"Goddess of Dreams in slumber, grant me your sacred light. The Saintess softly chants a devout prayer, gathering the world's pure Cloud Root Water to banish the dark evil. Awaken, Light of Deliverance."
FreshwindElara carefully sprinkled the Cloud Root Water onto the Stone Elder as she recited the incantation he had given her.
A bright, gentle light blossomed from her hands, softly enveloping her slender figure. A sacred aura radiated outwards, and combined with her striking features, Marcus felt as if he were witnessing a celestial being who had stepped onto mortal soil.
As she finished the chant, FreshwindElara thrust her hands toward the Stone Elder. The light surged forward, igniting the Cloud Root Water sprinkled on his stony form, which began to glow with a pure, white luminescence as it flowed over him.
In the blink of an eye, the Stone Elder was gone. In his place stood an old man dressed in sorcerer's robes, his hair and long beard as white as snow.
"My child, you retrieved the Cloud Root Water. I am restored! Fifty years trapped in stone was a living hell. Praise the great Goddess of Dreams for granting me life once more."
The newly revived sorcerer immediately offered a quiet prayer to his deity, a common practice for any devout soul on the Dreamland Continent.
His prayer complete, the sorcerer turned his gaze to Marcus and FreshwindElara.
"My young saviors, I am the great Arch-Sorcerer of the Five Elements, Zion. Fifty years ago, a Right Guardian of the Demon Lord sealed me here with a Life Petrification curse. Thanks to your courage in retrieving the Cloud Root Water, I am free. Without you, I would have been trapped for another fifty years."
Zion looked at Marcus and FreshwindElara, expecting a reaction to his pronouncement. When their faces remained blank, he let out a few awkward chuckles. 'Gods, do they not teach history anymore? How can they not know my name?'
"Well, child," he said, focusing on FreshwindElara. "I am in your debt. Is there anything you require?"
Seeing he couldn't connect with them; fifty years was a massive generation gap, after all, Zion decided to cut to the chase. He was in a hurry to get home.
He wondered if his prized Level 10 pet, the Golden-Maned Lion, was starving, or if it had been picked on by that insufferable One-horned Black-Winged Serpent from the neighboring woods. Was the divine herb he was growing, the Nine-Leaf Blaze, finally ripe? And had that thieving Three-Eyed Cat made off with the Bottle of Starlight Nectar he'd left on his desk…
"Sir, I didn't really do anything," FreshwindElara said, shaking her head and gently pushing Marcus forward. "Stonehaven here slew the Bat King to clear the path. You should be thanking him."
"Nonsense, child. You performed the ritual. The debt is owed to you. And an Arch-Sorcerer does not give thanks lightly. Let me see… I once recovered a secret scroll from the ruins of Ancient Dragons Peak Citadel, one that records a hidden profession lost for a century. I shall bestow it upon you now."
"Oh, great Goddess of Dreams, grant me the power to weave the world's essence, to command the miracle of the elements, and to open the gate to the luminous path; Class Change, Elemental Cleric!"
Zion completely ignored her suggestion and, with a wave of his hand, enveloped FreshwindElara in a cascade of shimmering light. He then addressed her again.
"Child, the Elemental Cleric is a formidable path. It is not uncommon for one who masters it to eventually walk the divine path, though that will still require immense dedication from you. When your power reaches Level 50, simply call my name while wearing this ring, and I will guide you to the next stage of your journey."
"Thank you, sir," FreshwindElara said, accepting the ring with a hint of reluctance. She was disappointed he had offered Marcus nothing.
"Sir," she pressed, persistent. "Marcus was crucial to our success. Surely you could offer him some guidance as well?"
"Oh? Very well. Young man, what is your name?"
Finally prompted by FreshwindElara, Zion turned his attention to Marcus. But as he looked the Knight over, a strange expression crossed his face.
Marcus had been marveling at Zion's display of power. The man was clearly a master of his craft, and from what he'd just seen, ranking him among the top ten powerhouses on the continent was probably an understatement. He was especially intrigued by the mention of "divine path."
"I am Stonehaven. A Knight."
