I loaded the Mysticism panel.

Back in his dorm, Richard locked the door from the inside. He drew the curtains halfway but then remembered what his aunt had said, so he left them ajar.

He sat at the table, gripped the pen, and quickly decided which skill he should most try.

The ink bottle on the table was a gift from my aunt, and it was modified by my older cousin and uncle.

He had previously tried to name it "The Recorder's Pen," but the etheric structure reinforced by the little master craftsman was something he couldn't alter at all.

After Richard finished analyzing it, he pushed the name out.

"Overflowing".

The pen got hot in my hand.

When his name was written, he could clearly feel the pen writing on its own.

He only needs to see what he is writing clearly; the strength for writing comes from elsewhere the moment the pen touches the paper.

After the name was given, the ink in the bottle began to rise, eventually overflowing from the top and making a mess of the table.

Fortunately, Richard had the foresight to remove everything from the table.

Richard quickly removed the name and started cleaning the desktop.

After cleaning, he put the pen back on the velvet and stared at it in a daze.

"...Above a higher level."

If his original ability were to land on a target of a higher rank than himself, he would either bounce back or barely stay on but wouldn't be able to exert any effect.

It can only be stuck on unclaimed objects or friendly items, otherwise... He hadn't tried it, but he guessed the backlash would be particularly severe.

Now that I have this pen, the scope of my self-naming has undoubtedly expanded significantly.

He doesn't know how much he'll lift, but at least he should be proficient in a little.

………………

At exactly nine o'clock at night, Richard sat on the floor and turned the light down to its lowest setting.

A shadow emerged from behind the curtain.

"You don't need to go up and fight tonight."

The thought was passed over, and the faceless head tilted slightly.

"I know you can fight," Richard comforted him.

"Thanks to you last month, the two of us almost killed that horse and ate it."

He reached out and touched the edge of that dark mass.

"But not tonight."

Once the Reversal Mask is activated, the original Mask becomes unusable, and the Twin Serpent Staff disintegrates.

In addition, there are three strands of spirit embedded in the shadow; if something goes wrong, he will suffer a great loss of vitality.

Moreover, Minerva is a great master of the star chart tradition.

With the star map spread out overhead, everyone on the field will be locked in place.

Every person on the field... might also be locking onto their shadow.

"Hidden Curtain".

The name was written down.

The shadows blurred at the edges, spreading out in all directions along the patterns of light and shadow on the floor.

With the pen's amplification, it permeated the entire room.

If someone were to push the door open at this moment, they would see that there is nothing unusual on the floor.

"That's how you are tonight," Richard said.

"Do not take action or form; do not do anything proactively."

"Just look."

Look at whose shadow is wrong, and see where someone is moving from their current position.

Look at that star chart and see what will be shown about you.

Richard lay down, and [Wild Sleep], regardless of what he was thinking, still tucked him into a clean and tidy sleep.

When they counted to seven, Xinghai withdrew.

When the sea of ​​stars receded, Richard first found himself on a slope.

Layer upon layer of tuff forms a grayish-white hill.

Richard looked up and saw six other mountains in the darkness.

Seven seats, seven hills.

Each hill has colonnaded arches, old altar walls, broken canals, and empty streets.

The city has no complete boundaries; the walls break into sections in the distance, and beyond the walls lies an unfathomable darkness.

The Tiber River flows out of Heli and then flows back into Heli.

Richard's still waters had barely begun to spread when they were bitten by the city beneath his feet.

The city was asking him: Who are you, and what gives you the right to stand here?

Extremely fine star lines rise from the seven mountains, weaving a net that covers the entire city.

Minerva sat on the highest step of the mountain.

"State your names."

Her voice was not loud.

But the sound circled along the ridges of the seven mountains, and not a single note dissipated.

Hecate stood to Richard's left front.

Her torchlight fell to the ground, and half of it was swallowed up by the city of seven hills.

She did not give her name, but after using the power of her divine name, the seventh star on the star map in the sky lit up automatically.

Next came Dionysus.

Tonight he wore the double-handled cup around his waist, stood straighter than usual, and the stars shone brighter.

Hercules' star also shone, the brightest of them all, almost baking the surrounding small patch of star patterns white.

Demeter's star shone brightly, its light steady, like a lamp placed on a windowsill.

Behind Prometheus stood the two-meter-tall dark bronze figure, motionless, while the stars shone.

The scales of Nemesis tilted above her head, and the star swayed twice before settling.

All six lights were on, and Minerva's gaze fell on the last person.

Richard stood to Hecate's right rear and had been calculating ever since he entered the field.

Calculate the ether density of this city beneath your feet, calculate where the roads between the seven hills lead, and calculate whether the picture in the sky reflects people or names.

He stood up the double-snake staff, and the two golden snakes intertwined head to tail into one.

"The messenger is not on the list," he thought to himself.

The star map in the sky paused for a moment; the seventh star did not light up.

Fortuna sat on her mountain, frowning.

Minerva asked, "How is it?"

Fortuna looked for a long time: "I still can't read it."

The city fell silent for a moment.

Mars' breathing became heavy again: "What do you mean by 'can't read'?"

