Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 57 Review and Summary

After a pause, Klein continued writing:

"The essence of solving the potion problem is digestion, not mastery; this can be understood intuitively."

"Mastering is merely treating the power of the potion as an external tool. No matter how well or skillfully you master a tamed beast, it still doesn't truly belong to you, and the risk of backlash is relatively high. Digestion, on the other hand, is treating the potion you drink as part of yourself, breaking it down, fusing it, absorbing it, and unifying it into a whole."

"There is no doubt about that for now. The key question is why 'playing' can help with digestion."

"Based on today's fortune-telling experience, let's make two conjectures and wait for further verification."

"First, based on the 'playing' of the potion's name, it can change the state of the body, mind, and spirit, allowing them to gradually approach the stubborn spirit remaining at the core of the potion, thereby creating resonance, assimilating and absorbing it little by little."

"Second, the stubborn spirit remaining in the core of the potion is like a well-defended computer host. To infiltrate it, break through it, and dismantle it, you must find the bug, the vulnerability, and the key. The name of the potion reveals the corresponding clues. Thus, by acting, harmonizing body, mind, and spirit, one can disguise oneself as 'one of us,' deceive the 'guards,' and swagger in. This idea is quite similar to the description by Emperor Roselle."

"Regardless of the speculation, the state of body, mind, and spirit are unavoidable factors, after all, they are the only bridge between 'playing' and the power of the potion."

Klein put down his pen and read the text again, and for a moment he even felt grateful to the Great Foodie Empire for providing him with exam-oriented education.

Regardless of whether one has chosen science or engineering, basic logical reasoning skills are still necessary; otherwise, one cannot become a keyboard warrior and make such analyses and guesses.

"Playing the role might actually be effective; we'll have to wait and see how it changes," Klein concluded at this stage.

He then wrote down the second question:

"It's a strange description: why is it that 'diviners,' being more knowledgeable and professional in the field of occultism, lack direct means of defeating their enemies? Shouldn't their knowledge and professionalism make 'diviners' more powerful and better able to discover ways to defeat their enemies?"

The reasons are analyzed as follows:

"The first scenario is like the online novels I've read before, where I transmigrated into a game world that has become reality. Therefore, different 'professions' must each have their own characteristics and be relatively balanced. But so far, there are no signs of datafication or task-based development. This factor is temporarily suspended and is probably extremely unlikely."

"The second one is that the underlying rule of this world is balance, and the creator created this place with balance as its core principle."

"The third type is that potions of the same sequence are at the same energy level. This is the best state discovered by our predecessors after exploration and summarization. If it exceeds this energy level, it is easy to collapse and lose control. If it is too low, it is impossible to obtain the extraordinary power you want. Therefore, when the energy level is fixed, if one is stronger, the other will naturally be weaker."

"The fourth type is that all things share a common origin, all of which originated from the Creator and are fragments of the Creator. The underlying meaning of their complementarity is that each has its own problems."

"Currently, we tend to believe in the third and fourth reasons, but the latter stems from an uncertain myth and can only be used as a reference."

"Let's take the third approach as a guide and verify it through current learning and subsequent discoveries."

By this point, Klein had filled two full pages, but he didn't stop; he began to work out new questions:

"Based on what I learned today, my 'luck-changing ritual' is a typical example of ritual magic."

"Such ritual magic can be divided into three parts. The first is the sacrificial part, which pleases or arouses the interest of the corresponding being. The second is the incantation that describes the specific object of supplication. The third is the actual part, which requires the use of a formatted corresponding language and certain symbolic symbols to explain it."

"Starting from this point, analyzing the 'transfer ritual' reveals a clear problem: there's no third part!"

"It has a sacrificial area where the main food is placed, which is a square formed by walking four steps counterclockwise. There is also a section with incantations indicating the direction of prayers, such as 'May the Immortal of Blessing and Prosperity be with you.'"

"But its follow-up was simply closing its eyes and waiting; there was no description of the ritual's purpose as a change of fortune."

"In other words, the corresponding being has no idea what this so-called 'luck-changing ritual' is trying to pray for, and can only improvise... improvise..."

"This is outrageous! That book, 'A Record of Secret Techniques from the Qin and Han Dynasties,' is such a rip-off!"

"I must have been out of my mind to even think of trying that..."

Klein stopped writing, took two breaths, and tried to calm himself down.

He exhaled a breath of stale air and continued combing his hair:

"Consider redesigning this ritual to make it complete, with the goal of returning to Earth, to the world where your parents and loved ones reside."

