Half a year ago, after the summer exam week, Shad went to the opera alone with Dorothy, whom he still called "Miss Louisa".
But after this exam week, Shad had to go to St. Byron's to receive the medal, and he had to go to St. Byron's in person. Although Shad didn't know whether the standard awarding process really required going to the college, he vaguely felt that this was probably related to Miss Danister.
In short, although everyone's results were a little unexpected, everyone passed the 1853 academic year exams smoothly.
After confirming that Shard would go to St. Byron's in the evening, Dorothy left first. The 1853 Kingdom Literature Prize was about to be awarded, and her father, Professor Louisa, was helping her "smooth out relationships" recently, so she also had to go home often.
Luvia then said goodbye. She needed to go back and submit a written report on her exam results and year-end assessment to the Prophet Association, so that the association could discuss with Saint Byrons her course selection and choice of Words of Ascension for the new year as soon as possible.
This kind of report even needs to be in duplicate, and it cannot be typed with a mechanical typewriter, it must be completely handwritten. In addition to finding different people to stamp and sign, the purple-eyed girl will probably be busy for several days.
The doctor and the priest helped Shade clean up the examination room. The old priest originally planned to ask Dr. Schneider to leave the page of the poem manuscript to Shade so that he could contact the college. They drank a cup together as usual, but Shade stopped them:
"Priest, doctor, please wait a moment. I have something to say."
He looked outside and confirmed that the moon had risen, so he asked the priest and the doctor to stay in Room 1 for the time being, and he went to Room 2 next door with the cat.
After a while, Xia De came back with an arrow with a dark golden tip. Just one look at the arrow and you knew it was quite extraordinary. There were three concave circles on both sides of the arrow, and five crystals, four blue and one gold, were directly embedded in the metal. The ancient sense of history and the vicissitudes of time all showed its power.
And if you look more closely, you will feel a strange dizzy feeling, just like reading for 24 hours before the exam week. At the same time, an inexplicable voice in your heart urges the person who sees the arrow to pierce it into his heart.
Fortunately, both priests and doctors have a good ability to resist negative mental influences.
"Something nice I got recently."
Xia De also sat down on the sofa and motioned for the two to stretch out their hands.
The old priest who was wiping his pipe and Dr. Schneider looked at each other, then rolled up their sleeves and stretched out their right hands.
Arrows were pierced into the palms of both men respectively. As their respective elemental powers fluctuated, the doctor just frowned slightly in thought, and it seemed that he had acquired a new magical power.
Behind Priest Augustus, the life ring slowly emerged in the steam mist, and as the brass-colored enlightenment aura gathered, a new second-ring spirit rune appeared. That was Enlightenment - Heart of Darkness.
"Oh, the second ring of spiritual runes is complete!"
Father Augustus looked back at his life ring in surprise, and a surprised smile appeared on his old face. Neither he nor Dr. Schneider asked Shade what the arrow in his hand was.
"I also got a nice thaumaturgy."
The doctor nodded and looked at the priest's life ring. He touched his chin:
"Priest, maybe you can prepare to enter the third grade at the end of this year... I remember that all your second grade exam subjects seem to have been completed."
"There's still one more subject left. If this surprise had happened a month earlier, I might have applied for the upgrade exam."
Despite this, the priest was still very happy:
"I originally thought it would take another year or two, but I didn't expect there would be such a surprise. I will borrow the third grade book from the library in a while, so it's good to take a look in advance."
"That's great! If you, Priest, can reach the Fourth Ring before we set out for the Far North, the journey might be easier."
Shade also commented.
"Oh, Bill, Shad, I'm not one of those energetic young men like you."
The priest smiled and shook his head, then asked Xiang Xiade:
"Exam week is over. Do you have any plans recently? Winter is only halfway through. I don't think you will just stay at home and wait for clients to come. Are you going to a new city this time?"
When they "rescued" Priest Augustus in the fall, the rest of the group learned the secret that allowed Shad to travel to distant cities.
"Speaking of which, I'm probably going to the Randall River Valley in a while. Oh, that's the Spring City south of Carsonrick."
Going to the strange city was for the only time key that "Luvia" mentioned to pass through the Sixth Epoch of the Past World. However, he still needed to find a way to establish the correct road signs, and Shade also planned to rest for a while. In the winter of 1853, he almost never stopped for the many tests of the keepers of time at both ends.
