I loaded the Mysticism panel.

Chapter 194 Moon Nail Reversal (Bonus Chapter 18 for Monthly Tickets)

Richard's gaze slowly shifted from the snow outside the window back to the desktop.

The room was so quiet you could hear your own breathing.

Downstairs, the father had closed his newspaper and gone to the kitchen at some point. You could hear the mother and him discussing tonight's dishes in hushed tones.

The world returned to normal, except for the silver ring on the table, which looked different.

Richard picked up the ring.

To the naked eye, the ring appears unchanged.

He pinched it between his fingertips for a while, then activated his spiritual vision to scan it, and found that the ethereal structure of the ring itself had not changed at all.

But he could feel that the ring's "weight" was different now than it had been a few minutes ago.

The silver ring from before was a rare item.

The silver ring of today is a rare object with an extremely faint trace of "another person".

That wisp of "another person" was neither malicious nor benevolent.

It lay there quietly inside the ring, suppressing the outer layer of "etheric echo" of the entire ring.

He remembered Mrs. Mary's words.

"You can take it off anytime."

Richard walked to the desk and sat down.

He took a thin leather cord out of the drawer.

The leather cord was something he had bought to make a small purse for his sister, but it had never been used.

He strung the silver ring on a leather cord to make a simple pendant.

The pendant was hung around the neck.

The silver ring settled on his chest, gently smoothing the rhythm of his breathing.

The etheric microcirculation of the Sun Constellation was not disturbed; on the contrary, the "etheric echo" around it was suppressed.

His lighthouse has dimmed, but his ability to see the world remains unchanged.

Richard's gaze lingered on the white porcelain cup on the table for a moment.

The moist, arc-shaped mark in the cup had begun to dry.

He took the cup down from the windowsill.

As he went downstairs, he overheard his mother and father discussing in the kitchen whether they could buy an extra pound of brown sugar from the molasses shop the next day.

"Brown sugar has gone up in price recently," came the father's voice.

"How much will it increase?"

"A penny."

"...We still have to buy them. Evelyn is making toffee tomorrow."

Richard stopped halfway up the stairs.

The father complained about the rising price of brown sugar, and the mother laughed at him for being stingy.

Evelyn emerged from the kitchen, refuting her father's claim that she had only made toffee once last week.

All those sounds, combined with his experience of the past half hour, created a contrast he could hardly describe.

The "mother" locked behind the curtain, the real mother in the kitchen downstairs.

The two "mothers" were separated by a wall.

The wall was so thick that his family downstairs felt no threat at all, yet so thin that he had to wear a silver ring to protect himself.

Richard let out a breath and went back downstairs.

"Brother," the younger sister poked her head out from the living room, "Why did you bring the cup downstairs?"

"Wash it."

"I'll wash it."

"...No need, I'll wash it myself."

Evelyn climbed off the sofa and sniffed his chest.

"Did you change your soap?"

"……No."

"Then why do you smell a little sweet?"

Richard was a little puzzled, so he lowered his head and smelled it himself.

It must be that sugar cube in the milk glass, plus Lady Mary's kiss on the silver ring...

"I spilled milk on my clothes while I was drinking it."

He went into the kitchen.

The mother stood with her back to the door in front of the sink, slicing a cucumber.

Without turning around, she asked, "Did it go smoothly?"

"smoothly."

"Nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Let's have dinner."

After my mother finished cutting the cucumbers, sprinkled them with salt, and set them aside to marinate, she stepped half a step away from the sink.

Richard turned on the tap.

The lick mark on the inside of the cup was washed down by the water and flowed away through the drain.

………………

Richard was somewhat distracted during his make-up class on Saturday morning.

The silver ring hung around his neck, and every few hours he would scan it with his spiritual vision; the weight of the ring never changed.

After having lunch at Dawn's house, he returned home and performed a divination using the stone reading method.

