"Working now?"
Hearing the doctor's words, Xia De suddenly became nervous. He didn't expect it to be so direct:
"Here?"
"Of course. Is there something wrong with the doctor's office? And isn't the 72 hours coming up?"
The blonde writer Miss Louisa didn't understand, but Dr. Schneider understood what Shade wanted to say:
"Of course it's here, oh, Shad, I emphasize this point again.
Remember, we are correspondence ring wizards. St. Byron's Comprehensive College has no special emotional connection with us. There are only responsibilities and obligations. Do you understand? As for helping you, it is because I need a fifth ring wizard to appear in the group, and the college will give rewards for introducing new ring wizards to enroll. It is not because I am a kind person. "
The doctor looked at Shade seriously, with a warning in his blue eyes:
"You have no common sense about this world, so I give you the most important warning: don't trust others easily."
"He's actually a good guy, but he's always so strict."
The lady next to her shook her head and said.
Shad nodded cautiously, but he also agreed with the writer that Dr. Schneider was a good person... at least for now.
"Luisa, you just need to observe the next process to prevent unexpected accidents from happening. Please don't speak."
"No problem. We have gone through this process twice. Wasn't it the same when Annat and Augustus took office?"
Miss Writer said, motioning for Shade to listen carefully.
“For a gifted person to awaken his life ring, he must first come into contact with four elements, which is difficult for ordinary people who know nothing about it.
This is the Sixth Age, not the dark and chaotic Fourth Age, nor the Fifth Age ruled by the Witch Emperors. In this extraordinary and inconspicuous age, steam and machinery are the themes, and there are not so many mysteries here. Even if you know that mysteries exist, it is difficult to contact them. Moreover, the dangers of contacting mysteries are beyond the imagination of ordinary people. "
The doctor held up four fingers:
"So, Xia De, among the four elements, how many have you come into contact with so far?"
"The only thing missing is the blasphemy related to the evil god."
Xia De told the truth, and Dr. Schneider did not ask any more questions:
"Look at my life ring."
Three silver runes flashed at the same time, and Shade interpreted their meaning as the muddy malice in the angry heart.
You have touched 'blasphemy'.
Following this sentence, the whispering voice read out another sentence:
Sixth Era, Universal Calendar Year 1853, Summer, Silver Moon Dark Shining Day, you have come into contact with all four elements. Outsider, the door to transcendence is about to open, and the road to sublimation is just ahead.
"Did the 'other you' give any hints?"
The doctor asked as he let the life ring behind him dissipate in steam.
"Yes, it gave me a hint. It told me that I had come into contact with all the elements and the door to the extraordinary was about to open."
The doctor nodded with satisfaction:
"The other me is the core of the Ring Warlock system. It is the other side of your soul. It is you, but not you. He shares knowledge and memories with you. But he can feel and see more, so he can serve as a bridge for the Ring Warlock to communicate with the world and prevent us from directly contacting knowledge and information that will pollute the soul. Now I repeat it again, I hope you can remember it."
"That is to say, it is impossible for another me to know something that I don't know?"
Xia De's heart moved and he asked this question.
The doctor nodded affirmatively, and Xia De blinked. He had long guessed that his "other self" was definitely not normal.
"That's actually you, but you don't know it. He is the same gender as you, so the voice in my head is a man's, and the voice in Louisa's head is a woman's..."
The lady next to her nodded in confirmation.
"He shares your memories, but he doesn't need sleep, so he may know more about nighttime events than you do. But in essence, you and the other you just have different ways of thinking and perspectives, so sometimes you will hear inexplicable words, and he can see more from the ordinary world."
The doctor said again and Shad blinked again.
In his heart, the woman's laughter seemed to nourish his soul, expelling the last bit of influence brought by the poet-level relics.
"Who are you?"
He asked in his heart.
Stranger, at least for now, I am you.
"Collecting elements" is only the first step, and there are four more steps to follow: "Ringing the bell", "Ignition", "Pushing" and "Singing the praises". The complete five steps are the most orthodox awakening process for the Ring Warlock, and are used by the Orthodox Church and the three major colleges.
"Ringing the bell" means to shock the soul and allow it to undergo its initial sublimation. This step sounds complicated, but it is actually just drinking the potion.
The three major thaumaturgical academies and the five orthodox churches all have different recipes for the "Bell Potion". The doctor said that the potion from the Sexess Higher Medical School is said to be the best, with an orange flavor and very sweet; while the potion from the Church of Nature and Evil, the Lord of All Things, the orthodox God, is the most unpalatable, and a bit like chewing dry tree bark.
The academy sent the "Bell Potion" directly to us via manuscript, in a conical glass bottle, with purple bubbling liquid. It felt a little cold to the touch, but tasted warm.
But Shad didn't think he tasted anything.
"Look behind you."
The doctor reminded.
