Equipment Printing School Mage

The souls in the kingdom of the gods have long forgotten their experiences on earth, so only the living can remember them.

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Emiya and others are not familiar with the terrain of Candle Castle. If they want to move freely here, they still have to rely on someone who grew up with them to lead the way.

"I'm afraid it's difficult. Mars will probably have to take a few days off," Apodale said. "After witnessing several phantoms with his own eyes, he left on his own."

Mars's concern, of course, is about his own life experience.

The young paladin may have reluctantly come to terms with his identity as the Son of Bhaal, but he could not possibly turn a blind eye to the fate of his biological mother.

Emilia walked through the interior of the castle.

Mars did not hide his whereabouts. He was sitting on a chair near a lounge, holding the prize of the Ceremony of Truth in his hand, but his eyes were fixed on the lounge.

"...What's going to happen here?" Emilia walked over to sit next to him and asked.

"Are you the only one here?" Mars asked.

"Silver and the others went to find Elastrid. As for Mr. Apodale, he thought you might prefer to be with people your own age."

"...To be more precise, I don't want to see anyone right now, and I don't want anyone to see this." Mars sighed deeply and pointed to the lounge. "But I suspect that perhaps half of Candlekeep knows what happened here, so it doesn't matter."

"At another time, nothing would happen—at most, no one would want to enter a lounge where they're being watched closely." Mars replied muffledly, wearing his helmet. "But if the phantoms of the dead begin to flash back in Candlekeep, I might see something."

"This flashback started before we even arrived at Candlekeep," Emilia warned. "Now, this flashback is very unstable. Even if the location is right, it doesn't mean you can see what you want to see. I can try using the replay spell."

"I know," Mars replied, "but the replay spell may not show what I want to see. And Candlekeep is allowing this phantom phenomenon to spread... so I'll just have to wait.

"The images that appear everywhere are still just shadows, and won't affect everyone's normal activities. Given this, who wouldn't have concerns? Even the elderly, nearing death, wouldn't want to see their deceased elders and relatives."

Emiya frowned. "So, either we act alone to solve it, or we just have to wait?"

"Anyone capable of such a thing must be well-known throughout the Material Plane. At the very least, our team is no match for him. If you absolutely must investigate this matter, I suggest you include Miss Forsaken."

At this moment, Emilia caught a glimpse of a faint shadow suddenly appearing in the lounge, and Mars also stood up suddenly.

It was a human woman who looked like she had recently given birth. With unsteady steps, she placed a swaddled baby on the table in the lounge.

Then she reached out her hand, stroked the baby's neck a few times, paused, turned around tremblingly, and walked out of the lounge tremblingly, muttering something under her breath.

"Lord Baal, please forgive my cowardice—"

"That paladin is actually one of the Sons of Bhaal... but he is too powerful. I see no hope of killing him."

"I simply cannot survive in a world without you. I can only sacrifice myself, hoping that my child will see the back of Apodale in his lifetime. If the sacrifice is unsuccessful, let him die here."

Then, she knelt down outside the lounge door, silently tore off a piece of cloth from her robe, stuffed it hard into her mouth, then knelt on the ground, took out a scarlet dagger that could be called a dagger, and stabbed it into her abdomen with her backhand.

Blood spurted out.

She staggered, struggled, and drew a hideous magic circle on the ground with her own blood. After confirming that it had begun to glow faintly, she sat in the center of the magic circle.

She gasped a few times with great effort, then reached out her hand to confirm it, and stirred it vigorously.

Amidst indistinct wails, she cut her own body in half with her own hands, letting her blood and organs spill onto the ground.

—A sinister sacrificial ritual.

However, this time, the host chose to sacrifice himself.

Blood gushed out, and internal organs and fat rolled to the ground, making a sticky collision sound, and finally died along with the original owner.

The unusual movement here finally attracted the attention of the monks of Candlekeep: "What happened? Where does the smell of blood come from?"

The next second, these internal organs that were still almost steaming were twisted and deformed in the blood, and most of them turned into a ball of blood and rushed towards the lounge.

At this moment, the female pastor's large and small intestines transformed into two tiny venomous snakes. Unlike other animals, they had a very clear goal. With a slight flick of their tongues, they immediately slithered into the lounge.

This scene made Emiya a little restless, and she couldn't help but stand up and rush in.

Then he fell silent.

Two poisonous snakes born from the sacrificial ceremony were now being held tightly by a baby, unable to move.

The baby laughed and pushed hard.

With the sound of breaking bones, blood spurted out of the poisonous snake's mouth and splashed onto the baby's tender face.

