Now everyone knows that the first step to becoming a Paladin is for the class-changer to have unwavering faith, and the second step is to let the class-changer comprehend the Holy Light, thereby gaining the Holy Light's approval, and at the same time condensing the unwavering belief in their heart into Holy Light.
Unwavering faith!
The Holy Light favors the zealous. No matter what your belief is, as long as you are unwavering enough, you may receive a response from the Holy Light.
According to Galen's understanding, Paladins are actually a bunch of fanatics. Have you seen a Paladin who isn't full of vigor? Paladins firmly believe that their cause is just. Even if they are wrong, it's not their fault; it's the world that's wrong.
Fortunately, most of the time, the Holy Light chooses the righteous. The world is not wrong, and the Paladin is not wrong either. Therefore, Paladins can become representatives of virtue, incarnations of justice, and noble and lofty professionals.
The more unwavering the belief, the stronger the power of the Holy Light. This can be seen in Highlord Tirion Fordring's jump attack, directly using the Ashbringer to sever the artifact Frostmourne and defeat the Lich King.
And once the belief begins to waver and self-doubt arises, the Holy Light will no longer respond to your call. Then a vicious cycle begins, losing the Holy Light and even being swallowed by the Shadow. This can also be seen in Highlord Tirion Fordring's muddled seclusion after being stripped of the Holy Light, until his family was destroyed.
At this moment, Tirion Fordring expressed that he was still young and couldn't bear the burden of both positive and negative examples. Thank you very much!
In fact, the power of the Holy Light on Galen's body at this moment cannot be regarded as the unique power of human belief. He is more similar to the Draenei Paladins, only using the power of the Holy Light infused within his body.
Galen was lost in thought during the ceremony. At this moment, the ceremony had reached the most important step: having the five candidates drink the Holy Water.
Galen began to widen his eyes. He wanted to carefully see how human Paladins were born. Although he had personally created two Tauren Sunwalkers, the essence of Paladins and Sunwalkers was different: one was the power of spiritual belief, and the other was the power of solar worship.
The elderly Archbishop personally handed the five portions of Holy Water to the five candidates, and then yielded the main seat to Aragorn.
As a soul from another world, Galen guessed that Aragorn should have been a member of the Holy Light Legion in a certain world before, and his status was not low. However, after the Throne of the High Heavens reshaped his body, there were not many memories left, so it was impossible to verify.
But fortunately, he still had complete memories of guiding novices to become Paladins, otherwise Galen wouldn't know how to justify it.
What Aragorn needs to do is the most crucial step, and also the most arduous step, requiring profound Holy Light comprehension and abundant physical strength. The Archbishop can also complete this step, but he is too old and it would be too strenuous for him to do it himself.
"The Holy Light heals the sick, the Holy Light dispels the darkness, so what is the Holy Light? And what is your path of the Holy Light?"
After Aragorn asked, Galen felt that not only the five candidates, but also the officiating priests present were shaken by these words. Aragorn used the power of the Holy Light to resonate with the Holy Water in the candidates' bodies, putting them into a state of self-questioning.
In layman's terms, it is to make the candidates undergo a soul-searching interrogation. If you pass, you are a warrior recognized by the Holy Light, and the Holy Water in your body will help you condense the seeds of the Holy Light, so you can naturally use the power of the Holy Light in the future.
"Question your hearts, tell me what your answers are?" Aragorn said, letting out a sigh of relief. Even with his strength, such Holy Light resonance was quite exhausting.
The candidates entered a meditative mode and were already in the zone. One could faintly see their trembling eyeballs under their closed eyelids, and their foreheads were also slightly moist.
Obviously, the soul-searching interrogation was not so easy to pass. Each question would produce the deepest and most authentic answer from the depths of the soul, with no lies.
"The Holy Light is justice!" Uther shouted and woke up. He was the most devout to the Holy Light, and then surging Holy Light filled his whole body, shining throughout the venue.
"Retribution!" Turalyon also woke up. Perhaps because he was still young, the brightness of the light was somewhat weak, but it was exceptionally pure.
"Holiness!" Dathrohan stood up. The whole person was like a several-kilowatt solar bulb. As expected of someone from the Holy City, constantly bathing in the Holy Light in Stratholme allowed him to feel the holy power of the Holy Light dispelling darkness.
