Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 25 Russell's Notebook

Lu Ze laid out white paper on the table and wrote words on it with a pen.

Current combat methods available:

1. Revolver (regular and enchanted bullets).

He frowned at the line of text, paused for a moment, and awkwardly added, "His marksmanship has considerable room for improvement."

He then wrote:
"II. The rituals of the secret prayer people."

"Special note: Most of these rituals are extremely evil, requiring the sacrifice of life or extreme emotions. The objects of these rituals are the true Creator, and the effects will lead the practitioner to depravity and madness."

Lu Ze wrote after this line, "For informational purposes only, absolutely not for use."

He had already deeply understood this point; the tragic consequences that followed the rituals of Sirius and Hynas were still vivid in his mind.

Moreover, he had acquired a truly enormous number of these rituals—in fact, far too many. He even suspected that ordinary shamans wouldn't possess so many rituals, and that these things forced upon him were practically urging him to jump into a fire pit.

That damned bastard is truly the creator of all things, causing immense harm to people.

Lu Ze cursed under his breath, then continued writing.

"For a small number of rituals, the object of supplication is not the actual Creator, and the ritual effect is relatively weak. These can be tried, but caution is still required."

"three,"

When he got to the third point, he hesitated for a moment, but still wrote it down.

"Third, conceal the wise."

"The same dangerous evil god, the only difference is that He is not the true creator. Perhaps when faced with the threat of the true creator, it is not possible, but it is still too dangerous. Unless it is a matter of life and death, do not try it."

Lu Ze put down his pen, looking at the three points he had written, and a look of exasperation gradually appeared on his face. Most of them were extremely dangerous abilities that were strictly prohibited. As for the rest, like the pistol, he was simply a complete novice with no talent for them.

However, based on this reflection, he roughly understood the direction of his future efforts.

First of all, we still need to continue practicing our marksmanship, at least to the point where we can hit the target every time; we won't talk about higher accuracy for now.

Secondly, he could learn some less burdensome rituals or auxiliary magic, like divination. Hmm, the talisman Luo Yao used before seemed to have been obtained through a ritual related to a goddess; he could try learning that.
Finally, stay away from dangerous things.

Lu Ze still longed for a stable life. He felt that if he really couldn't go back, staying here and living like this with Cecilia was fine. He'd go to work, occasionally encounter some minor troubles, which the captain and others would handle, while he cheered them on from behind. Then he'd go home after work, and once they'd saved enough money and his sister finished school, things would be more stable.
"hey-hey."

Just then, he heard a twisted, malicious laugh. Looking down, in the shadow of the desk, Sirius, with his mangled, shattered head, reached out a fleshy, tumor-covered hand and grabbed his ankle!

What the hell!

Lu Ze felt like his scalp was about to explode. He suddenly pulled his leg back and kicked hard, but he only kicked air.

"You've been a believer in the Lord for a long time, and you've received His blessings. Do you still want to live an ordinary life? Don't dream about it!"

Luze's leg passed through Sirius's body, and he chuckled, uttering vicious words.

It seemed like an illusion. Lu Ze couldn't help but take a step back.

"Bang, bang!"

There was a knocking on the bedroom window from the outside. Lu Ze looked up and saw a figure pressed against the second-floor window. It was Hainas, covered in blood, his mouth stretched to his ears, his head repeatedly banging against the window. Beneath the black robe, two distorted faces writhed, emitting shrill screams.

The world turned dark, and rustling sounds came from the corners. Irregular black lines were wriggling at the edge of my vision.

Is it the erosion of the true Creator?
Lu Ze shook his head, but instead of hearing the illusory sound of ocean waves, he felt a slight, intoxicating haze.

If it's not external erosion, could it be a problem originating from within myself?
He recalled the mystical courses he had taken before, in which Old Neil had said that excessive spiritual depletion or falling into a state of fatigue and drowsiness could reduce the mental resistance of extraordinary individuals, making them more prone to losing control and experiencing hallucinations.

I know, it's probably because he's been drinking.

Lu Ze thought of the bottle of champagne on the table; the alcohol had affected his mind, causing him to hallucinate. He couldn't help but shake his head; it seemed he would have to give up drinking from now on.

So he sat on his bed in the bedroom and tried to meditate to relax his mind. Sure enough, as his mind calmed down, the hallucinations like Sirius gradually disappeared, leaving only some shadows in the corners of his vision.

Lu Ze breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up, burned the paper covered with his handwriting until it was completely burned, then carefully crushed the ashes into small pieces and poured them into the wastepaper basket before washing up and going to bed.

As he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, he seemed to see the faces of the two people he had killed once again. Fortunately, he didn't care. He simply turned over and put them aside, then fell asleep peacefully.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A few days later, at the Blackthorn Security Company's armory.

“Very good, you have completely mastered Hermes.” Klein clapped lightly and praised with a smile, “Your talent is simply amazing. At this rate, you’ll probably master Ancient Hermes and Ancient Fusak as well.”

"It's mainly because you're a good teacher."

Lu Ze smiled and put the perfectly written test paper aside.

Joking aside, he didn't think he had any special talent; learning English in his previous life had been incredibly difficult. The fact that he was learning Hermes so smoothly this time was most likely due to the "Mystic" potion within him, since Hermes was the language and script used in mystical rituals.

“If that’s the case, I could consider teaching foreign languages ​​at the University of Tingen.” Klein laughed along with him, not taking it seriously. He guessed that Luzer was learning so quickly. “Alright, that’s enough about Hermes. I should go to the divination club.”

"I hope you have many guests today."

Lu Zedao.

Klein's pathway sequence 9 is that of a fortune teller. I don't know what he was thinking, but he actually went to a fortune telling club to tell fortunes for people. It is said that he earns very little money every day, but he enjoys it very much.

In addition, Old Neil's property has been officially transferred to Luzer's name, but he hasn't moved in. Not for any particular reason, but mainly because the suburbs are too far from his sister's school. So Luzer asked Dunn to find a suitable tenant for it, at 18 soules per week. This money not only covers the rent for 6 Narcissus Street but also leaves some extra spending money.

After seeing Klein off, Luzer didn't go upstairs either, as he was on duty at the armory today. While it was called a duty, it was mostly just slacking off; generally, no one bothered him. So, he casually moved a bunch of occult materials from the adjacent archives and began to study them on his own. There were internal documents from the Night Watchers, as well as some collections from the general public. If you just browsed around without a specific purpose, it was quite interesting.

For example, he came across something called "Russell's Notebooks," which was supposedly a coded notebook left by a time-traveling predecessor whom he hated so much that no one could decipher it to this day.

Lu Ze opened the box out of curiosity and was surprised to see that it was written in Chinese?
(End of this chapter)