Xia De swallowed the last sip, wiped the corner of his mouth, put down the bottle and turned around. A layer of white mist had risen behind him. He could vaguely hear the ringing of bells in his ears, but it was not clear.
He did feel the so-called vibration of the soul, but that could also be an illusion of the stomach caused by drinking too quickly.
"Ignition" means igniting the four elements collected to ignite the initial soul spark. This step only requires the assistance of a third-level or higher ring sorcerer and some skills. The doctor used his right index finger to touch the center of Shade's brow. When some cold air slowly entered Shade's body, the sound of the bell in his ears became clearer.
He turned his head, and the thick white mist behind him had a scorching temperature. The steam became deeper, and it seemed to contain countless possibilities.
"Motivation" means that the soul can drive the ignited weak spark, so that the ring sorcerer can sense the spirit and have the ability to manipulate the four elements. Specifically, this requires Shad to feel the power and the idealistic power of the mind affecting matter.
So Dr. Schneider brought a book without a cover:
"For ring sorcerers, there are many ways to contact the four elements. However, the method of engraving spirit runes into one's life ring does not encourage contact with gods, the mysterious, or the weird. Although this is possible, it is quite dangerous. The orthodox way to cultivate is to read books and read stories from the past. Other methods can be regarded as relying on luck."
"Reading a book?"
This reminded Shad once again that the extraordinary organization he joined was a school.
"Yes, the church, the academy and a few ring sorcerer organizations have some special books in their collections, which record quite dangerous knowledge and stories from past times. Those books are copied by hand and translated from dangerous ancient languages into modern languages, and their power will be weakened. Therefore, reading those forbidden books that are original or only copied or translated once is the best way for ring sorcerers to engrave spirit runes. And for you, this is enough for you to feel your own power."
He handed the book to Shade:
"This is a handwritten copy of the first volume of The Book of Fire Worship. It is a version that has been copied at least six times from the original version. It is the least dangerous book I have. It is impossible to obtain spiritual runes by reading this book. Take half an hour to read it completely. You can ask me if you don't understand any words."
So Xia De spent another half an hour reading, equating his future progress on the path of transcendence with reading and studying. He had to disguise his current identity, so he could only ask about a few words every once in a while.
During this time, the doctor and the writer lady remained quiet enough, knowing that this was an important moment for Shad.
"You've finished reading it? How do you feel?"
The doctor asked.
"It's a bit hot."
Xia De put down the book and answered carefully.
“Light it up.”
The doctor handed Xia De another piece of paper. Xia De held it and waited for a few seconds. When he found that the doctor had nothing else to say, he asked:
"Hmm, maybe I skipped some steps... like a spell or a hand gesture or something."
“Don’t try to understand it, but feel and guide it. Unless your core spiritual symbol is a concept like extinguished fire, this shouldn’t be a problem.”
So Shade closed his eyes. He came from another world. Although there was no transcendence, there was more knowledge and fantasy. He closed his eyes and relaxed himself, imagining that the warm current in his body flowed with his perception, and finally reached his fingertips and burst into sparks.
When I opened my eyes, the paper between my fingers had turned yellow due to the high temperature.
There was a great roar in the steam behind him, and the black shadow represented the hammer head that was about to bombard Shad's soul.
"The final step is the hymn, where you acknowledge your own identity and announce to the world that you are above the mundane."
The doctor's tone turned serious now.
"How do we do this?"
Xia De was puzzled, his heart was pounding, he knew that he was about to truly come into contact with the extraordinary and approach the mysterious realm of the steam age.
"Just say anything. I said my name, Louisa recited a famous poem, Mr. Rat Augustus prayed to God, and Miss Luvia Anat recited silently, so we don't know."
To Shade at this moment, the doctor's words seemed to come from a very far distance. He looked behind him in the thick white steam, watching the hammer head that was about to fall behind the thick fog.
The woman's voice, reciting a whispered poem, sounded again.
So, Xia De almost synchronized with the woman's whispering voice in his heart and silently recited the declaration:
In the sixth era, the year 1853 of the Universal Calendar, in the summer, on a dark silver moon day, I came to this world, I opened the door to the extraordinary, and set foot on the path of sublimation of the four elements. Shad Suellen Hamilton, the road of destiny diverges under my feet, I will witness, I will experience, I will see all of this.
The giant hammer, carrying enormous wind pressure, was swung out from the depths of the steam and struck behind Shad in the strong wind.
Boom!
The soul was impacted, sparks flew, spiritual light flashed, and elements overflowed. In the wildly spraying white steam mist, a brass-colored ring with a strange luster, like the sun, gradually became clear.
It spun and splashed sparks in all directions. The brass ring body appeared completely in the steam mist with high temperature, and the life ring was suspended behind it.
In the center of the high-speed rotating ring, two brass-colored, shining core runes symbolize Shade's future fate—
Silver Moon of Time and Space.