"Compassion!" Tirion Fordring's Holy Light was as deep as the sea. As expected of the future Paladin who was willing to befriend the Orcs, treating all beings equally and sympathizing with the weak.
Finally, Danath. Through the dazzling Holy Light of the four, Galen saw the frown on his face, and the expression on his face was somewhat painful and struggling. He didn't know what he saw in the illusion during the soul-searching interrogation?
Galen never worried about Danath's belief, not only because of the more than ten years of getting along, he knew him like the back of his hand, but also because of his future adherence in the chaotic Outland, resisting the invasion of the demons, and guarding Azeroth in his own way for more than twenty years. Without a firm belief, he would have given up long ago.
Galen knew that his heart disease was related to the death of his father, that is, Galen's uncle. So he used telepathy to transmit a voice: "Danath, your father guarded Stromgarde all his life. He must also want you, as a member of the Trollbane family, to guard our people, protect our country, cheer up, a small test can't defeat you!"
Finally, the long-awaited fifth voice sounded.
"The Holy Light is protection!" Danath slowly opened his eyes, his eyes full of tears, and then the whole person exuded a terrifying power, and the Holy Light condensed into armor on his body.
As the five passed the assessment and successfully condensed the power of the Holy Light in their bodies, all the priests present stood up, and the Holy Light Archbishop was even too excited to control himself.
"Brothers and sisters of the Holy Light Church, today, with your witness, I announce that a new branch of the Holy Light Church is born. The Silver Hand will have Paladins as its main members, and it is our church's new defense force."
"At the same time, I announce that the person in charge of the Silver Hand is Duke Galen of Stromgarde. He is a disciple of Aragorn, Bishop of the Arathi Highlands Parish, and also the first Paladin in recent history!"
Several hundred people in the church turned their eyes to Galen. At this moment, Galen was wearing a replica of the Paladin suit: the Lightbringer Armor. The golden armor, coupled with Galen's strong figure, made him look exceptionally heroic.
Galen was not stage-frightened either. These were all small scenes. He mobilized the power of the Holy Light throughout his body, and the brilliant light instantly suppressed the glory of the five new Paladins.
The priests' eyes softened a lot, and Galen directly gained everyone's approval with his rich Holy Light power.
"Three days later, brothers and sisters present, will carry out the ceremony under Galen's leadership. In the future, those who want to join the Silver Hand must come to the Cathedral of Holy Light for further study, and Galen will issue the graduation warhammer!"
Cheers erupted in the field. In a few days, they would also have the opportunity to try to change to a new profession!
As priests who can follow the Archbishop, they are the best in the church, and this group is carefully selected by the Archbishop with basic martial power. As the combat faction among the priests, they are very satisfied with the healing ability of the Holy Light, but they hope that the Holy Light can have more powerful attack power. Today, they saw it.
And Galen, also got what he wanted, the title of Chief Instructor of the Paladins of the Holy Light Church, in hand!
The Archbishop didn't mention forming a Paladin Order, and Galen only inferred that the Archbishop had this idea from certain events.
What the Archbishop was concerned about was nothing more than the human kings. The reason for not mentioning it was also that saying: the Holy Light has no borders, but believers do.
If a Paladin Order is formed in Stromgarde, and half of its members are priests from Lordaeron who have become Paladins, then which force does the Knight Order belong to?
Does it belong to Stromgarde? But most of its members are from Lordaeron. Does it belong to Lordaeron? But the Paladin Order was formed in the city of Stromgarde, and Stromgarde paid for the military expenses.
Don't say the Paladin Order belongs to the Holy Light Church. Sorry, it's not allowed, it doesn't exist. In today's human society, the kingship is greater than the divine right. The Church can only indirectly influence the nobles and armies among the believers through faith.
The most typical example is the Crusades of that year. In order to protect its interests in the Near East, the Church organized armies from various countries to attack Arab countries in the name of God.
Only when the strength of the Church reaches its peak and overwhelms the secular kingship will the Church have its own armed forces. Otherwise, no matter what the name of the Paladin Order is, it will only nominally belong to the Church, but in reality, it still belongs to the country.
Alonsus is not an Archbishop with a strong desire for power. His life is devoted to promoting the Holy Light Church while avoiding conflicts with secular kingship. Strictly speaking, he is not only a believer but also a qualified politician. All his actions are in accordance with the rules.
