Siles spent the entirety of Tuesday trying to keep himself focused.
He focused on teaching in class, and during his free time, he focused on other proper matters, such as writing his novel, conceptualizing papers, organizing materials, and so on. He filled his time with all sorts of tasks.
However, there were always inadvertent moments when his thoughts would stray, wandering back to the dream from the night before.
The sea surface, the mist, the isolated island. The giant marionette and the pitch-black night sky.
His feet stepping onto that rotting, rust-red soil. In the dream, he had completely forgotten his identity and his name. He walked slowly and silently on the isolated island, circle after circle, gradually approaching the center.
There was nothing on the island, only the faint, lingering mist and the somewhat moist, soft red mud beneath his feet that made his soles sink in slightly.
He walked the island like a ghost. Occasionally, when he circled to the right angle, he could see the giant marionette standing on the sea. Threads wrapped around its body.
A trace of shock and awe would flash through his heart. Such a marionette felt like a unique, peerless mighty force of the universe. Yet, not once did he feel fear toward it.
It looks like a little girl. This thought inadvertently surfaced in his mind. A lifelike, exquisitely featured, yet young and tender girl. A pretty little girl.
He felt inexplicably cheerful because of this thought, as if in this lonely scene, he was not entirely alone; rather, he had a quiet travel companion who was also there, silently watching him.
He continued to circle the island tirelessly, lap after lap.
His footsteps seemed to follow a mysterious path, slowly moving inward, but always along a rounded, smooth trajectory, only stepping a tiny bit closer to the center each time.
…When he was just one step away from the center of the isolated island, Siles violently jolted awake.
He felt a bit shaken, as if some terrifying secret was hidden in the center of the island, scaring him so much that he withdrew from the dream in an instant.
But this time, Siles did not enter that… half-mad state because of the dream. In other words, if the Old God pollution Carol had mentioned was truly what he had experienced the previous morning, then he had not been polluted this time.
He still clearly remembered the scenes in the dream, what he saw and felt, his emotions and psychological activities, but he also clearly knew that it was just a dream, a dream derived from the history of the Old Gods.
…He had clearly shaken off the Old God pollution the previous morning, which was confirmed by the dice. Why was he having this dream again now? And continuing right from the breakpoint of the previous day?
Siles felt extremely troubled. He had originally thought this matter was over, but it seemed that was not the case.
But… from another perspective, he did not feel the Old God’s pollution this time.
Which meant—Siles came to a difficult conclusion—apart from the nightmare itself, this incident would not cause him any harm, provided this state was maintained.
However, Siles did not dare to gamble.
He originally wanted to go straight to the Church of the Past after class, but after some hesitation, he decided to discuss the matter with Grenfield the next day—in this regard, he trusted Teacher Gren more.
On Tuesday night, Siles stayed awake all night.
He actually had a thought: If I take a potion before falling asleep, will this dream still appear? And will it bring about any changes?
When the first rays of the morning sun shone on the windowpane, Siles suddenly snapped out of his daze. He couldn’t help but yawn, then took a shower to wake himself up.
He consumed a potion and performed the [The Silent Heart] ritual, feeling his mental state—literally—improving. The exhaustion of pulling an all-nighter made him a bit uncomfortable, but with the blessing of a Revelator’s power, he felt much better.
He knew they would learn a new ritual in the afternoon’s introductory class. In order not to expose the fact that he had already obtained a potion, he chose a six-hour duration for the ritual, which would end just before two o’clock in the afternoon.
He brought the necessary items, ate at the cafeteria, and hurriedly made his way to the History Society. At 8:00 AM, he pushed open the door to Room 177.
Grenfield was already there, lazily greeting Siles: “Good morning… Oh, Siles, you don’t look too good.”
“Good morning,” Siles’s voice was slightly hoarse as he replied in a low tone. “Indeed.”
Grenfield sat up straight, studying Siles with some concern. “Siles, I have to ask… last time you came, you showed me that manuscript. What did you run into this time?”