Pebbles are scattered onto the copper dish, double circles and ears of wheat fall in the center, the crescent moon is slightly off-center, and water droplets and spirals roll out of the dish.

According to the interpretation taught by Old Big: it is safe and brings a stable fit, with no obvious reversals and no negative feedback.

Richard put the copper dish away.

He arrived at Coleman's house at 2:30 p.m.

This time, the Colemans did not display the business cards on the living room table.

On the table was a pot of freshly brewed black tea, a few simple butter cookies, and a small blue and white porcelain sugar jar.

"It's not too busy at home today," Mrs. Coleman said, pouring tea into a cup. "Bill is waiting for you in the backyard."

In the backyard, Coleman had already put on his protective gear.

Richard walked over and put his schoolbag on the bench against the wall.

"That thing we talked about last week..." Coleman began, while fastening his chin strap, "Have you been training this week?"

"I practiced."

"Then let me see if you've improved."

Coleman walked to the center of the yard and began pacing back and forth in the same casual manner as last time.

Richard stood at the same fixed position at the base of the east wall.

He took a silver needle out of the long box.

The entire process of using the Moon Nail technique involves seven steps: receiving the needle and drawing in the breath.

As a first step in the preheating process, he sent a very thin etheric membrane to his left shoulder;

The second step is to warm up by sending a bundle of air towards the right elbow.

The third step is to preheat the sides of the waist;

The fourth step is to preheat the left index finger.

Coleman frowned slightly.

He could sense that the boy opposite him was "shining all over".

However, this brightness is not directional; no place is brighter than another, and the brightness of any place is increasing rapidly.

Coleman's gaze swept over Richard.

Richard made his move, and the silver needle grazed Coleman's right rib before embedding itself in a crack in the wall.

"..."

Coleman stood there, stunned.

He didn't see the flash of light before he made his move.

He only reacted to the moment the silver needle was released, thanks to the slight movement of the other party's wrist.

But by then, the silver needle had already reached the outside of his ribs.

"Again."

Coleman pulled out the silver needle and handed it back.

Richard took it and stood back down.

This time, Coleman focused intently on reading Richard's Etheric Waves.

He stared at Richard's left shoulder; it was bright.

He stared at Richard's right elbow; it was shiny.

He stared at Richard's side; it was still bright.

Coleman squinted.

"puff."

The second stitch was inserted into the shoulder of the right shoulder brace.

Coleman reached out and pulled the silver needles off the protective gear.

His entire face froze as he stared at Richard.

"How did you do that?"

Richard laughed out loud: "I figured out a new method this week: warming up in batches."

He reported the method to Coleman.

Seven-step disassembly, batch preheating, and dummy signal deployment.

After listening, Coleman walked over and sat down on the bench.

"I've been practicing Blood Burning for two years."

Coleman unfastened his helmet and placed it on the bench: "The instructor taught us to concentrate all the ether in our body into one point for a single, explosive strike."

"In hunter training, 'grouping' is criticized; grouping is considered a waste."

"Your idea of ​​warming up in batches..." Coleman shook his head: "If our military academy instructors heard this, they'd make you run twenty laps around the track."

"I'm not a military academy student," Richard laughed.

"Yes, you're not." Coleman picked up the kettle and took a sip.

"But for you, going in batches is actually an advantage."

"Yes," Richard admitted, "the cost of splitting the attack is a weakening of its force."

"The needle I just pierced into the crack in the wall went a little shallower than it did last week."

"There are losses between batches, and the final monthly spike that accumulates at the tip of the needle is weaker than a single batch push."

"My playing style is effective against lower-ranked opponents. They lack the intuition to read those false signals."

"But when he encounters someone with professional skills or above, he can identify which part is genuine."

"That's enough." Coleman shook his head. "You're a scholar; having the ability to fight back in crucial moments is enough."

"The hunters' side focuses on quick kills, while your side focuses on escape; the approaches are different."

Richard sat down at the other end of the bench.