Although he was only about one year old, he looked somewhat ferocious.

Almost at the same time, the monks of Candlekeep also realized that something was wrong. Several shadows passed through Emilia's body and entered the lounge, uttering a few exclamations.

Emilia was silent for a moment. "That baby who crushed two poisonous snakes to death in his cradle, was that you?"

"If the records I borrowed from Candlekeep haven't been altered, then yes," Mars replied. "My father saw me as a resurrected fragment, and my mother couldn't bear to kill me herself, so she sent two venomous snakes to do it for me."

"She loves me, but not much."

Mars, having gotten what he wanted, stood up and said self-deprecatingly, "A scene similar to this is probably happening in every location in Candlekeep. As long as someone still wants to learn something from this phenomenon, Candlekeep won't be able to take any action. The Book Keeper can give orders, but after all, it's up to every monk to carry them out."

This is a plan that is almost like an open conspiracy.

If the enemy was already within reach, no matter how tempting these shadows were, the monks of Candlekeep would not be so confused.

However, the mastermind is still in the shadows, the defenses of Candle Keep are intact, and the monks cannot find a way to crack this phenomenon in a short period of time, which will only make people uneasy.

Emiya shook her head, throwing the slowly dissipating bloody image out of her mind: "So what should we do next?"

"We can only wait..."

Having said this, Mars was suddenly stunned for a moment, jumped up suddenly, and slapped his leg armor heavily: "...No...No, no!"

"In Candlekeep, there is a matter that has troubled them for hundreds of years. Now is the opportunity to solve this matter, and this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

"In the crypts beneath Candlekeep, there lies a silver dragon ghost that has been bound for centuries. She once attacked Candlekeep, and was bound by an archmage, who ordered her to protect it for twenty years. However, the archmage passed away before the end of the agreement, and after his death, no one was able to break the bond. As a result, she has been bound for a full millennium, and even after her death, her soul remains firmly bound here!

"She's driven mad by this seemingly endless captivity, and the so-called protection is becoming increasingly extreme. Candlekeep is desperately trying to ensure her rest.

"If we can resolve this, all of Candlekeep will be in our debt! They can no longer turn a blind eye to the Phantom's affairs!"

As long as the abundance of negative energy continues to rise, the phantom will get closer and closer to the material world and gradually become a real ghost.

However, the phantoms here are not real souls - in other words, those dead who have already gone to the kingdom of the gods may reappear.

Emiya pursed her lips.

——Perhaps, the Book Keeper has exactly the same idea as Mars.

Still, he asked, "You're proposing this now... because you've already seen what you wanted to see?"

"Uh..." Mars was silent for a moment, "Yes."

Eight Dragon Souls (Part 2)

"Hmm... Fertile Castle." Sig walked through the bookshelves, muttering the introduction Mars had given him. "Although this is the outer courtyard, it is the most torturous and valuable place in the entire Candlekeep."

"In short, this is a place where all sorts of unorganized and even unverified information is stored. Many texts are stored here simply because the medium they are stored on is ancient enough."

"The bad news is that everything here is almost original, so obscure rhetoric, self-satisfied puns, random errors, and inappropriate language mashups are everywhere. This quiet side fort has a rather unpleasant nickname among the monks of Candlekeep—"

Sig's eyes and mouth practically wrinkled together. "What the hell... 'cesspool'! Is this a compost toilet? If outsiders knew about this, no one would come here. Even though the musty smell in here is ridiculously strong, it feels like the least popular of the several libraries."

Silver's steps were quite brisk. "Didn't Mars say that only monks and seekers seeking the most obscure knowledge come here? Elastrid wants to find information about Nether and even about the Crown War. She's already borrowed all the relevant materials available in Candlekeep, so she has no choice but to come here."

As he spoke, Yin's eyes lit up, and he stood on tiptoe and rubbed the bookshelf. "Ah, I found it! It's the book that Mars criticized, 'Kara-Tur: Kingdom of the East'! Mars said that the author of this book used Kara-Tur's hieroglyphs as the borders of the pages!"

With some effort, she managed to pull the book out of the pile and flipped through a few pages. "...Wow, they actually have borders... Are these patterns really words? They understand language! Let me see... fufufufufufufufu? What is this? These words only have the same pronunciation; they have no connection at all."

(The above is an adaptation of the true statements and sentiments of a translator from the 2e translation group.)

Sig didn't have the same thirst for knowledge as Silver. She'd only tentatively flipped through a few books before her eyes rolled back. She could only weakly say, "I'd better go find Elastrid... Where is she?"

"Row 16, counter area 2, third floor. At least that's what she said before," Yin said.