Siles took a deep breath. He took Leon’s manuscript out of his bag, flipped to the page he had read before, and handed it to Grenfield. “Don’t look too closely, Teacher.”
Grenfield just skimmed it roughly, then fell silent for a moment. Finally, he asked in disbelief, “Where did you get this kind of thing?”
Siles watched Grenfield close the manuscript and place it on the table. He answered, “At a trading fair in the Old City. I thought it was just an ordinary… painter’s manuscript.”
Grenfield shook his head, looking at his student with a hint of amusement. “Come on, tell me, Siles, what do you think?”
Siles began to explain from the top. “Do you know about Brewer’s matter?”
“That classmate of yours?” Grenfield said. “It caused quite a stir; I’ve heard some news.”
Siles said, “We all believe he died because of some records in his family’s archives. It’s about a rumor of followers meeting a deity. There was also a picture next to it, where the deity was drawn as chaotic lines high in the sky.
“‘It looks as if something is hiding in the dark clouds.’ Those were Brewer’s exact words.”
Grenfield rested his chin on his hand, pondering, looking deeply at Siles.
Siles continued, “A while ago, I often saw a young painter near Atherton Square. He stood at the edge of the square, drawing a scene of dark clouds pressing down on the city. Similarly, it seemed as if something was hiding in the dark clouds.”
“So you took an interest in the field of painting?”
Siles nodded, then shook his head. “Actually, I just happened to stumble upon this manuscript while browsing the trading fair. You know, I am a scholar.”
“Yes, an uncontainable curiosity,” Grenfield chuckled, teasing Siles slightly. “And then? You read this manuscript?”
Siles nodded and said, “I also had this dream.”
Grenfield abruptly withdrew his slight smile, scrutinizing Siles.
Siles said, “Don’t worry, I broke free from that strange Old God pollution.”
“Broke free?”
“I learned about the symptoms of Old God pollution from Carol. A kind of clear-headed madness,” Siles said. “On Sunday night, I had this dream for the first time. When I woke up on Monday, I clearly sensed that something was wrong with me, but at the same time, I felt like it wasn’t a problem.
“Subsequently, I broke free from this strange influence. The Old God’s pollution seemed to have imposed certain concepts on my brain that didn’t align with my original beliefs. Once I realized this, I successfully shook off that influence.”
At this point, Siles stopped, because Grenfield’s expression was completely unreadable. He paused and asked, “What is it?”
“Siles, you aren’t the first person to break free from Old God pollution, but your method of breaking free is far too easy,” Grenfield said. “Everyone can recognize that those aren’t their own concepts and thoughts, but…
“They say it feels like a part of their own thoughts. How do you excise it, distinguish it, discard it?”
Siles froze slightly. He wanted to say, Since you know it’s something that doesn’t belong to you, shouldn’t you naturally be able to discard it?
But the next second, he suddenly realized he was able to do it because he was not a native of this world. He had the concepts from another world serving as his foundation.
To use a visual example, if everyone’s soul had a color, and the soul color of this world was blue, the Old God’s pollution would also be blue. Blue mixing with blue naturally made the influence hard to extract.
Siles came from another world. His soul might be red, yellow, but in any case, it wasn’t blue. So, when the blue Old God pollution affected his rationality, he could instantly realize that it was a different color, something that didn’t belong to him.
From a certain perspective, Siles’s resistance to Old God pollution was extremely high. This could also be seen from his Willpower attribute of 92.
Observing Siles’s expression, Grenfield continued, “You might think that breaking free from Old God pollution is ‘natural’ and ‘effortless’, but for many people, they live their entire lives under this shadow.
“Siles, I hope you can think more about how exactly you managed to shake off this pollution. Perhaps this could become a gospel for every Revelator.”
Siles said softly, “I will.”
Grenfield waved his hand and added, “Alright, what next? If you’ve already successfully shaken off the Old God pollution, there shouldn’t be a need to tell me about this, right?”
Siles said, “Because, Teacher, I am still having that dream.”
