The Priest’s Rebellion and a Bloody Encounter

“Shulk! Hurry! Buff me!”

“…”

Inside the Blood Manor dungeon, in a room near the central area.

Shulk, a priest, sighed helplessly as he watched the young knight Avril confronting the Corpse Man, while the scout and mage stood by, utterly at a loss.

He activated his [All-Seeing Eye] to check Avril’s status.

[Divine: Indestructible Golden Body], [Divine: Infinite Mana], [Divine: Anomaly Resistance], [Divine: Dual Crit Boost]…

With so many buffs, even a dog could defeat a Corpse Man, couldn’t it?

Or perhaps… her stats were actually lower than a dog’s?

Shulk scrolled down his [All-Seeing Eye] to view the knight’s stat panel.

[Strength: 11] [Endurance: 22] [HP: 40] [Mana: 9]

Good heavens, she was already a Viscount of Wisdom, yet her attack had barely increased? Had she put all her points into HP?

“Hurry up, bumpkin! What are you standing there for? Buff me, now!”

Avril roared at Shulk, the Corpse Man’s blade already at her nose, threatening to overwhelm her.

The situation was dire. Shulk swung his staff—

[Divine: Strength Boost]

With a single skill, Avril’s pitiful 11 Strength instantly skyrocketed to 311.

Empowered by the divine buff, the tide of battle instantly turned. Avril let out a cry and struck the Corpse Man down.

“A mere Corpse Man! How dare you act so brazenly before me?! Let me show you my true power!”

Enraged by her near defeat, she furiously swung her sword, hacking the Corpse Man beneath her feet into a bloody pulp.

****

“It’s all your fault! Why were you so slow with the buffs? I almost lost to a mere Corpse Man because of you!”

In the inn room, Avril plopped onto the bed, carelessly kicking off her boots.

“And didn’t I tell you to train more? Why is your stamina still so terrible? Are you truly not afraid of being cut down by a monster?”

Avril’s face was etched with displeasure as she watched Shulk humbly pick up her discarded boots.

Because Shulk, the priest, was utterly exhausted, the party had no choice but to leave the dungeon and return to the nearby town of Emes to rest and recuperate.

This, however, was merely Shulk’s excuse.

According to his information, the next room harbored elite goblins.

Their party’s strength was simply too weak to face them. Without his [Divine: Strength Boost], they likely wouldn’t last three rounds against the goblins—in any sense of the word.

How could they clear a dungeon with such abysmal stats? They needed to hit hard, which meant training!

Yet, it was clear his teammates had no grasp of their own capabilities, even believing Shulk was the one holding them back.

Consequently, they all harbored grievances against the ‘fatigued’ Shulk.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!”

A shadow fell over Shulk. He looked up to see Avril standing before him, chest puffed out, her delicate brows furrowed in a frown.

Though the knight before him was incredibly haughty, no matter how many times he saw her, Shulk couldn’t help but acknowledge Avril’s striking beauty.

Especially her… assets, which even her armor struggled to conceal.

However, such advantages were clearly useless in a dungeon; they would only enrage monsters.

He had to make them face reality.

“…Do you want me to tell you the truth?”

“What truth?”

Shulk materialized his [All-Seeing Eye], displaying Avril’s status panel.

“With only 11 Strength, don’t you think…”

“Who gave you permission to casually look at my stats?”

Avril’s face flushed crimson instantly, clearly displeased that Shulk had seen her panel.

“How many times have I taught you noble etiquette? Why can’t you ever learn? Why are you still such a bumpkin?”

“Oh, Avril, don’t waste so many words on him.”

A voice sounded behind Shulk. He turned to see the scout, Ailur, standing behind him, looking down with disdain.

“Commoners are commoners. No matter how close they get to nobility, they can’t wash away their inherent stench!”

Ailur fanned her nose, making no attempt to hide her disgust for Shulk.

“Indeed… I agree.”

The mage, Levilan, also approached, standing to Ailur’s left with an unreadable expression.

