Of course, the Miracle, Chaotic Time Blade, also has its drawbacks.
First, the Miracle itself does not increase attack power. If Xia De's first attack hits the target but cannot break through the defense, then the second attack will also not be able to break through the defense. Or, if facing an enemy extremely skilled at blocking, if the first attack is blocked, then the second attack within three seconds is very likely to be blocked as well.
Secondly, time bestows great power upon the casting medium in hand, so using this Miracle requires a specific weapon with a 'blade' nature. Ordinary alchemical items would likely shatter after one use, and among relics, the only one Xia De can currently think of is the 'rag sword' in Bei Ya Si's hand.
He immediately realized, however, that that sword seemed to have no blade, which did not meet the Miracle's requirements.
relics that can serve as weapons are usually incredibly precious, and cold weapon relics are even rarer. So, even if Xia De now has hundreds of pounds, it would be better to spend this money on purchasing Miracles or curses.
Miracles and curses that can create blades are relatively common. Of course, 'Silver Moon Slash' does not fit the criteria; it is not a Miracle that forms a weapon... But considering its combination with 'Chaotic Time Blade', Xia De suddenly realized that the witch's copy paper might come in handy.
Next, he used the second leaf, also placing it in front of his right eye. This time, as a cold current entered his brain, Xia De's Destiny Ring behind him suddenly appeared automatically amidst the sound of bells and whistles, then began to spin rapidly.
As steam gushed out, warming the room, a golden halo, representing the Miracle Element, appeared above the Destiny Ring. The entire process lasted at least five minutes. When the Destiny Ring's rotation speed slowed, the golden halos gradually gathered on the surface of the ring and finally condensed into a golden Ling Rune—Echo.
"Oh!"
Bei Ya Si, holding a teacup with both hands, exclaimed softly. This scene was quite rare. The cat, placed on Xia De's lap, curiously looked up at the Destiny Ring, its amber eyes reflecting the golden halos. And the luster representing the Miracle seemed, in a way, truly imprinted in the cat's eyes.
"Now, only the final whisper remains until I have four different Ling Runes."
Xia De's expression was very excited. He casually placed the two leaves on the coffee table in front of him and picked up the orange cat that wanted to play with the leaves.
Louisa was also happy for Xia De:
"That's great. If you can get a chance to check the codex of sublime this Saturday, then at your current speed of almost one rune per week, you might be able to advance from One Ring to Two Ring within a month of officially taking office. There hasn't been such a speed in the past few centuries."
"So, regarding Echo, Louisa, do you have any suggestions?"
Xia De asked for advice.
The Writer thought for a moment:
"Just as the Doctor once said, a Ring術士's energy is limited. Even if each Ring has at least four runes, it's impossible to meticulously research every single Ling Rune. The usual practice is to determine your own system as a Ring術士, and for other unrelated Ling Runes, associating one Miracle is sufficient. For example, my lower Four Ring focuses on the little match girl as the main research object, while the Doctor's core is abilities related to mind and dreams."
Louisa sized up the young Detective:
"Xia De, if I were to give you advice, your core runes, whether Silver Moon or 【Time-Space】, both have considerable potential. Even focused research on just one of them would be enough to support your entire system."
She was right. The current Silver Moon alone has already shown extremely strong applications in attack, healing, illusion, and exorcism. And the 【Time-Space】 rune has infinite potential, so Xia De's system is actually very easy to choose: Silver Moon and 【Time-Space】 advancing side by side would be good.
"That makes sense. So, for the Echo Ling Rune, I just need to learn one corresponding Miracle?"
"Not learning any, or learning two, are both fine. The meaning of learning one is to let you understand what kind of power you have mastered, and at the same time, to expand beyond your core system, to prevent facing situations that your favored Miracles cannot handle."
The Writer explained. Since she had offered to be Xia De's teacher, she wouldn't hold anything back from him. Moreover, besides being able to research the little match girl incidentally, Louisa genuinely thought that teaching someone like Xia De would be very interesting.
For example, what happened today, ordinary Ring術士 would never imagine in their lifetime.
After confirming that the cat wouldn't move, Xia De reached out and picked up the two leaves from the table. After thinking for a moment, he handed one of them to Louisa.
The latter had anticipated what he wanted to do when he reached for the leaf, but to appear reserved, she said nothing. It wasn't until Xia De handed over the leaf that she thought of putting down her teacup to refuse, but Xia De spoke first:
"Louisa, could you please keep this for me?"
"What?"
The Golden-haired girl truly hadn't expected him to say that.
"I think the effect of the youthful immortality leaf probably can't be stacked, so I can just carry one leaf myself."