"Yes, yes, I remember now." Sig supported his head which was beaten by knowledge, and walked quickly up the spiral stone stairs.

This place was indeed the most deserted place in the entire Candlekeep. Sig glanced around and couldn't even hear any breathing here.

However, just as she was looking around, Elastri's voice suddenly rang out from behind her: "Sigur?"

"Guha!"

Sig's senses are very sharp, and his ability to capture all kinds of clues can be said to be unique in the team.

——Because of this, her reaction is the most intense when faced with sudden messages without any warning.

Elastri's voice suddenly appeared beside her, scaring her half to death. She staggered and almost fell down the stairs.

Elaster shook her head and quickly grabbed Sig: "Am I that scary?"

"Ha...haha..." Sig laughed dryly, "No, no. I'm just a coward. I was scared to death by these phantoms of Candlekeep not long ago..."

Elaster shook her head. "Well, why are you here?"

Sig paused for a moment, then asked in confusion, "We believe we can't just sit back and watch this incident continue to escalate, so we're planning to do something and assemble—should we have informed you in advance?"

"Ah, yes." Alestria tapped her forehead. "Sorry, I've been reading too many books lately."

Sig shook his head and didn't think much about it.

As soon as she turned around, she saw Yin standing at the bottom of the stairs without her knowing when.

Silver tilted his head and said seriously, "Shig—jump down."

"Huh?" The poet was stunned for a moment, then shook off Elastri's hand with his shoulders and jumped directly down the railing.

Then she heard Elastrid singing a light and fast-paced ballad.

In Elvish.

Hell, even though Alestria was an elf, she grew up in a human community—her understanding of elves would probably be beaten to a pulp by the mages and paladins on the team. How could she possibly sing an elvish ballad?!

Sig fell straight down the stairs, and just as he was about to hit the ground, he suddenly felt his body as light as a feather, and landed lightly on the ground.

Only then did she finally turn around.

"Alestrus" has now been firmly sealed by the force field wall and cannot move.

But at this moment, Sig observed the full picture of "Elastri" for the first time.

At first glance, her appearance is almost identical to Elaster, but there are subtle differences in her temperament.

Elastrei's usual demeanor could be described as kind and gentle. But this "Elastrei" before him exuded a strange... compassion?

"Yin, Sig, you misunderstood." The fake Elastri said without getting excited.

"There's no misunderstanding," Yin said flatly. "Elastrid is a priest of Tymora, and you are a swordsinger."

Sig was silent for a moment, then took a few steps closer to Yin. "...The Swordsinger, the one that only elves can afford to learn, the one that sings, dances, slashes, and casts spells...?"

"Yes," Yin replied. "This kind of skill takes ten years to learn. If Alestria is truly a swordsinger, she's only old enough to be a master now. And a swordsinger and a high priest of Tymora? If she's truly so diligent, she should be a high elven mage, not a swordsinger."

Silver's words clearly hit the sore spot for the fake Elastrid. Her silver-white cheeks flushed slightly. "Swordsinger is also one of the elven secret arts, and it's comparable to the elven high magic—"

"Some things are better left to you than to lie to yourself," Yin said slowly. "Whenever the elves are in danger, whether because of others or themselves, don't they always rely on elven high magic? Who would ever count on a swordsinger? Even though most of the troubles the elves encounter are caused by their own high magic—and they mess up the Weave."

"...It seems, Miss Silver, you have more secrets than I imagined." Fake Elastri narrowed her eyes slightly. "But you are still too careless. For example, you two shouldn't act together."

The elf placed his right hand on his waist.

Yin had no intention of responding to her words, but simply said: "Xige, use the silence I taught you."

"oh oh!"

Sig was already furious at what he had just said, but as soon as Yin gave the order, he immediately pointed his finger at the elf obediently.

The fake Elastri naturally would not stay in the force field wall and wait for death. On the contrary, she immediately began to cast a spell.

Yin silently dispelled the force field wall, and Xige's spells followed one after another.

The poet opened his mouth and uttered a barely audible word. This magical word spread silence through the air, striking the elf hard.

In an instant, all vibrations were forcibly suppressed, and the elf could no longer make any sound.

A flash of astonishment flashed in the fake Elastri's eyes.

Silence can be cast on objects or living beings, but if it is a living being, a confrontation between the target and the caster is necessary.

In her impression, Sig was a pretty good bard - but that was all, and he was definitely not known for his magical attainments.

And this poet had just used a spell she had never heard of, forcibly sealing her ability to speak.

Command: Silence? Does this spell exist in this world? Does a bard know this spell?