Aiwass and Oswald returned very late.
Bishop Mathers didn't teach the sacred arts for very long.
Because once everything that needed to be said was said, the rest was a matter of persistent practice.
Such things cannot be rushed.
Ultimately, these mysterious powers are obtained through the Otherworlders walking their respective Paths, resonating with the philosophical essence of their Paths.
The reason why learning, practicing, and using mysterious arts can increase the level of an Otherworlder's profession is that as Otherworlders practice these arts, they are simultaneously cultivating their respective Paths.
Since it's cultivation, it cannot be achieved overnight.
Unless one is like Aiwass, who has a cheat.
Besides Prayer, Aiwass had already quietly mastered the remaining three sacred arts.
And Prayer didn't need to be specifically taught, as it was already part of the Seminary's curriculum.
Aiwass's original Basic Prayer was simply him not having learned the correct incantations and Prayer rituals.
This was too long and troublesome to teach… and whether or not he mastered the correct Prayer method did not affect his professional advancement.
The correct incantations merely allowed him to draw on Si Zhu's power to heal his soul.
Bishop Mathers also demonstrated it to Aiwass once.
Countless specks of light, like larvae, flew towards Mathers from all directions.
As he prayed, a thin shell of light gradually covered his body, growing brighter as time passed.
During this process, Bishop Mathers's light-attribute mana slowly recovered at a visible rate.
Generally, an exhausted mana pool would only fully replenish after sufficient sleep.
However, spellcasters of various Paths usually have emergency replenishment methods besides sleep.
The method belonging to the Devotion Path is Prayer.
Aside from the universal sleep, the Devotion Path has two opportunities for Prayer during the day.
Through continuous Prayer guidance, the light-attribute mana pool is slowly replenished, recovering up to half of its maximum value.
Illumination consumes too much mana; without using Prayer to recover mana out of combat, the mana would simply not be enough.
The greatest advantage of the mysterious art of Prayer is that it requires no materials, no preparation, and absolutely never fails.
As long as one prays twice a day, for at least three minutes each time, they can steadily gain skill experience.
Skill levels can steadily increase over time.
Even the Prayer time is flexible.
If one is very busy, they can combine the two Prayers before evening; if truly busy, not praying is also fine they just won't get this free and stable experience.
Afterward, Bishop Mathers specifically explained the most important knowledge to Aiwass: "The Nine Pillar Gods actually don't require faith.
"From a certain perspective, we are instead using faith and Prayer to restrain the behavior of the Nine Pillar Gods.
Or, we are like stakes driven into the ground, and faith is the rope… "
But he didn't go into specifics.
That was something Aiwass shouldn't know yet.
In short, even if Aiwass hadn't mastered the correct Prayer method, he would only be unable to use this skill to recover mana.
Once he gained more divine knowledge and Prayer procedures, Basic Prayer would naturally transform into Prayer of the same level.
After that, Aiwass stayed in the chapel and had a simple lunch.
What he ate was the holy communion sanctified by the ritual when Bishop Mathers demonstrated the Blessing skill.
After eating it, he would gain a temporary buff that could stabilize his mind and continuously restore his stamina.
In a sense, the lunch Aiwass ate was his textbook for the day.
Ensuring not a single bit was wasted.
Aiwass also noticed that Bishop Mathers never mentioned Aiwass being in a wheelchair.
He didn't even specifically offer to heal Aiwass's body or help him "stand up again."
A healer of this caliber would likely know with a touch that Aiwass's vitality was vigorous, and he was neither sick nor disabled.
So why was Aiwass in a wheelchair?
Bishop Mathers must have had this question in his mind.
If this wasn't something Aiwass's adoptive father, James, had specifically mentioned to him, then it meant his emotional intelligence was off the charts though he didn't know why, if you don't mention it, I won't ask.
Better to let sleeping dogs lie.
Just pretend not to see or know.
After that, Bishop Mathers pulled Oswald along to watch a seemingly large-scale football match.
The two teams were the Mistletoe Club and the Lake Sword Club.
The former was the Church State's team, while the latter was Avalon's.
