Chapter 502

Chapter 380 Occult Professor

On the road in the Black Woods outside Tivyán.

Controlling the coachman’s zombie puppet, Dorothy urgently halted the carriage. As the horse’s hooves gradually came to a stop and the wheels slowed, Dorothy opened the carriage door and stepped out holding a kerosene lamp. She took a few steps off the main road and onto the soft mud by the roadside.

Stepping onto the soft mud, Dorothy didn’t pause as she scanned her surroundings. Using the light from the streetlamp in her hand, she picked up a branch from the side of the road. Holding it tightly, she began drawing on the mud.

Following the knowledge inscribed on the promotion stele in her mind, Dorothy quickly started drawing a magical array on the ground. Leveraging the powerful information processing and control abilities of the “Enlightenment” Extraordinary Being, she drew swiftly and with incredible precision. In just a few seconds, she had drawn an extremely neat array, almost as if it had been made with numerous tools, embodying the meaning of “Enlightenment.”

At the center of the array was a large open eye, and around it were five smaller spiritual marks. The neat curves and mysterious symbols connected these six marks, forming a whole. This was the promotion array for Dorothy, the Occult Professor.

After completing the array, Dorothy discarded the branch and then opened her right palm. She looked at the six holy emblems on her hand before placing them on the corresponding spiritual marks around the array. After placing the five other spiritual holy emblems, Dorothy placed her final self-made “Enlightenment” holy emblem at the center of the array, on the large open eye.

With this done, Dorothy’s ritual preparation was complete. Next was the spiritual preparation.

According to Dorothy’s current spiritual reserves, she still needed 5 points of “Shadow” and 1 point of “Lamp” to meet the promotion requirements. Fortunately, while in Barret’s basement earlier, she had reviewed some data, including many items related to poison recognition.

First, there was the 524th edition of the Arthur Legend, which documented stories about Arthur, the Stone Sword, the Lake Fairy, the bloodthirsty monster Aglo, the eight-eyed witch, and more. It involved three types of spirituality: “Shadow,” “Cup,” and “Stone.” From this, Dorothy extracted 4 points of “Shadow,” 3 points of “Cup,” 2 points of “Stone,” and 2 points of “Enlightenment,” totaling 11 points of spirituality.

Second, there was Barret’s own research summary, The Influence of the Radiant Church on Prīt’s Traditional Culture. It highlighted how the Radiant Church had transformed Prīt’s culture and beliefs over a millennium, mentioning the “Wind King’s Rebellion,” a revolt by native forces against the Radiant Church’s influence. From this, Dorothy extracted 3 points of “Lamp,” 2 points of “Shadow,” 1 point of “Stone,” and 2 points of “Enlightenment,” totaling 8 points of spirituality.

Finally, there was an ancient shield emblem from the time of the Wind King’s Rebellion, depicting four knights suspected to be the Mirror Moon Goddess. Since the knights’ range of spirituality was extensive, Dorothy extracted all types of spirituality except “Lamp”: 4 points of “Shadow,” 1 point of “Stone,” 1 point of “Cup,” 1 point of “Silence,” and 2 points of “Enlightenment,” totaling 9 points.

Combining her existing spirituality, Dorothy’s current status was as follows:

14 points of “Cup,” 20 points of “Stone,” 15 points of “Shadow,” 12 points of “Lamp,” 24 points of “Silence,” and 30 points of “Enlightenment.” These points fully met the promotion requirements.

After extracting the necessary spirituality, Dorothy immediately began her ritual. She pulled up her little cotton dress and knelt down in front of the “Enlightenment” holy emblem in the center of the array, closing her eyes and calming her mind to silently recite the incantations.

‘The path is long… The sea of knowledge is boundless… I have reached the midpoint… I have begun to understand various principles… I have glimpsed the six forms…

‘Thick fog, thick obstacles… Please allow the great divine attributes within me to disperse the clouds and reveal the true path…’

Kneeling in the mysterious array, Dorothy silently recited the incantations required for promotion. As the words echoed in her heart, the six holy emblems on the simple array began to emit faint lights. The promotion ceremony, inherited from the Star Number Repair Association and lost for thousands of years, was now being reenacted on this desolate outskirts.

After completing the incantation in her heart, Dorothy received her own prayer, asking herself to guide her promotion ritual. Without hesitation, she agreed. Suddenly, an invisible wind seemed to blow through the ritual site.

At that moment, Dorothy felt her thoughts expand abruptly. She felt as though her brain was about to explode, her mind fragmenting into countless pieces, each piece belonging to Dorothy or the memories of the traveler.

In this explosive mental experience, Dorothy’s consciousness could not focus. She felt as though she was recalling every memory and pondering every problem. Time seemed to stretch endlessly, and after what felt like an eternity, her scattered spirit began to refocus, and her fragmented consciousness started to reassemble.

During this process, Dorothy vaguely saw five large, indistinct shadows. These shadows flashed past in the distance and then vanished suddenly.

After the shadows disappeared, Dorothy’s fragmented consciousness finally returned to wholeness. She suddenly opened her eyes and bent down, clutching her head as she gasped for breath.

“Huff… Huff… Huff… So… Painful… This… Promotion… Is getting more intense each time…”

Holding her forehead, Dorothy endured the residual pain, muttering to herself. Each promotion was a storm in her mental realm, and each one was more intense than the last. This promotion to White Chalk, Dorothy felt as though her head might burst. She had once thought the ritual had failed and she would d*e.

But fortunately, the ritual did not fail; it was almost successful. Now, Dorothy could be considered a White Chalk Tier Extraordinary Being.

For most professions advancing to White Chalk, the ritual would be considered complete here. But Dorothy was a pure “Enlightenment” profession, so she still needed one final step.

“Huff… Huff… Rank advancement complete. Now it’s time to choose the next auxiliary spirituality.”

Dorothy thought to herself. Regarding her second spirituality and the second colored profession she could simulate, she had already given it much thought and had arrived at an answer long ago.

At the Black Tier, Dorothy realized her biggest weakness was her insufficient combat ability. She excelled at operating from behind the scenes but struggled with direct confrontation. If her operations went awry and she found herself in danger, she would face extreme peril, as she did now.

So, long ago, Dorothy had the idea of improving her direct combat ability and self-preservation capabilities. Among the three mixed-color professions remaining on the “Enlightenment” path, only one significantly boosted direct combat strength: the Elementalist with auxiliary “Stone,” the Thunder Summoner!

Dorothy had witnessed battles between the Church’s Holy War Knights and the An Yin Bureau’s garrison captains. She understood that directly converting spirituality into elemental attacks was absolutely top-tier for direct combat professions. Coincidentally, she currently had 20 points of “Stone,” ample reserves, making her well-suited to become a Thunder Summoner.

Without further hesitation, kneeling in the array, Dorothy closed her eyes again and chose Thunder Summoner as her second simulated profession. With the “Stone” emblem of the Prince of Stone emitting a faint glow once more, Dorothy reopened her eyes. Her crimson eyes now held an unprecedented depth.