"So the question arises: is that being simply acting on its own initiative, or does it harbor a deeper, hidden purpose?"

"Furthermore, is the being that the descriptive incantation points to on Earth the same being that it points to in this world?"

"If the difference in the effects of the first and second rituals can be explained by improvisation, then why are the second and third rituals both able to lead to the gray fog and connect 'Justice' and 'The Hanged Man' with almost no difference?"

"Once the fourth ceremony tomorrow afternoon proves that it can be repeated stably, it means that the effect has been solidified, and that the goal of the prayer is implied in aspects that I am not yet clear about. In this case, adding new descriptions or new prayers will not get a clear response, and may even make the ceremony more chaotic and produce bad results."

"Does the difference between the first and subsequent rituals, assuming the object of the prayer remains unchanged, mean that the world in which the ritual takes place will respond differently? It's like using different interfaces..."

"How should I design it to achieve the effect I want?"

"If we believe that the first and the subsequent two points to different existences, then some of the previous problems can be fully explained. However, the stability and unchanging nature of the second and third points implies an implicit goal, and change is temporarily impossible."

"The most crucial question is: who exactly is this being being referred to, where is it, and why has it offered me no hints or guidance whatsoever?"

"He is deep within that gray, foggy world?"

"Hmm, could I treat Him as a dormant being, providing certain stimulation and receiving consistent feedback, without interfering with or affecting me otherwise?"

"We can design different rituals to stimulate, summarize the patterns of feedback, and finally find the right way to revert to the original state."

"But the problem is, if He is not asleep, then all the temptations could lead to terrible things, which is very dangerous."

"The first attempt must be extremely careful; it must be designed to avoid provoking the enemy..."

"This is really a headache; I need to study it further."

Klein sighed and gave his conclusion.

After that, he jotted down other things in bits and pieces:

"There's always an unseen voice echoing in my ears, screaming 'Honakis' and, well, is the pronunciation 'Felegra' or 'Felegra'?"

"Honachis is a mountain range that straddles the Kingdom of Rune and the Republic of Intis, with its main peak reaching over six thousand meters."

"According to the Antigonus family notes, there was a Kingdom of Night during the Fourth Age. Is there any connection between the Kingdom of Night and the Goddess of Night? Are they all allies or rivals? Was the destruction of the Antigonus family by the Church of the Goddess of Night partly due to the Kingdom of Night?"

"The whispers I heard came from that notebook, from the cries of the Antigonus family that have lasted for one or two thousand years?"

"Fregra, um, Fregra, what does that mean?"

"An interesting question: the fact that they left behind such notes and the 2-049 sealed artifact indicates that the Antigonus family possesses considerable extraordinary power. So, which sequence pathway do they have? Is it complete or incomplete?"

"The discovery that the notebook was in Riel Bieber's hands was somewhat coincidental, yet there were no signs of it being planned. Was it truly a fateful entanglement?"

……

As his thoughts flowed onto the page, Klein wrote down the events he had encountered and his own speculations.

This writing went on for four whole pages, on both sides.

Tear! Klein suddenly tore off the four pages, read them over and over again, sometimes marking them with a pen, sometimes adding a few sentences.

Time flew by, and the red moon was briefly obscured by dark clouds. Klein picked up the pocket watch on the table, snapped it open, and glanced at it.

He put down his pocket watch, took out a box of matches from the drawer, struck a match, and brought it close to the four pages of notes.

The orange-red flames bit into the paper and spread rapidly.

Klein placed the four pages of notes on the wooden trash can and watched ashes floated down.

He loosened his fingers, letting the paper fall. In just over ten seconds, everything disappeared, leaving only the slightly swirling ashes and the scorch marks at the bottom of the barrel to tell the story.

Because of the existence of Emperor Roselle's secret diary, Klein dared not leave any evidence that he could write Chinese—if Old Neil and the others discovered those four pieces of paper, things would become complicated.

When writing confidential questions, whether in Rune, Old Fussac, or Hermes, Klein was worried that the one watching him in his dreams would see and interpret the contents. Therefore, he wrote in Chinese to organize and summarize the information. After completing the task, he burned the paper without leaving a trace.

Because he couldn't save the data, he made a plan for himself: to summarize it once a week to avoid forgetting.

Watching the ashes settle, Klein pulled out a piece of white paper and wrote at the top:

"Dear Professor:"

He was going to write to Senior Associate Professor Cohen Quentin to ask if he had any historical materials related to the Hornach Mountains.

(End of this chapter)