In fact, there is no way around this. The Lordaeron Diocese respects the Archbishop, and the Northshire Abbey of Stormwind also follows the leadership of the Archbishop. The two dioceses and the rule of the royal family are in a cooperative relationship, mutually beneficial.
But outside these two dioceses, the situation is different.
Dalaran only believes in arcane power. The mages' money is used for magic experiments. Who has the money to build a church for you?
The holy faith in the Kingdom of Kul Tiras is meager, and the inheritance of the Holy Light is almost cut off. As an island nation, it turned to the power of the Tide Sage, which is fine.
The Gilneans also believe in the Holy Light, but the bishop of that diocese is appointed by the royal family. Regarding the teachings of the Holy Light Church, they will listen if it benefits them, and pretend not to know if it doesn't.
The Holy Light Church in the Kingdom of Alterac is declining, and there are few believers, so let's not mention it for now.
Finally, there is the birthplace of the human Holy Light, the Arathi Highlands, the land of the Kingdom of Stromgarde. There are many Holy Light churches here, all built spontaneously by local people. The Holy Light Church can send small priests to preside over prayers, but if you want to send a bishop to unite all the churches, it's impossible.
And Aragorn was able to become a bishop because he was Galen's man, which Thoras acquiesced to. Otherwise, the Holy Light Church here would still be a mess.
The priests left the cathedral and went back to wait for tomorrow's group transfer ceremony, while only Galen and the other eight people were left in the church.
"The power of the Paladin is waiting for you young people to develop. I am old and unable to shoulder this important task!" The Archbishop smiled gently, "You are all the pride of the Holy Light Church!"
The Archbishop never knew that Aragorn was a Paladin, and Aragorn didn't mention it. Therefore, the Archbishop thought that Aragorn, like him, was a priest, and by chance, he let Galen switch to Paladin.
Galen didn't expose it either. After all, the hatred borne by an initial Paladin and six initial Paladins is different, so there is no need to compete for this title.
The Archbishop and Aragorn left the cathedral, leaving only six young people. The Archbishop was their life mentor, and Aragorn, with his forty-something appearance, powerful strength, and regional bishop status, made everyone unfamiliar with him feel restrained.
After they left, the atmosphere among the six became much warmer. The oldest of them was Danath, who was twenty-eight years old this year, followed by Uther and Saidan Dathrohan, and Tirion Fordring, who were all in their early twenties. Turalyon was only sixteen years old, less than three years older than Galen.
Several people were the best among their peers. In the afternoon, they began to practice the newly acquired power. After a while, they were able to use the Holy Light Technique unique to the Paladin. As the senior brother of the Paladin, Galen felt that he had to show off.
He taught everyone some of the unique skills of the Paladin, and at the same time taught them some Paladin skills, such as the ranged attack Judgment, condensing a Holy Light Hammer and throwing it at the target, such as Consecration, pouring the power of the Holy Light into the land under your feet, which can be used in the event of being besieged.
Galen was not stingy with other team skills such as Blessing of Might and Blessing of Wisdom. Finally, Galen taught them to learn Divine Shield. If you are a Paladin and don't know Divine Shield, can u call yourself a Paladin?
Because of Galen's selfless teaching, Uther and the others called Galen their brother, a good teacher and helpful friend, and from then on, they would be sworn brothers, not seeking to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but seeking companionship.
I don't know who said the last sentence. Galen's expression changed, and he immediately interrupted them, seeing that it was getting late, and took them to his level three castle in Minas Tirith to rest. By the way, he went to the hotel and treated them to a big meal.
Just kidding, who wants to die on the same day of the same month of the same year as you? I am the youngest, not to mention you guys, who died in battle one after another. If this oath is fulfilled, wouldn't I have to worry about you suddenly dying when facing an unstoppable evil one day?
It is impossible to live and die together, it is impossible in this life. I, Galen, will definitely be able to die peacefully. Everyone is a brother, and I will definitely help you when you are in danger!
Inside Galen's castle, besides lamenting that the tree in front of the castle was really tall, they praised Galen's extravagant aristocratic life. Even Danath, who came for the first time, sarcastically mocked Galen for embezzling public funds and plundering the people's wealth.
Where did they know that this was the default layout of the system? Galen himself had not lived there a few times. He also knew that the others were joking. After all, the prince of Stromgarde had a very good reputation in human society. He was kind and not harsh to the people. Moreover, the residents of Minas Tirith had a relaxed living atmosphere, and the city was prosperous and peaceful. You could tell whether they were living well at a glance.
