Chapter 47: The First Hero — Knight-Uther (IV)

“What a pity! If it could block space-based spells, this skill would be absolutely invincible even among Gold-ranked warriors!”
Donald stood up, pacing back and forth with a frown.
“So, if I were attacked by an assassin at close range, could I escape quickly? What’s the delay effect of the shield against physical attacks?”
He thought of the two previous attempts on his life. The first attackers were Black Iron-ranked, skilled in experience and technique but lacking in strength, so they couldn’t fully exploit their advantages. The second time, the enemy was a more powerful sorcerer. What about the third and fourth times? If he didn’t die, the enemies surely wouldn’t give up, and he might face even stronger and more tricky foes.
With his current strength, if he were alone against a Silver-ranked assassin skilled in stealth and assassination, he might not even be able to cast a spell in time, leaving him highly vulnerable. After all, most assassinations rely on taking risks by striking when the target is unprepared—even a Gold-ranked mage might be killed by a mere Bronze-ranked assassin if they’re careless.
So if Uther were always by his side, with his combat skills and reflexes, the Holy Shield of the Knight could be an excellent means to protect himself. Donald wanted to test the actual power of this skill.
The units summoned by the Book of Truth established a mental link with Donald, so Donald’s thoughts could be felt by Uther if he wished. But Donald still preferred to speak aloud—it was an instinct as a human.
“Uther, use the Holy Shield!”
Uther nodded in response, raised his arms, and holy light energy flowed from him, instantly forming a membranous layer. Then, like a deflated balloon being inflated, it expanded rapidly!
Donald casually grabbed a long sword from behind him and swung at the shield twice. It was impossible to pierce it—seemingly, the entire space around it was distorted, preventing any attack from reaching what was inside the shield.

He stepped forward two steps and entered it. Donald found the view inside the shield to be quite peculiar—golden light particles floated around, yet it didn’t hinder visibility of the outside world. The aura of positive energy was also strong here. It seemed that in such an environment, even minor wounds would heal quickly. It probably also had shock-absorbing properties, like a thin yet sturdy piece of cotton, absorbing all force hitting the shield and directing it into space.

Donald raised the short sword in his hand but didn’t feel the delay he had mentioned earlier.

“How come I don’t feel it? Weren’t you saying this delay doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe?”

“Master, the effect outside the shield indeed doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe. You can use your full strength to swing inside to test this delay.”

“Okay. I’ll give it a try!”

Donald held the sword with both hands, let out a loud shout, and swung with great force!

The elegant long sword moved as if in flowing water, its speed gradually slowing down. By the time it struck the stone ground, it no longer carried any force at all!

“Quite interesting. Is it true that the faster the speed, the greater the resistance?”

“Yes, master.”

But when the sword was taken outside the shield, no resistance was felt at all.

Donald casually put away the sword and said, “Stop! Tell me about the next skill! Is the next skill the Focus Aura?”

The paladin lowered his head and touched his visor. Gradually, the shield faded away until it disappeared completely—without leaving any trace!

“Yes, master!”

“Maintaining the Focus Aura consumes energy. The more people it covers, the more energy is used. Currently, my ability can only enhance those fighting simultaneously in numbers under ten. Most of the energy used is to add Radiant Shields to allies. If it’s just to focus those around on fighting, the energy consumption is much less.”

“What is a Radiant Shield?”

“Oh, my lord. A Radiant Shield is similar to the delay effect inside the Sacred Shields you’ve seen. When a physical attack hits it, holy light energy attaches to it, blocking the attack. And when faced with other magical elements, it can dissolve them. It’s like increasing the armor for oneself and allies!”

“So it’s like the armor in games. The Book of Truth is truly powerful—having even created this!”

After a pause, Uther continued,

“As for the effects of the Focus Aura, master, you’ll know best if you experience it firsthand.”

After saying that, holy light runes suddenly appeared beneath Uther’s feet. At first, they were dim in color, but instantly became as bright as the sun. Of course, this phenomenon vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Donald, who was within the aura and recognized by the paladin, felt a thin layer of positive energy surrounding him, giving him a warm sensation, as if he were wrapped in warm water. His mental state also became highly focused, with his thinking speed increasing.

**Focus Aura:** Passive ability — Grants itself and allied units around it a state of focused combat. It also provides all units within the paladin’s aura with a certain degree of defensive boost, similar to a shield of light. As long as they are recognized by the skill’s user, they can receive additional power. This ability has a long duration and an extremely short cooldown!

As long as the creature belongs to a non-evil faction, the power of holy light will serve it.

Of course, Donald, as a demon hunter, had absorbed and transformed some demonic power, with remnants still in his body, so he naturally felt some discomfort instinctively. But that wasn’t a problem. Once he fully absorbed and transformed the power of Firebrand into his own, this feeling would disappear.

After three or five seconds, Donald suddenly let out a satisfied exclamation.

“Ah! This is truly wonderful! I feel all my fatigue vanish in an instant!”

“My lord, although this feeling is indeed good, it cannot replace sleep or meditation. Moreover, after losing the focused state, you might feel even more tired!”

“Oh, it’s indeed a powerful auxiliary ability. Now, it’s time for the last resurrection spell. Tell me about your ultimate skill!”

Since his ultimate skill was banned and unusable, Donald placed great importance on the power of his first hero’s ultimate ability.

“Yes, my lord! At present, I can only perform resurrection once a day, and only on one creature. Moreover, the target’s body must remain intact; the soul cannot leave the body for too long, nor can it leave this realm. Simply put, based on the knowledge you’ve given me, I can resurrect anyone who died within three hours and whose body is intact. But this kind of resurrection requires a great deal of effort. If the target has undergone special rituals, or if their soul has entered the realm of the gods or been destroyed, then I’m powerless to help.”

“I see. Although it doesn’t meet the ideal situation, this is already sufficient!”

You should know that although priests in this realm can also master resurrection magic, it requires priests at least of the silver rank or higher to cast it, and such resurrection must also be approved by the gods! Moreover, the one to be revived must be a believer of that particular god… After hearing this, Donald also checked through the Book of Truth. He found that the ultimate spell of resurrection for priests indeed had many restrictions. First, due to rank limitations, it wasn’t as powerful as in the game yet—only those with intact bodies and undeparted souls could be revived. Another point is that, due to rule constraints, this resurrection magic couldn’t be used on those who died of natural causes. Their souls were no longer suitable to exist as living beings and could hardly continue inhabiting those bodies. Finally… the cost of resurrection was enormous energy consumption! The stronger the individual, the more energy was required; the longer they had been dead, the more energy was needed; and the more interference they faced, the more energy was consumed! However, as Uther advanced in rank, the powerful effects of this spell would gradually become apparent. Both the conditions and the number of revivals would be greatly relaxed, and it would even be possible to restore all the injuries and strength the target had before death. By then, the holy knight would become an indispensable and powerful ally.