Except for Shade, all other students are official students studying at the academy, wearing the same black robe as their uniform.
Professor Garcia briefly welcomed Shade and then began the formal teaching. Of course, before the class, he explained the assessment requirements of the course and the 12-inch (about 30.4cm) long parchment course report that needed to be submitted at the end.
Xia De originally thought that he would not be able to understand such a professional course in the morning, but when Professor Garcia officially started the lecture, he found that this course was just a very preliminary explanation of the strange and extraordinary ability of "maze lock".
The ring sorcerers who choose this course all plan to learn the magic or spells of the mystery lock in the future, or at least have this intention. Relatively speaking, Shade has a better understanding of the course itself because he has actually used the mystery lock more than once.
This basic course was very helpful to Shade. Not only did Professor Garcia's explanation of the use of space magic give Shade more ideas about the application of abilities and his own system planning, but more importantly, he could not find information about the mystical abilities of the maze lock anywhere else. Therefore, even though he had used the maze lock many times, this was the first time he had a systematic understanding of this type of ability.
The reason why the ability of the maze lock is precious is that it requires the user to create and superimpose a space on the extremely stable space of the material world. In the closed space, the power of the user of the maze lock will be greatly enhanced, and can even suppress those powerful and terrifying relics to a certain extent.
In addition to overall enhancement of the user, different puzzle locks will also grant the user different abilities depending on their nature.
For example, the little match girl in Shad's story gave Shad the ability to use four limited wishes. So far, he has used the puzzle twice. The first time he used four wishes to save the little girl's family, and the second time he used four wishes to win a card game.
Mysteries can be created by magic and spells, or by large-scale rituals. However, ritual-type mysteries are very expensive, and to use Professor Garcia's analogy, they are only slightly cheaper than divine descent rituals. And spell and magic-type mysteries not only require the user to have a high level of ring sorcerer, but also require extremely strong talent.
This is not something that can be achieved simply by having money and hard work. High-level magic requires strong spiritual runes, talent, and luck.
Even among the thirteenth ring warlocks, only a few of them could master the magic lock. And in the entire Saint Byrons Comprehensive College, there were only four people who could master the magic lock ability.
Of course, there are four people not including Xia De. They are the librarian Miss Danister, the dean of the college's ace professional library management school, an eleventh-ring student from the history school who is about to graduate, and Professor Garcia, the vice dean of the history school.
Professor Garcia showed a rather smug expression when he talked about this, but the students thought it was normal because if they were in the professor's position, they would probably show the same expression.
"Professor! So does the ability of the maze use the four elements to influence space and thus create space, or does it use one's own thoughts and spirit to construct an imaginary world?"
This is the question that Xia De asked at the end of the class. Professor Garcia was very satisfied with this question and suggested that Xia De use this question as the content of his final paper:
"Strictly speaking, both of your ideas are correct. The Ringwitch system itself is that intelligent life relies on spirits and the four elements to influence the world, but the manifestation of the maze is more unique."
"Then, professor, is it possible for a completed puzzle to change due to changes in the user's soul? For example, if a ringmaster loses control, can he still exert the original power of the puzzle?"
Xia De raised another question. The last time gluttony affected the little match girl, he realized this problem.
Professor Garcia frowned and thought for a while, then nodded slightly:
"Abnormal changes in the soul will affect all magic. After all, the life ring itself is part of the soul. The topic I am currently researching is if a ringmaster masters two magic puzzles, will the two puzzles affect each other. This is also an important research direction for the self-action of self-consciousness/interference of magic power, which is similar to your question."
He thought about it:
"I can explain this part in tomorrow's class, but Mr. Hamilton, I think you can really try to consider building puzzle-like abilities and choosing appropriate spirit runes from now on. You are very talented in this."
Professor Garcia has always admired Xia De, after all, Xia De's performance has always been excellent.
"No problem Professor, I was thinking about the puzzle locks related to the enlightenment element."
Xia De took the opportunity to say that this way, when he arrived at Gaohuan, it would be convenient for him to explain the origin of his puzzle lock.
It was exactly nine o'clock in the evening when the class ended. When Shad stood up from his chair, Mia the cat was standing on the sofa and looking back at her cat tail with a ring on it that was shaking constantly.
Seeing Xia De stand up and stretch after sitting for a long time, the cat immediately ran over and wanted him to hold him.
