Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 184 Promotion
"This guy... is a bit troublesome." Tessa sighed.

Claire asked, "Do you know him?"

"I don't know him, but I have some understanding of him." Before Claire could say anything else, Tessa agreed: "Leave this matter to me."

"Then...be careful."

After saying goodbye to Tessa, it was less than an hour before dawn, and Claire planned to use the roulette wheel to head to the temple.

Taking advantage of the night, Claire sneaked into a nearby locked and deserted courtyard.

The courtyard showed signs of renovation, but no one lived there. It must be the idle property of a noble or wealthy businessman.

In this corner where no one could observe, Claire took out a small roulette wheel. She focused her mind and, with the unique ability of an appraiser, "saw" the extraordinary characteristics of the roulette wheel containing two different colors.

"One of them is an Beyonder of the 'Apprentice' Path, and its sequence is not low. As for the other one..."

Looking at the hazy and indistinct Beyonder characteristic, Claire felt a strong hunger in her heart. If it weren't for the various circumstances that made Claire's mental strength far beyond her current sequence, anyone else would have swallowed the roulette in their hand by now!
"If I had really given in to this hunger and eaten the roulette wheel, I'd probably have lost control and turned into a monster by now! This Beyonder characteristic is actually from the 'Generalist' path! And the sequence is quite high!"

After gaining sufficient understanding, Claire stopped evaluating the roulette wheel.

The function of the roulette wheel was just as Saint Anthony had introduced it, it could store the coordinates of six locations. However, since the extraordinary characteristics required to make the roulette wheel were beyond her current sequence level, the specific method of storing the coordinates could not be identified.

The other effect left Claire baffled.

"When used during the day, fragments of astrological knowledge are gained."

The starry sky is clearer at night, but using it at night doesn't trigger this effect. Is this due to church restrictions? Is "gaining astrological knowledge" the serious consequence Saint Anthony mentioned?

Astrology...

Is it related to the "astrologer"?

Claire had seen it in Russell's diary.

Sequence 5 of the "Educator" path is "Astrologer".

The modern name is "astronomer".

It was a name that frightened Russell a little.

"Combining the attitude in Roselle's diary and the warnings of Saint Anthony, the starry sky seems very dangerous?" Claire didn't understand for a moment, but she listened carefully and had no intention of trying to accept any astrology.

As the appraisal came to an end, a sense of satisfaction filled Claire's heart. It was the feedback that the potion had been completely digested.

"Is it because the roulette wheel being appraised contains the Beyonder's higher-sequence Beyonder characteristics? The effect is truly remarkable."

With such emotion, Claire turned the roulette wheel in her hand, and her figure gradually became transparent, and finally disappeared in the corner of the deserted courtyard.

Although this familiar spiritual teleportation took a while, nothing unexpected happened during this spiritual journey. After Claire adjusted to the discomfort of leaving the spiritual world, she saw a black Gothic church with a spire.

The darkness did not block Claire's vision at all.

The massive building, occupying a vast expanse, stood amidst the snow-covered mountains before it, like a desolate painting. In front of the church lay a cliff, and Claire was standing on the other side of it.

"This is... the quiet church in Wintershire. It's really cold, and no one reminded me to put on more clothes..."

"Then how do I cross the river? It looks close, but it's still quite a distance away."

Just when Claire was troubled, a figure wearing a simple robe and walking barefoot on the ice and snow appeared in her sight.

There is no way to observe how this person appeared!
Claire saluted the newcomer solemnly and said, "Greetings, Her Highness Arianna."

The visitor was none other than Arianna, the "Secret Servant" who was the head of the thirteen archbishops!

"The goddess has always been blessing you, Claire." Arianna walked over slowly. During this process, Claire felt as if the small space she was in was being peeled away from this world.

This feeling is very similar to the holy coffin.

No, it's even more domineering than the Holy Coffin!
At the same time, as Arianna got closer, the organs in Claire's chest began to beat more violently.

Wisps of mist like scattered starlight emanated from Claire's chest.

As the starlight faded, Claire's figure lowered slightly, and her face also changed, eventually returning to her original appearance.

"Your Highness Arianna? Are you examining the 'Heart of the Goddess'?" Claire, whose appearance had transformed from that of an elegant lady back to that of a delicate young girl, lowered her head in surprise.

Arianna remained silent. The entire inspection process took only a few seconds. When Arianna came in front of Claire, all the strange visions disappeared, and Claire turned back into Galadriel's appearance.

Arianna said calmly, "The effects of other potions in your system and the contamination of the evil god could potentially cause the Goddess' Heart to mutate. I'm checking this to ensure you meet the requirements for the next potion. So far, you're in good shape, not acting recklessly like you did in Tingen."

