Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 98 Mr. Azik

Faced with his sister's question, Klein could only smile wryly:

"Muscle soreness."

He originally thought that taking the Sequence Potion and becoming an Extraordinary would improve his physical abilities to some extent, but the harsh reality told him that the "Diviner's" skills were all focused on spirituality, mentality, intuition, and interpretation, which did not allow him to quickly adapt to combat training.

The original owner had focused on studying for many years and suffered from some malnutrition, which kept his physical condition at a below-average level. Therefore, it is quite normal for him to experience such "aftereffects" today.

"Muscle soreness? I remember you came back after dinner yesterday and didn't do anything else... Could alcohol cause muscle soreness?" Melissa asked with a keen curiosity.

Could alcohol cause muscle soreness...? Dude, that's a question you asked... it really makes one's mind wander... Klein chuckled twice and said:

"No, it has nothing to do with alcohol. It happened yesterday afternoon. I joined the company's combat training."

"Fighting?" Melissa was even more surprised.

Klein quickly organized his thoughts and said:

"That's right. I've considered that as a history and cultural relics consultant for a security company, I can't stay in the office or the dock warehouse forever. Maybe one day I'll need to go with them to the countryside, to ancient castles, to the original sites of cultural relics. Along the way, we'll climb mountains, cross rivers, walk many, many roads, and face all sorts of challenges from nature. That requires me to have a very healthy body."

"So you joined combat training to improve your physique?" Melissa understood what her brother meant.

"Yes," Klein replied affirmatively.

Melissa frowned slightly and said:

"But that's not gentlemanly... Haven't you always held yourself to the standards of a professor? A professor only needs to read literature, consider difficult problems, and be refined and courteous."

"Of course, I'm not saying that's bad. I like men who can solve problems on their own, whether they use their muscles or their brains."

Klein smiled and said:

"No, no, no, Melissa, you have a misconception about the definition of a professor. A true professor can communicate with people in a gentle and refined manner, but when communication breaks down, he can also use his cane to persuade the other party physically."

"A physical way..." Melissa didn't react at first, but quickly understood what her brother meant and couldn't find the words to refute him.

Klein didn't say anything more, and moved his legs with difficulty toward the bathroom.

Melissa stood there, watched for a few seconds, then suddenly shook her head and took two steps to catch up:

"Do you need my help?"

She offered to help him up.

"No, no need. I was just putting on an act." Klein felt insulted, straightened his back abruptly, and started walking normally.

Watching her brother walk steadily into the bathroom and close the door, Melissa pursed her lips and muttered to herself:

"Klein is getting more and more exaggerated... I thought his muscle soreness was really that serious..."

Inside the bathroom, Klein stood behind the closed door, his face suddenly contorted.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..." He held his breath, tensed his body, and took a full seven or eight seconds to recover.

It wasn't until he struggled downstairs, finished breakfast, and watched Benson and Melissa leave that he felt the aches and pains were no longer so unbearable.

After resting for a while, Klein picked up his cane, put on his top hat, and slowly walked out to the bus stop.

…………

During the summer vacation, Hoy University is lush with greenery, abundant with flowers and birds, and peaceful and tranquil.

After walking along the river for a while, Klein turned onto the road leading to the history department and found the old three-story gray stone building, where his advisor, Cohen Quentin, worked.

He knocked on the door and entered, and was surprised to see that his mentor was sitting in the instructor's seat.

"Good morning, Mr. Azik. Where is my tutor? We agreed to meet at ten o'clock in our letter," Klein asked, puzzled.

Cohen Quentin's friend and his often-argued professor, Azik, chuckled:

"Cohen had an impromptu meeting and went to the University of Tingen, so he asked me to wait for you here."

He had bronze skin, a medium build, black hair, brown eyes, and soft features. There was always an indescribable sense of vicissitude in his eyes, and a small mole that was barely noticeable unless you looked closely below his right ear.

After explaining the reason, Azik suddenly frowned and looked Klein over carefully for a few moments.

"Is there something wrong with my attire?" Klein looked at himself blankly.

A tuxedo, black vest, white shirt, black bow tie, dark trousers, and buttonless boots... that's perfectly normal...

Azik relaxed his brows and chuckled:

"Don't worry about it. I just suddenly noticed that you look much more energetic than before, and more like a gentleman."

"Thank you for your compliment," Klein accepted readily, then asked, "Mr. Azik, did your advisor find the book 'Studies on the Ancient Remains of Mount Hornakis' in the school library?"

"Found it, with my help." Azik said with a gentle smile, then opened a drawer and took out a book with a gray cover. "You're no longer a student at Hoy University, so you can only read it here; you can't take it away."

"Okay." Klein accepted the academic monograph with a mixture of joy and trepidation.

The book's design perfectly aligns with current trends, featuring a hard cardboard cover and back cover with pictorial patterns that create an abstract representation of the Hornachis Peak.

Klein glanced at it, found a seat, opened the book, and began to read carefully, line by line.

He was engrossed in reading when he suddenly noticed a cup of coffee beside him, its aroma rich and full-bodied.

"Add your own sugar and milk," Azik said, setting down the silver tray and pointing to the milk jug and sugar cube box.

