The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

17; What Entails to be a Priest.

The first time Lukas learned of a priest he recalled his previous world priest and that did worry him a bit on how he could fulfill such a role in this world. The Word "Priest" back in earth had undeniable connotation to religious practices which bungled his mind if he will somehow be forced to walk around spreading the "Good Word".

But to his surprise once he had a few days of learning and training he could only sum up a priest had a very intended function especially in expeditions in this new world. And even though The Country of Lush has christened almost all mages under the 3 Cathedrals collectively as priests, the mages from the Divine Cathedral named themselves Divine Masters while the Mages from the Blue Cathedral conned themselves Deacons or Deaconess just too differentiate themselves with the overpowering presence of the 'Priests' from the Cathedral of Light.

Basically a Priest and a Mage could be said to be same though a Priest is a Mage who specializes in 1 or 2 of the 3 main areas depending on his or her path and his or her own comprehension. The 3 main areas are Offense, Defense and Auxiliary or Utility. Any mage whose spells mainly fulfills the kit in either Defense or Auxiliary or both can be called a Priest in name and title.

In terms of Defense, Priest of Light are more known so that any other priests. The spell kit of light mages allows them to learn of much variety of spells that can be casted on oneself, on a team member in trouble and if their mana and comprehension are even stronger, defensive spells that can protect a group of people in times of need. Suffice to say such spells have been known to save lives of many people in face of any kind of danger.

Auxiliary or Support is where it either made a priest or broke them. These spells possessed a very specific kit that could increase an overall fighting power of a team. This includes spells to increase mana and recover energy, spells to increase overall speed of the team, increase the might of their teammate's weapons and so on. This also included spells that can casted on an enemy to increase the likely hood of victory like slows, blinds, confusion, fear, mesmerize etc in short any buff or debuff spells. Even though some mages have certain forms of spells that drop in this category, the priests from all the 3 cathedrals were known to possess a wider variety than most.

But Healing spells were the bread and butter of any decent priest. If a priest didn't even have a single healing spell in their inventory it isn't enough unless he/she over compensates in the other criteria more than enough. During and after battle injuries couldn't be helped especially with various dangerous expeditions in conquering ruins of ancient places, dungeons and more powerful demonic beasts in the wild. The ability to heal is often enough for a priest save lives in more ways than one even in the midst of dangers.

And even though most priests play a huge role in such adventures they are also known for lacking any formidable means of offense. Solaris became the one of the few known priests who tried to subvert the expectations but it was also known he had to sacrifice a considerable amount in terms of defense and utility most priests are known for. But their healing and defense spells more than make up for it, making mages who choose to become priests some of the most arrogant and aloof characters in the Lush Continent.

In his one month and a half of intensive training Lukas made huge strides in more ways than one. Starting with his Meditation arts he could now confidently visualize more than half of the spells that would have needed invocations and incantations to cast. And all of this was because of just one thing; his deep meditation, a uncommon habit that he picked in his last life bringing so many benefits that even he himself was surprised.

Many of the advantages it brought was not only an easier and faster accumulation and recovery of mana which allowed him to train even more intensely and intensively, it also brought him closer and closer to understanding his own Elemental Light. By now it felt so familiar to him, that his whole body radiated a soft hazy light every time he was about to cast spells, practice his own Physical routines and most of all it become even more pronounced every time he meditated.

But the best thing Lukas picked up in his period was just the fact it allowed him to fix any remaining flaws that the previous host left behind in his own hurry to obtain a higher cultivation. The previous mana accumulated before he repossessed the body was imperfect and impure at its best. This led him unable to cast many of the more powerful spells that any talented mortal ranked priest could cast. So the deep meditation and his own aim at compressing and refining the present mana until it shone with a clear hazy blue allowed him to almost feel as light as a feather and his limbs so graceful and his mind sharp.

He had reached such conclusion after reading some of the books and manuscript at the Hall of Insight on how most mages who rushed through the beginner levels ended up having faulty foundations in their future path. It was a clear warning and as much as Lukas wanted to level up quickly, he knew this life wasn't a game. He would take a sure step one at a time until the moment he could reach the top and see how high the path of magic could reach.

In his days of solo training he noticed quite a strange incident. Every night at the stroke of midnight his body glowed in a different hue of bluish light as opposed to the soft golden light he was used to. With intense observations, in time he came to realize that every time he glowed, he found himself bathed in slightly more mana and his mind relaxed allowing for even meditation and comprehension. Further observations made Lukas realize that it was his Elemental Star that caused such phenomena and as much as he wanted to control it and even maximize its advantages he was helpless in doing so.

His body would always collect and refine mana impassively at a very slow pace and seeing that he had no control over it, Lukas gave up in the end, opting to use his nights for a much needed rest. In any case his body cultivated in the night by pulling the energy of the stars and though it won't be noticeable in the beginning, the advantages will clearly show in the long run regardless. And who knows, the day he will be able to control it, then his cultivation will progress by heaps and bounds.

The real trouble that Lukas ran through his self imposed training came in two parts: his Psyche training and Nutrition.

Psyche, a formless manifestation of his mind palace after hours and hours of visualization happened to be the hardest thing Lukas could ever have tried to train.

It exhausted his mental facilities faster than he could recover and the most he could do with such power was to barely move objects around him with his mind. The true advantage his psyche brought him was the increased control of his mana and his spell manifestation which was the reason why he stubbornly kept at it despite the diminishing returns as he somehow incorporated into his training regime.

The 2nd snag, Nutrition became the forerunner of all his problems. The decent food he got the Mess Hall was enough to fulfill his hunger but for the training he was looking to push himself through it wasn't enough. If he dared perform heavy exercises on an already lean body he might Just as well end up destroying himself. The current gold coins he had wasn't enough for more sustenance, in fact it wasn't enough for anything worthy at all which led Lukas to worry about on how he could obtain some form of p*****t that would allow him to fully train without any worry.

And the answer came to him in missive that arrived the very next morning at his doorstep.