Are you complaining about my recklessness during my Tingen period?

Before Claire could say anything, a chill spread from her waist to her back.

A girl in ghost state was floating at the back of Claire's neck.

It's Yuffie.

Arianna saw Yuffie and nodded softly, saying, "3-0957 is also in good condition, and has completely integrated the Nightmare attribute."

Is Yuffie's potion digested so quickly?

However, Yuffie was originally a sealed item, so losing control was the norm. There was no such thing as madness. The only difference was the severity of the negative effects on the holder. "Digestion" wasn't an accurate description.

Claire patted the nightmare doll at her waist, soothing it so that Yuffie's spirit could return to her. Then she asked Arianna:

"Your Highness Arianna, why did you suddenly summon me so urgently, even using the 'Wheel of Unknown Destination', a magical item that can teleport to the spirit world? Is there a reason?"

Arianna turned over her palm, and a rabbit-shaped doll gradually emerged from the transparent state like a color filling, and was held in Arianna's palm.

A sense of desire rose from Claire's heart, which was even stronger than the desire brought to her by the roulette wheel, and it almost made Claire lose her composure.

Arianna said calmly, "Something went wrong with the 'Craftsman' trait reserved for you, so I needed to call you in early to deal with it."

Are you ready to give me the extraordinary characteristics of "Craftsman"?
Claire took a deep breath and looked intently at the bunny doll in Arianna's palm. She saw the bright light representing the Beyonder's characteristics, shining as brightly as jelly and tempting.

This rabbit can randomly give objects a characteristic, such as hardness, flexibility, flammability, explosiveness, etc. If the object itself has spirituality, it will be given even more wonderful characteristics.

However, whether the new features are compatible with the original functions of the items depends purely on luck.

Feeling the living aura of the bunny doll, Claire hesitated and asked, "Then...how did the Beyonder characteristic I needed become a living bunny doll?"

Arianna said, "It was the custodian's mistake, but I can help you separate the Beyonder characteristics from it. It's not a big problem."

"..." Claire's expression froze. Was it necessary to use a magical item to teleport her back for such an easy problem?

Seeing Claire's thoughts, Arianna said, "I need to go out for a while. If you can't get back to the temple in time, you'll have to find a way to extract the Beyonder characteristics from this rabbit yourself."

With Claire's broad knowledge, she had never heard of a method that could extract the Beyonder characteristics fused with an object. If the Beyonder characteristics could be extracted from the corpse of a dead Beyonder creature, then how could an object be "killed"?
Claire asked Arianna for advice. Arianna stretched out her hand towards Claire. The bunny doll in her palm kept twisting and powder kept falling. Finally, the bunny doll twisted into a jelly-like object and squirmed in front of Claire.

Arianna said, "Like this, the church was forcibly separated out using the power of angels and above."

Angels can do whatever they want, right?... Claire couldn't help but complain in her heart.

However, before she even set foot into the Tranquil Church, she had already achieved the most important goal of this trip. This made Claire sigh at the efficiency of the church's actions.

Claire reached out to take the "Craftsman" extraordinary characteristic handed to her by Arianna. When the jelly fell into her hand, it was wrapped in a tin box that suddenly appeared.

Apparently, the tin box was also something conjured up by Her Highness Arianna.

Claire thought of the Holy Coffin, which also possessed the power of secrecy. The power of secrecy was very convenient for hiding things.

Claire held the tin box and thanked Arianna: "Thank you, Your Highness Arianna."

Arianna said calmly, "Everything is arranged by the Lord."

"Praise the goddess." Claire drew a crimson crimson shape, then turned directly to Arianna and asked, "Please forgive my offense, Your Highness Arianna, do you know why I deserve the goddess's attention?"

But Arianna simply replied, "I don't know either."

Arianna spoke sincerely, not as if she was hiding something.

Claire was somewhat disappointed. This time, she came to the Holy Temple not only to obtain Beyonder characteristics for advancement, but also to get Arianna to resolve the many doubts in her heart.

Arianna was the head of the thirteen archbishops and a possible future pope. If even she didn't have the answer, then no one else in the church would be able to resolve Claire's doubts.

Arianna lowered her head slightly, looking at Claire who was lost in thought, and added, "But the Lord once said that you are a follower of the Fool, so perhaps this is related."

The Fool's followers?!
Claire was stunned.

This kind of talk made her brain freeze. When did she become a follower of the Fool?

but……

Claire thought about it and realized that she was the "priestess" of the Tarot Club. It made sense for her to link the matter to the followers of the "Fool", but Claire had a hunch that the matter was not that simple.