"Thank you." Klein nodded gratefully.

He casually added three sugar cubes and a spoonful of milk, then continued reading without tasting the food.

The book, *Studies on the Ancient Remains of Mount Hornakis*, is not thick. Klein finished reading it around noon and grasped a few key points:

"First, the biological settlements in and around the main peak of Hornachis have clearly formed a civilization, indicating the existence of an ancient kingdom."

"Secondly, judging from the murals, their appearance is no different from that of humans, so they can be preliminarily regarded as human."

"Third, they revered and feared the night, and thus personified a deity to worship, calling this deity the ruler of the night and the mother of the sky."

"Fourth, the strangest thing is that no tombs of this country have been found in the entire area, giving people a strange illusion that their residents do not need to be buried, or may not even die. This contradicts the content reflected in the murals. In the murals, the people of this country believe that death is not the end, and that their deceased relatives will protect them in the darkness. Therefore, they would keep their deceased relatives in their homes, on their beds, and by their pillows for three whole days."

"After that, the murals end here, not involving any part of the burial."

Klein took a sip of coffee and continued writing his "reading notes" in his notebook:

"The Mother of the Sky, Heavenly Mother, such lofty titles, yet the Ruler of Night clearly overlaps with the Goddess of Night... Is this the root of the contradiction?"

"Within the ancient ruins of the main peak of Jonathan Hill and the surrounding area, all the displays and furnishings are well preserved, and the murals show little sign of damage. It seems that the place was undisturbed before it was discovered... There are plates on the tables with dried, rotten traces on them... In some rooms, there are also half-empty bottles of wine that have almost turned to water..."

"And the people of this country? They all seem to have left their homes in a hurry, without packing anything, and never returned."

"Considering the lack of burial sites makes it even stranger."

"The author, Mr. Joseph, also mentioned that when these ruins were first discovered, he even thought that the inhabitants here had vanished instantly."

Klein put down his pen and turned his gaze to an illustration.

That was a black-and-white photograph taken by John Joseph with a new camera during his third trip to the summit of Hornach.

In the photo, the palace is majestic, the walls are collapsed, and weeds grow rampant; the style is predominantly grand.

When Klein came across this photo just now, he was instantly reminded of the palace he had seen in his dream:

The two are similar in style, except that the one I dreamed of was located at the summit and was more magnificent, with a huge, inhuman chair at the very top, where countless transparent maggots huddled together, slowly wriggling.

It's now confirmed that my dream is related to the ancient ruins of Mount Hornachis... That should be the Night Kingdom mentioned in the Antigonus family notes... Klein nodded almost imperceptibly and closed the book.

At this moment, Azik sat down opposite him, touched the inconspicuous black mole below his right ear, and said:

"How's it going? Any success?"

"There are quite a few. Look, I've taken many pages of notes," Klein said with a smile, pointing to the table.

"I don't understand why you've suddenly become interested in this," Azik remarked casually, then continued, "Klein, when I was studying at university in Backlund, I came across some divination practices and have done some research on this. Hmm, I've noticed something incongruous about your destiny."

What? Fortune telling? You want to talk to me about fortune telling? As a "fortune teller," Klein looked at Instructor Azik across from him with amusement and said:

"What's incongruous?"

Azik thought for a moment and said:

Have you encountered many coincidences in the past two months?

"A coincidence?" Because he had received a favor from Mr. Azik, Klein did not resist the other party's question and subconsciously began to recall:

If we're talking about coincidences, the most obvious one is that during the pursuit of the kidnappers, clues to the Antigonus family notes, which had been missing for several days, were discovered opposite the room where they were hiding.

Furthermore, Riel Bieber's hasty search for a place to absorb the power granted by the notebook before even escaping Tingen allows the sealed artifact "2-049" to easily track his whereabouts, which is somewhat illogical... Although Mr. Al Hassen's explanation is correct, I still feel there are some coincidences...

Well, Selena secretly peeked at Haynes Vancent's secret incantation and waited until her birthday dinner to try it out, which was a bit of a coincidence that I discovered it... Otherwise, Haynes Vancent wouldn't have died so suddenly...

Klein thought about it seriously for a few minutes and said:

"There were three incidents, not too many, not too frequent, and there was no trace of interference or guidance from others."

Azik nodded slightly and said:

"As Emperor Roselle once said, anyone can encounter a coincidence that happens only once, it is within the normal range twice, but three times one must consider what underlying factors are guiding it."

"Can you tell anything?" Klein asked tentatively.

Azik chuckled and shook his head in reply:

"I can only see a slight discrepancy, nothing else. You should know, I am not a real fortune teller."

That's like saying nothing at all... Mr. Azik is a bit strange... He's acting like a charlatan in front of me, a charlatan... Klein sighed, and taking advantage of the other party getting up, he pinched his brow and activated his spiritual vision.

At first glance, Azik's aura was fully reflected in his eyes, and everything seemed normal.

Unfortunately, I can only see the depths of other people's ethereal bodies and the surface of their astral bodies from above the gray fog... Klein tapped his brow, stood up, and thought leisurely.

(End of this chapter)