Besides researching the core Ling Rune, Xia De also experimented with other “simple” attempts mentioned in the doctor's notebook.
Doctor Schneider pointed out that the power possessed by a Ring術士 is the power of thought influencing reality; therefore, even without learning any Miracles or spellcraft, one can use their own power, which is the so-called “Mind Over Matter.”
The spontaneously used power originating from the core Ling Rune was organized and uniformly called “Miracle” in ancient times; the spontaneously used power that was not learned and only related to thought was organized into a system and called “spellcraft.”
Of course, the Academy believes that the classification of “spellcraft” also includes “divine arts” related to the Orthodox Church, originating from faith and direct bestowal from the Orthodox Church, but Xia De's and the doctor's studies do not involve these. The Church, however, believes that the classification of “divine arts” should be separated from spellcraft, as the two are fundamentally different.
In the early period of this era, after continuous fierce debates among various parties in the Ring術士 academic community, the “divine arts” of the five Orthodox Church and the existing evil gods were officially listed alongside “Miracle” and “spellcraft” as the outermost manifestations of the Ring術士 power system.
The divine arts of the Old God, who have perished, still belong to “spellcraft” because their followers have no say.
Therefore, the spellcraft “Echo of Blood” that Xia De obtained from the Old God Vampire Duke Loyaer, in essence, should be the divine art of this Old God; it absolutely cannot be learned through ordinary means without the power of this Old God.
Thus, the core of the Ring術士 system is the 【Ling Rune】; the 【Miracle】 which is powerful and effective but must be learned through the Ling Rune, the 【spellcraft】 which has low priority but can all be learned, and the 【divine arts】 related to gods and faith, are the manifestations of the Ring術士 system's power.
“Ring-level upgrades require one each of the Miracles, blasphemy, inspiration, and whisper Ling Runes, and the Ling Rune is similar to the relationship between 【Dao】 and 【術】 with spellcraft, divine arts, and Miracles. Sure enough, obtaining the Balance Ling Rune and learning Miracles are also very important things.”
This was the Outsider's understanding.
Xia De attempting to light a piece of paper with his fingers was a rudimentary form of a simple spellcraft. In that day's experiment, he also successfully achieved moving extremely light objects with the power of his mind, the so-called “telekinetic movement.”
He seemed to have an extreme talent for this method of using spirit. Besides moving a tuft of Mia's fur and a rhode cards to the point of almost bursting his eyes, when he concentrated on a target in front of him and made a fist to punch the thick, pirated collected edition of “The Detective's Elegy,” even without touching this dictionary-thick novel, he could make the book fly a few centimeters instead of being blown over by the wind.
This pirated Detective novel was not bought by Xia De with his own money; it was a relic from the previous Detective, and was one of the few novels he owned, including “The Queen and Her Lovers,” “The Silver Knight,” and “Remnants of the Western Front.”
The first was a colored court novel, the middle one was a very traditional knight adventure novel, and the last one was a novel leaning towards documentary literature.
Sparrow Hamilton Detective often flipped through these books; the inadvertently folded page corners and tea stains proved that this was his hobby.
As for the only 【relic】 in his hand, the Document-level relic 【vampire ring】, Xia De couldn't find a living person to experiment on, so he couldn't experience its specific effects. However, he had already removed the watch chain and made the ring into a pendant to hang around his neck. This was not considered wearing it, so as long as it was not worn 24 hours a day, the impact on him was not particularly great.
Xia De planned to consult the doctor and others tomorrow. The Letter-based Ring術士 with rich experience would surely be able to give good advice on its use.
Wednesday finally arrived, but Xia De did not wake up early due to excitement, but rather was startled awake by a nightmare of a heavy object pressing on his chest.
It was still just dawning on a Summer morning, and the extremely faint light shone into the room through the tightly closed curtains. Xia De still felt a stuffy chest when he woke up, and after about 5 seconds, he realized that a cat was lying there.
Xia De's home temporarily only had one foster orange cat, so it was Mia who woke Xia De.
She stared at him with amber eyes, lying on the covers on Xia De's chest, and when she saw him wake up, she immediately jumped off the bed. From the pattering sound, she ran towards the door of the house.
“You only came once yesterday and you already know? The milkman won't be here for another half an hour.”
Xia De shouted at the cat, imagined the 50 pounds worth of books and courses he would receive today, and after filling his chest with passion, he left the bed.
Room 1 on the second floor of the apartment was quite large, but it only had two bedrooms. Xia De lived in the smaller one, which was also the residence of the original owner, who was not very smart. The larger one was the room where the previous Detective died. Xia De did not feel very afraid of this, but he did not plan to move there.
He would only consider moving into the large bedroom after contacting a merchant who buys old furniture in a few days to remove that bed and after asking Doctor Schneider for methods to detect ghosts.
Leaving Mia at home to guard the house and leaving enough cat food in her prepared small bowl, Xia De then went out. The time agreed with the doctor was ten in the morning, and the clinic was quite far from Saint Delan Square. Xia De thought he could arrive around nine-thirty, but perhaps because he was too eager, he saw the sign of Schneider's Psychological Clinic at one minute to nine.
Without going anywhere else to pass the time, Xia De walked straight in. The doctor had already instructed the clinic's receptionist that Hamilton Detective, who was “depressed because of his uncle's death,” would be coming today, so Xia De was directly guided to the psychological counseling room on the second floor.
After knocking, the doctor immediately came to open the door, and at this time, there was already another person in the room.
A gray-haired Old Priest in a decent black suit stood up, nodded slightly, and smiled at Xia De. His gentle smile made a good impression. His eyes were common gray, with many wrinkles, and he was probably over fifty years old, but he looked very energetic.
He was slightly taller than the doctor but shorter than Xia De, with a medium to thin build, seeming not to live a very prosperous life.
Xia De's eyes were drawn to the pendant hanging on the Old Priest's chest. The ornament itself was hung on a silver chain, and the ornament's appearance was a brass-colored broken circle.
This was the holy emblem of the Orthodox Church, 【Mr. Dawn】, also known as the God of Light and Shadow, and hanging the holy emblem on the chest was a common practice for Church clergy.
“Hmm? Clergy? Although the Academy and the Orthodox Church are not hostile, but…”
Xia De wondered in his heart.
“Let me introduce.”
Seeing Xia De's confusion, Doctor Schneider enthusiastically said:
“Xia De, this is Priest Latt Augustus, a Second-Circle Arcanist of this group and a loyal believer of Mr. Dawn. Although he is a Priest of the Church, he did not become a Ring術士 through the Church's channels. He is a rare clergyman who awakened his talent at an old age and joined the Academy by a strange coincidence.
He has no prejudice against the Academy, and as long as we do not harm the Dawn Church, he will not inform the Church of our identities. He is trustworthy.”
Although Ring術士 talent can theoretically appear at all ages, it generally concentrates between 16 and 40 years old. Priest Augustus is an extremely rare case.
“You can rest assured, I, Bill Jane Schneider, swear on my honor that Priest Augustus is absolutely trustworthy. His joining us was also reviewed by three people, including myself, and the Academy at the time. With Priest Augustus here, some of our actions will be very convenient.”
The doctor added, and the gray-haired Old Priest actively walked over to shake hands with Xia De. Xia De naturally trusted the doctor's words, so he also quickly extended his hand. The Old Priest's palm was wide and quite strong.
