Normally, there was quite a tricky condition among others for unlocking â¹Seraphic Saintessâº. But by a stroke of luck, the headache aspect was already resolved.
The manifestation condition for â¹Seraphic Saintess⺠wasâ
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â¹Saintess⺠job level must be 75.
â¹A Saintess's Prayer - Unyielding Fortification LV5âº, â¹Miraculous Resurrection of Brave LV5âº, â¹Soul Oath LV5âº, â¹Shining Sabre of Sacred Lightâº, â¹Sacred Barrier LV5âº.
Use â¹Jewel of Sacred Firmamentâº.
Advanced the job while equipped with either of the equipped; â¹White Throneâº, â¹Sacred Garbâº, â¹Luminance Robeâº.
Must have a minimum of 20 â¹Conqueror's Proofâº, and one â¹Conqueror of Extra Dungeon Proofâº.
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Much like Sierra's case, the conditionâexcept having X job at X level level and use specific itemâin Lana's case was 'Have Specific Skill/Magic at LV5' and 'Ascend job while equipped X category equipmentâº.
The trickiest condition among them was definitely the specific equipment. I mean, all the specific equipments were a drop from advanced dungeon's â¹Gold Chestâº.
This was why I thought maybe Lana's rank up would have to be stalled for a while. However, by coincidence, I heard some absolutely baffling news.
Apparently, A-rank guild â¹Beast King Gal-Tiger⺠had one of the required equipment, â¹White Throneâº, in their possession.
The news about â¹Temple Saber⺠and â¹Beast King Gal-Tiger⺠challenging each other in the â¹Duel⺠had also reached my ears as well, with the stake from â¹Temple Saber⺠being â¹White Throneâº. My eyes had nearly bulged out, such was my astonishment.
At the end, the winner of â¹Duel⺠was â¹Beast King Gal-Tigerâº, and sure enough, the ownership of â¹White Equipment⺠also turned to them.
Meanwhile, it was the straw equivalent for â¹Temple Sabre⺠that broke their support. They lost their ultimate trump card and it was all but clear they would also lost their A-rank throne. The unstable circumstances worried their subordinate guild and eventually, Aegis transferred to our guild. Well, it turned out to be in our favour as it's alright I guess?
Ability-wise, it was the equipment for healer, however â¹Beastkin⺠category had no leader. In short, having been composed entirely of â¹Beastkinâº, â¹Beast King Gal-Tiger⺠guild had no way of using it.
Of course, then the question arose: why did they want â¹White Throneâº? According to their guildmaster, the Beast Prince, â¹Temple Sabre⺠was just an eyesore and they wanted them out of the ranking list. Presumably, in its arrogance, â¹Temple Saber⺠was repeatedly making a demand for the â¹Carriage Recipe⺠that was in their hand. The â¹Beast King Gal-Tiger⺠did quote them a fair price, however â¹Temple Saber⺠ignored them, quoting 'It's too steep. Make it lower.'
Well, â¹Beast King Gal-Tiger⺠was a mercenary guild through and through, so when someone was taking a jab at them repeatedly, needless to say it's going to end with a 'war.'
Ahem, anyway, I dragged it off but basically while they had gotten the â¹White Throne⺠on their hands, it was eating dust in their warehouse (acc. to Mimina-senpai, childhood friend of Karua).
With that, we negotiated with them during summer vacation and exchanged equipment with each other.
The price of â¹White Throne⺠was considered on par with â¹Mechanical Carriage Recipeâº.
The value of â¹Mechanical Recipe⺠was off the roof right now, a price that was astronomical for something that had dropped from Beginner Dungeon. But we couldn't pay with that so we worked together to find a middle ground.
But as expected from an A-rank mercenary guild, they were veterans in negotiation, proving it difficult to have a middle ground.
â¹White Throne⺠might have been unusable in their hand but it was still one of the few pieces of equipment from the advanced-low dungeon's â¹Gold Chestâº. Plus its ability was apparent, capable of bringing â¹Temple Saber⺠to A-rank. Its value at present was staggering.
Just as I had started to lose hope, Celestine brought up a certain topic, pertaining to a certain advanced equipment.
Beast Prince's expression vividly changed the instance he heard that name. Sorting out the explanation of Celestine, that equipment had been long sought by the â¹Beast King Gal-Tigerâº. I had no idea from where Celestine heard this information by the way.
Alas, â¹Eden⺠had yet to start acquiring advanced equipment. It really puzzled me why Celestine was bringing up a topic we couldn't fulfil when he instead started negotiation on the terms that Eden would get that equipment one day. In exchange, we would like to borrow â¹White Throneâº. I kid you not, it really brought me goosebumps all over.
I didn't think this proposition would come to pass due to the uncertainty but they actually conceded. However their side comes with several conditions, one among which is that the â¹White Throne⺠must be returned to them in case the guildmaster of â¹Edenâº, basically me, failed in acquiring that said equipment. Also, until then, we also must deliver them equipment from the Intermediate Dungeon's â¹Gold Chest⺠every month. Negotiation was somehow concluded with that.
Thus, the equipment that I thought would be the bottleneck for Lana's job had suddenly fallen into our lap. My words, I was seriously surprised.
As one of the few advanced equipment available, I knew this item was priceless. However Beast Prince was nonchalant, quoting 'It's no better than a paperweight if it can't be used.'
