Chapter 38: Augustinian Priest of the Church of Dawn

In addition to researching core spiritual runes, Shade also experimented with the other "simple" attempts mentioned in the doctor's notebook.

Dr. Schneider pointed out that the power possessed by Circle Practitioners is the power of thought influencing reality; therefore, even without learning any thaumaturgy or incantations, one can use their own power—the so-called "mind over matter."

Among these, the power derived from core spiritual runes that is used spontaneously was organized and unified in ancient times as "Thaumaturgy." The power used spontaneously through thought alone, without formal study, was organized into a system known as "Incantations."

Of course, the Academy believes that the classification of "Incantations" also includes "Divine Arts" related to the True Gods, which originate from faith and direct bestowal by the gods, though Shade and the doctor's studies do not involve these. The Church, however, believes that the classification of "Divine Arts" should be separated from "Incantations," as the two are fundamentally different.

In the early stages of this era, following intense and continuous debates within the Circle Practitioner academic community, the "Divine Arts" of the five True Gods and the existing Evil Gods were officially placed alongside "Thaumaturgy" and "Incantations" as the outermost manifestations of the Circle Practitioner power system.

As for the Divine Arts of the extinct Old Gods, they still belong to the category of "Incantations," because their followers have no voice.

Therefore, the incantation "Blood Echo" that Shade obtained from the Old God "Lowell, the Blood Duke," is essentially the Divine Art of that Old God; without the power of that Old God, it would be absolutely impossible to learn through ordinary means.

Thus, the core of the Circle Practitioner system is the [Spiritual Rune]; [Thaumaturgy], which is powerful and effective but must be learned through spiritual runes; [Incantations], which have low priority but can all be learned; and [Divine Arts], which are related to gods and faith, constitute the manifestations of power within the Circle Practitioner system.

"Upgrading the number of circles requires one of each of the four spiritual runes: Miracle, Profane, Enlightenment, and Whisper. And the relationship between spiritual runes and incantations, divine arts, and thaumaturgy is similar to the relationship between the 'Dao' and the 'Technique.' As expected, balancing the acquisition of spiritual runes with the learning of thaumaturgy is also a very important matter."

This was the outsider's understanding.

Shade attempting to ignite a piece of paper with his fingertips was a prototype of a simple incantation. And in today's experiment, he also successfully achieved the movement of extremely light objects through the power of thought—the so-called "telekinesis."

He seemed to have a great talent for this method of using spirit. Aside from moving a tuft of Mia's hair and a Rod card to the point where his eyes nearly bled from staring, when he concentrated his mind on a target in front of him and thrust his clenched fist toward the thick, pirated omnibus edition of *The Detective's Elegy*, he was able to make the book fly several centimeters forward without even touching it, rather than merely knocking it over with wind.

This pirated detective novel was not something Shade had spent money on recklessly; it was a relic of the former detective, one of his few novels, including *The Queen and Her Lovers*, *The Silver Knight*, and *Remnants of the Western Front*.

The first was a colorful court novel, the middle one was a very traditional knightly adventure novel, and the last was a novel leaning toward documentary literature.

Detective Spyro Hamilton frequently flipped through these books; the inadvertently folded corners and tea stains all proved that this was his hobby.

As for the only [Relic] in his possession—the Document-grade relic [Vampire Ring]—Shade could not experience its specific effects because he could not find a living person to experiment on. However, he had dismantled the pocket watch chain and turned the ring into a pendant hanging around his neck. This did not count as "wearing" it, so as long as he did not wear it for 24 hours straight, the influence on him was not particularly significant.

Shade planned to consult the doctor and others tomorrow; the experienced correspondence-course Circle Practitioners would surely be able to provide good advice on its use.

Wednesday finally arrived, but Shade did not wake up early due to excitement, but rather because he was startled awake by a nightmare of a heavy weight pressing on his chest.

