In a very safe situation, Shard Hamilton, satisfied with obtaining information that had nothing to do with him, planned to turn around and leave, thinking of sharing today’s experiences with Dr. Schneider.
At this moment, the woman’s elegant whisper sounded again in his ear:
[You have come into contact with ‘Enlightenment’.]
He stopped and frowned. The element of ‘Enlightenment’ is related to civilization, but dense traces of mysticism and sorcery could also cause its appearance here.
Standing in the narrow space between the pipes and the wall, which was a dead end and therefore had little trash but more animal feces, Shard carefully examined the wall in front of him. The wall was almost covered with all sorts of dirty words and representations of private parts drawn with chalk and paint, along with many other strange marks he didn’t want to imagine.
His only two spiritual runes temporarily did not enhance his vision, but his true abnormality lay in his ability to read almost any script.
Below the blasphemous words against gods and above Shard’s waist, some strange patterns caught the young detective’s eyes. He took them as script and indeed understood their meaning and pronunciation:
“Manifest.”
The ancient language used six syllables to convey such a simple meaning.
In the thin mist, a white light flickered in front of Shard. He took a step back but still kept himself within the gap between the pipe and the wall.
A curious cat was awakened by the white light, and the person holding it saw a dilapidated stone statue slowly rise from the ground.
Its base was square, and the statue itself was only half the height of Shard. It depicted a nobleman with bat wings and a cloak.
Shard closed his eyes, allowing bloody tears to seep from beneath his eyelids. He covered the cat’s eyes and quickly turned around, hearing the whisper by his ear. It was a joyful murmur, reciting a story never before told:
[You have come into contact with the remnants of the Old God ‘Vampire Duke Lowell’.]
[The Old God born from the primordial impure blood, thirsting for blood, and driven mad by it. Developing kin through the curse of blood in the twilight of the past, blinded by the curse, roaring deep within the castle of the dark night.]
[You have listened to the story of the Old God ‘Vampire Duke Lowell’, and you learned one of his Miracles.]
“Can I inscribe the spiritual rune?”
After confirming there was only this information, Shard, stepping out of his shock, asked in a low voice filled with anticipation. The headache caused by the close contact with the Old God’s statue lessened as a result.
Then, Shard heard the woman in his heart softly laugh:
[You have acquired the spell, Echo of Blood. You have not yet obtained enough stories about this god, outsider. Miracles are not so easily gained.]
The murmuring voice in his mind quieted, and the Old God’s statue transmitted new power to Shard. The life ring hidden behind his soul rotated, absorbing the faint golden elements, staining the brass ring with golden specks and congealing into a spirit unique to his soul.
Shard’s right eye suddenly turned completely blood-red, granting him the power to see remnants of blood traces that were hard to notice.
After fully understanding what had just happened, Shard did not immediately check the new power he had gained but instead first examined the cat he was holding.
Although this cat had witnessed the entire process of the Old God’s statue’s appearance with Shard, fortunately, the cat’s line of sight at the time was attracted by the scattered white light. Thus, unlike Shard, it did not observe the entire appearance of the Old God’s statue immediately. Therefore, aside from being a little listless, Mia was not mentally impacted as Shard was.
As for the power Shard obtained, simply put, his right eye could now, when the spell was actively triggered, see the unnoticeable remnants of blood traces in the air and on the surface of objects.
This ability could also be achieved in Shard’s world through certain technological means. But when he used the spell, he did not need any instruments and only needed to open his eyes. As long as there were residual blood traces, no matter how faint, he could see them.
Although this was not a powerful ability, it unexpectedly matched very well with Shard’s detective profession.
Shard had never heard of the Old God ‘Vampire Duke Lowell’ before. In fact, he had not heard of any Old God’s titles except for the ‘Father of the Infinite Tree’.
This Old God’s story made him sound unlike a benevolent deity. This judgment was entirely correct, so after gaining the spell and the story, the voice in his brain also reminded Shard that he was coming into contact with the silver element [Blasphemy], which is an element only evil gods would possess.
However, for some reason, Shard’s personal perception of this Old God’s [Blasphemy] was not deep, or the power of this stone statue with a pedestal leaned more towards [Miracle]. Shard did not gain anything from [Blasphemy].
But the gains from spells were also pretty good. Mystic arts required corresponding spiritual runes to use, while spells did not need spiritual runes and were the common supernatural abilities of ring warlocks. Because they are “common,” the effects of spells are often not as good as mystic arts, but some spells also have usage restrictions.
And according to the doctor’s notes, spells obtained by contact with Old God remnants usually could not be learned by other means.
So, Shard had indeed gotten a rare spell for free, although its effects were not very apparent.
Since he had already gained benefits, the next step was obviously to leave immediately.
Shard could not take the Old God’s statue with him, and he didn’t even dare to touch it directly with his skin. The existence of the statue was obviously related to Lady Lathoya, and the Old God’s statue couldn’t naturally exist in the city. It must have been brought and hidden in this alley by her.
Bringing a statue of an evil god into the city was a serious illegal act. Hence, Shard finally judged that Lady Lathoya was not a good person.
He then read the six syllables of the ancient language representing “Manifest” in reverse order, causing the evil god’s statue to slowly descend back underground.
Only then did he cautiously slip out of the alley. Not even bothering to save money, he immediately took a carriage at the next intersection without any hesitation, and with the cat, headed straight for Dr. Schneider’s psychological clinic in the East District of Tobesque.
But unfortunately, Dr. Bill Schneider was not in the clinic.
Those in the clinic recognized Shard, who had been invited by the doctor yesterday, so Dr. Clay, who was in charge of receiving him, informed him of Dr. Schneider’s whereabouts.
The wife and daughter of an earl in the city, who could not be named, had recently developed bulimia. The earl’s private doctor thought it was a psychological issue, so he specially invited Dr. Schneider for diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Schneider would be spending the night at the earl’s manor outside the city and would not be returning today.
As for the manor’s address and the earl’s surname, to protect the patients’ privacy, they could not tell Shard.
“But Mr. Hamilton, you can leave Bill a note, and he will see it when he returns.”
Dr. Clay said kindly but firmly refused to reveal the location of the earl’s manor.