Although Aiwass didn't know what was so interesting about these two high-level Otherworlders watching a group of mortals play football… it seemed to be a very important match.
That's why Oswald didn't send Aiwass back, but rather half-heartedly agreed and took him to the stadium.
Anyway, with the two of them protecting him, nothing could possibly go wrong.
Although Aiwass wasn't interested in this, these two were respectable elders, so he just treated it as accompanying the old gentlemen for an outing.
So Aiwass also put on a cheerful and bright demeanor.
From the results, it was clear he was good company.
The former beat the latter four-nil; it was such a crushing victory that even a layman who knew nothing about football could see it.
Oswald seemed very happy, and Bishop Mathers had no particular reaction, merely complaining, "I've long known there's something wrong with the Lake Sword Club's manager."
Overall, it was a happy outcome for everyone.
However, Aiwass did gain a very strange piece of information from their conversation
That is, Mr. Oswald, the old butler of the Moriarty Family, had been serving the Moriarty Family since the founding of the Avalon Kingdom.
But he had a deep sense of identity and affection for the Eternal Church.
Yet, even so, when Aiwass tentatively asked him if he wanted to "go back and see," Oswald just shook his head.
"Can't go back," the old butler sighed, saying casually.
"The Church State is good in every way, but there's no home there.
Better not to return."
This was the first time the usually silent and shadow-like Oswald had mentioned his past to Aiwass and the other "young masters."
After that, Aiwass also became somewhat silent.
It was already evening when Oswald slowly pushed Aiwass back home.
The setting sun hung in the sky, and the amber in Moriarty Manor glowed with a fragmented golden light.
And in front of the iron gate at the entrance of the Manor, a slender young man with black hair and brown eyes leaned quietly.
He was engrossed in reading a dark golden book in his hand, as if no one else was around.
And the pages of the book in his hand emitted a mysterious blue-green light.
The light was like clear, bottomless lake water.
He openly read a forbidden book in front of Moriarty Manor, showing no fear.
He was clearly very familiar and at ease here.
Because Aiwass was in a wheelchair, his line of sight was lower, and he immediately saw the name of the book in the young man's hand.
The Emptiness Sutra.
Aiwass knew this book.
This was a mysterious art from ancient times in that era, the dividing lines between Paths were not as clear as they are today.
Therefore, many ancient arts could potentially belong to multiple Paths simultaneously.
But this book was an exception.
Its Path of Wisdom attribute was very strong.
The "Emptiness Art" it described was the origin of the later Path of Wisdom's mysterious art, "Meditation."
In the game, the owner of this book should be Sherlock Holmes.
It was a collection he had recently acquired at the beginning of the main storyline.
Sherlock was a powerful Otherworlder with both Wisdom and Authority Path adaptability, possessing the dual professions of Law Master and Mage in version 0.
He was a powerful helper who operated outside the main protagonist group.
Although he didn't become a player's companion, he would occasionally come to help solve some difficult problems.
After the fall of the Avalon Kingdom, he did not follow the players to the Church State, nor did he go to the Stibium Kingdom.
Instead, he accepted an invitation from the Iris Kingdom and held a government position for a period of time.
From the name, it's clear that the prototype of this character is Sherlock Holmes.
But with a slight difference from the stereotypical "pipe and cane" image of Holmes as a semi-insider of the Glass Island Surveillance Bureau and a high-level Otherworlder, Sherlock was much wealthier than the original Holmes, and he achieved fame much earlier, without his own Watson.
At the beginning of the main storyline, Sherlock was just 26 years old.
And at this point, he was already the "Chief Consultant" whom even the Inspector of the White Queen's district had to treat with deference.
As a Law Master from the Authority Path, he also spent money much more lavishly on enjoyment.
He would buy the most expensive cigars he could afford, not cheap pipe tobacco.
He wouldn't economize on food either, always treating players to meals during meetings.
He would also travel abroad specifically to listen to the best concerts and give expensive gifts to friends for example, the gifts he gave to players were very valuable.
This is a typical characteristic of the Authority Path: only the best.
Not for enjoyment itself, but for obtaining "the best."
