“What do you think is going to happen?”
At five in the afternoon, the Witch asked Shade on the train. They had been traveling for a while and would likely return to Aurora Manor before six-thirty in the evening.
At this moment, Shade was holding the orange cat, which had been slightly frightened by the town's earthquake—though Shade suspected it was most likely faking it.
“Before we set out, I was worried I’d run into Darkness in town, or that Old Lady Ilar hadn't actually given up and was trying to sacrifice us to a god,” Shade replied.
“Darkness left Coldwater Port a week ago; there's no way he could appear here. As for Ilar, she's only Second Circle. Are you underestimating me that much?”
The Witch asked with a smile. Shade shook his head.
“I just didn't expect it to go so smoothly this time. I thought obtaining every single Spirit Rune required a heart-pounding adventure.”
“Most of the time it is, but not every single time... Just how dangerous is your life, exactly?”
Shade gave an embarrassed smile.
“However, when I touched the statue, I saw some visions. That Old God seemed to be merely a powerful, aberrant creature swimming underground in the ancient era, but later, it devoured... devoured the power of the Ancient Gods within the earth to become a deity. So, what exactly are the Old Gods? If the Ancient Gods were the original gods, does that mean the Old Gods are individuals who became deities by acquiring the power of the Ancient Gods?”
This kind of discussion regarding the gods was something even a Thirteenth Circle Warlock would not engage in. But the Witch was even more powerful; the women from whom these power systems originated in the previous era were clearly bolder.
Miss Aurora's expression turned serious.
“The answer to this question cannot be spoken aloud. The weight of knowledge cannot be ignored, but since you've figured it out yourself, I can tell you some things I know. Yes, I have read the secret codices of the Worm Cult. Although it isn't stated explicitly, the most hidden records hint that the power of the [Earth-Shaking Worm] originates from the Ancient God who governs the earth, the four elements, and the cornerstones—the [Earth Mother]. Yes, Shade, the power of most Old Gods comes from the departed Ancient Gods. In the distant ancient era, they were powerful and eerie existences themselves, and for various reasons, they obtained the remnants of the Ancient Gods' power, thereby becoming deities. Of course, according to the Council's records, only some Old Gods are like this. There is even a theory that even the five True Gods...”
She suddenly shut her mouth and looked cautiously upward, as if worried a bolt of lightning might strike down.
Shade was so surprised that he even forgot to continue petting the dozing Mia. He had always been curious about the source of the Old Gods' power; he hadn't expected to find the answer just by asking casually.
The brown-haired lady sat up straight, appearing somewhat regretful for having told Shade what she just did.
“Let's change the subject. Ever since I saw that statue, I've had the illusion of bugs crawling on my arms. Let's stop discussing gods. Shade, what do you think of this cult that is heading toward extinction?”
Shade cooperatively refrained from asking further, though he knew that an organization like the [Witch Council] surely possessed a vast amount of information he needed.
“Some people leave, some people return; the demise of any thing is part of the natural law. I'm just amazed that followers of an evil god can actually look so kind—only on the surface.”
“The things she did in her youth were enough for the law to hang her ten times over,” the Witch said. Seeing that Shade had no reaction, she added, “I thought you would suggest we go back and kill her now.”
“My lady, do you think I'm a stereotypical knight from a classical chivalric novel?” Shade asked while holding the cat, then added, “There are so many bad people in this world. I'd even bet that at least half of the civil servants in the Tobesk City Hall have committed crimes. Am I supposed to go and judge them one by one?”
Miss Aurora laughed.
“Am I wrong?” Shade asked sheepishly.
“Half? Oh, you're viewing the City Hall as far too honest.”
The point the Witch cared about was completely different from the point Shade cared about.
In any case, the Second Circle Profane Spirit Rune [Vibration] was probably the easiest rune Shade had obtained to date. Furthermore, he didn't even have to go through the trouble of finding a corresponding occult art to learn on his own; Old Lady Ilar had directly given him an occult art related to it, and this art was extremely powerful.
[Mind Blast], a quite classical supernatural ability. According to Miss Aurora, the prototype of this occult art could be traced back to the Second Era or even the First Era.
The effect of the occult art was very simple: by casting it, the user triggers a vibration in the enemy's soul, causing a short-term interference in the opponent's casting of occult arts or spells. For targets with weak soul power, it can directly damage their soul. With proficient use of this ability, one could to some extent master the technique of erasing memories.
Of course, because the effect of the occult art was too crude, if one wanted to use [Mind Blast] to erase memories, they had to be prepared for the target to become an idiot.
This occult art could only be mastered by those with Spirit Runes corresponding to the derived concepts of [Soul] and [Vibration]. Depending on the user's level and the amount of Spirit they possessed, the effect varied.
As an occult art acting on a single target, when used at a high circle, one could turn an ordinary person into a lunatic or an idiot with a single glance. For a low-circle warlock like Shade, interfering with and damaging the soul was the primary function.
After all, this was using Spirit and elements to vibrate the opponent's soul, not using one's own soul to vibrate the opponent's soul. Otherwise, with two drops of divinity in his soul, Shade would have dared to go directly to a duel with Ivan Darkness.
As an occult art mastered through self-study, its casting required not only the fingers but also casting materials. Because the Spirit Rune was [Vibration], the casting materials had to compensate for the deficiency in the "Soul" aspect.
The casting material mentioned in the knowledge provided by Old Lady Ilar was "Mind Crystal," an expensive and rare alchemical product. It was created by Circle Warlocks proficient in alchemy and psychology who, while exploring the dream worlds of others, converted nightmares or sweet dreams into products of the physical world.
Although expensive, it was not a consumable casting material. As long as Shade could find one and let it touch his fingers each time he used the occult art, it would suffice.
Old Lady Ilar didn't have such a thing, and Miss Aurora didn't have any on hand for the moment. If Shade wanted a specialty from the New Continent, she could help, but for this kind of precious mind-alchemy material, even a Witch would need to make arrangements to find it.
However, Shade did not ask the Witch for further help; the assistance she had provided this time was already more than enough. He planned to ask Dr. Schneider for help; after all, the doctor happened to specialize in this. Even if he didn't have any on hand, he certainly had the channels to procure them.
“Still, I thought Old Lady Ilar would give me something like [Earthquake Spell],” Shade lamented during the boredom of the train journey.
“If it's just causing small-scale ground vibrations, many occult arts can do that; it has no real value. If you want to stomp the ground and cause a genuine earthquake, that kind of occult art cannot be learned until you reach a high circle,” Miss Aurora said.
“Why does it require a high circle?”
“Do you think an earthquake is just the transmission of underground vibrations to the surface? While that's theoretically the case, nature and the world itself possess power. Therefore, it's simple for a 'God-Caller' to summon wind and snow, but truly changing the weather of reality is far too difficult. Guess how much time and gold the fish-men spent just to call forth that red ocean?”
From this perspective, Shade still had a great deal of common sense to learn.
After returning to Coldwater Port, Miss Sylvie Aurora invited Shade to stay at the manor for dinner, after which Shade set off to return to Tobesk.
Not wanting to disturb Dr. Schneider at night, Shade read a book for a while after returning home and then rested in the guest room on the first floor that hadn't been repainted. The style of the brass-pillared four-poster bed and the design of the curtains chosen by Miss Tifa Servette were quite to Shade's liking, but the mattress was too soft, making his sleep uncomfortable.
The orange cat, however, loved that soft mattress.
(End of Chapter)