Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 18 Origin and Cause (First Update, Please Vote)

Hearing Klein's question, Dunn glanced out the window at the corridor leading to "Charness Gate," took out his pipe, stuffed it with tobacco and mint leaves, then brought it to his nose, took a deep sniff, and sighed in a slightly unsteady voice:

"Only at home can I truly enjoy the wonderful blend of tobacco and mint leaves... Klein, you know the creation myth, right?"

"Of course, when I received my early education at the church's Sunday school, I learned vocabulary through the 'Book of Revelation of the Night,' and both the 'Wisdom Book' and 'Letters of the Saints' chapters mention creation myths." Klein slowed his speech as he recalled the original owner's fragmented memories, "The Creator awoke from chaos, broke through the darkness, created the first ray of light, and completely merged into the universe, becoming all things. His body became the earth, became the stars, one of His eyes became the sun, and the other became the red moon. Part of His blood flowed into the sea and rivers, nourishing and nurturing life..."

At this point, Klein paused involuntarily, partly because his memory of the later events was hazy, and partly because this creation myth was somewhat similar to the Pangu creation myth of the gluttonous people...

People from different parts of the world have commonalities in their imagination when it comes to myths and legends!

Seeing that Klein was having a "problem," Dunn smiled and added to his list:

"His lungs became elves; His heart became giants; His liver became treants; His head became dragons; His kidneys became feathered serpents; His hair became phoenixes; His ears became demon wolves; His mouth and teeth became monsters; His remaining bodily fluids became sea monsters, the essence of which became Nagas; His stomach, His small and large intestines, and the evil parts of His body became demons, evil spirits, and all sorts of unknown evil beings; His spirit became the eternal sun, the lord of storms, the god of knowledge and wisdom..."

"Human beings were born from His wisdom, and this was the First Age, the Age of Chaos." Klein said the last sentence, feeling both amused and absurd.

As a keyboard folklorist, this was the first time he had encountered a creation myth with such detailed "arrangement," so detailed that it listed exactly which part of the Creator each race that could be ranked originated from.

It's like sitting in a row eating fruit...

Moreover, it's not just the scriptures of the goddess of night that say this; the church of the lord of storms and the god of steam and machinery also has similar descriptions, without elevating themselves alone while belittling other deities...

This either proves that the creation myth is true, or it vaguely reveals that the major churches, before the Fifth Age, after a long struggle and compromise, finally reached an agreement...

Thinking about all this, Klein suddenly had another question, and frowned slightly as he asked:

"I think there's something wrong with this. Why were the Eternal Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom born directly from the spirit of the Creator, while the Goddess wasn't?"

In the prehistoric account of the Book of Night, the goddess of night did not awaken until the end of the Second Age. Together with the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Sun, and other deities, she protected and helped humanity through the Great Cataclysm, also known as the Third Age, or the "Cataclysmic Age."

The Earth Mother Goddess and the God of War also appeared around the same time, while the "God of Steam and Machinery," originally named the "God of Craftsmen," was not born until the Fourth Age.

In this way, the hierarchy among the gods seems self-evident.

It's crystal clear which is older and which is more orthodox!

This has also caused some trouble among the followers of the goddess of night.

Dunn Smith, holding his pipe in his other hand, asked instead of answering:

"Recite the goddess's full name."

Klein suddenly felt as if he had stabbed himself in the back, and racked his brains, trying his best to recall:

"She is the goddess of night, more sublime than the stars and more eternal than eternity; she is also the lord of crimson, the mother of secrets, the queen of calamity and fear, and the lord of slumber and silence."

Fortunately, Klein's mother was a devout follower of the Goddess of Night. When she was alive, she would perform the ritual every evening and at mealtimes, so even though the original owner's memories were fragmented, they were not completely lost.

"What does the Crimson Lord symbolize?" Dunn asked in a guiding tone.

"Red Moon." As soon as Klein finished speaking, he seemed to understand.

"And from which part of the Creator did the red moon originate?" Dunn asked again with a smile.

"Just one eye!" Klein and the other person exchanged a smile.

This is no less impressive than the Storm Lord, formed by the Creator's spirit splitting into three!

As for the churches of the Earth Mother Goddess and the God of War, there should be similar arguments. Only the God of Steam and Machinery was "born" too late, and there is no reason to believe it—their church had been weak for more than a thousand years before the invention of the steam engine, which gave them the first-mover advantage and allowed them to stand on equal footing with the others.

Dunn stroked his pipe and said:

"Human beings are born from the wisdom of the Creator, and therefore possess intelligent and extraordinary minds. They lack other magical abilities, but from the creation myth, we can draw a simple and clear conclusion: all things originate from the same source."

"Born of the same origin..." Klein repeated the last few words.

"Based on this conclusion, under the protection of the gods, humans who fought against giants, demons, and other alien species gradually figured out a way to obtain extraordinary power. That is, to use evil spirits, dragons, monsters, and corresponding parts of magical trees, flowers, or crystals, combined with other materials, to concoct magic potions, and then consume and absorb them to master different abilities. This is common knowledge in all schools of mysticism."