Grenfield narrowed his eyes. “Completely unchanged, or…?”
“The dream changed,” Siles said. “I dreamt that I stepped onto the isolated island and was slowly walking towards its center. Just as I was getting close, I woke up. After that, I didn’t dare go back to sleep.”
“You stayed up all night.”
Siles shook his head, “No. I used the [The Silent Heart] ritual.”
Grenfield said, “That is a bit strange. Are you sure you aren’t affected by the Old God pollution?”
Being asked like this, Siles, who was previously very certain, now felt a bit hesitant.
Grenfield shook his head. “True, you’ve just started; you might not be able to perceive your own state perfectly.” He opened a drawer and rummaged for something, explaining as he did so, “The History Society has a specific ritual used to test the degree of Old God pollution.
“But this ritual isn’t very commonly used. After all, Revelators will inevitably be polluted by the Old Gods to some extent. Usually, it’s only tested during routine examinations.
“The principle is similar to the ritual compatibility ruler you received earlier. As for which segment of past history this ritual corresponds to, probably only Antinam knows.”
Saying this, he took out a rectangular stone block resembling a paperweight from the drawer, placed it in front of Siles, and instructed, “The ritual’s name is [Shadow of the Old Gods]. Touch it with your hand.”
“Alright,” Siles said, placing his right hand on the stone.
However, the stone had no reaction at all.
Grenfield gave him an odd look and asked, “Are you sure you are within the ritual’s duration?”
Siles nodded.
Grenfield told Siles to remove his hand, then placed his own hand on it. Subsequently, a faint blue light shakily lit up on the stone, covering about one-tenth of its volume.
Grenfield said, “This is considered the mildest pollution, and even I am not exempt.” He glanced at Siles, meaning: What’s up with you?
Siles was momentarily speechless.
From his perspective, the blue radiance on his body flowed out along his fingers, circled the stone once, and elicited no reaction; whereas the blue radiance on Grenfield’s body also flowed out but immediately lit up the stone.
Yes, to his eyes, it wasn’t just the stone emitting blue light, but one-tenth of the entire stone had visibly turned into a blue crystal.
Siles said in a low voice, “I’m not too sure either.”
Grenfield shook his head, probably not expecting Siles to answer the question clearly anyway.
Siles actually had some concepts in mind, based on what Carol had told him before about Thaddeus’s cloak and crown corresponding to Spirituality and Willpower. But he hadn’t fully smoothed out these thoughts yet.
Grenfield then said, “Usually, we believe that only Revelators who have never come into contact with Old Gods would show signs of 0 pollution in this ritual. But you clearly have made contact. How strange.”
Siles asked, “So, pollution can also be mitigated?”
“Of course,” Grenfield said. “If you use the [The Silent Heart] ritual long-term and then measure your Old God pollution level again, you’ll find that your pollution has lessened.”
Siles remained silent for a moment, then said, “Fighting poison with poison?”
Using the power of a deity to fight the power of a deity… does this really make sense?
His words earned an eye roll from Grenfield. Grenfield said, “Just having the opportunity to… as you say, fight poison with poison, is already incredibly rare. Do you really think we have the luxury of choice?”
Siles finally shook his head.
“Exactly,” Grenfield said. “What we can do is try to preserve our sanity as much as possible while pursuing power, and not become…”
He stopped there, then said, “Never mind, this isn’t something suitable for you to know right now.”
Siles looked at him, puzzled.
“Back to the main topic,” Grenfield said nonchalantly. “Since your Old God pollution level is 0, I have two guesses regarding the phenomenon of you still having that dream.”
Siles stared at Grenfield, realizing he had really just skipped over that topic, so he reined in his thoughts and listened attentively.
Grenfield said, “First, you are scaring yourself. Simply put, that dream left a psychological shadow on you. So even though you’ve shaken off the Old God pollution, you still can’t help but recreate that scene in your dreams.”
Siles was slightly taken aback. He really hadn’t expected Grenfield to approach this from such an angle. However, from the perspective of Earth’s psychology, Siles actually found Grenfield’s words quite reasonable.
