I loaded the Mysticism panel.

Richard drew the curtains halfway, leaving only a corner of the desk exposed to light.

Available points: 2.09

At least this trip to the Spice Islands exhibition made it past 2 PM.

He put his thoughts into the "Walking" section, and a preview popped up.

This feature is now enabled. To advance to the next level, you must meet the following requirements:

Level reached lv.4, progress 100%;

Available points: 2;

He escaped during a sustained pursuit, by a higher-ranking pursuer, without relying on outside help or hidden artifacts.

There are further effects below.

"Unlockable Trait - Walking Without Leaving a Trace: "

[Fatigue-Free] enhances basic effects and leaves almost no trace on the material and ethereal planes when moving;

Significantly weakens the locking effect of perception-based spells.

Richard felt a surge of excitement upon seeing this effect.

He didn't pay much attention to the walking feature at first; he only lit it up and upgraded it to meet those requirements.

They run fast, walk far, and never get tired.

It sounds like it's meant for hunters. What would someone who's going down the academic path need such good legs for?

So that you can escape faster than others?

But if it really comes to the point where even a scholar like him has to run away, then running away probably won't be of much use.

But this preview reveals a deeper layer of the concept of "walking".

The essence of walking is moving your body on the ground.

Going in another layer, you can see the traces left by this movement.

When a person passes through a place, they always leave something behind.

A line of footprints, the rustling of a piece of clothing brushing against the wall;

A series of breaths and heartbeats on this side of the curtain would leave invisible traces of water.

Those in the know can trace your movements by following this water trail.

The goal of "no trace" is to smooth out the trace.

Richard thought about it for a while, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this option was perfect for him.

The path he takes is never the most straightforward.

The person carrying a lamp wants to live a few more years, just so that those eyes in the shadows can't see them.

[Observe], so that he will not be noticed if he stands still;

Now, with "No Trace," the action itself goes unnoticed.

Hermes, messenger, border crosser, ferryman of souls.

The winged god traveled daily between the heavens, the human world, and the underworld, delivering messages for the gods.

Ironically, it was his reputation that came to him first.

Richard's lips twitched.

However, the threshold for unlocking this is even more daunting than that for the "Reflection" feature.

[Reflection] He had already planned the scenario, finding someone who was trapped or sealed away, and hiding them.

However, this "traceless" method requires one to escape capture, which is much more difficult.

Richard removed the panel.

His gaze fell on the Sphinx lamp on the table.

Outside the window, the dance music from the west of the city still drifted intermittently.

The battle is being fought on the other side of the sea, but the night in the capital remains as lively as ever.

………………

It was past 10 p.m. that night.

Richard closed his eyes and lowered his breathing to a low, moist breathing level.

Inhale and let it stretch like a long slope; exhale and let it recede like a short wave.

The pool of ether in my chest receded on its own, then overflowed again.

The starry sea has faded.

The coolness of marble first condensed underfoot, followed by twelve stone pillars rising from the ground.

Beams, reliefs, ochre-red round tables... in less than twenty seconds, the entire temple took shape.

Richard stopped and first scanned the circle of stone benches with his eyes.

On the main seat, Hecate wore the golden mask that made her look like a half-young girl and half-old woman.

Above her head, the torch and key shone brighter than ever before Richard had ever seen them, almost too brightly.

Richard first looked at the newcomer.

A man was sitting in Ares's chair.

He was even bigger than Ares, with shoulders and back as thick as two small mountains.

Sitting there, the stone chair looked somewhat cramped.

His mask was cast with a lion on its surface, its mouth open, covering his entire face.

Above my head, three things were frozen there.

A complete lion skin, golden in color, draped over his shoulders, with the lion's head and paws hanging down in front of his chest;

A giant olive wood club, its body bumpy and thicker than an average person's arm;

A bow with several arrows, the arrowheads stained black, the color of blood soaked in poison.

The name of the god was projected and automatically surfaced—Hercules.

Richard had a plan in mind.

Slay the Nemean Lion, slay the Hydra, capture Cerberus...

Finally, he was poisoned by the blood of the centaur, his flesh rotting inch by inch. In the pain, he set himself on fire, burning away his mortal body and ascending to godhood.

Hecate was willing to give up this title and even promoted it in advance.

This newcomer must be quite influential; at the very least, he must be a minor expert.

Of the others at the table, Prometheus's fire burned quietly, and Dionysus held his two-handled cup.

Nemesis's tilted scales hovered overhead, while he sat upright, and Demeter's sheaf of wheat weighed heavily on his head.

No one asked where the man with the broken arm had gone.

If others didn't ask, Richard naturally wouldn't either.

Hecate, seated at the head of the table, began to speak once everyone was seated.

"Gentlemen."

