The two came to the second floor, which was also covered in dust. Instead of going up to the third floor, they looked down the corridor. One side of the corridor had windows, and the other side had a row of rooms. The main building of the sanatorium was U-shaped, and at this moment, the two were in the central position of the long side.
The doctor said:
"Miracle, if you can engrave the 【Miracle】 Ling Rune, it must be a golden Ling Rune. All 【Miracles】 come from the stories and power of gods. Remember, the Five Orthodox Churches are the only remaining benevolent gods."
"Only remaining?"
Xia De was very good at grasping the key points and understood the reason why he first encountered "Miracle."
"Yes, in past epochs, there were many other gods. If you join the college, there is content about this in the basic courses of the Divinity College. But most of the powerful gods from the past have disappeared, perhaps they fell, perhaps they left, or perhaps they were sealed. But in any case, only five benevolent gods remain here and are called Orthodox Churches, and gods can interfere with the material world, not just as a symbol. Do not treat them as powerful Ring術士, they are truly high-dimensional existences... I hope you understand what I mean."
Xia De's mouth twitched. Of course, he understood.
"Most Ring術士 of the Orthodox Church specialize in the 【Miracle】 element. But besides the Orthodox Churches, many traces of Old Gods remain in the world. By contacting those traces, knowing the stories of Old Gods, and with the help of 'another me,' you can also extract the 【Miracle】 Ling Rune."
The doctor finally mentioned the "voice in the head" that is essential for Ring術士.
"The voice in your head is actually another you, not truly you, but it is indeed you."
The doctor emphasized this concept again, and the woman's laughter echoed in Xia De's mind once more.
"This is the 【Miracle】 Ling Rune I engraved when I was at the first ring."
White dense fog appeared behind the doctor again, and a part of the brass Destiny Ring was exposed, revealing the golden Ling Rune.
Xia De also endured the pain in his temples and deciphered the rune. Its meaning was 【Dust】, which he had seen once before.
"This Miracle was left by the Old God 【God of Dust】, also known as 【World Serpent】. I learned his story through the college's channels, and thus obtained the Ling Rune."
The golden light shimmered, illuminating the ground in front of them, and a series of footprints appeared before the two:
"But I am not suited for this Miracle, and have only developed such a simple Miracle. The power developed from Ling Runes is called Miracle, while the general power used by Ring術士 is called spell. This will be introduced in the course."
The two followed the footprints forward. It seemed the target was on the second floor.
"But you must remember, gods are dangerous. It's not that they have ill intentions towards humans, but rather that their own status is too high. Contacting any information related to gods may cause harm to oneself due to the pressure of the god's essence. It's like looking directly at the sun can harm your eyes."
The doctor reminded him, and then said:
"blasphemy, if you can engrave the 【blasphemy】 Ling Rune, it must be a silver Ling Rune. All 【blasphemy】 comes from those defiled concepts and Evil Gods. But remember, not the Five Orthodox Churches, not the Old Gods who have disappeared, but the existing Old Gods.
Of the Old Gods who have survived to the present, besides the five powerful benevolent gods, there are also a small number of Evil Gods. But these gods are relatively weak, terrible things born from concepts and blasphemy. They are truly gods, gods recognized by the Orthodox Church. It's just that their power is far weaker than the Orthodox Churches.
This is not the Orthodox Church's self-praise, but a fact."
"So, Orthodox Churches are powerful benevolent gods that are recognized and exist, while Old Gods are benevolent gods, evil gods, and currently existing Evil Gods that have already disappeared. Are Evil Gods very scary?"
Xia De summarized.
"Of course, they are very scary. Although they are relatively weaker than the five Orthodox Churches, for ordinary people, even knowing their power can drive them mad. The main task of the church is to suppress occasionally appearing Evil Gods and always appearing Cultists. But the 【blasphemy】 Ling Rune is not rejected. Besides Evil Gods, some Knowledge from the fourth epoch can also extract 【blasphemy】. Secret books record those terrible stories. This is also the mainstream way to extract the 【blasphemy】 element. 【Miracle】 and 【blasphemy】 are both related to gods, and must be related to gods."
It is currently the sixth epoch. This point was not recorded in any of the books Xia De had seen; books and calendars only recorded years. But Xia De knew this was the sixth epoch; the voice in his head had explained this when it first appeared.
This seemed to once again illustrate the other party's uniqueness.
"Now is the sixth epoch, and the fourth era was an epoch of darkness and chaos, very terrifying, extremely terrifying..."
The doctor whispered, as if afraid of disturbing some existence. In the dense fog behind him, a silver Ling Rune flickered, still only revealing a part of the Destiny Ring. Xia De interpreted that pretty rune as 【Emotion】.
