Chapter 61 Come Again (asking for monthly ticket) The "Noodle Man" started dancing again. Lumian used this to confirm that this mysterious dance could indeed partially activate the black thorn symbol on his chest, meaning that the pattern appeared but the accompanying terrifying sound was almost nonexistent, with only a little bit of vague whispering. This is a great benefit to his use of the "special" nature of dreams. But at the same time, he found two problems: First, the dance moves of the "Noodle Man" are extremely difficult, and some of them even violate the structure of the human body. Only a monster like this with exaggerated flexibility, as if it has no bones and fascia, can complete them. Although Lumian is a Beyonder and a "Hunter" with a greatly enhanced body, he has no confidence in himself. He feels that if he jumps in such a complete circle, either a ligament will be torn or a muscle will be strained, and he may even suffer a fracture. Secondly, this mysterious dance seemed to be able to really leverage the natural forces around it and had an extraordinary charm, so much so that after Lumian memorized it for a while, he found that his own spiritual energy was greatly consumed. “You have to go back and rest after watching this one.” Lumian sighed silently as he watched the “Noodle Man” dancing the “Mysterious Dance” for the third time. The spirituality of the "Hunter" is really useless! And after what happened today, he could almost confirm that the secret existence corresponding to the thorn symbol was closely related to this dream ruin. Here we have the black mark on the parish priest and the dancing monster that can trigger the thorn symbol. It would be surprising to say that it has nothing to do with the secret existence!
Thinking of the similar symbol on the parish priest's chest, and thinking of the dream ruins also restarting along with reality, falling into a loop, Lumian became more and more convinced of Aurore's speculation: Deep down here may be the key to breaking the cycle, if not all of it, then at least a very important part of it. So, that mysterious lady has been hinting at me to unlock the secrets of the Dream Ruins? The more Lumian thought about it, the more hateful he became. He raised his left hand that was not holding the axe and made an obscene "Fuck you" gesture to the black thorn symbol on his chest. He wasn't worried about angering the other party. Not to mention whether the hidden being could sense him or see him, the fact that he himself had been trapped in the time loop brought about by Him and the people around him were stranger and more dangerous than each other made Lumian feel that the problem would not be serious anymore. After watching the dance for the third time, Lumian rubbed his empty head, and despite the slight heat in his chest, he left the ruins and returned to his home on the other side of the wilderness. Before waking up from the dream, he tried to consolidate the dance moves he had memorized, and almost sprained his waist, broke the ligament in his knee, and tore the muscles on the inside of his calf. "Shit, this is not something a normal human can accomplish!" Lumian cursed and lay down on the bed. Because of the great spiritual exhaustion and deep fatigue, he quickly fell asleep. ………… When Lumian woke up, it was just daybreak. The sun had not yet risen and the red moon had lost its luster. He sat up slowly, feeling a sense of satisfaction after a deep sleep, and his consumed spiritual energy was perfectly replenished. Walking to the window, Lumian opened the curtains to let the morning light outside shine into the house. The next second, his eyes froze. The creature, which was a little bigger than an ordinary owl, appeared again on the elm tree not far away, looking down at him from a high position. Lumian quickly came back to his senses and opened his mouth: "Aurore! Aurore!" Quick, the suspect is coming! Track it! Hearing the shout, the owl spread its wings and flew to the edge of the village. It flew lower and lower, and soon disappeared into the woods on the edge of Cordu village. After a few seconds, Aurore, dressed in a white silk nightgown, entered Lumian's bedroom. She asked with annoyance on her face:
"Is that the owl?" “Yes.” Lumian looked out the window. “Did Blank Paper catch up?” Aurora pulled her long golden hair and said bitterly: "Why does it always choose the time of the underworld to appear? "I was sleeping soundly just now, and you woke me up. Before I could release the 'white paper', it flew away." “Didn’t you say you couldn’t sleep well because something was on your mind?” Lumian responded instinctively. Aurore rolled her eyes at him. "If you always have trouble sleeping, it will affect your mental state and lead to signs of loss of control. "People are always nervous, uneasy, and fearful at first, but once you get used to it, you become numb to it. Only by getting a good night's sleep can you stay awake and rational." “We can only wait until next time…” Lumian said regretfully. Aurore thought for a moment: "Let's summarize the pattern of its appearance. We can't just wait for the rabbit to bump into the tree stump. Besides, we need to rest and can't watch it all the time." Lumian thought back to the previous times: "It's always from late night to early morning..." "Why this period of time?" Aurore asked further. "This can only be considered a symptom, not a pattern. Think carefully about the times it appeared. What did you do on the corresponding nights, or in the first half of the night? Did you repeat the same behavior?" "I have been exploring the ruins of dreams..." Lumian did not hide the secret from his