Six Hundred and Third Lake
On the main island of Tivyán, in the middle of a vast plain.
Under the azure sky, there was an endless expanse of fields, with white clouds high in the sky and flocks of birds flying by. The wheat leaves in the fields were green and yellow, and long railway tracks crisscrossed through them, stretching towards the distant horizon.
On the railway, a long train roared past, with the iron locomotive spewing thick smoke as it dragged behind it over ten long carriages, quickly racing westward from east to west.
In one of the compartments of the first-class carriage at the front of the train, Dorothy, who had her hair tied in two ponytails, was sitting in her seat reading a magazine and newspaper. Opposite her was Neve, dressed in a simple yellow dress and wearing a narrow-brimmed women’s cloth hat. At this moment, she was looking out the window at the rapidly passing scenery of the fields, feeling somewhat bored as she spoke.
“It’s kind of boring… I didn’t expect that after returning to Pritt, I’d still have to take such a long train ride. I’ve been tired of boats and cars lately… I didn’t think I’d have to take another one upon returning to Pritt.” Neve complained softly. Dorothy continued to read her book without lifting her head.
“Yes, it is a bit boring, but you can look at it positively. Compared to looking at deserts in Northern Ufeiga or seas from a ship, at least the scenery outside the train in Pritt is more interesting, isn’t it? At least it’s not monotonous.”
“Mmm… Miss Dorothy is right. Riding in Northern Ufeiga isn’t just boring outside, it’s also unbearably hot inside. Pritt is indeed much more comfortable. Indeed, home is always the best.”
While agreeing with Dorothy, Neve stretched lazily and then asked:
“By the way, Miss Dorothy, how long will we be staying in Gramorn? There’s only about a month left until school starts. If we can’t make it back in time, it would be quite troublesome.”
“It shouldn’t take too long, but it’s hard to say for sure. We’ll only know the specific situation once we get there. It’s too early to judge now. But if you’re worried about the papers and assignments when school starts, you can rest easy. Professor John won’t be able to return anytime soon, so without the main instructor, they’ll probably need to rethink how to handle those papers.”
Putting down the newspaper, Dorothy continued speaking to the Neve in front of her. Hearing Dorothy mention Professor John’s name, Neve’s tone changed slightly.
“I never expected that Professor John was actually an Extraordinary Being, a researcher of secret history, and was being targeted by those dangerous people from the Eight Pinnacle Nest… I couldn’t tell at all before. I always thought he was just a regular university professor studying mundane history…” Neve said seriously, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Dorothy continued to speak frankly.
“Mundane history is merely a superficial layer created by the Church and various governments on top of the true history, like the present world is a surface of the otherworld. This superficial layer isn’t perfect, and scholars who study it deeply will naturally find its flaws. Following these flaws, some scholars are either processed by official authorities due to abnormal poison recognition or secretly delve into the hidden aspects, continuing their research in secret.
“I checked the list of professors and students from the Crown University’s History and Archaeology departments. There have been frequent retirements and changes in position among the professors and students every one or two years. The An Yin Bureau has a long-term office within the Crown University. Considering this, I estimate that the school wouldn’t react much to John’s disappearance.”
Dorothy commented with a slight wave of her hand. Hearing this, Neve couldn’t help but sigh in response.
“This means that many of my classmates and teachers, and even historians from other countries, have been researching false histories all along? Thinking about it, it really does feel tragic… If the results of a lifetime’s research are all false, what’s the point of our studies? Does the world truly need mundane history?
“When I think about it carefully… it feels like everything I’ve learned before has no meaning. Perhaps… I’ve always been somewhat concerned about the studies at Crown University, but now I wonder, is what I’ve learned really useful?”
Neve said, as an archaeology student, she found it difficult to avoid questioning the significance of what she had learned and even the entire discipline. Seeing Neve’s confusion, Dorothy responded directly.
“No, mundane history is crucial for the entire human society. On one hand, secret history is not the entirety of history; there are still many ordinary historical events left for scholars to discover beyond secret history.
“On the other hand, just like the Church and secret police of various countries, mundane history plays a vital role in protecting ordinary people from the harm of secrets and extraordinary beings. The existence of this discipline lies in cognitive protection, allowing most people to fully understand that they live in an ordinary world. It is precisely because of mundane history that ordinary people’s historical views and worldviews can be controlled, leading to the stable operation of societies across nations.