Grenfield pointed at the stone block and said, “The facts prove it.”
Siles nodded thoughtfully.
“The second guess is much more complicated. I still hope you are having this dream due to the first reason…” Grenfield muttered softly. “First of all, you must have your own guess as to who this Old God is, right?”
Siles said, “My guess is the God of Stars and Light, Lusmi.”
“Hmm… interesting,” Grenfield said. “Why?”
Siles was silent for a moment, then explained simply, “Three things—the painter’s work at Atherton Square, the description in the Brewer family’s archives, and the mention of rotting stars in Leon’s dream—all made me associate it with Lusmi.”
“You linked these three things together.” Grenfield nodded. “That does make sense. However, you forgot one thing.”
Siles was stunned and listened carefully: “What?”
Grenfield said: “Dreams.”
Siles said hesitantly, “You mean… Akamara?”
The God of Dreams and Illusions, the beautiful rainbow bubbles, Akamara.
This was a deity who… used to be very active. Siles had once seen a not-so-authoritative statistical report stating that during the Imperial Era, humans would see beautiful rainbow bubbles in their dreams for at least half the time they slept.
That was exactly Akamara’s avatar and appearance.
Rumor had it that Akamara was a deity who abhorred evil. He would grant good people joyful dreams and subject wicked people to terrifying nightmares.
This behavior gave Akamara a pretty good reputation among non-believers.
But during the Age of Silence, Akamara went mad once—can a deity even go mad? But perhaps only “madness” could describe Akamara’s actions at that time.
In the three days prior to His fall, He forced the humans of the entire Fisher World to suffer nightmares for three whole nights. Even newborns would wake up crying in the morning.
That was roughly in the middle to late period of the Age of Silence.
In historical records, this global nightmare affecting all humanity was lightly summarized as the “World’s Nightmare.” As for the specific contents of the nightmares, one could only find sporadic fragments in unofficial histories and private archives.
In short, Akamara was a deity with a mixed reputation in modern history.
However, His followers appeared extremely… bizarre. Harmless and laughably bizarre.
It was said that His followers had once established a small kingdom during the Imperial Era, and the sole purpose of this kingdom was to study how to make people sleep well, sleep anytime and anywhere, and sleep longer.
Consequently, and obviously, this kingdom perished in a short time.
But this trend spread widely among Akamara’s followers. Every follower of Akamara was described by people as a “lethargic lazybones.”
They counted on being granted wonderful dreams by the deity they worshiped while they slept.
Because of such unambitious pursuits, Akamara’s followers gradually vanished over the long river of time.
It was only under Grenfield’s prompt that Siles thought of Akamara—accurately speaking, he realized that no matter what the imagery in the dream meant, the fact that it was transmitted through a dream made it highly likely to be connected to Akamara.
He thought, No wonder the dice indicated that this Old God pollution had no malicious intent.
Seeing that Siles had thought of Akamara, Grenfield said, “In the concepts of Revelators, the pollution—or rather, the power—left behind by Akamara is very… active. People can often come into contact with His power at certain times through dreaming.”
“Active?” Grenfield’s wording made Siles think of some things.
Grenfield expanded slightly on this topic, saying, “You know about Spiritual Deactivation. You should also know that the process of Spiritual Deactivation is actually the transfer of human vitality into a Time Trace.”
Siles nodded slowly. At this moment, he suddenly wondered, did “vitality” here refer to a human’s Spirituality, or Willpower?
Grenfield continued, “I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this: Does the concept of a deity’s fall mean the deity is truly dead? Just like a human’s death?”
Siles frowned. He felt Grenfield was hinting at something.
Just the day before yesterday, he had heard Carol mention some things about Thaddeus. After humans died, their Spirituality dissipated, and their fragile Willpower could no longer drive their heavy bodies. This was the explanation he had relayed.
And deities—did They also possess a body, Spirituality, and Willpower?
