Time has left deep marks on this arrow, and the appearance of the arrow is the most perfect work of art and antique. Xia De stared at the arrow in the mahogany box, whispering in his ears, and while the image of the arrow seemed to be engraved in his mind, those strange whispers and inexplicable thoughts in his mind urged him to pierce his heart with the arrow immediately.
Just as Shad longed for the power of knowledge, the arrow seemed to be longing for the stranger who was watching him.
He took a deep breath and concentrated himself to avoid being affected by the relic. He stretched out his finger, and when it touched the icy golden arrow, he heard her voice:
Thaumaturgy - Voice of the Ancients is triggered, and you learn a story from the First Age.
The ancient god of wisdom, together with the sage of Silver Moon, wrote the myths of mortals on the land of the First Age. The recorder wrote everything in silence, and the mentor who guarded knowledge polished the arrow of knowledge and power, protecting the mortals who were looking for light in the darkness. The ancient god once said: "Knowledge is hidden in the world, and wisdom is hidden in the soul. The wise are like water, and will leave; the foolish are like fire, burning everything."
His fingers directly touched this sage-level relic. Even though Xia De had extremely strong mental strength and thought he had firm beliefs, after listening to "her" story, it still took a lot of determination for him to close the box again.
"This item contains the power of the Ancient God's Secret Keeper. One of the three conditions of the Chosen One's Ceremony has been met."
He closed his eyes and tried his best to forget the whispers he had just heard and to drive the image of the arrow out of his mind. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Professor Drake, who had recovered, looking at him with some concern.
The professor and Shad saw the Arrow of Knowledge of Aikenola in the wooden box together, but the professor did not show any strange expression, as if he was just seeing an antique.
"Professor, don't you have any special feelings?"
"What special feeling?"
Professor Drake asked curiously:
"Are you asking me what I remember? Sorry, I just feel that this arrow is very familiar, but I still don't know how it came into my hands."
Xia De frowned slightly. This wooden box was the containment measure for the arrow. Since Xia De did not take it out, the whispering element would not directly affect the two of them. However, the mental impact brought by looking directly at the relic and the urge to use the arrow from the bottom of the heart would appear as long as they saw the relic.
"Take another look."
As he spoke, he opened the wooden box again. The influence of the relic was immediately noticed by Shade again, but Professor Drake still seemed to have no feeling, as if the things in the box were really just ordinary antiques.
"It's definitely not my fault, so it's the professor's fault."
Shade continued to look at Professor Drake, who became even more confused:
"What's wrong with me?"
"I contacted Professor Tiris Manning of Tobesk, and he praised you as a very inspiring person. When faced with strange phenomena, you are always the first to discover that something is wrong, and you are always able to find the most appropriate research direction."
Xia De pursed his lips:
"Did you still have this strange gift after you returned from your adventure with the Lady of the Lake?"
The professor recalled and shook his head slightly:
"That adventure and the fact that I broke my leg had a big impact on me. Yes, I have become much slower since that adventure."
Shade thought of the photo with the "Swamp Witch Curse" he got when he first came to Professor Drake. That time he was also affected by the curse, but Professor Drake didn't feel it at all.
"It seems that your wish also includes erasing some unique talents."
Xia De spoke very cautiously, and the professor's face became even uglier:
"God, what wish did I make back then?"
He lowered his head and looked at the teacup in his hand. The hot steam blurred the professor's glasses.
Xia De had some new ideas. He opened the box again and took out the arrow directly this time:
"Professor, I want to lacerate your finger with this arrow."
Although Professor Drake didn't know what Shade wanted to do, he didn't object. So Shade carefully used a sharp arrow to cut a small wound on Professor Drake's finger. Because the wound was too shallow, even just the epidermis was turned up, the professor squeezed hard before blood oozed out.
The old professor frowned slightly, raised his eyes from his fingers, and looked at Shade who was holding the arrow:
"It's really interesting. It seems like I have gained some more knowledge in my head."
He patted his head:
"Very scattered knowledge, it seems to be about ancient insect eaters, oh, what is this?"
Xia De asked in his heart:
"If I remember correctly, if an ordinary person is scratched, he will either become a gifted person or die slowly. But if a ring warlock is scratched, then..."
There is some weird knowledge in my head.
Shade pursed his lips and stretched out his hand to signal the professor to shake hands with him. After shaking hands, Shade once again confirmed that Professor Drake was an ordinary person.
"The letters of Professor Manning that Dorothy sorted out indicate that Professor Drake was very enterprising and pursued knowledge and wisdom all his life. The two lost letters described the professor's special physical condition, with hallucinations and enhanced physical functions, which is very consistent with the condition of the Ringwitch after awakening... ... I roughly understand."
In order to prevent Father Nobel from making mistakes in his description of the relic, Shade scratched his finger with an arrow. He felt the strange pain and realized that some strange knowledge was pouring into his mind.
Suddenly he frowned. Among the knowledge related to sin and human sacrifice, there was a set of ancient characters. And that character, Xia De had seen it once.
"Professor, do you remember the book we found when we were looking through the letters last time? The book had strange words saying that knowledge is power."
