When Luigi disappeared …
Everyone was still trying to figure out what the poet did when he suddenly came and left.
Dorcas's movements were faster than anyone else's, and he picked up the mask from the ground with lightning speed.
As far as he was concerned, since the poet asked him to solve the problem, the mask should belong to him. Of course, Kael also helped him a bit. Well, he could make up for it by giving him some help when they returned to the market.
Dorcas happily flipped through the mask, but his expression quickly darkened.
"What the hell is this?!"
Dorcas walked back while cursing. He hesitated for a moment and handed the broken mask to Angor.
He couldn't tell what the mask was. It didn't look supernatural at all. The only thing worth mentioning was that he didn't recognize the material of the mask.
Among all of them, Angor was the best at identifying materials.
Angor didn't know what Dorcas meant at first, but after taking the mask, he understood.
"It's carved from an old stone."
Old stone? Everyone, including Count Dark, looked puzzled. They had never heard of such a material before.
Dorcas asked, "You mean the old stone?"
Old stone was a type of stone that was mostly produced in the seventh land of the Stone Mulberry Dynasty, where Punk's Theme Park was located. Old stones were generally used to make alchemy weapons more comfortable to the touch. After grinding them into powder, you could wipe your alchemy weapons with dry parchment. This way, your alchemy weapons would be easier to use in battle. In addition, you could also use the same method to maintain your extraordinary items.
For normal wizards, old stone wasn't really useful. But for Bloodline Wizards who wanted to use weapons to break through their limits, old stone was still useful.
The reason why Dorcas would ask if Old Rock was Old Rock was because of his cultural orientation and expression.
In Fey Continent, apart from the discoverers and inventors, the naming rights were also decided by cultural advantages. For example, all steel gears and steam machines were named by the people of Evron. Evron had such a cultural advantage. Another example would be Wunong Principality. It had more than 50% of the Fey Continent's flowers and plants, so it had an advantage in naming them.
Countries with inferior cultures had another option other than accepting such naming rights: invent new terms.
To put it bluntly, it was a way to console oneself mentally.
This led to some items having different names in different regions.
This kind of situation was actually quite rare in the wizarding world. Most extraordinary items were rare, and their names had their own rules. However, there were exceptions — items that weren't too rare but could barely be considered Extraordinary items. Such items would have different descriptions based on geographical and cultural differences.
In Dorcas' eyes, the old stone was a very common product. According to the translation, it seemed that it could also be translated as Old Shi. This was why Dorcas asked this question.
However, Dorcas forgot that Angor was born outside of Fey Continent, so he was not "contaminated" by the culture of Fey Continent. What he said were all standard words.
If the standard words were also unclear, then it could only be attributed to ignorance, not cultural dissent.
"No, it's not the same."
"It's my first time seeing Stone as well. I thought he was just a legend. I didn't think he was real."
Angor read about Stone in Margaret's secret compartment in Nether City of the Nightmare Realm.
But he never saw anything related to Stone in real life. Therefore, he even suspected that Old Shi was just a legend.
However, when he held Stone in his hand, the "server" in his mind space was quickly activated. Through detailed analysis, Angor's sealed memories were opened, and the information about Stone resurfaced.
"What's Stone? Is it valuable?" Dorcas' eyes lit up. Since it was Angor's first time seeing Stone, did it mean Stone was very valuable?
Everyone looked at Angor and wondered if this seemingly ordinary "object" really had a powerful background.
Angor considered for a moment. "Well, I guess so. But it depends on how you use it."
"What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that?" Dorcas asked anxiously.
"No, it's not a condition. It's —"
Angor suddenly stopped talking.
Dorcas didn't ask further. Everyone was looking at the left side of the corridor without paying attention to Stone.
A hunchbacked figure slowly appeared in the air.
"Arrogant wretch who wishes to ascend to a higher position. The whisper of the stars tells me that you are ready to fall into the Abyss of Demons?" An ancient voice reached everyone's ears.
As soon as the voice fell, an old woman with a walking stick, wearing a three-pointed star and moon hat, and wearing a star and moon robe appeared in front of everyone. Her skin was as drooping as chicken skin.
This old woman had the same characteristic as the poet from before. She wore a mask, but her mask covered her left eye, which complemented the poet's mask.
After the old lady stood still, she raised her head and looked at the Black Earl with her slightly cloudy eyes.
She wasn't surprised to see that Count Black only had one nose. She only looked at him quietly.
Just like the poet, she didn't care about the others at all. It was as if they didn't exist.
According to the conversation between Count Black and Luigi, this old woman was going to test him.
"Fall into the Abyss of Demons? What do you mean? "Count Black asked in a plain voice.
The old woman leaned on her walking stick, and a special pattern of sun and moon appeared on the ground. Above the pattern, there were specks of starlight.
Before everyone could figure out what the old woman was doing, the specks of starlight quickly combined and formed a circular astrolabe in front of Count Black.
The astrolabe was arranged into a net, and the intersecting spots of light flickered.
Everyone was surprised when they saw the astrolabe. They were all familiar with the astrolabe.
Rather than an astrolabe, it was more like a chessboard.
This was one of the favorite forms of "entertainment" for Prophets. It was called "Star Chess".
Each of the intersecting spots on the astrolabe was a star. Every time a piece was placed, the players would think about something, a question, or an item in their minds. The specific type of item would be decided by the players through negotiation.
After placing a piece, the players would use various methods to "guess" what their opponents were thinking.
Of course, this might seem like "guesses" to outsiders, but for Prophets, it was actually "interpretation".