But after he quickly spent the money he acquired, he would calmly downgrade his consumption, living contentedly without money until the next event made him wealthy again.
Sherlock's biggest characteristic was that he never saved money.
He never considered the situation of "what if I run out of money later."
Because the young Sherlock was full of confidence in his abilities.
As long as he had his abilities, he could always get a sum of money he didn't earn it simply because he wasn't interested.
He believed that if he considered what to do in the future, it would be subconsciously implying that his talent would eventually degrade.
Compared to a decline in living quality, admitting that he would one day become foolish was more unacceptable to him.
Such a talented and extremely proud NPC, yet friendly towards players, has always been quite popular among players.
There were also a large number of fan art, cosplays, merchandise, and hand-drawn animations.
Up until the main storyline of version 0, Sherlock was very active, with many shining moments.
Ultimately, he died in the main storyline of version 1.
His cause of death was very bizarre while investigating a crucial case, he was ambushed and killed because he was investigating alone.
Although the plot was different from "The Final Problem," perhaps it was to hint at the direction of the upcoming story.
The name of that major chapter was "The Final Problem."
Looking back now, the person who killed Sherlock at that time might have been Aiwass's adoptive father, James Moriarty.
Because it was only after Sherlock's death that Aiwass's adoptive father reappeared in the plot.
At that time, some players said: "Oh no, the one who came back from 'The Empty House' became Moriarty."
Aiwass had a very deep impression of this event.
Because when the suggestive main storyline name was revealed, the online discussion and popularity exploded.
When the actual plot came out, players' reactions were incredulous.
More than anger and sadness, most comments were like "They really dared to kill him off," "He can't really be dead, can he?" and "Waiting for an Empty House return."
They didn't believe it was real, but they also feared it was.
It was like the feeling of a primary school boy saying "She's really crying" after making a girl cry.
Even Aiwass specifically asked his screenwriter friend if Sherlock was really dead.
The response he got was also vague, "Probably."
But until Aiwass transmigrated, the "Empty House" plot belonging to Sherlock still hadn't arrived.
Instead, James Moriarty jumped out, revealing his identity as the final BOSS of the version's main storyline.
As if noticing the extremely complex gaze, Sherlock suddenly looked up in Aiwass's direction.
Seeing Oswald pushing the wheelchair, he smiled and put away the book in his hand.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Oswald."
He greeted the Mr. Oswald cheerfully and nodded with a smile towards Aiwass.
And Oswald clearly knew Sherlock, greeting him warmly: "Mr. Sherlock, why don't you come in and sit down?
The Professor often mentions you recently."
Aiwass knew that this Mr. Oswald had a very proud personality, with the stubborn temper of an elf and a tendency to look down on others.
If it weren't for someone he recognized, he would never show such a pleasant demeanor.
"Let's not, if I go in, the Professor will start nagging me again.
I'll just drop off the item and leave, I have something else to do just give my regards to the Professor for me."
The black-haired young man politely refused.
"If you're busy today, how about coming to the family dinner tomorrow?
I'll tell the cook to prepare some good dishes in advance."
Oswald kindly pressed, his attitude completely different from the indifference he showed when seeing Haina: "After all, the Professor has indeed been mentioning you for a long time and Mr. Sherlock, you haven't visited the Professor for almost a year."
"It's just that I have something on tomorrow night… you know.
When I'm free later, I'll send a formal invitation to visit."
Sherlock was vague.
He exchanged glances with the Mr. Oswald, and Oswald nodded knowingly.
He no longer brought up that topic.
And Aiwass also realized what Sherlock meant.
If there was something big happening tomorrow night, it was very likely an advancement.
His vague attitude indicated that this advancement was likely illegal he dared to openly read occult books of the Path of Wisdom, yet he was vague about this matter.
Then it must be that his newly acquired secondary Path, the Mage profession of the Path of Wisdom, was about to advance to the Second Circle!
…Just like me.
Aiwass was stunned for a moment.
Well, well.
Are we brothers going to meet in the Dream Realm?
Today's update is still over six thousand words, I can't control the word count, boo hoo…
Happy Children's Day, little ones!