"Yes, you translated the text for me."
The professor, who was pondering the strange phenomenon, nodded.
"I have some guesses about this. Is it possible that you wrote that paragraph in the book?"
"But I don't know that kind of writing."
"Just because you don't know me now doesn't mean you didn't know me before."
As he spoke, Xia De took out the book and asked the professor to rewrite the letters according to the line of letters. The letters in the ancient text looked like complex spirals, and even if you copied them, they would be very different from the letters themselves. But after the professor wrote them with a fountain pen, although there were some differences, it could be basically determined that the words in the book were written by the professor.
"But what does that mean?"
Professor Drake still didn't understand.
"This arrow..."
Xia De thought about it and decided to reveal part of the truth first:
"Some strange people touch this arrow and gain knowledge. But the problem is, professor, you are not one of these strange people."
“A strange crowd?”
The professor looked at Xia De hesitantly. Xia De reached out and touched the teacup on the table. The tea glowed silver in the old professor's surprised eyes.
He dripped the tea onto his injured finger, and then onto the professor's finger. Ten seconds later, the scars on both of their fingers completely disappeared.
Professor Kansas Drake opened his mouth wide:
"The rumors are true. So there really is such a thing as the occult and supernatural powers?"
"You shouldn't be so surprised. Senior history and folklore professors like you and Professor Manning can't be unaware of this. It seems that you really forgot. To be more precise, maybe you don't belong to the special group now, but there are all signs that you once belonged to the special group."
The old man was completely confused, while Xia De squinted his eyes:
"It's very interesting that I have investigated your background information, and there is a lot of evidence that proves that you are just an ordinary person. This is not a cover-up by the Lady of the Lake. There are deliberate loopholes in her cover-up, but your background as an ordinary person is very normal. In other words, it only took a very short time for you to become what I call a special person. Coupled with the other functions of this arrow, ordinary people who are scratched have a chance to become gifted..."
Although the professor did not understand what Xia De said at all and was even more confused, he was shocked at this time:
"Have you found the truth?"
"Professor Manning praised you for your amazing inspiration, which is very useful information in itself."
Leicia believes that her sister, the little princess Ajelina, also has the talent of a ring wizard, but she has not yet reached the age of awakening. This is because the little princess also has amazing inspiration.
"In your letter to Professor Manning, you said that you suddenly became very healthy. Your diary also mentioned that you saw some hallucinations. This in itself indicates that some changes have taken place in you."
Shade looked at the photo of Halder Ondiba and the professor on the table:
"You have a good relationship with him, and he is the holder of the arrow. When he was unexpectedly captured, the arrow was in your hand, which shows that your change is related to him. A priest I know once said that Mr. Ondiba may have unknown followers in Huntington. You have a very good reputation, and I don't think you are a bad person, so the wish is not... Professor, please answer me a question!"
Professor Drake was shocked by Shade's serious expression:
"Young man, I can handle it. Ask me."
"Suppose there is a possibility that you have been pursuing a goal all your life, but when you actually achieve it, you are frightened by the goal itself. Then, is it possible that you will give up your lifelong pursuit, or even forget it at all costs?"
The professor opened his mouth slightly:
"I... don't know. But if I really give up, then my life will be too miserable. You mean..."
Although the professor was old and had lost some of his talents, time would bring more wisdom to mankind, and he guessed some things.
Shade nodded slightly, and then saw Professor Drake's expression as if he had been struck by thunder. The old professor sighed deeply, hunched over in his wheelchair, looking older than ever.
"Although I cannot prove my conjecture, I think I have reached a conclusion. The Lady of the Lake fulfilled your wish. I used conjecture to make up for the missing parts of the reasoning process. This is certainly not rigorous enough, but fortunately I am also a person with strong inspiration. This is probably the truth."
"Mr. Watson, you said that exploring what happened to me was a test given to you by the Lady of the Lake?"
"Yes."
Shad nodded.
"Are you going to use your current guess to tell her that you have completed the trial?"
"Yes."
The professor raised his head and looked at him pleadingly:
"Take me with you, Mr. Watson, please, take me with you. I don't want to say that I am too old to live for many years, but please, Mr. Watson, take me with you to visit the Lady of the Lake again. Let me know the stories of the past, even if it may be the last journey of my life."
This meant that Professor Drake had taken up one of Shade's precious wish-making qualifications. Shade looked at him and patted the mahogany box:
"This arrow is mine."
"All right, young man."
The professor drooped his eyelids and tried to open his eyes to look at Shade. The light in his eyes seemed to be a last ray of light:
"When do we leave?"
Xia De looked at the midday sunlight outside:
"Let's set out after lunch and rent a carriage."
After a moment's hesitation, he said:
"Professor, since you have already made your choice in the past, why do you need to know the truth? It may only make you more miserable. I have a letter from Professor Manning. Professor Tobesk encourages you to live an active life. Maybe it would be nice to have a cat."
He placed the letter on the desk, but Professor Drake just leaned back in his wheelchair and looked up at the ceiling:
"I just don't want to go to the grave with doubts."
They stayed in the study room for a long time without speaking.