He shook the emerald green leaf in his hand. The cat's eyes watched, looking as if it wanted to pounce and bat at it. And it was precisely during the shaking that Xia De noticed, when the leaf was translucent, the veins on its surface actually formed a string of vine-like characters, their meaning being:
The tree of immortality, the person of immortality.
"Since carrying one is enough, isn't it a waste to hide the other?"
he asked.
"But you could trade it for pounds."
Louisa took the leaf from Xia De's hand, a slightly embarrassed expression on her face.
"I just bought a new time key from Old John, and to sell the youthful immortality leaf now, although the probability is very small, it might make him associate something."
There was no record indicating that the quest reward after opening the time key would give this item. But ever since the conversation about 'civilization' last week, Xia De had always believed that Old John was a very mysterious old gentleman, so he might possibly know about this.
"Besides, I'm not particularly short on money right now, so this leaf will be temporarily kept by you. When I need it, I'll naturally take it back."
Louisa looked at Xia De, her face slightly flushed, but she did not return the leaf to him:
"This looks like I'm taking advantage of you."
"It's nothing, it's not like I'm giving it to you."
Xia De shook his head indifferently. Since he intended to follow Louisa to improve in Enlightenment Element, slightly improving their relationship was of course a good thing. Moreover, just as he said, this was a loan, not a gift, so he lost nothing.
"Alright then, I'll just... keep it for you for now. When you need it, come find me anytime. This Saturday, I think I should teach you some very practical things. I'm not someone who takes advantage... Have you made money again recently?"
The Golden-haired girl asked curiously, rubbing the stem of the leaf between her right thumb and forefinger.
"Of course, this morning I got 300 pounds, and there will be more rewards for me once the missing children are found... Oh, Louisa, you probably don't know about yesterday's events. Did you read the newspaper? The progress of the serial child disappearance case, and Queen Diana's assassination..."
Xia De recounted his miraculous experience from yesterday in detail, and at the end, he sighed that the dice of destiny was indeed not something to be used lightly. The first time he used it, he directly saw an evil god; the second time he used it, he was shot in the back:
"I'll never dare to manipulate fate casually again."
What he couldn't say on the street yesterday, he could say freely in front of Louisa today.
"Did you save m... Queen Diana?"
The address she almost blurted out was definitely not that. Xia De looked at her suspiciously, but didn't expect Louisa to suddenly stand up, as if wanting to give him a hug, but then quickly sat down again, her emotions completely out of control for a moment:
"So it was you."
She hadn't been this excited when Xia De handed her the youthful immortality leaf earlier. The Writer put down the leaf in her hand, her face flushed, but she also had an expression of not knowing what to say.
It took a long time for her to return to normal:
"If Leia Cavendish were in Tobesk, it would be great. With her, and your superior and Jialinna, you might be able to get a better reward directly. Unfortunately, she only finished her visit to Carson Rick this week and is returning home by ship, and she still has to stay in Coldwater Port for a while."
She bit her lip, looking at Xia De with a hesitant expression:
"Detective, I'll thank you on behalf of Leia first. I think she will definitely no longer pursue the matter of those few papers with the little match girl written on them being burned."
Looking at the Golden-haired girl's behavior, Xia De suddenly had a strange premonition:
"The relationship between Louisa and Princess Leia Cavendish is definitely not as simple as just friends."
What could it be?
She whispered in his ear. Louisa opposite him was still continuously expressing gratitude on behalf of the distant princess:
"Unclear for now, but definitely not just ordinary good friends."
To express her gratitude, Louisa treated Xia De and the cat to lunch. It wasn't at an outside restaurant, but cooked by the single lady living alone. She believed that only this way could she show her gratitude.
Xia De didn't understand if she was thanking him for the leaf or for the matter with Queen Diana.
Although there was no prior preparation, Louisa made a very good lunch just with the food at home. Although the Outsider was still unaccustomed to the dietary habits of this world, which resembled the Victorian era, he had to admit that Louisa's cooking skills were very good.
The cat thought so too.
After lunch, Louisa still wanted to talk to Xia De about yesterday's events. But Priest Augustus had an appointment with Xia De at Dawn Church, and Xia De didn't want to break his promise, so he could only take his leave after lunch.
Louisa walked Xia De downstairs, and as she waved goodbye to him at the door, the Golden-haired girl's hair, with a smile on her pretty face, seemed to sparkle in the midsummer sun.
Under the street trees, sunlight passed through the branches and leaves, leaving mottled shadows on the ground. The shadows trembled with the breeze, and the branches and leaves rustled.
Although the mist was hazy, midsummer had arrived in Tobesk.