“Mr. Shulk… no matter how hard you try, you’ll never truly belong among nobles. You might as well give up now.”

“You’re only fit to carry our shoes for your entire life~”

“Exactly! Did you hear that, bumpkin!”

Bumpkin.

The word pierced Shulk’s heart like a dagger.

He, Shulk, was merely a priest from the countryside.

The three girls before him, however, were descendants of fallen nobility.

Though they had lost their wealth and status, nobles remained nobles.

And in their eyes, commoners would always be commoners, forever tainted by the stench of their lineage.

Ever since becoming the party’s priest, he had dedicated himself wholeheartedly to them. He washed their dirty clothes and cooked their meals when there was no food… he even personally researched dungeon strategies.

In dungeons, he deployed every buff; off the battlefield, he managed all their logistics. Yet, these spoiled individuals still treated him with utter disregard.

He had endured this disdain, this injustice, for far too long.

His patience was wearing thin…

“What’s more, Shulk, you clearly possess even more powerful support skills. Why didn’t you use them sooner?”

Just as Shulk teetered on the brink of snapping, Ailur delivered the final blow.

“Could it be… you deliberately wanted to see Avril suffer a terrible defeat, just to watch her…”

Upon hearing those words, Shulk’s last thread of hope finally died.

These people were nothing but ungrateful wretches.

There was no longer any need to endure it.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Even without Shulk’s assistance, I could defeat a Corpse Man!”

Hearing Ailur’s words, Avril clearly felt provoked and turned her ire towards Ailur.

“And who allowed you into my room? Didn’t you see I was in the middle of reprimanding Shulk…”

“Hey, Avril, don’t misunderstand the situation. We’re trying to help you!”

“There’s no need for that. She’s much stronger than you.”

Suddenly, Shulk’s voice cut through their bickering.

They stared in astonishment at the man, head bowed beside them, never expecting such words from him.

Ailur, in particular, seeing the always meek Shulk unleash such mockery, felt her nose twist in anger.

“You mere commoner! How dare you…!”

“You useless noble, how dare you criticize me?”

To their surprise, Shulk showed no fear whatsoever.

“You call yourself a scout, yet you don’t use your skills, rely only on your eyes for reconnaissance, and move at a snail’s pace. Every time you finish scouting, you play dead, never landing a single follow-up attack. Anyone would think you’re just a ward stuck in the bushes!”

Shulk’s verbal barrage left the unprepared Ailur flushed crimson, leaving her completely speechless.

“Mr. Shulk… you shouldn’t speak like that, no matter what…”

Seeing Levilan about to intercede, Shulk turned his attack on her—he had long been annoyed by the mage.

“You’d better shut up too. You’ve turned a noble mage into a stationary turret, yet you still have the audacity to call yourself a top student from Luyelia. What nerve!”

“Shu…”

Faced with Shulk’s accusations, Levilan also turned beet red, stammering as if to retort, but no words escaped her lips.

“Shulk! What’s gotten into you? If you talk like that, do you even want to stay in this party…?!”

Seeing Shulk’s widespread attack, Avril quickly tried to stop him, but unexpectedly…

“No, I don’t.”

“Huh?”

Shulk looked at Avril’s pale face and swallowed the harsh words he was about to utter.

After all, aside from her excessive arrogance, Avril genuinely tried to tank damage, making her infinitely better than the other two scoundrels.

“You—you—you’re leaving the party!?”

“Yes. You only recruited me because I was cheap, didn’t you?”

Shulk sneered.

“A cheap priest, and a commoner at that. For all of you, I’m probably someone you can easily discard, right?”

“In that case, I bid farewell to you noble ladies.”

He stood up, dropped the boot he was holding, and walked past the stunned mage and scout.

“Stop right there!”

Avril’s furious roar echoed behind Shulk.

“You useless priest, who else do you think would want you besides me?!”

Faced with the noble lady’s threat, Shulk neither stopped nor looked back.

“As a mere commoner, you needn’t trouble yourself over me, my lady.”

