I loaded the Mysticism panel.

The first one was a young man in military uniform, who had no lower body below his right shoulder.

The second one was much shorter, about half the height of the window frame, and judging from the silhouette, it was a woman.

The third one stood on the outermost edge, leaning against the window frame, making it impossible to tell his age.

These spirits neither knocked on the window nor spoke.

Richard sat on the bed without moving, unsure why spirits had come to him, especially since they were all spirits he didn't recognize.

All three things were looking into the room, but none of them were looking at themselves.

……wrong.

Richard shone the still water and discovered that they were looking at the shadows behind the curtain, and the shadows were wearing Hermes masks and practicing spells.

He remembered that the crack on the Hermes mask was still there after he acquired the name Mercury.

Richard threw back the covers, got out of bed, and went to the window.

The three spirits turned their heads at the same time; they were waiting for a door to open.

Richard suddenly understood.

In their eyes, this dormitory is a ferry crossing.

The windowsill is a step, the cracked mask is a door, and behind the door lies where they are meant to go.

They lined up quietly on the steps, waiting for the ferryman to come out.

Sweating slowly seeped from Richard's back.

Hermes' three costs: his veil becomes transparent, he attracts the dead, and travelers become restless.

For the past six months, the shadow has been worn behind the curtain, and the real body has hardly touched it. When wearing it, the [Silent One] must be attached, and there has been no mishap in the past six months.

The door can't be closed properly now.

Although not many things leaked out after the crack opened, only three came out, not thirty or even three hundred, and it did not attract any threatening evil spirits.

But the fact that they were able to find this place means that the door was lit on the other side of the curtain.

Someone will knock on the lit door, and the next uninvited guest may not be a harmless spirit.

Richard decided to extradite the deceased first, and figure out how to fix the problem of attracting the dead later.

He took out a bronze paperweight from his canvas bag and tilted its long beak to the side.

Sheng'er lowered his head and began to take notes.

The first spirit: a string of numbers, is the regimental number, and the year is this year.

The second spirit: a woman's name, from the year before last.

The third one was the slowest to remember; this was another unidentified deceased.

Richard waited until it finished writing.

He picked up the paperweight and tilted it towards the three spirits.

"Your names are in the register."

"But this is not a door."

"After daybreak, head east."

He pointed in the direction of the nearest church.

"Someone over there will read it for you."

The wind came from the west, and the spirit departed.

Richard stood by the window, activating a wide-area scan that swept downstairs and along the main road of the college district.

It was only after the fourth spirit was taken back.

Richard brought over the small bronze scales and began to weigh the proportions of the two names on the mask.

The two pans of the balance scale began to move.

The one on the left slowly sank down, while the one on the right didn't rise very high, making it about seven to three.

Seven parts Hermes, three parts Mercury.

The scale pan on the right is still moving downwards, almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Mercury's three-pointers are steadily rising.

Richard recalled the advice the other party had given him before giving him the name Mercury: it's not a good thing to take on too many divine names.

"...Sir, you're finally free of this burden. You can relax now."

He gave a wry smile, turned the mask over again, and looked at the crack with some worry.

The paperweight was placed on the windowsill as a marker that this place was not a ferry crossing.

This is effective tonight, but continued observation is needed.

The Twin Serpent Staff's Ferrymanship is passively triggered; it is used to ferry spirits when they come to you.

If too many people come, will we be able to get through this smoothly? Also, the door is open on both sides, so those who come in may not be ordinary spirits.

There is only one way to cure it completely: fully integrate the portion of Mercury that was given to him.

………………

On the morning of June 20th, the capital city experienced its first real rain of the summer.

Raindrops pounded on the tin eaves, making a sound throughout the corridor.

However, the semester ended and most of the students went back home, so the heavy rain didn't really affect anyone.

McFee called Richard over, saying he had a surprise for him.

Richard pushed open the door and went in; the white-haired giant was already carrying his old leather bag.

"Professor, are you going out again?"

"Let's go to Lewis Island." McFee stuffed the book into his bag.

Please bookmark the only official website for Deqi Novels: www.deqixs.org. This is the only website; other websites may be discontinued at any time.

"The reinforcement work on the standing stones around Kalanishna was not completed last winter."

"When the Navy heard that I was going north, they also assigned me the Orkney section, since they were short-handed there too."

Richard suddenly remembered his senior's several dives in Scapa Flow.

"Professor, are you alone?"

"I'm supervising two graduate students." McFee fastened his briefcase.

"Although they're the ones who run the fastest when something really happens, they're only good for helping out in normal times."

The rain outside intensified, and the white-haired giant pushed the window shut, turning around to examine Richard.

"Are you injured?"

"You're not injured."

"What about ether?"

"I slept for two days after I got back, and then I caught up on the rest."

McFaye nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

"Alright, let's get down to business." He reached for the notebook on the corner of the table.

"At the end of May, on the platform, I told you that there was a surprise waiting for you."

"Have you guessed what it is?"

"No." Richard shook his head honestly.

"I've been guessing for almost half a month. I guessed the seal design and the revised manuscript of your book 'Structure and Rheology,' but I think the most likely thing is that you're going to treat me to dinner."

"You guessed dinner was served?" McFaye laughed heartily. "You know me very well."

"You guessed right?"

You guessed wrong.

McFee removed the large hand covering the notebook.

"This is the surprise. Open it and take a look."

Richard opened the booklet, and the paper contained Ogan's writings, which he had only recently learned, making him feel as if the other party had arranged everything in advance.

The effects of the techniques recorded in this booklet... Richard's breathing quickened.