sister and began to recall, "Before it appeared for the first time, I killed the first monster in my dream. Before it appeared for the second time, I should have activated the symbol on my chest through meditation and found its 'special' feature. The third time, I took a potion in my dream and became a 'hunter'. The fourth time, which is today, I, I found a way to activate the 'special' feature of dreams to a certain extent with less damage." "What method?" Aurore asked. Lumian recounted the story of the Noodle Man, his dance, and his own attempts. Aurore was thinking about the owl while listening. After her brother finished speaking, she said carefully: "The owl's visit to you seems to be related to the significant progress you have made in your dream exploration..." Uh... Lumian thought about it, his eyes gradually brightening: "really! "The first time I killed a monster, the first time I showed my 'specialness', the first time I took a potion, the first time I embarked on the path of transcendence, the first time I found a way to use that 'specialness'... "Similar major developments also have certain reactions in reality. Did the owl notice it and come over to observe? Oh, it must have smelled something." Aurore said, “Hmm.” "After that we can consciously create similar opportunities to see if we can catch that owl." “I think the next time it will appear will be when I have mastered that mysterious dance and can truly utilize the ‘special’ brought by the symbol on my chest in my dreams.” Lumian thought, revealing a malicious smile. “When the time comes, I will tell you before I try it in my dream, so you should be prepared.” Aurore thought for a moment and nodded: "I hope to find out who the owl is related to, and what role it plays in Cordu's anomaly..." Lumian asked: “Aurore, uh, sister, do you know anything about that kind of dance? "You know, I'm still pretty illiterate in the field of the occult." Aurore pulled the chair in front of Lumian's wooden table and sat down. She thought for a while and said: "Several notebooks mentioned that in the ancient times, that is, in the early Fifth Age and throughout the Fourth Age, there were some large-scale ritual magic. “In those ritual magics, there are not only a large number of sacrifices, but also many participants. They please the target being through special dances in exchange for a response. "In fact, in terms of sacrifices and rituals themselves, dance was widely believed to be able to influence nature and communicate with gods from the beginning, and its function was close to the combination of supernatural language and herbs, essential oils and other items."
In the world where Aurore and Lumian live, history is divided into five eras. The first era is the Age of Chaos, the second era is called the Age of Darkness, and the third era is called the Age of Cataclysm. But Aurore heard from a pen pal that this is also called the Age of Gloriousness. The Fourth Age is the Age of the Gods or the Age of the Gods. The Fifth Age is now, which began 1,358 years ago and is called the Iron Age. Among them, the history of the first three periods cannot be verified, and only myths and legends remain. There are occasional documents, materials, notes, ruins, tombs, ancient cities, etc. of the Fourth Period, but the overall history seems to be shrouded in fog, with only a faint outline. This is also due to the fact that some stories of the Fourth Period are often mentioned in the theological texts of the seven major churches. After listening to his sister's explanation, Lumian had a guess: "That 'noodle man' is dancing to please the hidden being corresponding to the thorn symbol, hoping to get a response or a gift? "Is it that its ritual is missing a large part, so the effect is extremely poor? Or is it that the problem of the dream ruins itself caused the failure, and it can only trigger a little power contained in the symbol in my body? "Haha, it's like I'm that god, and because I saw the Noodle Man's dance and was pleased by it, I decided to highlight the symbol and give a certain response." However, this was actually completely out of Lumian's control and was a spontaneous reaction of the thorn symbol. Aurore smiled: "You are more like a carrier of that symbol, a tool in a sense." She paused and said thoughtfully: "I suspect that the dance was 'invented' specifically to please or communicate with the hidden being corresponding to the thorn symbol. Otherwise, it wouldn't have caused a single symbol to react... “Moreover, according to your description, this is not something that an ordinary person can do. It must be done by a Beyonder with special enhancements. "But I know the names of the Sequence 9 and Sequence 8 corresponding to the twenty-two pathways. I have a certain understanding of them. No one can do that kind of dance, and the performance of the Noodle Man is not like that of a higher sequence. Otherwise, you would not be able to escape at all." “Perhaps it is not among the twenty-two paths, but a gift from some hidden existence?” Lumian thought of what the mysterious lady said. Aurore looked out the window and pursed her lips: "I wonder if this has anything to do with the 'Man in the Ring'. Is it equivalent to the power of Sequence 9 or Sequence 8?" “I think so.” Lumian suddenly laughed. “I’ll give it a name. The sequence 9 corresponding to ‘Man in the Ring’ is ‘Noodle Man’!” Aurore couldn't help but look up at the ceiling. The brother and sister talked for a while and went downstairs to have breakfast. After studying Hermetic until about ten o'clock, Lumian took the important props and went out. PS: Please vote for me~ (End of this chapter)