After playing with Mia for a while, before Xia De could find a notebook to write down the content of the previous class for easy review, the carriage stopped downstairs of No. 6.
When they went out for dinner in the evening, Shade wrote an expedited letter to Miss Carina and sent it directly from the post office. Calculating the time, Miss Carina sent out the carriage around the same time after receiving the letter.
But when Shade got dressed and went downstairs, he found that not only the maid Tifa was in the carriage, but Miss Carina was also there.
"You actually came here in person?"
Shade was surprised and invited the Duchess in to talk.
"I didn't come to the city for your business. I went to Yodel Palace to do some things today, and the servants of the manor just happened to bring your letter. Shade, what happened to you again? Could it be that you found another bottle of elixir of life?"
The Duchess joked as she followed Shad upstairs. When she saw the chairs and basins placed there, she realized that he had just been in contact with St. Byrons.
"Well, I recently got an interesting alchemical formula, but I need your help."
Xia De originally didn't plan to tell anyone about the witch's detection of alchemical tools. But today, he encountered the carriage of the Aurora family, which made him feel a great sense of crisis. His own alchemy level was not high, and he needed the witch's hair, so he changed his mind and asked Miss Carina for help directly.
"Alchemical formula?"
The Duchess asked in surprise, she knew Shade wouldn't bother her over such a small matter.
"Yes, it's about the witch."
Shade handed the recipe he had copied down on paper to the Duchess, and after getting permission, Miss Tifa went into Shade's kitchen to prepare black tea for the two of them.
Both parties sat down on the sofa. Mia seemed to be very hostile to Miss Carina. Even when she was placed on Shade's lap, she would shout at the witch from time to time.
Miss Carina frowned as she watched:
"Um?"
The red-haired witch looked up at Shade with a serious expression:
"Where did you get this, Detective?"
"Although I really want to use the excuse of 'bought it from a mysterious person on the black market', I don't like lying, so the answer is that it is not convenient to answer. I can guarantee that the formula is fine."
Miss Carina nodded and placed the page on the coffee table.
Tifa happened to come back with a teapot, ready to pour tea for the two. The red-haired witch considered her words, her golden eyes sizing up Shade's face:
"Shad, you and the witch may really be destined to be entangled with each other."
Xia De immediately shook his head:
"No, no, I don't want to get entangled with any troublesome witches... except you."
Realizing that his words were wrong, he immediately corrected them, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the maid bending over with a smile on her face.
Miss Carina raised her eyebrows:
"The elixir of immortality for the murlocs a few days ago, and now this lost item. Even the Council has only heard of it. I really doubt whether you have found the tombs of the witches of the Fifth Epoch."
"I hope so. I heard that witches in the Fifth Epoch liked to use precious metals such as gold and silver as burial objects."
Xia De shook his head regretfully, and then asked:
"Speaking of which, is it the Sixth Epoch now?"
"What's the question? It's the Sixth Age, of course. Detective, are you out of control?"
The witch asked in surprise, and the black-haired maid also cast a concerned look at her.
"No, no, no, I'm just asking casually. Let's get back to the point. I have all the materials to make this item, except for the witch's hair. Miss Carina, I hope you can help me make one. I can share the formula with you, but I hope you don't share it with other people in the Witch Council."
Shade said, and then saw the Duchess opposite him showing a mocking expression:
"Detective, what makes you think I would share this item with them? Of course not. If I can find them and they don't know I can find them, I should keep it for myself."
Shade stroked the cat lying on his lap and felt that the relationship between the thirteen witches in the council was more complicated than he thought.
Miss Carina reached out and picked up the paper on the coffee table, folded it in half and handed it to her maid:
"Looks like we'll have to stay up late tonight. Tomorrow morning, at 8 o'clock, I'll have Tifa deliver the finished badge to you."
“That’s great!”
A smile appeared on Xia De's face. He thought it would take several days, after all, the formula was really complicated.
"So what do you need, Shade? I took your recipe, so I have to give you something. Making one for you is not worth as much as the recipe itself."
The red-haired witch asked Xia De with a smile. Xia De thought about it. Although he wanted to ask for gold pounds, he thought of another thing:
"I hope you can help me find information about the Sea Return Ceremony through various channels as much as possible... Especially the final stage of the ceremony, the ritual steps of the cultists."
The information from the academy and the church might not be complete, and organizations like the Witch Council might provide unexpected gains. For the possible existence of the "evil power", it is completely worth paying for an alchemical formula.