"...Can you tell just by looking?"
Annan found it somewhat strange.
He had checked repeatedly, and there surely wasn’t any distinctive mark on him after his class change to Silver Knight.
"Or is it that all of us in the church are Silver Knights?"
If the clergies of the Silver Barons all chose this advancement, then Annan would have been much more at ease...
However, Bishop Daryl shook his head with an odd expression, "No, most people in the church aren’t even Transcendents, as in my case.
"Although being a Transcendent can quickly make a person of common birth into a big shot... the real big shots don’t all choose the path of transcendency."
"...Ah, that makes sense."
After all, Transcendents in this world truly ’die a terrible death’.
Not only do they get their bones crushed and scattered after death, but a careless mistake could also give rise to nightmares. Secrets from one’s life are easily exposed... thus, at a high enough status, common people are preferred over Transcendents.
In every major family, there is at least one who wouldn’t choose the path of becoming a Transcendent. This is to preserve the political seed.
In other words... it’s for an easy escape.
When the big shots decide to flee to neighboring countries for various reasons, they can take a ship at will; and unless the King is after their heads, Transcendent assassins can’t pass customs, at best they can send mortal assassins to pursue—yet, those assassins cannot contend with a Transcendent of another country.
Annansometimes even wondered whether "Annan Winter" was the chosen common person, kept in reserve ’just in case’.
"What about the Transcendents in the church?"
Annan asked with some expectation.
Bishop Daryl replied ruthlessly, "No, they wouldn’t either. The Transcendents in our Silver Baron church tend to advance to ’Silver Robe Wizards’ or other wizardly professions. One of the main duties of the church is to purify nightmares; and purifying nightmares effectively sharpens our perception of curses... this is a vocational attribute highly sought after by wizards. Wizards with poor perception usually find it hard to advance.
"Those who can become Silver Knights are exceptionally devout, fanatical, and... wealthy."
Speaking of which, Daryl looked at Annan with even weirder expression and hesitated, "But now it seems, there might be exceptions..."
Don’t look at me like that!?
I’m desperate too, you know?
Annan coughed lightly, his expression unchanged, "My main job is actually that of a wizard..."
"But seriously... being a Silver Knight is a very powerful profession."
Daryl said seriously, "Though it consumes a bit more in combat... you can completely use it as a profession for self-protection in critical moments.
"Even if you lack the abilities to advance to the silver rank, you can use Silver Knight as your lead to advance to silver—it’s not capped at bronze, but at silver. If not for its stringent advancement requirements, many Transcendents would choose it."
So it means its level cap isn’t 20, but 30...
Annan mused thoughtfully, "Does that mean it’s like being guaranteed a promotion to silver?"
"That’s right. Just like a wizard’s apprentice is guaranteed to advance to the bronze tier."
Upon hearing this, Daryl’s expression became somewhat odd, "But only very devout priests can change class to this profession... mainly because, Lord Annan. You see, if we clergies of the Silver Barons wish to be promoted within the holy ranks to become bishops or cardinal bishops, we can no longer possess personal property."
...I probably know why only devoted clergymen can advance to this profession.
Annan was silent, pondering to himself.
It must be because of the strange attribute requirements.
Twelve points in perception, eight in willpower, eight in constitution.
Training one’s body in the normal rhythm, a Swordsman reaching ten levels and eight points in constitution isn’t very difficult. But with these requirements, they need to increase their willpower by three points... which is quite hard.
This physique corresponds to the peak level of a swordsman, highlighting the gap from the physicality of an ordinary healthy adult.
It’s entirely equivalent to the attribute difference brought by a level ten normal occupation.
Moreover, the perception attribute for an ordinary person is 5, meaning that if one doesn’t have the occupation level of a wizard apprentice, it would require clearing nightmares seven times over.
But if they had the occupation of wizard apprentice, they would definitely pursue the path of a wizard—after all, it’s a guaranteed bronze-tier occupation.
Where would they find the time to slowly temper their bodies and hone their will?
"I know a senior Silver Knight, even many gold-tier assassins have come back unsuccessful from their encounters with him."
Seated in his chair, Daryl reminisced and slowly said, "He’s not a bishop, but he is indeed a follower of the Silver Baron. He has personally slain a ’Shadow Hunter’, a gold-tier cursed hunter. He can wield divine arts more offensive than those of a priest... after all, the curse activity in them is at the level of a Transcendent, unlike us ordinary priests who do not store curses in our bodies.
"For instance, he can form a giant hand out of molten silver coins to grasp his enemies. This almost instantly results in death, turning the victim into a terrible silver statue. He can also radiate dazzling silver light from his entire body, continuously healing and enhancing nearby companions. The enhancement is significant... to the extent that priests of ordinary strength can repel bronze-tier swordsmen head-on."
"If you have a chance to go to the Royal Capital, I can write you a letter of introduction."
"...Sorry, I would like to ask."
Annan hesitated for a moment but eventually asked, "This senior Silver Knight, his family is...?"
"He’s the former finance minister of the Kingdom of Noah."
At this point, Daryl looked at Annan with a gaze that held a tinge of pity, "And now, he is the chairman of the first bank of Noah, and also serves on the board of directors for the second bank of Noah and Iris Bank. But don’t worry... after all, once you come of age, your wealth is bound to surpass his!"
Annan choked for a moment.
Coming of age... to inherit the Duchy of Winter?
He locked eyes with the gold-toothed, slightly grinning fat man for a while and decisively decided to change the subject: "I came here actually to inquire, if my attendants want to embark on the path of a Transcendent... do you have any recommendations?"
"...Have they decided? Is it their own decision?"
Daryl’s expression turned serious.
Annan nodded firmly and said, "Indeed. They are all of the swordsman occupation, with good physical condition and solid foundations... but they don’t have any special skills. So I hope to find an advanced occupation that has a lower threshold and brighter prospects."
Daryl pondered for a long time.
He then slowly said, "Then, I recommend the professions ’Guardian’, ’Berserker’, and ’Swordsmanship Instructor’.
"Guardian is adept at defensive battles and handling one-against-many or many-against-one fights. Its promotion requirement is to successfully block more than ten attacks in nightmares and to possess a relatively balanced physical attribute.
"Berserker, as its name implies, is extremely powerful on the frontline of a battlefield, and grows stronger as the battle wages on. Their strength continues to rise as their wounds deepen. To advance to a berserker, one needs sufficient strength and a healthy constitution. The first requirements for advancement are to slay an enemy while gravely injured in nightmares and to die alongside the enemy.
"Once the requirements for advancing to a berserker are met, there will inevitably appear at least one self-harm type of Curse Binding. If they can successfully choose that type of self-harm Curse Binding, they can smoothly advance to a berserker."
Recalling, Daryl continued, "Swordsmanship Instructors specialize in one-on-one combat, and for swordsmen of their age, it might be the most challenging career change. They first need to refine their Basic Swordsmanship to a certain level, and secondly, they have to be sufficiently agile and flexible.
"They need to kill all their enemies with their own swordsmanship without sustaining any damage throughout the process. This is almost the only career path for older swordsmen... Since they often receive a body that’s lighter and healthier than their own in nightmares, this isn’t difficult for them."
Annan nodded his head.
It seems leading the players to advance as Swordsmanship Instructors... is temporarily implausible.
The main reason being, Annan was not yet ready to offer the "Traitor" to them. And in the "Gallery", Amos didn’t have the occupation of a swordsman, nor did he have a sword in hand.
However, the first two options... seem plausible.
He’d talk to the players about it at some point.
Let them choose freely—
...Oh no, wait, that’s some expensive information.
You guys need to pay up! (voice crack)