Chapter 36
At this point, Du Mingna finally understood why Housman's attitude towards him changed significantly and even showed great respect shortly after seeing him.
It has been nineteen years since Housman was injured.
Not yet twenty years, but very close.
Both Housman and Old John felt that Du Mingna was the one who had the opportunity to practice again after turning fifteen.
Even Du Mingna himself felt that he should be that person.
But he didn't know how to practice now.
Old John gazed at Du Mingna.
There was fanaticism and loyalty in his eyes.
"Young master, you also have the power left by the Goddess of Magic.
The magic power on you is stronger than that of Housman and the others.
I serve by your side, looking forward to meeting the relic of the Goddess of Magic.
The Shadow Church believes that the relic of the goddess will only be given to those destined.
We are not the destined ones for the relic, but we need to protect the destined ones.
We will do our best to ensure that the destined one can safely reach the relic of the goddess, take the relic in hand, and let the relic shine as it should.
So, young master, I follow you, and I will also offer you my loyalty.
" After Old John finished speaking, he knelt on both knees.
He placed his hands in front of him, and his forehead touched the ground.
Du Mingna weakly pressed his forehead.
He could almost feel the slight pulsation of the spiritual sea inside his forehead.
His perception was stronger than that of ordinary people.
He couldn't practice in the normal way of a mage.
These were things he could be sure of, things he personally felt.
And Old John said, was this the influence of the relic of the goddess? Is this the reason why the relic of the goddess is also known as the "curse of the Goddess of Magic"? Does he have to go through failure after failure to possibly condense the elemental core in his mind? Or is it that he, influenced by the relic of the goddess, cannot practice in this conventional way? Du Mingna sighed inwardly.
He was too close to fifteen years old.
He had too little time left.
Now he only had one choice, which was to explore a new way of practice.
He released his fingers from his forehead and looked at Old John.
"Are you an assassin of the Shadow Church? Are you considered a mage?"
"...Yes.
Assassins are a unique branch of mages in the Shadow Church."
"Can you tell me how mages practice?" Du Mingna had considered referring to the way mages practice before, seeking a suitable path for his own practice.
But at that time, he didn't know Old John's identity, nor did he know other mages.
He also couldn't offer sincere faith to the gods of the temple in exchange for the opportunity to become a mage, so he had to put his plans on hold.
Now, Old John was by his side.
Du Mingna once again pressed his forehead with his fingers.
When the system extracted his mental strength, it tried to "dig" something in his brain.
He didn't understand it at the time.
Now he thought that what the system wanted to dig should be related to the relic of the Goddess of Magic.
As the legends say, this is a gift, but also a curse.
Fallen gods are still gods.
Du Mingna was really worried.
Perhaps the Goddess of Magic herself had no malice, she was indeed killed by other legends, and everything inside her body turned into fragments and fell to different places.
But this does not mean that other gods, or some mages, do not have intentions to use the relic of the goddess.
Just like the Shadow Church...
Du Mingna didn't trust them very much.
This may be related to his past life experiences.
After Old John confessed his origins, he did not hide anything from Du Mingna.
He explained the way mages practice in a complete and detailed manner.
However, there were only some differences in details from what Du Mingna had previously understood.
Indeed, mages need to pray to the gods and receive a response from the gods in order to officially become mages.
Du Mingna used to say that no matter when, a divine magician must pray to the gods in order to maintain and even enhance their power.
However, Old John now says that only when just starting to become a divine magician must one receive recognition from the gods.
Furthermore, during significant advancements, if one prays to the gods and receives blessings directly from them, only then can the power of divine magic be enhanced.
Another instance is when advancing from the ninth rank to black iron, and further to silver and gold, one must receive blessings from the gods.
For daily practice and advancements in lower ranks, prayers from church leaders like the pope and the cardinal suffice.
However, the gods may randomly inspect the faith of divine magicians.
If the gods find that church leaders who lack devout faith have been granted permission to use higher-level divine magic, the gods will revoke the corresponding permissions and punish the church leaders.
Therefore, church leaders generally do not dare to be negligent.
As for the use of divine magic by divine magicians, the most significant difference compared to wizards is that they release power through their already condensed "faith core.
" They can assess the purity of their faith through introspection of the faith core on a daily basis.
The faith core is similar to the elemental cores of wizards and knights.
However, the process of casting spells for divine magicians involves an additional step compared to wizards and knights.
Divine magicians first communicate with the divine magic network of the gods through the faith core, then communicate with the forces of heaven and earth to complete the spellcasting.
Wizards directly utilize the elemental core in their mental sea to complete the initial spellcasting and communicate with the forces of heaven and earth.
Knights, like wizards, use their blood sea for combat techniques, with the difference being that knights lack the ability to cast spells instantly.
They can, however, perform physical attacks without the need for preparation.