"What about you, Her Highness Arianna? Since you know that I'm involved with other gods, what do you think of my situation?" Claire, who was clueless, looked at the Pope candidate in front of her with a wry smile.

Arianna responded calmly, "You are the Lord's favored one and my sister."

Although this sentence is short, it gives people peace of mind.

"Your promotion sequence is special and not suitable for being held in the Serene Church."

Before Arianna finished her words, a long table, iron pots, test tubes, droppers, balances, and other essential items for an alchemy room appeared in front of Claire.

When I first looked at it, there were small boxes and a piece of parchment on the table.

Claire picked up the parchment, which contained the recipe for the "Craftsman" potion. The ingredients on the table corresponded to the recipe one by one.

Claire took a deep breath, temporarily cleared all distracting thoughts, and began to prepare the potion according to the recipe.

She expertly handled each ingredient, mixing, steaming, blending... Claire's hands were steady in every step, and she placed the ingredients with incredible precision.

After finally putting the "jelly" into the iron pot in front of you, a unique and tranquil scent wafts out of the pot, so peaceful that you feel the gentle indifference of the starry sky.

Claire held the iron pot, and the sticky substance in the pot flowed into the glass bottle placed beside it. When all the sticky substance fell into the glass bottle, it turned from disgusting sticky substance into a bottle of azure liquid in the blink of an eye.

Claire didn't hesitate and drank the whole bottle in one gulp.

Her sense of taste didn't receive any feedback, and the unbearable pain spread from her head to her entire body. All the knowledge she had accumulated since she became a "universalist" now turned into a torrent that washed over Claire's consciousness.

This is a sort of combing process.

But Claire, with her memory library, was essentially constantly sorting out all the knowledge she possessed, making the process painful but not dangerous.

The most dangerous thing for Claire is the change in her body.

Whether they were craftsmen or mechanical experts, they were all masters at translating theory into practice. Claire's body, especially her arms, constantly shifted into various forms, sometimes twisting into tentacles, sometimes turning into wooden puppet arms, and even transforming into a pair of mechanical arms covered in gears...

This irrational transformation is not an illusion at all, but a real reality.

Similar changes occurred in other parts of her body, but not as frequently as in her hands and arms. However, these physical changes caused Claire's relatively clear mind to waver.

What is a person?
What is matter?
Where is the boundary between people and things?
Especially in this fantasy world with the legend of the creator.

shake……

When Claire realized this state, she suddenly realized that she was in a very dangerous situation. The constant changes in her body caused some differences and even conflicts in her thinking logic.

The changes in her body became more and more exaggerated, but Claire's consciousness became clearer and her thoughts became deeper.

However, this kind of deep thinking also gave rise to many completely different ideas for Claire at the same time, because even two completely contradictory concepts could find their own rationality in deep thinking.

She knew too much and thought too much, but lacked a central axis that ran through everything. Her thoughts were expanding rapidly like a big explosion, and Claire was on the verge of losing control.

Reason made Claire realize that the best way to avoid losing control and going crazy was to split her consciousness and let each thought with different ideas become a separate individual. In this way, she would not fall into self-contradiction and degenerate into a monster.

But the consequence of doing so is obvious: she will become a "Claire" with countless personalities.

The current situation was forcing and tempting Claire to split her own personality. Each of her many thoughts, which were thinking in different directions, was begging for freedom.

"Something's wrong..."

"wrong!"

Claire suddenly woke up. One can have countless thoughts, but can only have one personality.

People will have different thoughts at different times, in different places, and in different states, but the person thinking about these thoughts is the same individual!
From then on, no matter what difficulties or logical contradictions she faced, Claire always adhered to the fundamental principle of self.

With her persistence, countless thoughts and ideas turned into books and fell into the memory library. At this moment, Claire's body returned to its original state, which was what she should look like as a human being.

It was unknown how long this process lasted. When Claire opened her eyes, Arianna, who was standing opposite her, congratulated her calmly, "Congratulations."

At this moment, Claire did not feel tired or weak at all. Instead, she felt extremely powerful and had an inflated feeling as if she were the creator.

Claire realized that these were all symptoms left over from being on the verge of losing control.

And these are actually minor issues.

The bigger problem lies in the countless thoughts that she has sealed in the memory library. She always has to make a choice among them. Although there can be countless thoughts, most of the time, there is only one choice.

For example, if you choose Claire, you will have to face her first choice:

Be a "craftsman" or a "mechanical expert".

but……

No matter what——

"It feels good to be able to advance alive." Claire smiled at Arianna.

(End of this chapter)