"Tonight, I'd like to introduce you to a new friend."

She raised her hand and gestured towards the chair.

"He carries the name of Hercules."

The eyes of everyone at the table turned to that direction.

Richard noticed that Prometheus bowed slightly to the man, and Dionysus also raised his wine cup.

The two veteran members were clearly very polite to the newcomer.

This politeness was more of a way of building momentum for him personally, thanks to Hecate.

"Hercules," Hecate's mother's voice followed, gentle and kind.

"You'll get to know everyone at this table gradually."

Hercules bowed his head toward the main seat.

"Thank you, Chief."

"I've heard this table is special." He glanced around, his expression hidden behind the lion's mouth mask.

"And sure enough, I saw it today."

Hecate's golden mask spun around, scanning the six people at the table one by one.

"There are two things to do tonight," she said.

"First, there are the masks I promised you. I have prepared them all and will deliver them to you later."

The atmosphere at the table shifted.

Everyone began to wonder what kind of power their divine name could grant them.

"The other one," Hecate's old woman said, her voice lowering.

"Hercules has brought quite a few things to the table tonight, involving many evil things, which can serve as a reminder to you all."

Hercules responded from beneath the bronze mask.

He raised his hand, and several items were laid out one by one in the center of the table.

Richard immediately suppressed his inspiration and followed the flowing ether to those objects.

At the same time, [Bowen] opened up the entire database in his mind.

The first item was a section of ossification needle.

It is about one finger long, grayish-white in color, and hard in texture.

There were still a few strands of taut film stuck to the wall of the syringe.

There is no completely corresponding entry in Richard's database.

"This one is a new type of evil creature from the textile district."

Hercules pushed the syringe forward: "I named it the Eyelid Monster."

Hecate raised her hand.

A picture was formed above the torch on her head.

The image shows a textile factory that has collapsed halfway.

The traces of the boiler explosion are still there, and the blackened steel beams are twisted into a knot.

Something crawled out of the pile of rubble.

When Richard saw the thing clearly, he felt a bit nauseous.

The evil creature is composed entirely of a taut, semi-transparent membrane.

It had no face, not even a decent outline; it was like an old garment that had been inflated from the inside.

Its chest is covered with rows and rows of ossified needles, densely packed, with the needle tips pointing outwards.

The evil creature made no sound as it crawled across the factory floor.

In the video, a worker who is still alive is huddled in a corner, and it has caught him.

The thing extended its bone needles and brought them close to the worker's face.

The needle tip pierced through the worker's eyelid and then came out again, moving up and down as he did needlework.

It sewed the worker's eyes shut, stitch by stitch.

Next are the lips.

After sewing, the thing was removed.

The worker was still sitting in the corner, his body still warm.

But he could no longer open his eyes or utter a single word.

"It has ingrained the act of sewing into its very nature."

"The textile factory collapsed and the boiler exploded; too many female workers died in that area."

When she died, she was still clutching the unfinished sewing work in her hand.

"The resentment festered in one place, and this thing emerged from it."

Richard recalled his earlier deduction.

In retrospect, the things that emerge from the death-prone areas of the industrial zone are increasingly bizarre.

"It's not that difficult." Hercules pushed the syringe to the center of the table.

"It shattered with a single blow. This syringe has excellent etheric properties, making it perfect as a medium."

Hercules raised his hand again.

The second thing that surfaced was a cervical vertebra, still attached to a wisp of silk.

The wisp of silk moved slowly on the tabletop, gleaming softly.

"This one is even stranger; it came from the south."

The scene changed; it was now an old maternity ward in the port area.

In the picture, a woman about to give birth is lying in bed.

There was a dripping sound coming from the roof beam.

The woman raised her head.

A head was hanging upside down from the roof beam.

There was only a head, with a long string of internal organs hanging down from under the neck.

The head had its eyes open and was smiling at the woman on the bed.

In Richard's database, there's now an entry that can be moved up.

It is a side note about an evil creature: Floating Skull, a floating monster in the folk customs of the southeastern sea.

A head detached from its body flies through the night, dragging its internal organs along.

They specifically target women who are about to give birth or are losing blood, and are extremely sensitive to the smell of blood.

"It was brought back by a spice merchant ship."

Hercules explained.

"Something that shouldn't have been mixed in with the ballast cargo took root in a weak spot in that old factory in the port."

Richard's inspiration paused on that cervical vertebra.

The empire's fleet sailed over and ransacked their temples and graves.

Ship after ship brought back strange objects, spices, and oddities, some of which could bite.

"This luminous intestine thread can be used in medicine, or as a medium."

Hercules pushed the cervical vertebra onto the center of the table: "Those interested can see for themselves."

None of the people at the table moved.

The floating skull is too sinister; no one wants to touch it.

"There's one last thing."