The gods can perform "divine magic solidification" for certain divine magicians, allowing them to cast divine magic instantly.
This reduces the need to communicate with the gods and allows direct communication with the forces of heaven and earth.
Wizards can compress the time needed for spellcasting through long-term practice to achieve instant spellcasting.
Knights, on the other hand, often require physical attacks with their combat techniques, making it impossible to compress the time needed for physical attacks to an instant.
Therefore, knights generally lack the ability for instant casting, but they can perform physical attacks without the need for preparation.
Du Mingna concludes, "In other words, it's all about communicating with the forces of heaven and earth.
" This seems to be the most crucial aspect.
Old John furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Communicating with the forces of heaven and earth? That's not wrong to say...
Young master, are you trying to find a new way to communicate with the forces of heaven and earth?" Du Mingna nodded.
"Yes.
Alchemy, potion-making, magic array techniques, scroll crafting...
all require communication with the energies of heaven and earth, right? The lower-level alchemy, potion-making, etc., require more of the practitioner's magical power.
The higher the level, the more the practitioner needs to communicate with the forces of heaven and earth.
" Making a low-level potion is not much harder than brewing a cup of herbal juice, as it simply involves mixing materials.
The same goes for low-level alchemy.
However, high-level potions will alter their properties, forming various magical circuits within the potion to enhance its effects.
Therefore, high-level potions are bottled in small containers, with each bottle containing a complete magical circuit.
When consuming the potion, one must finish the entire bottle; otherwise, the magical circuit will be disrupted, rendering the potion ineffective.
High-level alchemy will completely change the shape of an item.
Even turning stone into gold requires removing impurities from the stone and transmuting the purified material into gold, which is considered only intermediate-level alchemy.
Advanced alchemy is many times more complex than this.
Additionally, potion-making and alchemy require long hours of work, sometimes spanning several months.
During this time, mages have little opportunity to focus on restoring their magical power.
Mages must rely on their internal power as a guide, communicate with the energy of the material itself, and draw energy from the heavens and earth to complete the entire process.
Low-level magic arrays require the power of the array base.
The total energy provided by the array materials can only be minimally amplified on this basis.
Low-level magic arrays tend to utilize a certain material.
If not used in this way, these items containing energy may be completely useless.
Using them for array formation can at least put them to good use.
However, for high-level magic arrays, whether they are attack arrays or defense arrays, the energy they can unleash is unknown how many times more powerful than the total energy of the materials used for the array! Old John frowned.
He seemed to want to say something more.
However, Hausman's voice came from outside the stone house.
"Why is the door still open here..." Before he could finish the few words, Hausman had already run to the front of the stone house and saw Duminar and Old John inside.
Hausman's expression stiffened.
He had come over with a bit of anger earlier, wanting to complain about how the last person to leave had not locked the door of the stone house.
But now, he could only smile wryly.
"Young master? Old John? So you two are still here?" "There are magic array patterns left by the Iron Armor Mercenary Group here.
I didn't feel like observing them before, so I might as well take a look now.
" Duminar casually found a reason for himself, "Shouldn't we close the door? Old John and I will leave now.
" Hausman waved his hands repeatedly.
"It's okay, young master, feel free to look.
I'm just worried that someone might have come and forgotten to lock the door.
There are many things inside, and if we don't lock the door, it wouldn't be good if any rats or the like got in.
But as long as someone is watching, it's fine.
" He said so, but Duminar had no intention of staying any longer.
"Let's talk about it next time.
By the way, Hausman, I saw you running in a hurry just now, what happened?" Hausman patted his head.
"I'm going to get meat for Judd! I hope those wild beasts we brought back earlier haven't been found and eaten by the mountain monsters! That child...
" Hausman was anxious to run out, but after just a few steps, he hurriedly turned back.
"Young master, Old John, sorry, I don't have time to explain now.
" This time, he ran even faster than before.
Duminar couldn't help but glance at Old John.
Old John pulled him back.
"Come with me.
" Old John was more familiar with the situation in the village.
He really took Duminar to where Judd was sleeping now.
It was a blood pool paved with stone bricks, with a pale blood-colored liquid in the pool, and faint soil at the bottom of the pool.
Judd lay in the pool like this.
His hands and feet were bound.
He struggled in the pool, but consciously tried to keep as much of his body immersed in the blood pool as possible, rather than struggling to reduce the contact area between the blood water and his body.
The pool was not very deep, and the height of the blood water was much shallower than the pool, so there was no need to worry about the water reaching his mouth and nose.
Duminar was stunned to see this.
But the impact of this scene immediately brought to mind what Dora had said.
"Like Judd, if he could get more monster blood and eat more monster meat, he would be more likely to become as strong as his father in the future.
" Was this the process of Judd getting monster blood? Have the strongest people in the village all been through this? Is this also what Old John said, the influence of the relic of the goddess, enhancing the connection with nature or other things?