It was just dawn on a summer morning, and extremely faint light filtered through the tightly closed curtains into the room. When Shade woke up, he still felt a heaviness in his chest, and after about five seconds, he realized there was a cat lying there.

There was currently only one foster orange cat in Shade's home, so it was Mia who had woken him up.

She stared at him with amber eyes, lying on the quilt on Shade's chest, and upon discovering he was awake, immediately jumped off the bed. From the sound of her *patter-patter-patter* footsteps, she was running toward the door of the house.

"You already know after just one visit yesterday? The milkman won't be here for another half hour."

Shade called out to the cat. After letting the excitement of the books and courses worth 50 pounds he would obtain today fill his chest, he finally left the bed.

Room No. 1, located on the second floor of the apartment, was quite large but only had two bedrooms. Shade lived in the smaller one, which was also the residence of the original owner, who was not very bright. The larger room was the room where the former detective had passed away; Shade was not particularly afraid of this, but he had no intention of moving there.

Only after he contacted a merchant who buys old furniture in a few days to transport the bed away, and after asking Dr. Schneider for methods to detect ghosts, would he consider moving into the master bedroom.

After leaving Mia at home to guard the house and leaving enough cat food in her small bowl, Shade headed out. His appointment with the doctor was for ten in the morning, and the clinic was quite far from St. Dean's Square. Shade thought he could arrive around nine-thirty, but perhaps because he was too expectant, he saw the sign for the Schneider Psychological Clinic at one minute before nine.

Without wasting time elsewhere, Shade walked straight in. The doctor had already instructed the clinic receptionist that Detective Hamilton, who was "plunged into melancholy due to his uncle's death," would be coming today, so he was directed straight to the psychological consultation room on the second floor.

After knocking, the doctor immediately came to open the door, and someone else was already in the room.

A gray-haired old man dressed in decent black formal wear stood up, nodded slightly, and smiled at Shade; his gentle smile was very likable. His eyes were a common gray, surrounded by wrinkles, and he appeared to be over fifty years old, yet he looked very energetic.

He was slightly taller than the doctor but shorter than Shade, with a medium-slim build, looking as though he did not live a very wealthy life.

Shade's eyes were drawn to the pendant hanging from the old man's chest; the ornament itself was hung by a silver chain, and its appearance was a brass-colored ring with a notch.

This was the Holy Symbol of the True God [Mr. Dawn], the God of Light and Shadow; wearing a holy symbol on one's chest was the common practice of Church clergy.

"Hmm? A member of the clergy? Although the Academy is not in an adversarial relationship with the True God Churches, but..." Shade wondered to himself.

"Let me introduce you," Dr. Schneider said enthusiastically, noticing Shade's confusion.

"Shade, this is Priest Lat Augustus, a second-circle practitioner of our group and a faithful believer of Mr. Dawn. Although he is a priest of the church, he did not become a Circle Practitioner through Church channels; he is a rare case of someone who awakened his talent at an advanced age and joined the Academy due to a series of coincidences.

He has no prejudice against the Academy, and as long as we do not harm the Church of Dawn, he will not disclose our identities to the Church. He is trustworthy."

Although Circle Practitioner talent could theoretically appear at any age, it generally concentrated between the ages of 16 and 40; Priest Augustus was an extremely rare case.

"Don't worry, I can swear on my own reputation, Bill D. Schneider, that Priest Augustus is absolutely trustworthy. His joining us was also vetted by the three of us, including myself, and the Academy at the time. With Priest Augustus around, some of our actions will be very convenient," the doctor added.

The gray-haired old priest took the initiative to walk over and shake Shade's hand. Shade naturally believed the doctor, so he hurriedly reached out. The old man's palm was broad and quite strong.

PS: Besides the detective, the psychologist, and the writer/part-time journalist, the fourth member of the group's profession is a member of the clergy. So, does anyone want to guess the profession of the last person (female)?

(End of Chapter)