Wait, there are also three elements…
Divinity (Godhood), Divine Title (Seat), Divine Name?
Siles’s heart trembled violently. He realized he had seemingly inadvertently stumbled upon some crucial knowledge, but those concepts were still too weak and flimsy, utterly failing to form a complete theory yet.
He let out a soft breath, memorized this for now, and turned his thoughts to Grenfield’s words.
If a deity’s fall wasn’t the same as human death… then what remained of the deity in this world? Unlike humans, where all three aspects vanish completely and even the body eventually rots?
…Spirituality. Vitality. Siles arrived at this conclusion almost intuitively.
Spiritual Deactivation referred to the process of a human losing their Spirituality. The Spirituality was lost, but it didn’t completely dissipate like in death; therefore, the symptom of Spiritual Deactivation was becoming like a walking corpse, in a muddled stupor.
This was the process of human death—Spirituality dissipates, Willpower collapses, body rots. And a deity’s fall…
Siles arduously deduced these concepts.
He had heard Carol say that out-of-control Time Traces possessed a certain level of vitality. And in the mouths of Old God followers, out-of-control Time Traces were the “shed skins of Gods,” so…
Grenfield said, “The power of… a God. Let me just describe it like this for now, though it might not be very exact or rigorous. The power of a God, even after the God’s fall, still retains a certain sense of vitality.”
Siles stared at him blankly and said, “This means…”
“No, no, no. The deities have certainly all fallen; They no longer exist. It’s just that Their power was too… formidable, as if the power itself acquired a certain life vitality,” Grenfield said. “It is an existence beyond our imagination.”
Siles nodded. Remaining silent for a moment, he temporarily concealed all his deduction processes, leaving only Grenfield’s seemingly “logical” explanation—Deities were so overwhelmingly powerful and unreasonable, and Their power was the same.
Therefore, even after the deities fell, Their power still existed in this world.
Even without getting to the bottom of it, Siles could accept this idealistic explanation. After all, the existence of deities itself was already incredibly unbelievable.
Ultimately, Siles simply said, “So you mean, I accidentally encountered the active power of Akamara?”
“Was attracted to it, to be precise,” Grenfield corrected. “The essence of power is pure, and a deity’s power is no exception. That’s why you won’t suffer Old God pollution, nor will you feel that you’ve been ‘changed’.”
Siles said, “This sounds a bit unbelievable.”
Grenfield replied, “Indeed it does.”
They both couldn’t help but fall silent for a while.
“Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” Siles asked. “Why do I feel like your attitude is a bit… welcoming of it?”
Grenfield nodded, then shook his head. “I don’t want to make you understand or form any preconceived notions. Anyway, if this kind of dream dissipates in the short term, then you don’t need to care about it.
“If this dream persists long-term, then I think you can try to explore it. Or rather, this is… the relic of a God. You can try to master this power… the power of a God.
“Who knows, maybe eventually you can become a God too.”
Siles opened his mouth and said in surprise, “Such a thing… actually exists?”
Grenfield shrugged. “To be honest, it’s my first time seeing it too. I’ve never heard of anyone directly encountering a deity’s pure power rather than being polluted by its will… you could say that.
“Fortunately, you came to me. If you had gone to the Church of the Past, they’d probably lock you up directly for research.”
Siles looked at Grenfield.
“…Alright, just a joke,” Grenfield said sheepishly. “You really are a little stick-in-the-mud. Anyway—don’t tell a third person about this. Coming into contact with an Old God’s power while having an Old God pollution level of 0 is a highly incredible thing.”
Siles guessed inwardly, To what extent is this related to my identity as a Keeper of Secrets?
Grenfield said, “Keep this a secret, Siles. Even if you make any progress in exploring the dream in the future, do not tell me. Hmm… partly because I might get jealous of your luck.”
He made a joke, but then said seriously, “Mainly because, although I am your teacher, you should walk your own path and avenue of power. You must never let my thoughts interfere with you.”
At that moment, Grenfield’s gaze seemed exceptionally profound, and his tone felt as though it held underlying meaning.