"I heard that the opera troupe in that city is very famous. Miss Bernardine, a famous artist and opera singer who is well-known in the Old World, runs the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe there."
Dr. Schneider smiled and said that the Golden Dawn Opera Company is the most famous opera company in the human world in this century.
“I visited the Randall Valley when I was young.”
Father Augustus continued to wipe his pipe. Seeing that Shade and the doctor were looking at him curiously, the old man said:
"Is it strange? When I was young, I was often sent on business trips by the church. I went to the Randall River Valley, probably around 1835. At that time, I was only in my thirties, younger than Bill is now."
"So do you have any friends in Randall Valley? If so, I can go visit them and see how they are doing."
Shade said as he stroked the cat. In fact, he was very interested in the experience of Reverend Augustus when he was young. When he was in Midhill Castle, he knew about the young priest's immature love affair that ended in failure.
"Friends..."
The old priest raised his head slightly:
"It's hard to say. However, if you really have time, you can go visit Father Murphys of the local Dawn Church. I owed him 10 pence for a bet and never had the chance to pay him back. If you have the chance, you can pay it back for me."
That's no problem, Shade looked at Dr. Schneider in surprise. They were not surprised that the priest would bet with others, but that the old priest had been remembering 10 pence for nearly 20 years.
The image of Priest Rat Augustus became even taller in their eyes.
They didn't chat for too long. Father Augustus stood up first, and the doctor also stood up and invited Shad:
"What a surprise today. Detective, since you won't be at St. Byrons until 8pm, would you like to join us for a drink? I know you don't normally drink, but this is to celebrate the successful end of exam week."
After thinking about it, Shade agreed to the invitation. Of course, the cat didn't want to go to the noisy environment of the pub, so Shade kept it at home and prepared a sumptuous dinner. It can be seen that Mia was very satisfied with Shade's proper arrangement.
By the time Shade returned home, it was already 7:20 p.m. While out drinking, the pages of poetry in Dr. Schneider's pocket had given Shade a way to go to the academy again.
But this time it is no longer a dangerous relic, a broken old world map, but a means of transportation, the Sage-level relic Midnight Dream Carriage.
Before it was contained, it was a very dangerous relic. It often appeared at night, carrying passengers to the unknown and terrifying distance. The divination of the missing people would give answers that even the middle ring warlocks could not face.
There is reason to believe that the Midnight Dream Carriage, when not contained, has the ability to pass through most seals. Therefore, in the early Sixth Era, the joint containment operation launched by the three major academies to study its space-penetrating properties suffered many setbacks.
Later, at the cost of a seriously injured 12th ring warlock, it was barely sealed in the Saint Byrons Comprehensive College. The college believed that this was a special divine item created by a long-gone evil god to collect flesh and blood sacrifices for himself, or what is called a "divine weapon" in knight novels, but this conclusion has not been confirmed so far.
But what is certain is that after the midnight nightmare carriage is contained, that is, after the dangerous driver is tied to a pure silver coffin and mercury is poured into the coffin, the carriage itself can be used by mortals.
Saint Byrons itself is a thaumaturgical academy famous for housing relics. After more than a thousand years of attempts, this relic has gradually become one of the most important means of communication between the academy located in the Far North and the outside world.
With the power of the entire Saint Byrons, the coachman was suppressed, and the carriage was driven by the alchemical puppets or summoned creatures who were given the status of formal faculty members of the "Saint Byrons Comprehensive College". In theory, the carriage could be driven to various locations in the material world. Of course, the carriage in the containment state lost the power to penetrate most spaces, and there were many taboos in actual use.
For example, a ring sorcerer with the "Unlucky Traveler" spirit rune must not use this carriage under any circumstances. When Miss Danister and other professors entered the civilized world from the college, they informed the church of normal actions in advance, so out of respect for the cooperative Founder God Church, they used normal means of transportation.
But if the college ever needs to send professors privately, this relic can come in handy.
According to the official document sent by the academy, Shad can bring pets, summoned creatures or other small life forms with him on this journey, so Shad decided to take Mia to visit St. Byrons as well.
After returning home, he packed up the things he wanted to take with him, and then sat on the sofa waiting for the carriage to come. When the clock on the wall reached eight o'clock, the bell downstairs really rang.
"Mia, let's go."