nidalee, unruffled, stripped everything off, stepped barefoot into the spring, then slowly squatted down until her whole body was immersed.
At the same time, a new dialog box appeared in Charles's vision: Expend 10 Purification Points to allow subject Nidalee, upon baptism, to gain the Life Domain Pastor class?
Confirm.
Buzz—
Purified white light flared, enveloping Nidalee's body. She closed her eyes, feeling every inch of herself filled with warmth, as if the spring's waters soaked into her very soul.
Simultaneously, a sense of insight blossomed in her mind.
As the light faded, she slowly opened her eyes, then promptly rose from the water, letting streams slip down her naked body and plash back into the spring, her face a picture of astonishment. "Master, what is this?"
Charles nodded. "My ability. From today, you are a Life Domain Pastor."
He smiled, "Give your Goodberry a try."
Nidalee, unable to believe it, didn't dry off or dress, leaving her ample curves and the soft, dark hair of her most intimate places exposed to Charles's gaze. Nevertheless, she silently chanted her incantation and cast her spell.
A white light flashed, leaving ten milky berries in her palm: the effect of Goodberry.
This time, it was obvious the berries brimmed with astonishing vitality.
"This is…" Her lips trembled. "My power?"
Charles nodded approvingly. "Exactly."
This, after all, was one of the correct ways for a druid to take a part-time class: Life Domain Pastor, not some hunter nonsense!
A core feature of the Life Domain Pastor class was that all spells cast gained an extra potent healing effect.
Normally, casting Cure Wounds or Healing Word would allow just one triggering of this bonus.
But for druids, Goodberry produced ten magic berries at once—allowing that bonus to trigger ten times in a single spell!
This means an unbelievably massive total heal, making the druid/Life Pastor one of the game's two greatest healers.
Seeing Nidalee's stunned expression, Charles smiled: "This is my gift to you—the power of a Life Domain Pastor. What do you think? Satisfied?"
Nidalee nodded joyfully, too happy and overwhelmed for words. Charles, reading her, was suddenly inspired, grinning mischievously: "Now you're a Life Domain Pastor. Should I order you a set of fine steel plate armor to wear?"
For a real Life Domain Pastor, heavy armor, shield in hand, and first to charge in—that was the spirit of "protecting life," unlike the more spell-oriented domains of Light, Knowledge, or Trickery.
But, as a joke here, it was a little out of place. Nidalee rolled her eyes, her voice coquettish: "Master!"
Charles laughed. Despite picking up Pastor as a part time class, Nidalee was first and foremost a druid—and druids simply couldn't touch metal.
Sure, in private games metal toys might bring her a kind of agony-tinged pleasure—but wearing that into battle would be a clear case of tying her own hands.
After this classic druid joke, Charles didn't linger, instead prompting: "Alright, dry off and get dressed. We're not finished—there are other buildings still to construct."
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