I loaded the Mysticism panel.

By late November, Briston was changing his clothes.

The dusty shops on the street started stuffing things into their windows.

The department store branch built a fake snow mountain out of cotton balls inside the store.

A Christmas tree wrapped in tin foil was stuck on the top of the mountain, and discounted gloves and scarves were laid out under the tree.

Two plucked turkeys hung at the entrance of the butcher shop, their wings pointing upwards and their heads drooping, looking very unwilling.

There was a ring of holly branches wrapped around the public phone booth; I don't know who did it.

The red berries of the holly stand out beautifully against the red paint, attracting the occasional glance of passersby before they hunch their shoulders and continue on their way.

The coal smoke remained the same, the factory whistles remained the same, and the river water still smelled fishy.

But there was a subtle sense of anticipation in the air.

The old woman selling hot pies moved her stall from the street corner to next to the main entrance of the post office, where there was more foot traffic.

She hung a handwritten sign on the side of the cart: Christmas special meat pies, two pence each.

The price was twice as high as usual, but the filling with cinnamon and cloves was definitely not the same thing.

The Christmas spirit arrives even earlier on Greenwood's campus.

Classroom discipline has clearly loosened; students in the back rows are dozing off, passing notes, and generally have no interest in studying.

Several boys have already started listing Christmas gifts in their textbooks, their handwriting flowing and their faces painted with simple sketches of various sneakers.

Even Grey mentioned her family's Christmas decoration plans during lunch.

Her mother planned to bring a real fir tree from the countryside to place in the living room, a tree that would reach the ceiling and be covered with real candles.

Warren scoffed after hearing this: "Real candles? Aren't you afraid your house will catch fire?"

"The candles are only lit on Christmas Eve," Grey said, placing the spoon on the side of the plate. "And there will be a bucket of water nearby."

"Does providing a bucket of water still count as romantic?"

"You have to be alive to have a second Christmas."

Warren opened his mouth, but found himself unable to refute it.

Hugh, who was quietly munching on bread, suddenly looked up and asked, "What do you eat for Christmas?"

"Turkey," Warren said.

What goes well with turkey?

"Mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pudding..."

Upon hearing this, Hugh slowed his chewing and his gaze began to wander.

Richard, holding his teacup, did not participate in the Christmas conversation.

His attention had already drifted back to his desk in his bedroom.

Every night after the whole family goes to sleep, the bedroom light turns on on time.

An orange light spread out in a circle on the table, illuminating several items placed side by side.

Gargoyles, a glossary of ancient Greek words given by Mr. Hutton, and a notebook he brought back from the Imperial University Library.

The lights in the downstairs living room were long gone, and her father's snoring came through the two floors. Evelyn's breathing in her room was even and steady.

The gargoyle crouched on the corner of the table, its mouth agape and its wings half-covered its back.

He has already devoured most of the first two sets of inscriptions in the past few weeks.

Mr. Hutton's Ancient Greek translation table solved the substitution problem; the remaining grammatical derivation relied on the support of [Knowledge Lv.2] to grind it out.

Progress is slow, but we're making progress every day.

He categorized the contents of the first two sets of inscriptions as "base inscriptions".

Functionally, it resembles a preface, introducing the gargoyle's creation date, the identity of its creator, and the overall purpose of the inscription.

The first set of inscriptions is the prelude to the base inscription.

After translation and restoration, the content is as follows:

"This artifact was made by Inscription Master GT on the orders of the Western Continent Inscription Master Guild."

The inscriptions on the four sides detail the origins, formulas, procedures, and commentary of the technique, and together they form a single document called "Stone Armor."

This object was cast approximately 460 years ago.

At that time, the Albion Empire had not yet established a constitution, and guilds in various regions possessed autonomous power independent of the royal authority. The Master Guild was the most closed and oldest of these guilds.

The second set of inscriptions is the origin of the base inscriptions.

"The stone armor originated from the stonemason's protective prayers."

"Stonemasters work at heights year-round, climbing church spires and repairing flying buttresses of bell towers. Falls and falling stones are the most common causes of death."

"This technique uses touching a gargoyle as a trigger and one's own ether as the material."

A thin, dense shell of etheric hardness condenses on the skin's surface, harder than stone, and its duration depends on rank and the amount of ether stored.

After Richard finished reading this passage, he put down his pencil and leaned back in his chair.

The purpose of this secret technique is already very clear.

That's all there is to it—a general-purpose protective technique.

No wonder my maternal grandfather said that my aunt wasn't too fond of gargoyles.

But for Richard, a newcomer who had been in the business for less than half a year and had no means of self-defense, this thing was a godsend.

The Fog Wall spell can only confuse ordinary people, and the Gray Core Grass is a consumable item; once it's used up, it's gone.

The probationary inspector hasn't been issued his sidearm yet, and even if he were, his use of the firearm would be limited to the occasions in which it could be carried.

Stone armor is a type of armor that is applied to the skin. It doesn't take up much space, is immune to body searches, and doesn't require ammunition resupply.

He turned to a new page in his notebook and continued studying the third set of inscriptions.

I returned from the capital around the last week of October.

The first two groups were barely recognizable with a few scattered symbols, while the latter two groups were completely incomprehensible.

This continued until Mr. Hutton gave him a new Ancient Greek glossary, which gave him direction and a starting point.

The third set of inscriptions consists of the formulas and instructions for the techniques.

The procedure is divided into three stages.

First stage: Attraction.

Touch the surface of the gargoyle with both hands and maintain contact for at least three full breaths.

During the interaction, you "shake hands" with the gargoyle.

Gargoyles are both keys and molds.

For beginners, touch is a rigid prerequisite for casting spells; without the gargoyle, the spell cannot function.

Only after becoming proficient can one operate the armor independently without the casting medium.

In other words, this cane is only needed by beginners.

Once he has practiced to a proficient level, the gargoyle can be put away in a drawer to collect dust.

But before that, the gargoyle must be within reach.

Second stage: Introducing and covering.

After the induction is complete, the practitioner will push a large amount of ether to the surface of the skin.

Different breathing techniques can lead to different results when nails are crystallized.

Richard mainly looks at the parameters of the Golden Way.

Of course, the skin won't actually turn into stone after the procedure.

There is an etheric shell on the outer side of the skin, which is almost invisible to the naked eye.

Third stage: Maintenance.

For a newcomer, the armor can only be covered for less than half a minute during a single spell.

To cast the spell again, you need to touch the gargoyle again to trigger it.

Richard put down his pencil and glanced at the gargoyle.

It was crouching on the corner of the table, its mouth agape.

It's a bit fierce, but it's also far too heavy.

The sooner you master the technique, the sooner you can get rid of this heavy crutch.

The inscription describes the protective effect as being able to withstand "straight thrusts from bladed weapons and strikes from blunt weapons".

However, the inscription does not mention firearms.

He figured that if he were to actually face a bullet, the thickness and hardness of this armor plating wouldn't be enough.

At the end of the third group of inscriptions, there is a supplementary explanation about local reinforcement.

Richard did the math.

If the same total amount of ether is concentrated and applied to a fist, the thickness, hardness, and duration will be greatly increased.

He suddenly thought of a use for it.

He covered his fists with armor and threw a punch.

With such a small impact surface, plus the hardness and mass of the armor itself, breaking through a thin brick wall shouldn't be a problem.

The inscription did indeed mention a tactical record that left him both amused and exasperated:

"The stonemason would often leap from a height and strike his opponent with his armored forehead."

This attack pattern inexplicably reminded him of a palm technique that descended from the sky.