He felt that things had spiraled out of control from the very beginning.

"Literal meaning." Fortuna put her hands back on her knees, and the wheel of fortune slowed down.

"There is no place for him on the star map."

"Where is he standing?"

"He's standing right there," Fortuna said, gesturing vaguely towards the opposite side.

"I can see him, but the star map cannot."

Richard stood on his own stone slab, his palms slightly sweaty as he gripped his cane.

The "Face of Reversal" remained dormant, pressing down on his thoughts.

He had no intention of using that item from the moment he entered the venue tonight.

Once the staff is used, the messenger disperses, and the messenger ceases to be a messenger.

The saying that envoys are not included in the register was certainly not something he made up; this rule is older than anyone else's.

With the added bonus from advancing [Perception] to level 5, he became completely ambiguous on the ethereal level.

Minerva was silent for a moment.

"It doesn't matter whether you register or not, you'll still be in this city."

"Outsider!"

Richard felt a sense of rejection when the word was uttered.

The seven mountains simultaneously recognized that he was not from this place.

The stone pavement beneath his feet dipped slightly, and the mouth shut its teeth.

He tried to push the ether under his feet, and the two little wings that were attached to the top of his boots stood up, but it was very difficult.

"This place doesn't recognize me," he thought to himself.

Standing in this city, I am an outsider who can shout until I'm hoarse and no one can understand me.

Hecate spoke first.

"Now that we've submitted all the applications, it's time to bring in our foreign players."

Hercules moved forward, and the giant olive club spun halfway around in his hand.

"chief."

"No rush," Hecate said.

She turned her head, and her overlapping eyes fell on Richard through the mask.

Richard understood and took a step forward, which proved to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

He closed his eyes.

"Walking on a road of no return, sharing the same path we came from."

Richard's throat tightened as he uttered the first sentence.

The city refused to let that statement fall completely.

The final syllable of "no return" was cut off by a section of old wall; the "path" was worn away halfway through the ruins of the market.

Richard forced the mirror to its deepest point before finally managing to push the last sound out of his throat.

But that push was so ugly, like a knife cutting into a stone, so jarring that everyone could hear it.

The city of seven hills fell silent for a moment, then someone laughed—it was Venus.

When she laughed, all the ether in the city seemed to lean toward her, as if everyone should sit down and listen to her.

"It's so hard to read..."

The voice was soft and light, yet just enough for everyone to hear.

"Outsiders are outsiders; they even treat people like guests with such an ugly attitude when they invite them in."

Hercules gripped the giant club tightly.

Dionysus's smile faded.

Hecate did not turn around, but the torch in her hand suddenly shot upwards.

Richard didn't speak; he was trying to suppress the taste of blood in his throat, preparing to continue reciting the second sentence.

But just before he opened his mouth, a footstep suddenly came from the bottomless darkness outside the Seven Hills.

Richard opened his eyes.

At the eastern end of the Tiber River, a road emerged from the darkness on its own.

That road was built without asking Rome's consent.

There should have been such a road in the world, stretching all the way to here from all the places where one can never return, never go back, and never finish walking.

Someone on the road sighed.

Matthew, with his hands in his pockets, looked up at the entire city of seven hills and recited his own name.

"...those who returned from the deep realm with an army."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the roads in the city of the Seven Hills began to give way, and the black waters of the Tiber River receded to both sides.

"My feet have become a path, my bones a bridge, only the way home remains suspended in the world."

As the last note faded, the entire city began to bow.

In Rome, the goddess of the hunt's hand slipped off the bow.

Fortuna's wheel of fate has stopped turning.

Venus's smile froze, as if someone had pressed a hand against her throat.

Her laughter just now was merely mockery to those of lower and middle ranks, but it was considered utter disrespect to those of higher ranks!

The name of the deity is not merely a mantra.

The honorific name is a signpost and a status, and also a fact that has been acknowledged by the entire curtain.

It doesn't matter what you think in your heart; you can even be hostile.

But one must not let one's disdain interfere when it is called upon.

Because that would be like using your own name to challenge a name that is higher up.

But it was too late; that smile had already collided with the path paved from the depths.

The warm light then reversed direction.

A cracking sound echoed from the mountain, and the mask on Venus's face split from the corner of her lips to her jaw.

"……Wow!"

She spat out a mouthful of blood onto the stone steps; it was bright red and scalding hot.

The entire city of Seven Hills was eerily quiet.

Venus braced herself against a pillar with one hand, while pressing the other hand tightly against her chest.

Matthew looked at Venus with a blank expression.

"Young lady, it seems you don't know much about manners?"

Venus raised her head, blood still dripping from the corner of her mouth beneath the crack in her mask.

She tried to speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the taste of blood welled up in her throat.

This time, she swallowed it back, and everyone heard the muffled groan.

Hercules suddenly grinned.

First came a hum, then an barely suppressed chuckle.

He hoisted the giant olive wood club onto his shoulder, and the eyes beneath the lion's mouth mask shone with a frightening light.

"Well said!" He clapped his hands vigorously with his free hands.

Dionysus took off the double-handled cup from his waist, solemnly raised it to Matthew, and then took a sip himself.

"This bite shows good manners!"