"Young man, your potential is… remarkable."
"Wait. By the gods… you have four maxed-out attributes? How can that be? That's impossible!"
Marcus didn't know what spell Zion had used, but the old man had seen right through him, perceiving the fact that four of his core attributes; Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Luck, were maxed out from the start.
He was impressed, and deeply unsettled.
"Young man," Zion said, his voice suddenly intense. "Would you consent to be my apprentice? To learn the great arts of elemental magic and join me in the fight to seal away the Demons?"
FreshwindElara broke into a wide smile. Though she didn't fully grasp what "maxed-out attributes" meant, seeing the Arch-Sorcerer so openly admire Marcus filled her with joy. Some people simply couldn't be overlooked, no matter where they went.
"Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven. You have triggered the Hidden Profession 'Elemental Sorcerer.' The Arch-Sorcerer Zion can change your class to this powerful path. Upon successful class change, the Knight profession will be lost. Do you accept?"
"I refuse." The path of the Knight was his dream; he couldn't abandon it.
"Thank you for the offer, sir, but my heart is set on the Knight's path. I cannot give it up."
He was tempted by a Hidden Profession, of course, but the Elemental Sorcerer was a magic-user's path, not the one he sought. Had it been a Hidden Profession for Knights, he would have accepted in a heartbeat.
Moreover, Zion wanted him to learn magic to fight a war against the Demons. Marcus had no such grand ambitions; that conflicted entirely with his reason for playing the game. So he refused.
"A tragedy! A true waste!"
Zion sighed heavily at the rejection. Marcus wondered what the old man was lamenting more; the lost apprentice, or the wasted potential.
"Stonehaven, I will not force you. But know this: if you ever reconsider and wish to learn the elemental arts, use the ring I gave the young lady to call for me. I will aid you."
"Well, I must take my leave now. I hope our paths cross again."
"Ah, one last thing," he said, turning back. "When you collected the Cloud Root Water, did you happen to gather the Cloud Root Herb as well? I can prepare it for you. It would grant a significant boost to your Agility."
"The Cloud Root Herb?" Marcus and FreshwindElara exchanged a glance. They hadn't seen anything by that name.
"You didn't collect it?" Zion's eyes widened. "That is a divine herb! The Cloud Root Herb blooms once every fifty years, and from it, the Cloud Root Water is drawn. To consume the root itself… what a missed opportunity. A true pity."
"Sir, I can go back to the Bat Caves right now and look for it!" FreshwindElara said immediately. Such a powerful item couldn't just be left behind.
"It's too late," Zion shook his head. "The Cloud Root Herb withers to dust mere minutes after its water is drawn. It will not return for another fifty years."
'Well, that's that,' Marcus thought.
"And besides," Zion added, almost as an afterthought, "it is a divine herb. It requires Advanced-level Herbalism to harvest. Even if you had seen it, you could not have collected it."
That settled it completely. Marcus Herbalism skill was only Intermediate level.
"In that case, children, I bid you farewell."
"Farewell."
With a final nod, Zion's body glimmered and vanished into thin air right before their eyes.
'Incredible,' Marcus thought. Zion had used Five-Element Evasion skill, and he'd done it without a single uttered word. The Arch-Sorcerer was even more formidable than he had first imagined.
As he teleported, Zion softly recited the ancient prophecy that had been passed down for millennia on the Dreamland Continent:
"When the shadows claim the sun, and the Demons' feast's begun, the Saint King of this dreaming land shall rise to stay the darkness' hand, and wake the Goddess from her sleep."
A person with four maxed-out attributes? Apart from the Goddess of Dreams herself, who was said to have perfected all five, only a handful of individuals in the entire history of the continent had ever perfected a single attribute. No one had ever perfected two. This Knight, Stonehaven, had four. Could he be tied to the prophecy?
A secret plan began to form in Zion's mind. He would seek out the legendary elixir, the Chaos Holy Water, said to allow a single soul to walk multiple professional paths. If he could get the Knight to drink it, Stonehaven could pursue the way of the Knight and the Elemental Sorcerer.