Chapter 188: Awakening Ceremony

The three acted as if nothing had happened and continued to eat and drink.

Delisa asked, “The academy is planning to create a hero list recently. As candidates for future hero teams, do you want to join?”

“It depends. If Michelle joins, I will naturally join too,” Leo said.

“I should join, but it still depends on the church’s arrangements. Besides the official saintess, only one candidate saintess will be allowed to join,” Michelle said, somewhat confused, as she was unsure if she would be selected.

Upon hearing this, Delisa did not mention this matter again.

After resting for a while, Leo and Michelle left and headed to the small villa.

On the way, Leo looked at Michelle beside him, feeling warm yet somewhat emotional. The Demon King was about to be resurrected, and his current strength was already S-class, but it still seemed insufficient.

Suddenly, Michelle said, “Leo, I forgot to tell you, during the time before the Demon King is resurrected, I need to return to the church to make some preparations.”

“Oh,” Leo replied lightly.

Michelle thought he seemed a bit unhappy, so she said, “It’s the preparation for awakening the chosen saintess. Once the chosen saintess appears, I will return to the academy as soon as possible; it shouldn’t take long.”

“Isn’t it uncertain whether one can awaken to become the chosen one? Are you saying the church has the ability to make someone awaken?”

Leo was somewhat puzzled. Even for the chosen ones, the awakening time could not be determined. Some people awakened early, at sixteen, while others might have to wait until twenty. One thing was certain: if one had not awakened by the age of twenty, they would be forever unrelated to the chosen ones.

Michelle gently nodded, “The divine artifact ‘Mirror of the Chosen’ granted by the gods can stimulate the hidden powers within humans. If one is a chosen one, they will awaken at that moment.”

“So the church is preparing for the emergence of the chosen saintess?”

The chosen saintess was very likely among the candidate saintesses, while the identity of the hero was uncertain. The church did not have the leisure to let everyone who had the potential to become a hero awaken in turn.

“Yes, because it has been so long without a hero appearing, the church’s plan is to let the chosen saintess appear first to stabilize people’s hearts. I think Sister Selena is very likely to be the chosen saintess. After the awakening ceremony, I will come back to accompany you.”

After Michelle finished speaking, Leo hugged her tightly.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Michelle asked, a bit flustered amidst the sweetness.

“Nothing, I just wanted to hug you.”

Leo held the saintess tightly, feeling somewhat complicated. If she awakened to become the chosen saintess, their future would probably not be so smooth.

Michelle also hugged him, knowing his worries, and could only comfort him, “It’s okay.”

Leo gently kissed her and then said, “My strength is too weak right now. After you leave, I will also take a break to go back and ask the old man to help me train.”

“Actually, you’re already very strong. I don’t want to see you working so hard.”

Michelle felt conflicted, worried that Leo would overexert himself and get hurt, while also hoping he would be stronger to face any danger.

“All of this is for our future.”

“Then I’ll give you a reward.” The saintess tilted her head and offered her sweet kiss, then after a moment, asked, “Do you like it?”

“Of course I like the saintess’s reward.”

“Hehe, but we have to part again for a while.” In her happiness, the saintess felt a bit reluctant.

“It’s not forever; we will see each other again soon.”

…

A few days later.

Michelle returned to the church to prepare for the awakening ceremony.

With the church’s intention to promote it, the public learned that the chosen saintess was about to appear.

Unlike the Sword Saint, heroes and saintesses, such legendary professions, only appeared under specific conditions. Heroes were meant to eliminate the Demon King.

The chosen saintess, on the other hand, was to save the suffering people. Regardless of whether the Demon King had appeared, as long as the world was under threat, the chosen saintess would emerge. Therefore, in some respects, the chosen saintess held a higher status than the hero.

In these days, the atmosphere in the imperial capital was very lively. The people throughout the empire were eagerly anticipating and couldn’t wait to know what kind of person the future chosen saintess would be.

Imperial Capital Church Headquarters.

Nadia returned from the Nidlan Academy first. After Michelle returned to the church, she found her and said, “Sister Nadia, I have returned to the church. How should I prepare?”

“You don’t need to do anything; just stay in the church. Don’t leave the church for these few days,” Nadia advised.

Seeing her serious and solemn expression, Michelle felt a bit confused, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Nothing. Just do as I say; I won’t harm you,” Nadia said again.

“Okay then.”

“I heard that praying to the gods for a few days before the awakening ceremony will increase the success rate of becoming the chosen saintess. If nothing else, you should quietly pray in the church,” Nadia suggested.

The chosen saintess? The identity Michelle had longed for was right in front of her, but when she thought of Leo, it didn’t seem so important anymore.

Nidlan Academy.

In the evening, Leo finished his daily practice and checked his status.

[Name]: Leo

[Profession]: None

[Rank]: S

[Level]: LV8

[Mentality]: SSS-

[Magic Power]: SS

[Physique]: S

(Strength: S-, Speed: S+)

[Life]: S

(Defense: S-, Recovery: S+)

[Talent]: Competitive

[Skills]: Basic Archery (Master Class), Heartflow Swordsmanship (Master Class), Heartflow Meditation (Master Class), Sword Heart Clarity (Master Class)

Heartflow Sword Intent Condensation (Master Class), Heartflow Sword Control (Master Class), Sword Prison Annihilation Blade (Master Class)…

This was his current strength, and his archery had also reached the master class.

However, his Heartflow Swordsmanship had not yet broken through to the Grandmaster class. The gap between Master and Grandmaster was significant and would take a long time to cross.

“Leo, my divine power has recovered quite a bit, and I can bestow you with secret divine skills now,” Vernia suddenly popped up.

“Where have you been all this time?”

Leo asked, as Vernia would disappear from time to time, and he didn’t know where she went.

“I’m a deity, very busy, unlike you all who are so idle,” Vernia said, crossing her arms in the air.

“You didn’t go do anything bad, did you?”

Leo looked skeptical, feeling it might be necessary to restrict Vernia’s movements.

“How could that be! I am a noble deity. I was confirming how many followers I still have, and I was busy recovering divine power. Otherwise, how could I bestow you secret divine skills?”

“So how has your recovery been this year? How many secret divine skills can you bestow?”

“You and Michelle can only have one each; there are no extras,” Vernia said nervously.

Leo didn’t seem to care, “I haven’t decided which aspect of the secret divine skill I want yet. Let’s wait until tomorrow.”

“Alright then, I’ll go find Michelle first.” Vernia waved her wings and left again.

Leo tidied up his things, and the next day, he asked Teacher Ted and Teacher Marguerite for a break of more than ten days, then received a secret divine skill from Vernia and left the Nidlan Academy.

———-
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