The two were silent for a while, and Coleman leaned back against the wall on the bench.

"Again."

Over the next half hour, Richard's accuracy had increased to over 80%.

Coleman memorized every opportunity Richard made to strike.

After the 10th or so attempts, he was able to barely read Richard's true "brightness".

Even if they did read it, their reaction time was much shorter than normal.

By the time the last needle was inserted, there were already more than a dozen needle marks on the protective gear.

Coleman took off his protective gear and leaned against the wall to drink water.

"Richard, you scholars are fucking monsters."

Richard smiled.

"Other scholars wouldn't act like me."

After training, the Colemans saw him to the door.

"See you next week," Coleman waved.

"Um."

Richard boarded the carriage.

The coachman cracked his whip, and the carriage swayed and wobbled as it headed east of the city.

On the way back, Richard sat by the window.

He looked down at his wrist.

He had already thought about the reversal conditions of [Moon Nail] several times.

The core of this technique is "penetration," involving double puncture at both the physical and spiritual levels.

If reversed, the direction of "penetration" would be reversed, from stabbing others to stabbing oneself.

Stabbing yourself directly? That sounds like the idea of ​​a madman.

But the reverse logic of [Shadow Armor] follows this approach.

From the inside out to the outside in, what is concentrated within oneself becomes what is given to others.

The reversal of the [Moon Nail] should theoretically be "from pointing to the other to pointing to oneself".

Richard's fingertips paused on the window frame for a moment.

【Moon Nail】When it pierces into someone's body, it causes a puncture wound and damages multiple layers of the body.

What if it gets stuck in your own body?

On a physical level, it's like an ordinary silver needle piercing one's skin, creating a tiny puncture mark.

What about the etheric level?

The carriage turned the corner.

He got home after six o'clock.

Evelyn was lying on the small table in the living room, drawing a sugar flower on the latest page of her baking notebook.

My mother is knitting at one end of the sofa. My father is working overtime again today and hasn't come home.

Richard went upstairs to his room.

After sitting down at the desk, he took out a long box of silver needles from the drawer.

He selected the spell and brought up the judgment interface for [Shadow Reversal].

Panel prompt.

[Surgical technique proficiency level detected]

【Moon Nail (Reversible)】

Richard blinked.

Mastering [Moon Nail] takes much longer than mastering [Stone Armor].

During this period, he practiced repeatedly at home. With Coleman as a moving target and the "thinking" function prompting him to think of the optimization of phased warm-up, the whole technique finally touched the threshold of reversal.

Richard pressed [Confirm].

The flipping process still doesn't produce any visible effects.

There was no light, no sound, and Richard's own shadow remained motionless against the wall.

But he could feel that the etheric flow within him, which had become accustomed to "condensing at the tip of a needle and piercing others," was quietly reversed at this moment.

Concentrated within oneself.

The moon nail on the silver needle is essentially an etheric cluster condensed to its ultimate form.

When an etheric mass penetrates a living organism with an etheric circuit, it will spread and interact.

The reversed technique takes this segment of "diffusion and interaction".

[The Shadow Reversal is Complete]

[Reversal Spell Generation: Aculeus Reflexus]

[Effect: The etheric cluster formed by the Moon Nail is inserted into oneself or a living body with an etheric circuit. The cluster instantly spreads within the body, activating and refreshing the microcirculation in the area.]

[Restriction: An etheric loop must exist at the insertion point;]

If the insertion site is not covered by a circulatory loop, the needle cluster loses its etheric layer effect and only causes a common puncture wound.

[Side effect: Ether consumption is slightly higher than that of regular Moon Spikes;]

Continuous use in a short period of time can damage microcirculation;

The enhancement effect is temporary; after the effect ends, the area will experience a weakened period of equal duration.

The strengthening and healing time can be extended and accelerated through repeated treatments, and the corresponding period of weakness will also be prolonged.

After reading the description, Richard leaned back in his chair.