Dunn didn't go into too much detail, only briefly explaining, "In this process, our ancestors learned from painful lessons that directly consuming high-grade, unconventional potions could easily lead to a tragic end, with only three possible outcomes."

"Which three?" Klein asked curiously.

"First, spiritual death, physical collapse, every piece of flesh turning into a terrifying monster. Second, the power contained in the potion instantly alters one's personality, making them cold, sensitive, irritable, cruel, and indifferent to everything. Third..." Dunn put down his pipe, picked up the porcelain cup beside him, took a sip, and said, "Filmer coffee from Pass Valley, very bitter but also very fragrant, with a wonderful aftertaste. Want a cup?"

"I prefer Fenneport's highland coffee, though I've only had it a few times at Welch's," Klein politely declined. "What's the third one?"

"Mental breakdown, going mad on the spot, more demonic than the devil, that's what it means to be out of control." Dunn emphasized the word "out of control."

Before Klein could speak, he put down his coffee cup and continued:

"After a long period of experimentation and exploration, coupled with the emergence of the 'Blasphemy Tablet,' humanity has finally perfected the potion system, forming a series of progressively improving and steadily growing sequence chains. The lower the sequence number, the higher the potion's rank. To this day, each of the seven major churches has mastered at least one complete sequence, in addition to the less complete 'paths' collected over the past few hundred or thousand years."

"Desecrating the Slate?" Klein keenly caught the word.

The Hanged Man also mentioned it during the "Gathering"!

According to the Hanged Man, the Blasphemous Tablets are the most crucial factor in the formation and completeness of the Potions system!

This is quite different from what Dunn just said.

"These are things created by evil gods. I'm not entirely sure which era they appeared in, what they recorded, or what's special about them. If you find any clues, you must report to me immediately. It has the highest response level," Dunn explained vaguely. "I just mentioned one type of loss of control. Now I'll talk about the remaining four."

"Hmm." Klein put the question of "blasphemy against the stone tablet" out of his mind and focused on listening.

"Although humans only have intelligent brains and no other extraordinary abilities, this is not absolute. There are always some lucky ones, or rather unlucky ones, who are born with a higher level of inspiration, that is, the ability to sense the spirit. They can hear sounds that others cannot hear, see things that others cannot see, and possess some extraordinary characteristics."

As Dunn spoke, he glanced at the empty surroundings, which sent a chill down Klein's spine. "In other words, they are equivalent to half a Sequence 9 Beyonder, possessing fixed characteristics. Uh, Sequence 9 is the lowest rank in the 'chain'... In short, they can only choose the corresponding, fixed sequence path. If they ingest other potions, they will experience mild mental abnormalities, severe loss of control, or even death."

"Understood." Klein nodded slowly.

"The third type of loss of control is similar to the second. Once you have chosen a sequence chain, you can only follow this 'path' and there is no going back. If you take a different 'path' and a suitable potion, you will most likely gain mixed, strange, and twisted abilities, but it is almost certain that you will be in a semi-mad state, either sensitive and irritable, cruel and bloodthirsty, or silent and melancholic."

"And such an opportunity only comes once. After that, whether you take the potion from the original 'path' or the potion from the current sequence, there will only be one result: loss of control. It all depends on whether you die spiritually, your body collapses into a monster, or you evolve into an evil spirit." Dunn said, picking up his coffee cup and taking another sip.

Klein, somewhat terrified, paused for a few seconds before continuing:

"What about the fourth type of loss of control?"

"The fourth one, hehe, this is one of the most common problems. When we take potions, we gain abilities that originally belonged to extraordinary species. This is an unnatural evolution, and we will be affected by residual mental influences to some extent. Perhaps there are no symptoms, and outsiders cannot detect them, but there are definitely hidden ones in our hearts. Before we fully master the extraordinary power brought by the potion and eliminate those subtle traces, if we rashly take the corresponding potion of a higher sequence, we will accumulate madness and lose control..." Dunn suddenly fell silent.

After a pause, he sighed, "Our Night Watchers have an internal rule that even if a member makes a great contribution, they must take the previous potion for three years and pass the corresponding examination before they can be promoted. Even so, every year quite a few people still lose control because of this."

That's terrifying... Klein took a breath and said:

"And what about the last one?"

Dunn's lips curled up, but there was no real smile:

"The fifth and also common reason for loss of control is that for extraordinary individuals, inspiration is enhanced to some extent. The smaller the sequence number, the greater the enhancement. As a result, they can hear voices that others cannot hear, see things that others cannot see, and encounter things that others will not encounter. They are constantly tempted by the mysterious and seduced by illusions. Once there is any other stimulus or the emergence of greedy desires, they will gradually lose control."

As he spoke, Dunn turned to face him directly, his gray eyes reflecting Klein's figure.

His tone turned desolate as he said:

"Archbishop Charnis, the founder of the modern night watch system, once said:"

"We are guardians, but also a group of pitiful creatures constantly fighting against danger and madness."

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(End of this chapter)