The side that succeeded in interpreting would allow the opponent to place another piece.
The more pieces that were placed, the more likely it was to form an "astrolabe", allowing the opponent to interpret the final answer. The one who could interpret the opponent's "astrolabe" would be the winner.
Thus, avoiding placing pieces and misleading the opponent's interpretation was a game of chess.
The rules were roughly like that. It could be said that this was a game exclusive to Prophets. Non-Prophets would not stand a chance if they were to encounter this kind of Star Chess.
"Star chess?" The Black Earl's voice rose at the end.
None of the people present were Prophets. Playing Star Chess would be like scratching your head. Dorcas had Kael's help earlier, but if it was Star Chess, he could only concede defeat.
The old woman did not reply. Instead, she touched the ground with her walking stick again, and stars fell onto the astrolabe.
The intersecting spots lit up one by one, forming a row of astrolabe that looked like a rainbow bridge.
"Arrogant people who dream of ascending to a high position, listen to the whispers of the stars." After the old woman finished speaking, she closed her eyes.
This situation was the same as the poet from before. Once the topic was given, he would not say anything. He would not speak again until the opponent solved the question.
"She feels like a fake person. No matter what we ask, she won't reply." Dorcas complained in a low voice.
Dorcas was not the only one who thought this. Everyone else thought the same. The poet from before had at least said a few words, but this old woman was talking to herself. She did not answer Count Black's questions.
Now that she had displayed this astrolabe, her meaning was clear.
She did not want to play a game with Count Black. Instead, she directly displayed her astrolabe for Count Black to interpret.
Although it was different from the real Star Chess and was much simpler … Could non-prophets really decipher this thing?
Everyone looked at Count Black with bright eyes. Count Black silently looked at the astrolabe on the chessboard.
After a few seconds, Count Black called Vay over. He then put his nose back in place and gestured for Vay to reach out his hand and point at the first star that lit up.
Soon, a message appeared on the chessboard: Paramita.
Next, Count Black pointed at the chess pieces placed by the old woman one by one.
Every one of them was a place name, but they were different from the traditional place names.
For example: Paramita, Horizon, Starry Sky, Where the Sun Sets, Sea Illuminated by the Moon …
Normally, Count Black would "decipher" these names one by one. But now, the old woman gave him the answer directly.
Now, Count Black only needed to do one thing: decipher the meaning of the astrolabe through the chess pieces.
Count Black remained calm throughout the whole process, which gave everyone some confidence. Maybe Count Black could really decipher the astrolabe?
However, not long after, everyone heard Wa Yi ask through the Spirit Bond, "Dorcas, has your spiritual perception been triggered? Come take a look. What do you think? "
It was Vay who spoke, but there was no doubt that Count Black asked Vay to do this.
Dorcas wanted to say that he could not decipher it either. But he knew this was Count Black's order, not Vay's. So, he had no choice but to do it.
Time slowly passed. Dorcas kept scratching his head while Vay kept sighing. He knew that this astrolabe was going to be difficult to decipher.
Actually, Angor had a way to decipher it. He could just go to the dream wasteland and ask for help.
If he asked for help, the answer would not be wrong. However, it was difficult for him to explain how he had managed to decipher it.
He could not tell Count Black that he had learned Divination spells before.
So, Angor could only watch from the side.
He really wanted to know what would happen if he could not decipher the astrolabe. Angor glanced at the old woman who kept her eyes closed. Maybe she would never open her eyes again?
No matter what happened to the old woman, Angor was sure that he would miss the "surprise" mentioned by the Wise Ruler if he could not decipher the astrolabe.
Did the Wise Ruler not know that they did not have any Prophets among them? Why would he arrange a celestial chess test?
While Angor was waiting for Count Black to give up, he saw an opportunity.
The Black Earl sighed softly. "Forget it."
Angor thought Count Black was going to give up, but Count Black's next words surprised him.
"The astrolabe means … Abyss of Evil."
Just as Black Earl finished speaking, the old lady opened her eyes. "Correct interpretation. Since you have interpreted the Evil God Devil Abyss, you should understand what I mean. This is my message to you. "
With that, the old woman slowly stepped back and disappeared from sight.
Everyone heard the old woman's final words. "You who dream of ascending to a higher position, remember my name, Astrologer Gleipnir."
The old woman disappeared, leaving behind only the broken mask she was wearing.
Wai walked to the old woman, picked up the mask, and returned to the group.
Wai did not say anything during the whole process.
Everyone was puzzled, but they were not puzzled as to why the Black Earl suddenly knew the answer to the astrology. The Black Earl had used prophecy before, and although he said that he borrowed the ability of others and had used it up, who knew if it was true or not?
What they were puzzled about was what Gleipnir meant by sending a message to the Black Earl.
Why was Abyss of Evil a message for Count Black?
Judging from Count Black's silence, the message seemed to have really touched Count Black's heart.
Everyone was curious, but when they saw how silent the Dark Earl was and how Wail was trying to keep his mouth shut, they decided not to ask. Instead, they looked at Angor again.
Angor was holding one half of the mask in his left hand and the other half in his right. The masks represented his left eye and right eye respectively.
He tried to put the two masks together.
It was a perfect fit. It could be said to be a seamless fit.
In other words, these two masks came from the same source.
However, even if the two masks were combined, a part of it was still missing.
The nose and the lower half of the face were missing.
According to the previous pattern, if nothing unexpected happened, a third "person" would appear soon, and this person should be wearing the remaining part of the mask.
Angor looked at the others. "Should we keep talking about Stone or wait?"
(End of Chapter)
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