Chapter 103: The Advancement Was Complete—I Am an Exorcist

After healing Michael, Lin Xiao once again took out all the Level 5 flesh essences and fed them to the sturdy young werewolf who had collapsed on the ground, stabilizing their injuries.

But all of them were terribly weakened and had already reverted to human form; for the time being, there was no hope of restoring their strength. In the end, they would have to rely on themselves to fight their way into Hawkins Laboratory, face the Mind Flayer in a final battle, and seal the gate to the Otherworld.

Lin Xiao, however, felt no fear, because at last he could change professions.

While Eleven tended to Michael and Stefan went off to dig a grave for Lestat, Lin Xiao quietly brought up the system interface. Conditions one and three for his profession change had already been met; only condition two remained incomplete, lacking a few lower-tier elemental crystals.

That was hardly a problem. Based on past experience, elemental crystals could usually be obtained from the small reward capsules. Just now, after killing the blood clan marquis Lestat, he had been given a high-grade two-star capsule, and it should surely contain elemental crystals as well.

With that in mind, he opened the capsule first. A flash of light passed, and three items appeared inside. The first was a high-grade material: the blood crystal of a blood clan marquis, equivalent to the count blood crystal obtained from killing Damont, only of a higher rank.

The second was also something akin to Lucien Virus serum, called the blood clan marquis virus serum. It could turn a person into a blood clan member, or increase a vampire's rank.

The third was precisely an elemental crystal, though only a mid-tier one.

Fortunately, after consulting the system, he learned that a mid-tier elemental crystal could also count as a lower-tier elemental crystal. One piece was enough to replace three. Adding it to the four he already had, he was now only three short of fulfilling all three conditions.

That too was no difficult matter. He fed the remaining nine portions of Level 5 magical essence into the production machine, and a small interface popped up, indicating that thirty points of source power were required for synthesis.

Killing Lestat had rewarded him with 120 points of source power. At present, he had 256 points in total, more than enough for the synthesis and for completing the profession change.

He clicked confirm. The nine portions of Level 5 magical essence vanished, and three gleaming lower-tier elemental crystals appeared in his inventory.

Everything was ready, except for one thing: Grandis.

The moment all three conditions were satisfied, a voice suddenly rang in Lin Xiao's ear, sounding very much like the voice of the cleric mentor, Grandis:

"When darkness descends, that is the day you march forth. Wherever your battle-axe points, darkness shall retreat. This is your destiny, the duty you bear.

"You must go forth to seek the apocalypse and save the world. My child, may the gods bless you and grant you courage and strength. May holy light endure forever, never to be extinguished. Amen."

Immediately afterward, the system prompt sounded again:

"Congratulations. You have fulfilled the three requirements for a profession change and have officially become an exorcist. Your profession panel has been unlocked. You may continue leveling general skills and basic skills, and you may also begin learning profession skills.

"You have chosen the exorcist class. Each level up grants 12 free attribute points, which may be freely allocated among the four basic attributes. The maximum single attribute value for an exorcist is 100 points.

"You have one chance to redistribute your attribute points, allowing adjustments within a range of no more than 10 points. After this, attribute points can no longer be adjusted."

"Congratulations. You are now officially an exorcist. Exorcist specialization has been unlocked. Armor specialization has been unlocked. Throwing mastery has been unlocked."

As the prompt faded, the personal attribute interface automatically opened. At the same time, the original skill tree became far more luxuriant, and a new branch took shape:

Profession skills.

Not only had the exorcist's profession skills appeared, but the profession skill tree of the female paladin had also formed. This filled Lin Xiao with delight. So he really could learn the healer's profession skills. He remembered that further down the line there was a divine technique capable of reviving allies.

The only thing he did not know was whether such a miracle could also be wrought in the real world.

He carefully searched the skill tree, and to his great regret, there was no revival skill among the profession skills. It seemed that games were games, and reality was reality. The power to bring the dead back to life was not something so easily mastered.

Perhaps only after a second awakening, or even beyond that, could the boundary between life and death be broken and the dead restored to life.

