abnormal mutation

Chapter 40 Mystery is a Kind of Power
Rose Cross Pharmacy, Taipei.

Roland lifted the curtain, and a wave of heat carrying a mixture of medicinal scents rushed out, with a unique aroma.

"Huh?" He looked up and saw a familiar figure curled up in a recliner, seemingly dozing. "Scholar, you... you're back from your vacation?"

“Mr. Roland,” the scholar sat up, his face bearing numerous scars, his gaze darting away, “you go up by yourself, the lady is waiting for you.”

"Alright, I won't disturb the scholar's rest." Roland pretended not to know anything, cleaned his snow boots, took off his fur coat, and ran upstairs to the second floor.

The door was ajar. Julia, dressed in plain white, sat in the small living room with her hair down, flipping through a book. There were no tea sets on the table, only scattered books. She glanced at Roland, ignored him, and continued reading.

After closing the door, Roland sat down opposite her, his eyes lingering on the book cover.

An Overview of Mysticism, Crossroads of Fate: Risk Assessment of Initial Path Selection, and The Theory of Soul Currency.

"Extraordinary Materials of the Northern Snowfield" and "Neighbors Aren't Human: A Guide to Mimicry of Spirit World Creatures"

The Cost of Silence: Forbidden Lexicon and Alternative Grammar...

The text on the covers was mostly Akkadian, with a small portion in Classical Solonian, and a few he didn't recognize at all; looking at them for too long made him dizzy.

"Snapped--"

Yulia picked up a notebook and smacked him on the head, her tone unfriendly: "You're really bold, aren't you? You dare to look at anything. I'll teach you your first lesson now: knowledge and power go hand in hand, and the more powerful the knowledge, the more dangerous it is. If you don't want to die too quickly, put away your curiosity."

"Isn't it because you're here?" Roland chuckled awkwardly. Because Julia was there, he subconsciously felt that it should be shown to him.

"There are many kinds of magical items. Based on their formation, they can be divided into those forged by humans and those imbued with extraordinary properties. The [Silent Coffin] was formed by being imbued with extraordinary properties over a long period of time. Do you know what kind of magical item is the most numerous among these?"

"It's not...books, is it?" Roland asked in surprise.

“It’s books.” Yulia nodded, her expression grave. “The longer extraordinary knowledge is recorded, the more spiritual sustenance it carries, and the higher the probability of alienation. The degree of danger is unpredictable.”

"I'll remember that." Roland hadn't expected this world to be so bizarre. He recalled the illusion from last night, feeling utterly powerless; the other party wouldn't come out, and even having a gun was useless.

“From now on, you should come here to read every morning when the sun is at its strongest,” Yulia said, pointing to the huge sun outside the window. “If you can’t see the blazing sun from my angle, stop immediately.”

No books may be taken out, copied, or made known to ordinary people.

“I understand.” Roland looked thoughtfully at the golden sunlight.

“Look at this first.” Yulia placed “An Overview of Mysticism” in front of him and put away all the other books. “This was compiled by the Threshold Lighthouse. The content is relatively simple and can help you understand what is extraordinary.”

The Threshold Beacon is an association of extraordinary individuals established by the Sid Empire. Its purpose is to guide and manage all extraordinary individuals, but its presence is relatively low-profile.

"Low presence? Shouldn't this kind of organization be incredibly powerful?" Roland picked up the book and couldn't help but ask.

"You'll have the answer after you finish reading this." Yulia picked up the other books, turned around, and went into the bedroom.

“The Nightmare Spell has been dispelled, and the Nightmare is gone,” Roland suddenly said.

"I understand." Yulia paused, then casually closed the door.

In the dim light, she frowned, her red lips pressed tightly together, looking extremely pained. She had just gone to great lengths to invite her mentor to help, and the problem was solved before the mentor even arrived. Given her mentor's terrible personality, there was probably no way she could back out now.

…………

"An Overview of Mysticism" is a beautifully crafted paper book with thick paper and double-sided printing. The title page reads "Lighthouse of the Threshold," and the entire book is only a few dozen pages long.

Roland, holding the book, sat down in Julia's seat and, using the sunlight and the warmth of the chair, solemnly turned to the first page: A Preliminary Discussion on Hidden Knowledge.

"Cognitive Boundaries and the Fog of Thought..."

He gradually immersed himself in the text, savoring each passage, understanding and memorizing it. When Julia came out and saw him like this, she didn't disturb him. She put down a glass of water, lit a tower-shaped incense stick on the table, and then quietly went downstairs.