What a kingship motto. Beast Prince apparently had no collection hobby.
The deal closed with an advanced piece of equipment due from our side, but it was fine over all. There's nothing we can't achieve after all!
On the other hand, apparently they couldn't sell the â¹White Throne⺠all this while due to its astronomical price, Mimina-senpai had said with a bitter smile. It was impossible to sell it within the academy with such a price tag, hence it was eating dust in their inventory.
As an equipment that had pushed â¹Temple Saber⺠to A-rank, one could only imagine the guilds who couldn't wait to get their hands on it, alas all hampered by their finances. And if the price quoted was too less, it would be akin to picking a fight against â¹Beast King Gal-Tigerâº. The situation was further dicey because the son of present Beast King, Beast Prince, was also attending the academy at the topmost class. It was truly a matter akin to treading on thin ice.
Oops, I digress. I switched my gears and made preparations for Lana's job ascension.
Knock-Knock, Right then, we heard someone knocking on the door of â¹Measurement Roomâº.
"Please enter."
"Excuse me."
"Woah, you really do have devil's timing to arrive now, huh, Celestine?"
Almost as if he had calculated when I would need certain something, Celestine was here. No, wait. We're talking about Celestial here, so maybe he truly had anticipated his timing.
"Oh, Celestine, what happened?"
At Celestin's sudden appearance, Lana ask, a puzzled expression donning her face.
"Zephyr-sama had left some requested something so I'm here to deliver it."
Nice timing, Celestine. Hurry up and take it out here in front of â¹Dragon Statueâºâº
"Understood."
With a straight back, Celestin arrived in front of the â¹Dragon Statue⺠and took our â¹White Throne⺠from his â¹Inventory Bagâº.
"O-O-Ohhh! What in the world is this, Zephyr?!"
Lana let out a surprised yelp, however her eyes were sparkling.
Literally, what Celestine had put there was a throne, white as its name suggests. The white throne appeared as if it was made after shaving stone, showing off its dominating presence.
The backrest was curved in eclipse shape as it exudes an aura of sublime. Overall, it was one heck of a domineering chair.
"Woahh, it's so pretty!"
"So you can tell its sublime nature, Lana?! It's truly marvellous, indeed!"
Anyway, the main point about that â¹White Throne⺠was the visual impact, even though it was clearly made of shaved stone. It was truly strange.
"Isn't this â¹White Throneâº, an advanced equipment?! Are you sure I can use it?!"
"Of course. It's meant as a reward for you since you had put in more effort than anyone else."
"Ehh?"
An expression of surprise flashed past her face.
"You remember it?"
"Of course, it was our promise."
On the day she had returned from her home visit, I promised to give her a reward. Plus, she had missed out on our 4 days and 3 night summer camp as well.
I am a man who seeks every promise to its end.
"Z-Zephyr......"
Moved, Lana brought her hand closer to her chest as she looked at me, her eyes watery.
"Did you like it?"
"Yes, very much!"
"Well, that's what it matters then."
I was a beginner when it comes to striking deals, but the effort in negotiation pays here. I quietly glanced at Celestine and there he was, standing on the line, with only a soft smile on his face. He quietly watched our exchange.
There was no beating him huh.
Lana looked so adorable right now I really could have watched her for forever, but some intense stare from the sideline however seemed to be urging me to hurry up. Pity it was, I urged Lana to continue with her job ascension.
"......Lana. Equip â¹White Throneâºand use â¹Jewel of Sacred Heavenâº. I believe this should be suffice to unlock â¹Seraphic Saintessâº."
"Alright."
During this summer vacation, I already made sure she doesn't fall short into the conqueror's proof. And I had instructed her which skill she should level up so it was all okay from every end. It was quite easy to fumble here, as it had a total of 25 SUP on stake.
Now, she just needs to use the jewel and that would seal the deal.
"Ester, can you hold it for now?"
"Right away, Lana-sama."
â¹White Throne⺠required two accessory slots to be equipped.
Lana removed â¹Radiating Talisman⺠and â¹Gold Cat Coinâº, passed them to Ester, and sat down on the â¹White Throneâº, equipping it.
"Woah, I can't believe it's actually soft. It doesn't hurt at all, compared to what I thought from a stone structure. Even when I'm trying to touch, it feels rock solid however."
"It's equipment for you."
Equipment worked with a mysterious system. Often I sat on the assistant driver seat of â¹Thunder Javelinâº, yet no matter how much it wobbled or the wind crashed against it, heck even if monsters attack all, nothing actually pass to me.
It was always a lovely ride with no pain, devoid of chilly winds. The scenario was the same no matter if it was assistant driver seat or â¹White Throneâº.
"Lana, use jewel now."
"I know. ......Still, I'm really feeling nervous."
Lana said and looked at the â¹Jewel of Sacred Heaven⺠before channelling her mana into it.
Immediately, and much like Sierra's case, the jewel started to disappear as it released azure particles which were absorbed into Lana's body.
As Lana held her hands up, gazing at the dancing azure particles, it once again created a stellar sight, akin to twinkling stars in the sky around the beautiful moon.
"Phew. I hope this is enough."
"You have got it down perfectly! Now touch â¹Dragon Statueâº."
"It's finally time huh."
After seeking my confirmation, she unhesitatingly placed her hand atop the statue. And immediately, a list of available jobs appeared, with the name â¹Seraphic Saintess⺠clearly visible there.