“Thank you, Gren,” Siles said deeply.
In this regard, Siles had never met a teacher more cautious and thorough than Grenfield. Grenfield never bossed Siles around regarding his choices or thoughts just because he had stepped onto the path of a Revelator earlier and knew more about it.
He cultivated Siles and answered his questions, but he avoided talking about many conceptual matters, or merely explained the current situation. He wasn’t—in terms of personality and concepts—trying to “mold” Siles.
This could also be seen from the introductory course for Revelators compiled by Grenfield. Carol was always explaining knowledge rather than instilling ideologies. He told them the current situation, gave reasonable advice, but left all the right to choose in the hands of the Revelators themselves.
…Uh, maybe except for Angela Clayton’s choice?
But Carol was powerless regarding that too.
In short, in Grenfield’s view, being a Revelator was indeed a path and avenue in their lives, but that was all it was. It wasn’t their entire life.
He was much more cheerful and pure when recommending Ms. Carmin’s novels to Siles than when explaining Revelator knowledge or internal disagreements within the History Society.
Because of this, Siles always felt that even though he called Grenfield “Teacher,” he still considered their relationship to be both as master and friend.
After discussing the dream, the atmosphere lightened considerably.
Grenfield stretched and said, “Alright, Siles, let’s get down to business. It seems you’ve become quite proficient in using the [The Silent Heart] ritual?”
“I think so.” Siles thought about it. “You mentioned in your notes that this ritual cannot be used continuously. But if it’s used in the morning, the duration is only ten hours. What about at night?”
“A somewhat cumbersome question, but definitely one a beginner would ask,” Grenfield commented. “I’m guessing you are using a 5% purity potion?”
“Yes.”
Grenfield nodded. “This ritual is actually divided into two parts: first, wearing the item; second, praying. We generally recommend using it only once a day, whether it’s wearing it or praying.
“You might wonder, what if there’s not enough time? Then, at night, just wear it and use a higher purity potion. Wouldn’t that solve it?
“The higher purity of the potion can make up for the lack of the second part, offsetting the impact on the ritual’s effect.”
Siles had a sudden realization and said sincerely, “I understand.”
If a 5% purity potion could only bring a [Willpower +1] effect from wearing and [Willpower +1] from praying, each raising the attribute by one point, then a 10% purity potion might provide [Willpower +2] from wearing and [Willpower +2] from praying.
In this scenario, a 10% potion plus the wearing effect would be sufficient to equal the effect of a 5% potion plus wearing and praying.
Ultimately, the fact that praying could only be done in the morning was indeed a drawback of this ritual. But they could use other methods to solve this problem, or at least compensate for the loss.
Grenfield asked, “So, any other questions?”
Siles pondered for a moment, then asked, “Are higher purity potions meant to be used at times like this?”
“No, don’t put the cart before the horse.” Grenfield shook his head. “Using a higher purity potion is fundamentally about pursuing greater power, not to make up for a lack of power.
“Of course, the latter can work in some situations, such as with the [The Silent Heart] ritual. Using a higher purity potion can compensate for the drawback of only being able to pray in the early morning.”
Siles nodded in understanding. “So, it all depends on the Time Trace, the ritual, and the occasion of its use.”
“Yes,” Grenfield nodded. “In the future, you might be involved in combat-related matters. A Revelator’s combat… generally comes down to who has mastered richer, more powerful rituals with higher compatibility, and whose potion purity is higher.
“There are exceptions, but not many.”
“I understand,” Siles said. He hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “You wrote in the notebook that the Time Trace for [The Silent Heart] comes from Biological Imprints… what is that?”
Grenfield looked at Siles with a smile and said, “I knew you’d be curious about this.”
Siles also smiled slightly. He didn’t hide his curiosity.
Grenfield said, “This has to start from the definition of a Time Trace. What did Carol tell you?”
“A Time Trace is the trajectory of time, a locator to leverage the power of time,” Siles repeated Carol’s words from the first class.
