Chapter 30

The other children gradually dispersed and went to play elsewhere.

 Jard remained by Duminar's side, continuing to look at Duminar with hopeful eyes.

 He was still waiting for Duminar to reveal the answer.

 He had guessed it, but he wanted to verify if his guess was correct.

 Duminar recalled the questions Jard had asked.

 He began to answer them one by one.

 "It's difficult to accurately describe what constitutes an excessive reliance on perception.

 It's like having two hands, one of which is your dominant hand and the other is not.

 Do you feel that you excessively rely on your dominant hand?" Jard looked at his right hand and then at his left hand.

 He repeated this action continuously.

 Obviously, he couldn't answer Duminar's question.

 "Also, you use your eyes to see things.

 Your eyes function normally, do you think you excessively rely on your eyes?" Jard blinked.

 He blinked again, allowing the darkness in front of him to linger longer.

 This time, he shook his head.

 "No.

" It was all familiar to him.

 His two hands worked together, but he always preferred using his right hand.

 He could see, hear, smell, and...

 he wouldn't just think about what would happen if he lost them for no reason.

 "For someone with strong perception, perception is an innate part of them.

 Using perception is similar to us using our eyes to see things or our noses to smell, they wouldn't feel they are excessively reliant.

" Duminar said, with a hint of a bitter smile.

 "But for those born into better circumstances who discover they have such a gift of perception, they will actively learn how to control their perception, how to adapt to suddenly losing it.

" Jard looked bewildered, his mouth slightly agape.

 He didn't quite understand.

 Duminar sighed softly.

 "I have undergone such training before.

" The young Viscount Hall at that time believed he would awaken as a mage on his own.

 So he received various basic training.

 "The training I received involved not only closing off perception but also closing off vision, hearing, touch, and even all senses.

 "When we suddenly lose a certain ability, we actually have very subtle perceptions.

 Even if it's losing perception, in the moment before losing it, we realize we are losing that ability.

 "But for someone who has never encountered such a thing, if they suddenly face it in battle, they will be caught off guard, just like Housman back then.

 "Back then, he must have been attacked by something.

 The magical beast attacking him was much stronger than him and was his mortal enemy, so it wasn't just closing off his mysterious perception, it was destruction.

 "Once a person becomes too accustomed to having a certain ability, taking it for granted, then when they suddenly lose it, there will definitely be an adjustment period.

 During this period, their strength will inevitably decline.

 "I needed to undergo this training back then because my father hoped that I wouldn't make a huge mistake in battle due to suddenly losing them.

 "Perception not only perceives the surroundings but also elements, magic, fortunes and misfortunes...

 perceiving everything tangible and intangible.

 What you can specifically perceive, what you are more likely to perceive, only you know.

 "Housman was already close to fifteen years old back then.

 Even if he could regain his mysterious perception through observation and training, he couldn't awaken smoothly again.

 "He was abandoned.

 "But he didn't give up on training his perception because of that.

 So later on, he regained this ability.

" As Duminar spoke, he glanced back at Old John.

 He met Old John's smile, then confidently spoke his final words.

 Housman recovered.

 But he had also missed the age of fifteen.

 Suddenly, Duminar's heart skipped a beat.

 There was a fifteen-year limit for the awakening of mages and knights, but not for divine magicians! His sudden premonition during the lecture with the children was spot on! There is indeed a way of cultivation in this world that does not require the condensation of elements into cores within the body.

 This is the practice of a divine magician.

 The cultivation of a divine magician is fundamentally based on the power of faith, then with the connection to the gods of the divine magician's faith and those gods willing to bestow blessings upon him, powerful spells are cast.

 The cultivation method of a divine magician is a secret of the church, and Dumina can only understand this much.

 But with just this, he is certain that he does have a way to acquire magical abilities! The only problem he currently faces is that the elements cannot condense into cores in his spiritual sea.

 As long as he can solve this, it is entirely possible for him to cultivate! But how can he obtain the cultivation method of a divine magician? He can't just go to the church, can he? In the era of the gods, there are many factions within the church.

 Powerful deities can name a church after themselves, and within these churches, there are some weaker divine spirits.

 Some deities have to join forces to establish a church, but because everyone is unwilling to yield, the church's name can only be chosen separately, and cannot be directly named after the deities.

 In the legendary era, only one church remains.

 At least, only one church remains that can operate openly.

 It no longer has a prefix, just the simplest "church.

" It oversees the temples of the gods scattered throughout the lands.

 Due to the church's responsibility to too many gods, there is now only the church headquarters located on the continent of Saint Lorraine, where all the deities' statues are worshipped.

 In other locations, church branches at most have murals depicting various gods, rather than individual statues for each deity.

 Among them, there is also the shadow of the Magic Tower.

 Although the church still exists, it has weakened compared to the Magic Tower and must compromise in front of it.

 If Dumina wants to start believing in a certain deity now, he needs to swear in front of the deity's statue and obtain the deity's approval.