“The veteran mundane historians are not completely ignorant of the existence of secret history; many of them maintain contact with the authorities and refrain from exploring this part too deeply. Scholars of mundane history are like masons building knowledge walls, constructing barriers of cognition for the majority of ordinary people, protecting them from the harm of secrets and poison recognition. If ‘true history’ were widely disseminated, a massive amount of poison recognition knowledge would inevitably flood the mundane world, causing rapid social disorder. You wouldn’t want a world filled with madmen and psychopaths, would you?”
Dorothy explained calmly to Neve. Hearing this, Neve shook her head vigorously and immediately responded.
“No, absolutely not! This is good enough now; most people can live normally, and those evil societies are forever suppressed in the shadows.”
“There you go. Isn’t that the purpose of mundane history? It’s a great academic discipline created to maintain the stability of the vast human society. Scholars engaged in this discipline are like the builders of this wall of cognition. Just like the searchers from the An Yin Bureau, you’re all working to ensure the smooth lives of the majority, so there’s no reason for it to be useless. So don’t worry about it, Senior Neve.”
Dorothy waved her hand lightly and spoke with a light tone. After a moment of thought, Neve nodded in understanding. Then, after taking a deep breath, she said to Dorothy:
“Huh… Thank you, Miss Dorothy. Indeed, as you said… what I learned before wasn’t entirely pointless. It is indeed meaningful. Perhaps after I lift the family curse, I might still engage in such work.”
“Sure… Being a teacher or professor of mundane history sounds good.”
Neve said to Dorothy, and hearing this, Dorothy smiled slightly in response. She didn’t continue the conversation with Neve but turned to look out the window of the train. She began to appreciate the scenery outside the window as well.
As she watched the scenery fly by outside the window, Dorothy started to ponder some things about the Eight Pinnacle Nest.
‘The Eight Pinnacle Nest will surely rush to Gramorn as soon as they decipher the information on Amper’s relics. Although I acted immediately upon receiving intelligence about the temple, the Eight Pinnacle Nest has its own forces in other parts of Pritt besides Tivyán. If they use these forces, they might arrive in Gramorn faster than me.
‘However, finding the location of the Mirror Moon Goddess’s temple won’t be easy. While the Eight Pinnacle Nest may have an advantage in positioning themselves first, finding the exact location of the temple will still require some time. As long as I get to Gramorn and find the temple and complete the ritual before the Eight Pinnacle Nest does, it will be fine. Although it’s challenging, it’s possible for me.
‘One thing to note is that although Gramorn is not a large metropolis like a capital city, it doesn’t have the presence of a red-tier archbishop from the Church, nor does it have the pressure of tiered vision. Therefore, red-tier extraordinary beings from the Eight Pinnacle Nest can act freely. The task of finding a temple-level ritual site is likely to be led by a red-tier leader. Thus, I must be careful not to be detected by the Eight Pinnacle Nest’s red-tier members during this mission. In a place like Gramorn, it would be difficult to rely on external support to counteract a red-tier member.’
Leaning against the seat in the carriage, Dorothy thought about this. Then she shifted her thoughts back to matters related to Tivyán.
‘As for Tivyán… After the encounter between Misha and the Night Demon in the underground tomb of Devenhill, the Eight Pinnacle Nest also noticed that someone was investigating Barret’s research project. According to the tasks they assigned to Gregor previously, they seem to believe that the investigators are other captains within the An Yin Bureau, because Misha displayed the ability of the Storm Path, leading them to conclude that another captain might have started learning from Misha and conducting private investigations without approval from above.
‘Such an investigation was entrusted to Gregor. It seems… their powerful intelligence capabilities aren’t always stable. And these capabilities must operate within the framework of the An Yin Bureau to function at their best. Once someone steps out of line, they have to find other ways…
‘Recalling the intelligence gathered from Gregor’s contact with the Eight Pinnacle Nest, Dorothy thought. Then she shifted her focus to the Night Demon.
‘I hope the Night Demon doesn’t follow us to Gramorn. Otherwise, I won’t just be facing the upper echelons of the Eight Pinnacle Nest at the red-tier level but also a high-ranking force like White Chalk. That would complicate things.
