Chapter 97: Painting the Scarlet Cross Sword

"Finished reading so quickly?"

Sixin looked at Yun Mu, who was returning the book to him, with some surprise.

"There wasn't much content to begin with," Yun Mu retorted.

Setting aside the introductions to the nature of the profession, the principles of spellcasting, and other such information.

There were only a few requirements regarding advancement.

She wasn't some mentally deficient person with underdeveloped brain functions; how could she possibly fail to remember even this little bit of information?

"Do you have anything else to do then?"

Sixin put the book back into the safe and looked at her as he asked.

"No more." Yun Mu shook her head.

"Then let's go."

Sixin led Yun Mu out of the attic of the Painter Association, the two of them followed the spiral staircase downward, and then parted ways on the third floor.

It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon; Yun Mu had to go give a lecture to the apprentices in the Toddler Class, while Sixin was heading to the painting room on the second floor.

She didn't know what he did staying in the painting room every day; at the very least, every time Yun Mu came by, this guy was either resting or painting.

What happened to the work he promised?

The Frostfall City Painter Association turning into what it was now surely had something to do with this guy who slacked off every day!

Yun Mu thought to herself, secretly harboring these grievances.

She arrived at the classroom door, and Mr. Waseke, who was currently lecturing, noticed her immediately.

"It seems our new teacher has arrived," Waseke said to the children below with a smile.

Who would have thought that as soon as he finished this sentence, the children below all revealed expressions of terror on their faces.

Only Tina, perhaps because she had spent time with her at the cafe last time, looked relatively normal.

What does that mean?

Are they dissatisfied with me?

Yun Mu walked into the classroom with a smile and waved at the children below, looking 'kind and approachable'.

Hmm?

Why do they look even more scared?

"Miss Yun, today is Sunday. Please note that after finishing this lesson, the children can go home," Waseke reminded her with his eyes and whispered.

Only then did Yun Mu notice that at the very back of the classroom, there was actually a row of adults sitting.

Among them was Neisen, who nodded at her with a smile after noticing her gaze.

On Sundays, these parents didn't need to work, so naturally, they had time to come to the Painter Association to see how their children were performing.

And the apprentices weren't here for class today, but to participate in the weekly exam.

After all, since work is forbidden on Sundays, the Church's theory that everyone must rest one day a week also applies to children.

Once the exam is over, the children can go home and play.

"Ah, so do I have to come up with some questions for them too?"

After hearing Mr. Waseke's explanation, Yun Mu immediately thought of this.

But she hadn't thought about this kind of thing at all, damn it!

"Did Miss Rose not tell you about this?" Waseke asked in a low voice.

"No," Yun Mu replied to him in the same volume: "If Mr. Waseke hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known about this at all."

"It's fine, I've already finished examining everything that needed to be examined; Miss Yun can just come up with any questions."

Waseke patted her shoulder, coughed lightly, and said: "I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave first."

After he finished speaking, he left the painting room without looking back.

It was clear that he was very much looking forward to the rare holiday on a Sunday afternoon.

Watching the look of relief on his face, Yun Mu couldn't control her mouth to call him back, so she could only let him leave.

"Sigh, then, I'll just test them on something random."

She rubbed her forehead and looked at the children below, as well as the parents, when a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed her mind.

"Clap!"

Gently clapping her hands to attract the attention in the classroom, Yun Mu said with a smile:

"The content of today's exam will be based on your parents."

It was a very common theme; after all, she couldn't think of anything else in such a short time.

Mainly because she had checked the numbers, and the parents of every child in the classroom had come.

Thinking about it, it was reasonable; after all, these were parents willing to spend money to send their children to the Painter Association to learn painting, and in this world, they didn't have to work on Sundays.

Isn't it normal for them all to come to pick up their children?

Since that was the case, it would be better to let the children paint what their parents looked like, and as for grading, naturally, she would let the parents do the grading.

This way, she wouldn't even have to do the grading, and it could also promote family bonding—how great.

When she stated her idea, the expressions of almost all the children in the classroom changed.

Some were eager to try, some were quite scared, and others were wearing contemplative looks on their little faces.

Finally, Yun Mu observed the expressions of the parents, and upon finding that no one looked dissatisfied, she decided on the theme for this exam.

And after the children began painting, Yun Mu also found a random Painting Board, picked up a Paintbrush, and started painting.

Time is tight, everyone; she should hurry up and practice while she can.

If she wants to increase her Destiny Points for 【Oil Painting】, she has to use the Spiritual Painting skill to create an Oil Painting.

However, the process of creating an Oil Painting is much more complex and tedious than just doodling; with her Spirituality, she can probably only paint one per day.

The last time she made 【Falling】, it increased her Destiny Points by 3.

She wondered how much a regular Spiritual Painting could increase them.

It wouldn't just be one point, would it?

Thinking this, the image of a long sword gradually took shape on the painting before Yun Mu.

It was a brilliant white cross long sword, its blade slender and smooth, reflecting a cold, biting glint under the scarlet crescent moon in the sky.

The tip of this sword pointed downward, embedded into the shattered stone tile ground.

Its master had long since died, leaving only this long sword behind.

After a moment of thought, Yun Mu added a line of small text at the very bottom of the painting.

【Scarlet Cross Sword】

【The sidearm of a Scarlet Knight, once a weapon bathed in radiance and glory, later fallen along with its master.】

That's right, what she painted was the Scarlet Cross Sword!

A blue-tier weapon dropped by the Scarlet Knight upon death.

According to the textbook Sixin gave her, when painting, the more one understands a subject, the stronger the skill effect will be after it is painted.

And the difficulty of painting objects is lower than that of people or living creatures.

So, she intended to use this Scarlet Cross Sword to test her hand.

Although the Scarlet Cross Sword is a blue-quality weapon, two tiers higher than the white required for advancement, skipping green entirely.

But it was just a test anyway, so whether it succeeded or not didn't really matter.

As she placed the final stroke on the painting, the Spirituality in Yun Mu's mind was mostly consumed, and accompanied by the vibration of the Ether around her, a biting aura surged forth from the Scarlet Cross Sword painting.

【Painting · Scarlet Cross Sword (Green)】

【Oil Painting/Scarlet/Sword/Knight】

【Skill · Deterrence Aura】

【Ranged/All Units/Spell Strength】

【Range 8】

【Base Precision 120/Damage Correction -100%/Fear 120%】

【Fear: Attack Power -5, Spell Strength -5, Resilience -3, Dodge -10, Precision Correction -15】

【Uses 1/1】

【Validity: 2 hours 59 minutes 55 seconds】

【【Painter Apprentice】 Yun Mu's Spiritual Painting created by copying the 【Scarlet Cross Sword (Blue)】; it will expire after one use or after being stored for three hours.】

PS: The quality of this 【Painting · Scarlet Cross Sword】 broke through to green.

This means it already counts as a qualified painting capable of fundamentally influencing the real world.

In other words, requirement 4 of the advancement quest was completed just like that.

As for why it was so simple.

First, it is because the protagonist's current stats are quite impressive.

Second, this Scarlet Cross Sword belongs to the 【Antique】 category in the real world, and is already considered a very precious item in itself.

In this world, the more ancient an item is, the more it possesses a certain kind of special power.

This power does not mean it is necessarily strong, but rather a kind of special status or the like, which is only effective when facing certain checks or in special scenarios.

Furthermore, because of the stat panel, the protagonist is very clear about the stats and skills this sword adds.

It falls under the category of 'very familiar' with this weapon.

(End of chapter)