[You can retain this blessing and convert it into five life points.]
Just like the faith points granted by the Goddess of Holy Light, the Mother Goddess also has corresponding life points, which are essentially a type of reward exchange credit.
The only difference is that faith points can also be exchanged for magic points at a ratio of 10:1, which is the mana for mages.
Life points, on the other hand, can improve the blessed recipient's physical condition.
The physical condition is linked to the Ash Points of professions like warriors, which is a similar system. They have no magic but instead 'Ash.' Like magic, it also has the restrictions of memory slots.
Believe in Holy Light to increase mana, believe in life to enhance the body.
Those who believe in both are known as faith warriors.
An Su's weak body, naturally frail and sickly, would get winded just by running a short distance.
Doing three sets of exercises a day was all he could bear, and it was uncertain when he might drop dead, so improving his physical condition was quite important.
Compared to the gentle and grand Holy Light granted by the goddess, the Mother Goddess's blessings were much more bloody and painful.
An Su felt all the blood in his body boiling, each inch of his bones twisting and deforming, making creaking noises.
His heart had never beaten so intensely, robust vessels carried powerful vitality, scouring his organs with the flow of blood.
This moment seemed eternal, but it was in fact fleeting,
An Su saw the sea of blood, living beings drifting in this sea of flesh and blood, and that magnificent and grand existence stood at the edge of the sea of blood. That being extended a hand, as if inviting An Su.
He blinked, and the sea of blood vanished like an illusion.
An Su was still on that dark and gloomy altar. Thunderbolts from the sky kept smashing down, repeatedly whitening everything around.
That agony disappeared as quickly as a receding tide. An Su subconsciously moved his legs and felt that his body had never been in such good condition, never so comfortable.
He felt like he could take on three of his former selves in a pure fight.
He could even do three more sets of exercises tonight!
Yet, even so, those five life points splashed into An Su's frail body, only creating ripples.
The Ash Points remained at zero.
An Su wasn't disappointed, after all, little by little one goes far.
"The expression you just had,"
Miss Enya somehow appeared behind An Su. She tilted her head, her smooth black hair cascaded over the other shoulder. Her movements were elegant, but what she said was far from it,
"...looked like you finally managed to squeeze one out after straining for so long."
She really had a sharp tongue.
"Can't you use a more elegant metaphor?" An Su couldn't help but retort.
"What I actually wanted to say was," Enya brushed her stray hair behind her ear, "Your expression looked like you were constipated for ages, and you finally laid it out."
"...You crude woman," An Su's face was streaked with black lines, "Can't you stop spoiling our ma-'romance'."
He sighed lightly, while he took a new robe from Enya's hands and draped it over himself: the custom-made high school uniform was already stained with blood.
What a shame for that nice-feeling piece of leather.
The altar was filthy; dead bits of flesh lay everywhere, giving off the stench of rotten corpses.
After An Su dressed, he paused, then suddenly said to Enya, "I have actually been waiting for you to ask."
"Ask what?" Enya tilted her head again.
"Like how I sacrificed these cultists, and why I did it... that sort of thing," An Su said, "and whether or not I'm a follower of the Mother Goddess."
"Why should I care?"
Enya was puzzled and uncomprehending, "If they're killed, they're killed. I can help you kill others too, whether it's for sacrifice or assassination, fundamentally it's the same thing."
Indeed, Enya had a very different set of moral standards from ordinary people.
She lacked the most basic regard for life; to her, the lives of others held no value besides those she cared about. The moral rules of universal values meant nothing to her.
She also didn't care whether or not An Su made sacrifices.
Enya calmly stepped onto the altar covered in blood and flesh, her black Lolita dress swaying above brown boots that now had their share of bloodstains, tilting her head like a curious kitten.
"I thought you'd be at least a little surprised..." An Su said, dusting off his clothes, "Let's go back."
"To be honest, I only feel disappointed."
Enya said calmly, "I thought you were going to take me away to elope, but it turned out to be just a murder."
"Don't talk about today's events with anyone else," An Su said.
"Can I use it to blackmail you?" Enya tilted her head again, "Young master, you wouldn't want the Church to find out about the sacrifice, would you?"
"Cheeky girl."
——
When they got back home, dawn was breaking, and the rain had almost stopped.
The air at the Chenxing Estate was crisp and clear after the rain, the pale blue sky reflected in the puddles in the courtyard, as if a piece of the sky had fallen into this luxurious estate.
As soon as he got home, An Su was greeted by Count Karlo's satisfied smile.
"Very good, very good, a second night without coming home, you're showing promise."
He happily patted An Su on the shoulder, chattering away,
"At last, you have half the charm I did, didn't disappoint me. Your dad still knows you; you were never cut out for studying, in my view, you should start producing heirs for our family sooner..."
"You've only been studying for two weeks and you're already giving up, just as your dad predicted—wait, where are you going again with your books packed up?"
"To the Church."
After returning home, An Su took a refreshing bath, changed into a light blue shirt, ate a few pieces of bread casually, and then packed up to leave again,
"I have to do my morning prayer."
He left the house smartly, completely disregarding Count Karlo's cries of 'scoundrel' and 'family misfortune'.
The Church was not very busy early in the morning, the sunlight lay warm across the glass dome.
What a delightful morning it was.
Mr. Danny, the old priest who guarded the gate, brewed a pot of black tea, lazily reclined in a wicker chair, reading today's Seaside City News, in quite a good mood.
But when he looked up and saw the words "Neophyte" approaching from a distance, the charm of the pleasant morning instantly turned constipated.
"Good morning." The scoundrel's smile was as sunny and cheerful as ever.
"Morning."
Danny forced a smile, not daring to stop An Su any longer,
"May the morning sunlight illuminate your path. Are you here to pray again today... Mr. An Su is truly devout."
"After all, I'm the Goddess of Holy Light's most faithful follower," An Su, who had just received a reward from the Mother Goddess, responded cheerily.
He walked directly into the church, knelt before the statue of the deity, and began to pray.
[An Su]
[Magic Points: 4]
[Preparatory Saint]
[Current Faith Points: Five (eliminating fifteen lives of Low Rank Believers and one Mid Rank Priestess of the Mother Goddess Cult)]
[Preparatory Saint may exchange for low-level blessings, or add points to the body]
Five faith points can be exchanged for a low-level blessing.
Or save up another five points, and then you can add points to the stamina bar again.
An Su's lips revealed a joy like that of a bountiful harvest, having just received reward money from the imperial army, I could now embezzle military funds from our own army!
You should know, around the border city, there are more than just two Esoteric Religion dens.
This is the thrill of leveling up!