“Our paths diverge here. Farewell forever.”

With that, he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

****

Later that day, inside the Blood Manor.

“No, I need medicine…”

Shulk pulled a blood potion from his pouch, uncapped it, and drank it in one gulp.

As a priest, his mind held countless healing and support skills, each one divine-grade.

Yet, not a single one could be used on himself.

He didn’t know the exact reason. Eighteen years ago, he was a university student, hit by a truck and reborn in another world as an ordinary young man from the countryside.

Of course, as a transmigrator, he was naturally extraordinary.

He was born with the [All-Seeing Eye] and the [Priest] class, an exceptionally rare combination on the continent of Bolovia.

What’s more, he possessed a unique ability: [Divine Blessing]!

This ability allowed him to master all support skills instinctively—buffs, debuffs, healing, purification… He could cast any related skill without limits or cost, and every skill started at the highest rank: [Divine]!

It was a level many priests could never hope to achieve in a lifetime!

But as the saying goes, when God opens a window, he also closes a door. Shulk, with his invincible support abilities, naturally possessed a weakness of equal magnitude—

He could not benefit from any support or healing effects, especially not his own.

Even when injured, he could only rely on potions.

Furthermore, he couldn’t improve his stats. Even if he swung his staff until it smoked, his level would forever remain one, and all his attributes would stay at 1.

Since almost all skills required certain stats to learn and cast, this meant he couldn’t acquire any skills beyond [Divine Blessing].

Consequently, his personal combat power was extremely weak. He couldn’t even pass vocational school exams and had never received a proper education.

His parents treated him as a good-for-nothing, forcing him into labor early. For sixteen years, he toiled under the sun, earning tuition for his younger siblings.

Then, one night when he was sixteen, his drunken father threw him out of the house.

Homeless and alone, he met Avril and became what she called a “cheap bumpkin priest.”

But that was all in the past. Now without a party, he had to scavenge for loot in dungeons to sell, or he wouldn’t even be able to afford food.

This wasn’t difficult for someone so familiar with the dungeon; he could even bypass monsters entirely to claim rewards.

Unfortunately, his luck was bound to run out. As luck would have it, he got lost today—in the central area of the Blood Manor.

Not only that, but he was also attacked by a Corpse Man.

He barely escaped with his life, his HP in the red. Without any teammates, he was as good as dead.

However… this was an S-rank dungeon, high in difficulty, and equally high in popularity.

Given its popularity, perhaps he could find someone if he wandered around?

Shulk slowly reached for the wall, pulled out his healing staff, and cast the most basic illumination spell.

A point of light glowed at the staff’s tip, illuminating a small area before him.

Without a map, Shulk could only rely on the faint light to feel his way forward in the darkness.

After walking for an unknown duration, he finally saw a human-sized figure at the end of the corridor.

Human in build, human in silhouette. Most likely, a human.

Shulk cautiously moved closer, gradually approaching the figure.

The faint light from his staff brushed across the person’s face, revealing a white-haired girl standing gracefully.

At the same time, the girl noticed the faint light behind her, turned, and smiled sweetly at Shulk.

He found someone! He found someone!

Shulk’s heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled. He lowered his guard and walked straight toward her…

Then he saw the girl’s crimson eyes.

Wait… do humans with red eyes exist?

A chill crept up Shulk’s spine. He suddenly realized that in this formidable S-rank dungeon, the Blood Manor, this girl was alone, just like him.

And… Blood Manor… didn’t that name imply that the boss here was…

A jolt ran through him, goosebumps instantly covering his entire body. He knew who stood before him.

“Little brother, we haven’t even greeted each other, and you’re already leaving?”

Her bell-like voice rang out, sending shivers down Shulk’s spine.

“Did big sister scare you? I’m so sorry~”

“But… big sister here, I just love adventurers who casually trespass into other people’s homes.”

“So…”

The white-haired girl lightly licked her lips, her blood-red eyes fixated on Shulk.

“Come play with big sister, won’t you?”