Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 269

[Vol. 5] Chapter 269: Lightborn Tribe and the Holy Spirits

[Invisibility Potion]

This is a type of magical potion quite popular among thieves and certain specialized professions. While its grade is not high, it is favored for its excellent cost-effectiveness, making it affordable and usable by almost anyone, with no harmful effects on the body. It can be easily washed off with water.

Ayla, of course, wouldn’t come to a dangerous place like the [Holy Spirit Trail] without preparation. Thanks to the ample funding provided by a certain Miss White Fox, the potion she’s currently using is one of the more expensive options among those that provide invisibility effects. Just that one bottle alone is worth at least a thousand Sacred Light Coins.

To earn research funds, Miss Ayla has long been involved in the mercenary business, where she has encountered various groups and learned many ways to acquire resources. With money, procuring such items is naturally not difficult.

She parted the bushes and left the path, stepping deeper into the forest.

One of the advantages of this high-quality potion is that it contains a special slime’s mucus. Once poured, it automatically and evenly adheres to every corner of the body, forming an “invisible membrane” that stays intact without easily falling off from minor contact.

Having spent most of her funds on research, Ayla, a girl from the Lightborn Tribe accustomed to using lower-grade invisibility potions, silently marveled at how nice it was to have money while cautiously navigating through the forest, trying to discern her direction.

In Miss Dawn’s description, one of her companions had used a rather noisy magic to create an opening in the ground. Though it was a casual remark from Miss Dawn, Ayla could roughly imagine what the “loud noise” described by that Miss White Fox might have entailed…

It was certainly a mark that wouldn’t be easily repaired, and it would definitely be very noticeable.

Fortunately, the forest where the [Holy Spirit Trail] is located isn’t very large. Though there was no one to guide her, after a little more than ten minutes of searching, Ayla still managed to find her target.

It was an area that seemed out of place among the trees.

Many of the surrounding trees had been violently uprooted and tragically toppled to the ground. As for the central area, the ground had formed a semicircular depression with a diameter of over a hundred meters.

Several terrifying cracks twisted outward from the center of the depression, with the large fissures spreading almost a meter wide. Not to mention someone of Ayla’s build, even a burly adult beastman would have no trouble jumping directly into one of these deep cracks.

“Some… enormous spherical object must have fallen from the sky, leaving this trace. A meteorite… or winged people magic, perhaps?”

With her extensive knowledge and insight as a scholar, Ayla quickly speculated about the cause of the marks. However, the meteorite itself seemed to have already been cleared away by the individuals who had cleaned up the area.

On the empty ground at the edge of the deep pit, Ayla finally spotted one of the mechanical spheres described by Miss White Fox.

It was about thirty centimeters in diameter, made entirely of a silver-gray, semi-transparent metallic substance, with strange, colorful light flickering constantly inside… almost like a living creature.

If it could even be considered a creature.

At this moment, it was flapping two metal-like thin wings, flying back and forth in orderly groups along the edges of the cracks. The sight reminded the scholar, who was observing them from a distance, of patrolling soldiers.

Though the Holy Empire primarily focused on magic, there were also specialized departments in the Holy Academy dedicated to mechanical engineering. As a seasoned scholar who had spent decades in the [Hall of Theology], Ayla had some knowledge of the subject as well.

It was a highly advanced technology, almost pushing “practicality” to its limits.

To be precise, these machines weren’t perfect spheres but were more streamlined in shape, likely to make it easier and more efficient for them to maintain flight and reduce the air resistance.

The flickering colored lights were not for show but likely a method of transmitting signals. These spheres probably didn’t have high individual intelligence, at least not enough to communicate using language or body movements.

The crystal in the center, resembling a single eye, was likely the only means by which these spheres could observe the outside world. Such simple mechanical structures are generally incapable of adapting flexibly, and it’s highly probable that they were being uniformly controlled by higher-level entities.

In other words, this was probably a type of expendable, regenerable resource.

Ayla reached these conclusions in a short amount of time.

…Simply relying on the invisibility potion might not be enough.

She wasn’t an expert in mechanical engineering, and the manufacturing process of these spheres had clearly surpassed the average level of the Holy Empire’s academic community. Although she could roughly deduce some information, it was unrealistic to think she could immediately understand it all.

Machines are different from ordinary living creatures. That crystal, though resembling an eye, might not necessarily rely on vision to detect and locate other living beings… Magic, sound waves, or even fluctuations in life force were all possible means of detection.

This could be troublesome.

Just as Ayla was silently pondering whether she should retreat for now or take a gamble, hoping that the other party might not recognize the invisibility potion…

A somewhat unfamiliar but clear and distinct thought suddenly entered her mind, causing the invisible young woman to pause slightly and instinctively repeat it softly.

“You say… you can help me?”

Ayla was naturally aware of the source of this thought.

The night before leaving the Holy Capital for the battlefield, Miss Dawn had sent a glowing orb into her body, along with another peculiar gemstone that was said to be used to “replenish energy” for the orb, and which resembled the core of the Lightborn Tribe’s origin.

Ayla still wore the gemstone as instructed by the white fox girl, keeping it close to her chest in a special scent-sealing pouch. As for the orb that had vanished beneath her skin, over time, Ayla had gradually come to understand its true nature.

It was a light elemental spirit.

To be precise, it was a divine spiritual body formed from pure light elements that had evolved its own consciousness.

Elemental beings often form in places with particularly high densities of the corresponding elements, but most of them are unintelligent, acting purely on instinct and are more beast-like than sentient.

Furthermore, unless these elemental beings are born in extremely extreme conditions, their power is usually not very strong. With their lack of intelligence, they typically exist at the bottom of the food chain, often serving as food for small magical beasts.

However, this light elemental spirit was completely different. Though it was a very pure elemental being, it possessed the ability and intelligence to communicate simply with the outside world. Its strength was even far greater than Ayla’s, despite being a member of the Lightborn Tribe.

So pure and wondrous, almost as if crafted by the Goddess of Light herself, flawless in its sanctity. If there were truly such a thing as a “holy spirit” in this world, Ayla felt that nothing could be more deserving of that title than this.