“Exactly, a locator.” Grenfield said, “That is the key point. Take this brooch for [The Silent Heart] for example. In the strictest sense, the locator must be an item on that believer’s person: clothes, a map, etc.
“But during the actual practice, can we really find these things? Impossible. [Invisible Shield] could get help from the Church’s knights, but how can we ask a dead person for help?
“So, we have to rely on other methods to construct this Time Trace. What do you think ‘locating’ means?”
Grenfield turned and asked Siles a question.
Siles remained silent for a moment, finally saying, “Exact directionality?”
“Exactly!” Grenfield snapped his fingers. “Directionality. Take you, for example. How do I locate you in the long river of time?”
“A literature history professor at Lamifa University, and a Revelator of the History Society?”
“No, no, no, those are identities. We need an exact, practical directionality. I already know that at this very moment, you are here in Room 177 of the History Society,” Grenfield said. “Think again.”
Siles looked at himself, then at Grenfield. “If it’s right here, right now… this table and this chair? I am sitting here.”
Grenfield said, “Close enough. To some extent, it’s as if the vitality of your soul has left traces and shadows on this table and this chair. Therefore, this method of constructing a Time Trace is called Biological Imprint.”
Siles was still a bit puzzled. “But during the actual operation process, it’s impossible for us to truly reproduce this table and this chair.”
Just like what he had once told his two apprentices, they described that pencil through text, but the pencil in the textual space and “that” pencil in the physical space were not equivalent in any practical sense.
The method of constructing a Time Trace via Biological Imprints brought a similar confusion to Siles.
Take the [The Silent Heart] ritual for example. The angelica and the route map on that brooch couldn’t possibly be the exact ones held by that believer back then, and even the form was completely different.
Although Grenfield called it “locating,” Siles still didn’t understand how to locate.
Grenfield said, “Let me give you an example you can understand. Imagine you are in a massive library with a nearly infinite collection of books, and you want to find a specific book. Now, the librarian is standing right in front of you. What do you say to him…?”
“…The name of that book.”
“Exactly!” Grenfield snapped his fingers. “You don’t actually need to pull out that specific book to show the librarian. What you need is to provide the title, the keywords, the search information. A ‘conceptual’ correlation. This is what locating requires.”
Siles was suddenly enlightened.
This was just like searching for a specific web page on the vast, boundless internet. He already had the search engine—thanks to Antinam—now all he needed to do was enter the relevant information into that search box.
If he had already saved that web page previously—such as that leaf, or that shard of the shield, items that themselves came from the past—that would naturally be best.
But right now, he hadn’t been able to find that web page. So, he could only rely on known information and clues to search, locate, and attempt.
Siles understood, and recalling Grenfield’s words, he then asked, “However, since you already know I am right here at this very moment, why…”
“Why do we still need a physical item to assist in locating, rather than relying on pure imagination to reproduce this ritual?” Grenfield finished. “Have you ever considered the possibility of parallel universes?”
Hearing the words “parallel universes” come out of Grenfield’s mouth, Siles was dazed for a moment.
“Oh, you might not quite understand,” Grenfield said casually. “In short, what if there is another you in the world, at this very moment, who isn’t in this room, or isn’t sitting in this room in this posture?”
Siles said with difficulty, “I understand.”
He felt like he needed to re-evaluate the technological development level of this world… A lopsided world?
Theoretical physics had already developed to the point of researching parallel universes, yet trains still relied on horses and coal. Did this world miss out the Industrial Revolution?
Or was it that the massive upheaval of the Age of Silence caused a technological regression in this world?
Siles believed the latter was more likely.
Grenfield continued, “In summary, only an actual, physical item can help us locate the actual, physical world. It’s roughly like that. It’s very complicated; you can slowly learn about it.”
Siles slowly nodded.
Grenfield studied the expression on Siles’s face, feeling that his student was truly too hard to understand. He sighed. “When you go to the Research Department in the future, there will definitely be a whole slew of similar questions waiting for you. Work hard.”