"【Emotion】, a considerably powerful Ling Rune, originated from a terrifying story in the fourth epoch that I still can't forget... I have developed multiple Miracles from this element, the simplest of which is to detect emotional creatures nearby."
Silver light flickered on the brass Destiny Ring, and the doctor had the answer:
"Inside, he is afraid. It seems he knows we have arrived."
The enemy couldn't possibly not know; the doctor had no intention of hiding his voice.
"If the voice in your head continuously reminds you that there is 【blasphemy】 nearby, don't think, turn around and run immediately. This element is very deadly."
The doctor continued to impart basic Knowledge, and Xia De continued forward with him. Xia De also understood why he only had "blasphemy" and no contact.
"inspiration, if you can engrave the 【inspiration】 Ling Rune, it must be a brass Ling Rune. All 【inspiration】 comes from civilization itself. Yes, civilization, historical legends, religions, and hero stories, even fictional knight adventure novels, can all extract 【inspiration】 through certain mediums. This is the element of civilization, symbolizing the light of our world."
Although it sounded easy, it certainly wasn't something that could be achieved just by reading knight novels.
And the spark of light that an outsider generated the moment he observed the world was precisely the reason for encountering the "inspiration" element right at his doorstep.
"And it's not just our civilization, or even just human civilization; civilizations from past epochs can also. 【inspiration】 can coexist with 【blasphemy】 and 【Miracle】, after all, the history of civilization cannot be without the power of gods, and gods have never taken their gaze off civilization."
In the dense fog behind the doctor, a corner of the Destiny Ring was exposed again, and the brass rune 【Sweet Dream】 appeared:
"This is the Ling Rune 【Sweet Dream】. Its origin is inconvenient to explain for now. I have a good affinity with it. Now I will use Miracle to make the other party fall into a dream."
A faint light spilled out. Xia De could not see the specific effect, but he believed the doctor would not miss.
They finally stopped walking forward and turned into an unmarked room. This room was very clean, but no one was seen.
The doctor was unhurried:
"Lastly, there is whisper. If you can engrave the 【whisper】 Ling Rune, it must be a black iron Ling Rune. 【whisper】 has a wide range of sources. The general view is that if 【inspiration】 is the light of civilization, then 【whisper】 is the darkness of the world. whisper is almost a natural phenomenon, reverberating throughout the material world. It is obtained by contacting Evil God Knowledge and contacting 【relics】."
The Detective died from a certain 【relic】, which is why Xia De was able to come into contact with the "whisper" element when he died.
The black iron rune was revealed, its meaning being 【False Truth】, the most complex in meaning among the four Ling Runes displayed by the doctor.
"This Ling Rune was obtained a year ago when I resolved a Secret Keeper Level, which is a Level 3 【relic】 incident. I don't quite understand its power, but it is currently mainly used to break illusions."
Under the glow of the black iron rune, the clean room gradually revealed its true appearance. Newspapers and wooden boards sealed the drafty windows, and the floor and walls looked as if they were coated with a layer of blood, emitting a foul odor. The floor was filled with glass containers holding human organs, scattered as if an exhibition was being held...
After the disguise disappeared, the smell of blood rushed over. Xia De's stomach churned, and he finally understood why the doctor deliberately didn't let him eat breakfast.
Enduring the strong discomfort and mental pressure, Xia De's eyes scanned the room, which had almost turned blood-red, and saw a young man sleeping soundly in the corner.
He didn't look like a vagrant; instead, he looked like a student, with clean clothes, a refined appearance, and decent attire. He sat slumped there, holding a pistol in one hand and a brass box in the other.
"Bader Morod, 19 years old, a student at Rolax Mechanical College in Tobesk City. A year ago, he accidentally came into contact with a Level 5, which is a Poet Grade 【relic】, and was influenced by the 【whisper】 element within the relic, falling into madness. His personality changed drastically, and he gradually became a murderer who kidnapped and murdered young women... This world, after all, is too dangerous for ordinary people."
"So, what exactly is a 【relic】?"
Xia De controlled his fear of the scene, suppressing the desire to vomit. The doctor, however, appeared very calm about it, either controlling his emotions very well or being accustomed to similar scenes. The two stood at the doorway of the room, neither intending to step inside.
"【relics】 are remnants of the past, curses from the previous five epochs. Some formed naturally, others were created by powerful existences in the past.
Remember, only the first five epochs could give birth to 【relics】. So far, there is no record of 【relics】 being born in our current sixth epoch. But if you can discover one, perhaps a whole academic year's practical credits would be enough... 【relics】 are easily distinguishable from other alchemical items. Only they can have the 【whisper】 element attached to them. There is no human way to attach the 【whisper】 element to an item."
The two looked together at the metal box held by the young Morod; that was the 【relic】.