 If one attempt fails, he must try two times, three times...

 until the deity truly considers him a believer.

 After that, he must continue to devoutly pray to the deity in order to maintain the deity's approval.

 Ordinary people can regularly visit a deity's temple, or even just visit once, and claim to be a follower of that deity.

 If they are afraid others won't believe them, as long as they personally go to the temple, they can pay for a believer's certificate.

 If the money is enough, they can even obtain the certificate without going themselves.

 However, this believer status can only be used for public claims among ordinary people.

 No one can use this to embark on the path of a divine magician.

 Any casual cultivator can tell whether a person is truly a follower of a certain deity by whether they bear the mark left by the deity.

 This mark carries the unique aura of the deity, and only divine magicians can conceal the mark, not ordinary followers.

 Dumina knows he doesn't have much faith in the gods.

 The kingdom where he lived in his past life lacked such a religious atmosphere, and he doesn't believe in such churches.

 He only believes in protecting his homeland through his own efforts, like a legendary mage.

 Deities? Only those who can get things done and actually get things done are qualified to be deities! Once they can't, they should be brought down from their pedestals! Jad had no other doubts.

 Dora was still playing.

 Belinda, while rewinding with the younger children, was still looking at Dumina.

 Her gaze held expectations.

 She hoped Dumina could answer some questions related to herbs for her at this moment, but Dumina did not respond to her.

 Dumina was temporarily unable to respond to Belinda.

 Unfortunately, Dumina is not familiar with herbs.

 He listened to Belinda recite the names of herbs and what they could cure, but that was all.

 However, Dumina has already thought about how he can help Belinda.

 Without considering going to other common doctors or herb sellers, he can offer some advice to Belinda.

 It's all about inspirational teaching, to make the students more creative.

 In his past life, he had some knowledge of Chinese medicine, knowing the differences in medicinal herbs collected at different times, the variations in properties of different parts of the same plant, and the processing required to reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy.

 Inspiring Belinda to research these topics would keep her busy for a long time.

 Belinda was a big child, fully capable of hands-on experimentation.

 Du Mingna pretended to rest while reviewing the files of his two new students.

 He had been putting off this matter for a while.

 Belinda's talent was exceptional memory, with learning talent at an A level, research talent at a C level, and a strong desire to learn at an S level.

 Her research talent was not particularly strong, but not bad either.

 What surprised Du Mingna was that Belinda's talent was not related to herbs, but to her exceptional memory.

 Looking at Belinda's learning talent, unlike Jard's specialization, Du Mingna understood.

 Belinda's familiarity with herbs was not due to her talent in this area, but her outstanding memory and interest in the subject.

 While others may have casually mentioned it to her, she had firmly remembered the appearance of these herbs, as well as how and why to use them.

 Arthur's file also piqued Du Mingna's interest.

 At just 6 years old, Arthur had a poor physical condition at only a D level, but his talent was clearly that of a magician! Arthur only had this one talent.

 His learning talent was at a C level, research talent at an E level, learning desire at an S level, with an additional note.

 (He knew he was special.

 The other children in the village were strong, but he was not, so he had to seize other opportunities.

) Following Du Mingna's teachings was Arthur's chance, so he wouldn't feel like a burden as he grew up.

 After reviewing these, Du Mingna called out to the system in his mind.

 He was about to submit the second stage of the main task.

 The system's voice cheerfully sounded in his mind.

 "Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the second stage of the main task!"

"The host has exceeded the task, and completed it ahead of schedule! The host is now awarded a perfect-grade mystery gift box (extra-large)*1, awakening elixir*10, and recruitment opportunities*3."

"The gift box and elixir have been stored in the system's backpack for the host.

 The recruitment opportunities have been reserved for the host.

 Recruitment system activated!" "Ding! Now announcing the third stage of the main task: How can a qualified school have only one principal serving as a teacher? Please find at least one full-time teacher for the school within seven days, ensuring that the teacher's approval rating reaches at least 60."

"Successful task reward: Teaching material gift box*1, random invention gift box*1, energy elixir*10.

 Failure penalty: Permanent 30% decrease in recruitment success rate."

Du Mingna's eyes lit up.

 A full-time teacher? But the system didn't specify what kind of teacher! Excellent students should have comprehensive development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor.

 He couldn't find a student in the village who could teach cultural and cultivation knowledge full-time, but he could find a student to teach children physical education full-time! Some elderly villagers were not fit for physical labor anymore.

 When necessary, Du Mingna would use full-time teachers for physical education or handicrafts to get by.

 Just as the system said.

 Currently, he was responsible for teaching at the school, and he was the only one in the leadership.

 What he said goes.

 Of course, Du Mingna understood that this task was related to the reward he had just received.

 The recruitment order was probably for recruiting teachers! With this in mind, Du Mingna opened the recruitment system.

 However, the scene that greeted him was slightly different from what he had expected.