‘For now, the Night Demon remains a mystery. It’s suspected to be a pure-colored path user like me. It would be best not to encounter it…
‘Dorothy thought to herself, having analyzed the Night Demon she encountered in the underground tomb of Devenhill. The ability to control multiple paths simultaneously, which she believed only pure-colored path users possessed, was something she had encountered very rarely since coming to this world. She might encounter another pure-colored extraordinary being.
‘But… if the Night Demon is indeed a pure-colored extraordinary being, then the pure-colored path of ‘Shadow’ and my ‘Enlightenment’ path might have significant differences.
‘Firstly, compared to me, the Night Demon clearly possesses special passive abilities brought by auxiliary spirituality, but these spiritual passives are unusual. From the previous battle between Misha and him, the Night Demon had the power of the ‘Cup’ in close combat and the defensive power of ‘Stone’ in ranged combat, but these characteristics disappeared when he approached Misha using his shadow form. The simultaneous existence of multiple spiritual passives was never observed on him. Additionally, he has never used multiple ‘Shadow’ active abilities at once.
‘Does this mean… the Night Demon’s use of multiple paths differs from mine in terms of rules? Perhaps while the pure-colored path of ‘Shadow’ can possess other spiritual passives, it cannot mix multiple abilities like a pure ‘Enlightenment’ can. For example, I can use the spiritual threads of a thread-wielding spirit shaman to transmit the electrical state of a thunder summoner, manipulating puppets while discharging electricity, using multiple paths simultaneously or combining them.
‘Based on my previous battles with the Night Demon, he seemed to need to switch between different types of abilities. When in vampire mode, he could not use the abilities of the Storm Path or Shadow Path. Switching to another path sealed the abilities of the bl**d-darkness path of the vampire. Multiple paths do not seem to coexist simultaneously on him.
‘A pure ‘Enlightenment’ path is like having countless active skills that can be combined arbitrarily, but there are no passive skills outside of ‘Enlightenment’. A pure ‘Shadow’ path seems to be like having four accounts that can be switched freely, using the skills of whichever account is selected, though each account has complete passive skills.
‘Another notable point is that my path of pure ‘Enlightenment’ progresses by gaining one additional path ability per rank, while the Night Demon demonstrated three path abilities when fighting me. Is this also a characteristic of pure ‘Shadow’? Or are there other divine reasons? In any case, whether it’s the Night Demon or pure ‘Shadow’, my understanding is still insufficient. All of this is speculation and cannot be concluded definitively…
‘Gazing at the swiftly passing scenery outside the window, Dorothy silently considered the journey ahead. Unconsciously, the train they were riding continued to speed forward, gradually disappearing among the wheat fields on the horizon.
…
After nearly two days of travel, Dorothy and Neve traveled almost the entire length of the main island of Pritt, arriving in Hand County on the southwestern side of the main island, finally reaching their destination.
At noon, as the train neared its destination, it roared through a long tunnel. When the train emerged from the tunnel and darkness dissipated, a breathtaking scene appeared before the windows, capturing Dorothy’s attention as she packed up her books in her compartment.
“What’s this…”
What Dorothy saw before her was a vast and beautiful lake scene beside the railway. Under the clear sky, the expansive water surface seemed boundless. In the midst of the emerald forest, many small boats sailed on the azure waters, with only gentle ripples disturbing the surface, reflecting the white clouds and blue skies, like a mirror.
Seeing such a beautiful scene, Dorothy couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned. Then, she began to recall, eventually finding the corresponding memory in her mind. This was a landmark she had seen on the map around Gramorn before.
Twinkling Star Lake, this was the name of this beautiful lake. It was the largest lake around Gramorn and a famous scenic spot, known for its clear water, vast area, and gentle waves.
Looking at the lake surface that mirrored the sky, Dorothy suddenly recalled the prayers John had interpreted for her. One of the first lines described an item, the Mirror of Graholmil.
After seeing the scene, Dorothy had an idea. What could be more suitable to become a mirror for a city than this lake in front of her?
…
Uh, it’s the 17th today. According to the previous notice, I’ll be switching to a two-day update schedule starting now. I’ll take a short break and gather some materials. The two-day update schedule will continue until the 25th, when all posts and comments will be restored. On the 25th, I’ll add two extra chapters as compensation.