As the senior brother of the Paladin, he must sit in this position. He took out the Paladin Cultivation Manual that he had prepared in advance. This thing was still a handwritten version, signed by Galen himself. This was what he had prepared for future Paladin apprentices.
It contains the skill analysis of most Paladins' common skills. Of course, to do a full set of acting, the skills are not complete. He plans to release several revised versions in the later stage, improving some Holy Light application skills and updating some talent skills each time.
All night, Galen was guiding them to learn and apply Retribution Knight and Paladin skills. He could see that none of these little cubs were willing to be Protection Knights. They all just wanted to pick up a two-handed weapon and go up to chop people.
Only Uther is a little better, but he also prefers to combine Retribution and Paladin cultivation. Especially Dathrohan and Danath, these two people are simply infuriating Galen, they have all switched to Paladins, and their minds are still full of warhammer swinging!
Finally, he threw the Paladin Cultivation Manual to them, out of sight, out of mind. Galen turned to send warmth to Turalyon. Because of different backgrounds, and not having carried guns and lived and died together, these four initial Paladins, although living in the same city, were only nodding acquaintances.
Galen discovered this, so just now he would talk to the silent Turalyon from time to time, carefully guiding him on the role of the Holy Light, not letting him feel that he was an outsider, and brushed a wave of goodwill. The remaining people also felt that the two were the youngest and had a common language, so it was normal for the two to get along the best.
This is exactly where Galen's little thoughts lie.
It's true that he wants to get along with them sincerely, and it's also true that he wants to poach them.
Uther is Terenas's chief confidant, Tirion Fordring has a large family in the Westweald region, and Dathrohan will become the chief executive of Stratholme in the future. They have already taken root in the Kingdom of Lordaeron.
Only Turalyon, Galen knows that he is the adopted son of a jailer, and was later accepted as a disciple by the Archbishop. His parents are both dead, and he is not yet married. Such a good situation.
Brother Turalyon, I will treat you well in the future.
On the morning of the fourth day, Galen led the nominal first generation of paladins to the cathedral. There, all the priests had already arrived, waiting for the start of the ceremony.
Galen glanced around. The number of priests present today was even greater than yesterday. In addition to the five hundred priests from the Lordaeron region brought by the Archbishop, there were also three hundred local priests from Minas Tirith. They came from all over the Arathi Highlands and had recently settled in Minas Tirith.
Besides the priests, there were also more than two hundred Holy Light believers who had also chosen to settle in Minas Tirith. They were warriors with a certain level of strength, screened by Aragorn on the premise of ensuring loyalty, as reservists voluntarily joining the paladin branch of the Holy Light Church.
And today was the first paladin transfer ceremony presided over by Galen. In order to train the five who had just become paladins yesterday and familiarize them with the use of Holy Light power, Galen decided to have them join the ceremony.
The city square in front of the cathedral was now densely packed with onlookers.
The process of the ceremony was the same as before. The candidates who had fasted for three days entered the center of the field in batches, where Galen and the other five gave them baptism, then drank the holy water and entered the soul interrogation phase.
If you pass, congratulations. From today onwards, you are a glorious and righteous paladin. If you don't pass, it means you are not suitable for this path and can only continue to serve as a priest providing rear support. The enemies of the Holy Light will be dealt with by us paladins who will be the first to draw our swords.
Uther and the others wanted to conduct the ceremony in batches for the more than one thousand candidates, but Galen rejected this idea. Only a thousand people, if the Holy Light in my body is not enough, I can just spend money! Money can be spent, but I must show off!
We can't lose in terms of momentum. In batches? Puhlease I'm more than stron enough.
Didn't you notice the platform above? The Archbishop, accompanied by Aragorn, is now watching us from the high platform at the entrance of the cathedral, with an expression that says, 'I have successors!'
Galen just wanted to say that the successors you should be proud of are all in the paladin camp. Your successor as a priest, the great disciple Benedictus, will fall and become an evil archbishop in the future, doing bad things that will make you angry enough to rise from your coffin.
This shows the difference between the two Holy Light system professions, paladin and priest. Besides paladins being better at fighting than priests, paladins are also better than priests in terms of mental defense.