On the first floor, the scholar heard footsteps, turned his head, and immediately sat up in alarm, his eyes filled with fear: "Master."

"Well, now that you've recovered, continue refining medicine tonight. There'll be big business coming up." Yulia glanced at the scholar, her expression indifferent.

"Yes, I will not slack off." The scholar replied respectfully.

Yulia walked to the fireplace, pulled hard, and the medicine cabinet on the east wall flipped over, revealing a small wooden door. Pushing open the door, she found herself in a wooden hut in the backyard, which looked like a medicine-making room. A girl was busy in the room.

"Auntie." Seeing Yulia enter, the girl stopped what she was doing, got up, put the medicine cabinet back in its place, and closed the wooden door.

"You really want to teach him? Didn't you say he had no talent?" the girl asked curiously as she leaned closer.

“It’s not certain whether he has talent or not.” Yulia leaned back on the table without any regard for her image, her eyes vacant. “He’s very different.”

"Is it because of those two black wolves?"

“Not entirely, there are too many strange things about him. He’s very stubborn, we can’t just ignore him, lest he cause a disaster,” Julia sighed. “It’s so annoying, taking care of the child every day. And you, get out of here as soon as the weather gets warmer…”

The girl stuck out her tongue, chuckled to herself, and quietly walked away.

…………

As the last ray of sunlight disappeared through the window, Roland was suddenly awakened from his reverie. A faint floral fragrance lingered around his nose, and his stomach rumbled with hunger. He looked up and saw that the sun was no longer visible through the window; the sunlight fell softly on the wall.

He had already read most of the book, with only the last dozen or so pages left. He closed the book, took out his pocket watch, and realized it was already past two in the afternoon.

'I'm reading a bit slowly, but I'm gaining a lot.' If this were a novel, he's confident he would have finished it long ago.

By this time, he understood why the Threshold Lighthouse had a weak presence: because "mystery" was a real force, and many extraordinary individuals were unwilling to reveal their information, as that would weaken their extraordinary characteristics.

Some extraordinary beings and their abilities are most powerful the less known they are; others are the opposite—the more people hear about them, recite them, and worship them, the more terrifying they become. The former far outnumber the latter, and the latter are mostly evil gods.

The same applies to the Extraordinary Path. Many Extraordinary Paths become weaker and more difficult to advance with more participants. A very small number of Extraordinary Paths become stronger with more participants, while most are unaffected by the number of participants.

Generally, unless they are certain that the more people with whom they possess extraordinary abilities they have, the stronger they become, most extraordinary individuals will remain shrouded in mystery.

All of this stems from extraordinary characteristics. Some extraordinary characteristics are immortal, neither increasing nor decreasing, and constantly merging. Some extraordinary characteristics devour, multiply, and resonate with each other, while others repel one another...

Everything has a price. Madness and danger have always been intertwined with the extraordinary, simply because the extraordinary is tainted.

Spirituality resides within the soul, and extraordinary qualities can influence the soul through spirituality, leading to changes in personality, temperament, and preferences. If spirituality is inadvertently tainted by other extraordinary qualities, it is called contamination, which is irreversible and will continue to accumulate; this is the origin of "accumulated madness."

For example, if one's spirituality is 100, it drops to 98 after slight contamination, with an additional 2 points of contamination. If not properly controlled, the contamination will worsen, and the controllable spirituality may drop to 97 or 96. Once it falls below a certain threshold, madness and distortion become inevitable.

Using magical items, studying forbidden knowledge, being cursed, taking magic potions, or being attacked by other extraordinary creatures can all cause spiritual pollution.

The best way to combat pollution is to suppress one's curiosity and live a life of seclusion, but this is almost impossible. Therefore, most extraordinary individuals choose to continuously advance to higher ranks, increase their total spirituality, and constantly dilute the proportion of pollution.

Pollution isn't all bad; at least it makes the mysterious realm relatively harmonious, with very few instances of cannibalism.

When an extraordinary being dies, they release extraordinary qualities. If preserved in time, these qualities can be prevented from dissipating, but the resulting contamination is severe and almost impossible to purify. In ancient times, it was widely used as an ingredient in potions, resulting in excessively high initial contamination, and few extraordinary beings met a peaceful end.

Now, even the most extraordinary and insane individuals won't bother with it.

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(End of this chapter)