In February, McFee single-handedly defeated a whole table of people in Northern Europe. He was actually quite envious when he heard Hecate talk about it.

"...Professor, is this the technique you used to delete other people's spells?"

McFee crossed his arms over his chest: "Yes, my technique is called 'Branch Break'."

He stretched out a finger and sliced ​​it horizontally in the air.

"Each letter in Ogham is a branch, carved on the edge of the stone. Breaking a branch is erasing that stroke from the edge."

"If you want your target to be unable to run, swipe away 'run'; if you want an evil thing to be unable to bite, swipe away 'bite'."

It sounds almost like a conceptual weapon, Richard thought with great interest, waiting for something more concrete.

"But I don't have time to teach you now... I have to catch the train this afternoon."

McFee picked up the purse.

"Besides, I'm too impatient when I teach. Sometimes if I can't teach something in half a day, I might slap the student into the wall."

"I've arranged for Catherine to teach you."

The sound of rain poured in, and Richard was somewhat taken aback.

McFaye spoke very quickly, clearly having already thought it through.

"The girl has been studying for more than half a year and has learned quite well."

"Let her explain it to you; maybe it will give her some experience in return."

"professor……"

"Don't thank me," McFee said, waving his hand.

He pushed open the door and went out, but when he reached the end of the corridor, he remembered something and shouted again.

"By the way, that girl's vocal cords are still recovering, so don't try to make her talk."

"...Then how am I supposed to listen to the lectures?"

"She has a notebook to write in, you two are already used to it."

The white-haired giant's figure disappeared into the rain.

McFee had indeed been planning this for a long time.

Yesterday afternoon, he sat in Mortimer's office and stole his old friend's tea, then complained about it after drinking it.

"Your tea is still so awful."

"If it weren't so bad, you would have eaten it all."

Mortimer pushed his reading glasses up his nose.

"Tell me, what are you going to do with Richard?"

"That girl Catherine has Nemesis attached to her," McFee began to explain his plan.

"The scales need to be balanced; if they aren't, she'll be the one who suffers."

"She owes that kid a lot this year, so I'll have her teach him my most secret techniques. That should even things out a bit."

Mortimer hummed in agreement and continued editing his "joke collection".

"Old Mike."

"What's wrong?"

"You, a master of moon hunting, when did you switch careers to become Cupid?"

McFaye froze.

"When did I...?"

"You've even carried the bow on your back," Mortimer said slowly.

"He blindfolded himself and fired wildly at those two men."

"That's teaching!"

The old professor said sarcastically, "Does 'teaching' mean putting these two teenagers, around seventeen or eighteen years old, in a training room in the sweltering summer heat until they're drenched in sweat?"

McFaye sat there, unable to answer a single question.

"You're really hoping something will actually happen between them, aren't you?" Mortimer revealed McFee's true intentions.

"That kid is pretty good."

"Not bad, not bad."

"His mother's branch is Ashford, so the genes should be good..."

Mortimer put his reading glasses back on:

"That kid is very opinionated. He doesn't need you to push him to be with whomever he wants."

"If he doesn't want to, it won't matter if you shoot Cupid's arrow all you want."

………………

When Richard went down to the training room, Catherine was already inside.

She draped her coat over the equipment rack in the corner and was bending over to tie her shoelaces.

Her red hair was tied at the back of her head with an old ribbon, not very securely, with a strand hanging down and sticking to the side of her neck.

She was still wearing the same sports dress she used for practice today.

When the girl bent over, you could see many knife marks on her waist and abdomen, and you don't know what kind of training she had undergone in the past.

Hearing footsteps, she straightened up and retied the ribbon.

"Good morning." Richard placed the canvas bag against the wall.

Catherine took the notebook out of her pocket.

"The professor left?"

"The bus was in the afternoon; they came to say goodbye to me this morning."

She turned the page of the notebook.

"What did he say to you?"

"The surprise is that you taught me this technique." Richard slapped the booklet containing the technique in front of the girl.

Catherine glanced at the booklet and began to write.

"I told them that if they guessed what the surprise was, I would treat them to dinner."

"Unfortunately, you lost."

Richard burst out laughing.

"I admit defeat, I really couldn't guess it."

"What did you guess?"

"I guess the professor is treating us to dinner."

Catherine's shoulders twitched, and she pursed her lips; she never smiled silently.

After laughing, the girl's face tightened, and she returned to her pre-battle stance.

She set the silver needle box aside and showed Richard her empty hands, indicating that she wouldn't be using the moon nails this time.

Richard began to use the Mirror Condensation Technique, and information flooded into the entire training room.

He had looked at the other person dozens of times in the past six months, and he could recognize the other person's intentions even with his eyes closed.

Catherine made the first move, starting from a very low position, assuming a lunge stance.

Her intention to deliver a straight punch was to land on Richard's water surface before her fist even struck.

The opponent lowered his right shoulder and pulled his elbow inward, aiming at his left rib.

He shifted half a step to the right, his fist grazing past his shirt.

The second punch was a hook that changed direction; it was reflected in the water, and he leaned back a little.

By the third, fourth... and fifth strike, Richard already had a good idea of ​​what to expect.

Catherine's skills improved, but so did his.

"Catherine, if you only use this..."

The red-haired girl stopped, reached her right hand into the side of her skirt, and pulled out a chisel with a deer antler handle.

Richard recognized him; it was Richard who had pushed the chisel over during the post-battle distribution at the end of May in Yanhuo Village.

He was on high alert, knowing that the Branch-Severing Technique was about to be used.