Chapter 6: Time for another crusade!

An emissary from Heaven is looking down upon you and wishes to give you a blessing. Would you like to accept his gift?

Yes.

A blessing has allowed your class of [Cleric] to evolve into the Rare class [Bishop].

- Requirements have been bypassed.

An evolution along the cleric path, a bishop also acts as a representative of a greater being in delivering their message, spreading the word of their lord. Class bonuses evolved to +5 Int, +5 Wis.

Ability gifted: [Lesser Blessing] Level 1

- Give a blessing unto a being, raising a chosen stat by 2x the level of the ability.

Ability gifted: [Holy Champion] Level 1

- You can call upon others to serve you. Able to bestow the Rare class of Holy Champion to your followers. Can impart to this class unto the same number of followers as the level of the ability. As the holy champion you have blessed gains experience, the level of the ability will slowly increase. Requires absolute trust from the follower to cast the blessing.

It was undeniably a tough battle, but even after all that fighting, they could not call themselves the winners. Hiding in the church were 40 people, most exhausted from the battle that took place only an hour ago with a few taking peeks out the stained-glass windows at the carnage outside. Over 200 bodies lay out there, only about 50 of them being the green figures they now knew as a level 4 Goblin after they realized how to [Identify] the beasts. It took many people at once working together to take on the creatures that all seemed to be far stronger and faster than their human opponents, likely due to their higher levels. But now that the battle was over only a tense silence remained and filled the church hall, occasionally broken with the brief sobs of both grief and fear that now filled the group.

Although he wished to delve further into the blessing his god had given him, he was facing bigger issues at the moment. Drew took a quick peek out the stained-glass window and saw about 30 more goblins picking over the bodies, before diving back into his work. As one of two people in the group capable of healing, he was now swamped with responsibilities as all the participants seemed to bear a wound of some sort from the fighting.

[Heal] Level 2 -> Level 3

Nice, but would be more useful if I could pull some damn mana to cast the heal.

Soon after he found himself unable to sense any more mana in the surroundings and knowing that he could be of no more use he sat down and called up his status.

Status:

Name: Drew Jackson

Race: Human

Title: Savior (+2 Vit)

Level: 3 Class: Bishop

Strength: 5 Agility: 5

Wisdom: 8->23 Intelligence: 9->19

Vitality: 7(+2) Endurance: 6

Charisma: 7 Luck: 6

Unused Stat Points: 0

Taking the advice of that group of students, he had put all his points from the three levels into wisdom and intelligence. With the +5 bonus onto each from his class, he could cast enough [Heal]’s to help almost all the group recover. Only one other member of the group, a young lady who used to work as a doctor, had gained the [Healer] class, a different variation of the [Cleric] she said was not tied to faith, during the battle and had greatly helped in taking some of the burden off of him during the aftermath.

Abilities, he thought.

Abilities:

[Heal] Level 1->3

[Holy Mana Manipulation] Level 1->3

[Lesser Blessing] Level 1

[Holy Champion] Level 1

From all the fighting and the job of healing afterwards, it seemed both his [Heal] and [Holy Mana Manipulation] had increased by two levels. He was feeling thankful for the group of students that had helped them find and navigate these menus, saying was similar to games they had played before, as keeping track of all his stat and ability changes during the heat of a battle would have been difficult.

Before he could sink too deep into his thoughts, he felt a hand from behind him land down on his shoulder. William had been glued to his side like a magnet ever since Drew had first healed him on the battlefield, and with a glance he was met with eyes filled only with worship. He was already fairly religious and having lost his wife on the battlefield he now found solace in Father Jackson. Drew was all too happy to have someone at his back in what he knew could only be difficult times, but the fanaticism that now filled the man was worrying.

But many of the group had done the same it seemed. Having seen Father Jackson be the first to perform miracles on the battlefield, and with the inexplicable changes happening all around them, they couldn’t help but believe in God. Something must be causing this, there was no way science could explain increasing your stats at the click of a button they reasoned, and with the appearance of a priest there to protect them they were almost already converted.

“William, come close, I have something for you” Drew said, “and I need you to trust me”.

“Don’t worry father, I have faith.” He dropped to his knees quickly, eager to show his worship to the man who had given him but just his life, but another chance to have revenge on those that took away his beloved. And he was all too eager to exterminate the goblins down to the last man. Drew could see the man’s desperation, and not wanting to lower his passion the priest could only let out a sigh at his acts.

Moving on, drew continued with his original intentions. “I have a blessing I can give you, to change your class. What is it you have now?”

“Nothing. I asked the students and they said it was because I haven’t fulfilled any of the requirements for one. Apparently for most common classes I mostly just need to pick one that I like, and my intent will be felt by God, but I have yet to decide on anything. Please guide me father, I will take the class you need me to be, I am here to serve you and the word of God.”

Another sigh, but Drew decided to carry it out anyway. “[Holy Champion]” he called out, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake.

“Another pack is coming, everyone down.”

Breaking their reprieve, the survivors heeded the lookouts call and quickly laid themselves down behind the wooden pews furthest from the main doors that stood at one end of the church hall. So far, none of the goblins had taken a look inside the old church, but after seeing them break into the various buildings around them, starting from those that looked the most expensive, he knew it was only a matter of time. Drew had seen them walking out carrying everything from silver cutlery to shiny trophies, and so had hid away the golden cross and everything else shiny that was immediately visible so as to not attract attention.

‘Thud. Thud.’

The door burst open, and everyone collectively held their breath as the tension filled the room. Three of goblins had entered, two of them quite large leading the way with a leaner goblin following behind. The two leading monsters seemed to immediately lose interest after seeing nothing of value from only a glance around, but the third kept looking as if sensing something was wrong.

And locking eyes with one of the figures hidden at the back of the hall, he found it.

Several [Taunt]s quickly rang out from the students who had already adopted the warrior class and had managed to gain the related ability. Wasting no time, the group of a dozen students carrying weapons looted from the goblins they had killed prior, and who Drew had previously discovered were only around 16 but absolutely fearless with their desire to level up, rushed at the goblins. The two monsters that led the pack could only manage two random swings of their long rust-coated short swords before being swamped by hits from all side. Spurred on by the courage of the kids, the rest of the survivors then began to act. One of them, a young girl named Kate who had taken it upon herself to become a [Mage], stood between Jackson and the pack as she began to draw in mana to cast a spell.

Wanting to help add to her damage, father Jackson decided to cast his [Lesser Blessing] on the mage, but right as he pointed his arm to send out the spell the sound of an explosion rang out and the earth shook. As the ground trembled and many of the group fell to the ground from the shock, with Drew’s spelling swinging just wide of the caster.

With a glance around, the group thankfully discovered that the explosion must have originated from far away, but this fact could only helped add to the fear that they tried to suppress in the back of their minds. What could be strong enough to make the ground shake like that?

The front two goblins were quickly put down, with the third making the surprisingly smart decision to flee from the fight. Knowing that they had now been exposed, the group realized that they had to leave the church and hide elsewhere.

Their fight for survival had only just begun.