Completing the profession change brought no reward at all; it merely unlocked the profession panel. Fortunately, Lin Xiao had been farsighted and had saved up six SP points in advance. Now he could continue upgrading skills or light up profession skills.

Before lighting any skills, he first made a slight adjustment to his four basic attributes, moving just one point from intelligence to stamina, leaving everything else unchanged.

Before level ten, each level up granted five points to each of the four basic attributes, which was fairly balanced.

After the profession change, each level up granted only twelve free attribute points. Although flexibility increased greatly, in practical terms it was still a loss. After all, four times five made twenty, and now he was eight points short.

After adjusting his four basic attributes, Lin Xiao carefully considered his skill choices. The upcoming battle would be against the big boss, the Mind Flayer, so this upgrade was crucial. It would determine victory or defeat, and he had to think it through carefully.

"The Mind Flayer is a dark-attribute monster. The best attribute against it is light. Thunder-sealing talismans are powerful, but they lack endurance, so the best priority is to enhance the Holy Light skill."

With that in mind, Lin Xiao intended to raise Holy Light from Level 2 Mastery to Level 3 Excellence.

Unexpectedly, after clicking upgrade, a small interface popped up, informing him that he first had to unlock the prerequisite profession skill, Holy Light Chakra, before he could continue upgrading.

Lin Xiao cursed inwardly at the stinginess of it all. What was even worse was that to raise a profession skill to Level 1 Entry required 2 SP points, and to Level 2 Mastery required 4 SP points, effectively doubling the price.

In the end, he had no choice but to spend 2 SP points first and unlock the first profession skill: Holy Light Chakra.

"Holy Light Chakra: Level 1 profession skill. A unique cultivation secret technique of the exorcist. It can awaken the chakra power within the body, temporarily converting all magical power into light-attribute force. Grants a 20 percent bonus to magical attacks against dark-attribute creatures."

This profession skill actually overlapped somewhat with Holy Light. The difference was that Holy Light Chakra was stronger, and it was also a prerequisite for many later skills, such as Holy Light itself.

He then spent another 3 SP points to raise Holy Light to Level 3 Excellence, and the skill's effect underwent a tremendous leap:

"Holy Light: Level 3 Excellence. Magical power within the body is converted into light-attribute force, forming holy radiance that drives out darkness. Grants a 20 percent bonus to magical attacks against dark creatures, cannot be stacked. When the light collides with enemies, it explodes, dealing light-attribute magical damage; each use consumes 40 mana.

"Level 2 Mastery Special Technique: Spear of Light. Condenses Holy Light into a holy spear with armor-piercing properties. Enemies struck by the spear suffer a 20 percent reduction in defense and take 100 points of magical damage.

"Level 3 Excellence Special Technique: Holy Judgment. After activating the Holy Light chakra, condenses a spear of judgment. Against dark creatures of the same rank, such as undead, demons, and ghosts, when their HP falls below 20 percent, it has a finishing effect. Success rate is 50 percent, and each higher rank halves the success rate. Each use consumes 300 mana."

"Holy Judgment! A finishing effect!"

Lin Xiao could not help feeling that those five SP points had been spent well indeed. This Excellence special technique, Holy Judgment, would be his trump card from now on.

It was tailored to those thick-skinned, hard-to-kill bosses, or bosses who, at the brink of death, forcibly triggered healing skills. One strike to finish them, crisp and decisive.

As for the remaining one SP point, he simply put it into the basic skill Slow Recovery. This skill mainly accelerated HP restoration. It was not very useful in the early stages, but later on it would prove quite valuable.

"Slow Recovery: Level 1 basic skill. Causes one teammate within a certain range, including the user, to slowly recover HP, automatically stopping once HP has recovered above 50 percent."

This recovery skill would be enormously useful in prolonged battles. Lin Xiao could already foresee that the final confrontation with the Mind Flayer would certainly not end quickly; it would surely drag on for a very long time, and this skill would play a significant role.

It was not easy, but he had finally completed his profession change. From this moment on, he, Lin Xiao, was truly an exorcist.