“I will, Teacher.”
Grenfield asked again, “Any other questions?”
Siles recalled and asked, “Last time I came here, you explained the definition of Divine Persona. So, what is a Divine Position (Godly Seat)?”
“A Divine Position, most of the time, refers to a deity’s image.” Grenfield stopped there.
Siles blinked. “That’s it?”
“Not… an image in the sense of a human body or appearance,” Grenfield elaborated. “It is the… essence of Their existence in this world.”
Siles fell silent for a moment, then finally said, “Meaning?”
“Pretty much.” Seeing that Siles seemed to understand, Grenfield immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “A Divine Position, as the name suggests, is Their position and locator in the world.”
Siles could roughly understand Grenfield’s meaning.
A Divine Persona was power; a Divine Position was their status, the status symbol of the deities, their hierarchy.
But he still didn’t quite understand…
Siles asked, “Why is Antinam’s Divine Position the ‘Guardian of the Space-Time Rift’? What is the space-time rift?”
Grenfield shook his head. “I don’t know either. This involves the secrets of the deities.”
Secrets again. Siles thought to himself. This world is full of secrets everywhere.
“Sometimes I wish you didn’t have such an exuberant curiosity,” Grenfield’s tone carried a hint of a sigh. “But sometimes, I also feel that this is exactly how a Revelator should be.”
Siles remained silent. Finally, he said, “If one loses their curiosity, that is merely existing, not living.”
Grenfield laughed, nodded, and didn’t refute his student’s idea.
He stood up, stretched, and said, “Anything else? If not, I’m leaving. Ms. Carmin has a book signing today, and I definitely have to get there early.”
“Speaking of novels,” Siles said, “Teacher, I’ve also written a piece. Could you take a look at it for me?”
Grenfield looked at him somewhat surprised, then reached out. “Come, let me see.”
Siles handed the manuscript to Grenfield.
Grenfield flipped through it page by page, not fast, reading very carefully.
After a while, he finished reading, blinked, and asked, “So Ludwig is an avenger in the dark? But he still retains a kind side to his personality.
“Therefore, he doesn’t want Miss Gwynn to know about his past, nor does he want Miss Gwynn to get involved in such dangerous matters.”
Siles nodded. “However, Miss Gwynn has a robust curiosity, and she won’t let Ludwig easily kick her out of this adventure.”
“Adventure. Is this Miss Gwynn’s thought?”
“Of course. She is still a young lady, yearning for the exhilarating adventures found in novels.”
“She will suffer for it,” Grenfield said deeply. “But, if you ask me, Ludwig couldn’t possibly just stand by and watch her die, right?”
“The hero saves the beauty. A classic trope,” Siles said. “At first, Miss Gwynn just thought it was fun, but this is the meaning of Ludwig’s life. Of course, in the end, he is still saved by Miss Gwynn.”
“Then, what about that lady… the one who willingly sacrificed her life for him?” Grenfield asked. “The playmate who spent his childhood with him? The friend from next door?
“The one who was abandoned because Ludwig had to save someone else, and who still thought of Ludwig in her despair, calmly welcoming her own death… What about that lady?”
“She is already dead,” Siles said. He paused, then added, “The dead cannot come back to life.”
Grenfield remained silent.
Siles looked at him, then said, “It seems you prefer that lady?”
Grenfield seemed like he wanted to say something.
Siles added, “But she is already dead.”
Grenfield angrily threw the manuscript onto the table and said furiously, “You are already a qualified novelist, Professor Noel! Now, take this damn novel and leave my office immediately!”
Siles said in a relaxed tone, “Thank you for the evaluation, Teacher.”
Grenfield just watched him pack up his things in silence, then asked, “Can she really not be resurrected?”
Siles thought for a moment and said, “Even if she were resurrected, she would probably join Ludwig’s opposing side, right?”
Grenfield: “…”
He looked like he was going to pass out from anger.
Finally, he said through gritted teeth, “Then it’s better to just leave her dead.”