In fact, it can also be understood that priests are casters who use Holy Light magic. They convert the mana in their bodies into Holy Light power through prayer, but because Holy Light has restorative properties, it is different from fire mages, ice mages, arcane mages, and other magic professions.
Paladins, in layman's terms, are warriors who can use Holy Light to fight. They plant the seeds of Holy Light through baptism and affirm themselves under the witness of Holy Light, eventually transforming their faith into Holy Light, reaching a state where 'I am the Holy Light'.
As long as you believe in the Light, you are a warrior of the Light!
This is a unique awakening method for human paladins. The later dwarf paladins also awakened their paladin powers in this way. As for others, such as Sunwalkers, in theory, as long as their faith in the sun god An'she is fanatical enough, they can form seeds of solar power in their bodies. As the seeds develop and grow, they can guide and use solar power.
Dezco the Dawnseeker and his father used this method. Galen guided and nurtured their solar power through Holy Light, allowing them to awaken their solar power and become Sunwalkers.
Galen felt that the human awakening method was the most orthodox paladin tradition. In theory, using this method, every race has the opportunity to give birth to paladins.
Next is the moment to witness miracles.
More than a thousand candidates drank the holy water in their hands, and the most crucial step came. The five original paladins nervously watched Galen. Since Galen insisted on baptizing a thousand people together, there was nothing for the five of them to do. Guiding the soul interrogation of a thousand people was beyond the capabilities of these newly promoted paladins.
Aragorn couldn't do it either, and neither could Galen, so he chose to spend money.
The brilliant power of the Holy Light burst out from his body, matching the Lightbringer armor he was wearing. At this moment, Galen was the most dazzling person in the entire square!
"Feel the power of the Holy Light! Tell your heart, what is your faith? What is the path of the Holy Light you believe in?"
These two short sentences caused the Holy Light in Galen's body to be consumed rapidly, and if he wanted to radiate more than a thousand candidates, he needed to spend money to extend the duration of the Holy Light's illumination. The resource bar once again ushered in a moment of spending money like water.
After three breaths, some candidates had sweat on their foreheads and fell directly to the ground.
After four breaths, tears fell from the corners of some priests' eyes.
After five breaths, a believer opened his eyes, exclaimed that he was guilty, and then covered his face and wept!
After six breaths, some candidates began to emit light from their bodies!
After ten breaths, the last candidate opened his eyes, his face solemn, and held up a ball of Holy Light with both hands.
Galen turned off the Holy Light's illumination. The ceremony was over. Spending more than 20,000 units of gold established his position as the number one paladin!
Of the nearly one thousand candidates, the final number of people who successfully transferred was fifty-eight.
A five percent probability, mostly priests with a foundation in the Holy Light, shows how rare paladins are.
In his previous life, with a human population of tens of millions, they only managed to assemble a handful of Silver Hand Paladins, which later split into the Silver Dawn and the Scarlet Crusade. It has to be said that it was extremely regrettable.
The fifty-eight newly promoted paladins, thirty-six were priests from the Lordaeron diocese, eighteen were priests from the Arathi region, and the last four were devout believers from Minas Tirith.
The thirty-six promoted were from the Lordaeron diocese and belonged to the Archbishop's people, while the twenty-two belonged to the Arathi diocese and were under the jurisdiction of Aragorn.
In this way, the fifty-eight newly promoted paladins were assigned according to region, to everyone's delight.
Everyone knew that when the Archbishop returned to the Holy City of Stratholme, he would summon some believers from the army to perform the ceremony. Anyway, there were already more than thirty paladins, and they had all experienced the process, so the Archbishop didn't need to do it himself.
Galen, under the pretext of conducting paladin training, and with the Winter Veil Festival approaching, invited the Archbishop to celebrate this universally celebrated holiday in the Arathi region and spend the New Year together.
The growth of the paladin ranks relieved the Archbishop of a concern, and he happily agreed to Galen's request and stayed in the cathedral of Minas Tirith.
In the following days, Galen happily exchanged the Way of the Holy Light and sparred with Uther, Dathrohan, Fordring, and Turalyon.
As for Danath, because he had a military position, he needed to return to the army's garrison through the portal from time to time to handle military affairs, and only during his vacations could he return to Minas Tirith to practice paladin skills with the others.
And at the end of this Year Zero of the Dark Portal, a new book swept the Holy Light circles of Minas Tirith.
"The Paladin Training Manual"—by Galen, the first generation paladin