The Missionary fell with a "thud," kneeling on the slightly damp wooden floor. The empty glass bottle slipped from Syl's hand and crashed onto the floor, cracking open.
This faint sound seemed to startle a mouse that had been lurking under the wardrobe. It scurried out in a panic, ran under the bed, and peered with beady eyes at the petite red-haired girl kneeling on the floor.
"Change... Clown... Physician... Affection... Ugh..."
The girl seemed to be struggling to mutter something, but it was completely ineffective; instead, she let out a low howl of pain.
Syl's fiery red pupils—specifically her right eye—began to emit a faint blue glow, while her left eye remained unchanged, creating a jarring contrast.
"Si-ha—"
Low growls, not belonging to any human, emanated from the girl's throat, though they were being deliberately suppressed to the lowest possible volume.
Suddenly, a faint blue line appeared beneath the girl's skin. At first, it was barely noticeable, but in the blink of an eye, her entire body began to be covered in blue, purple... various colored lines.
Simultaneously, something seemed to be wriggling under her skin.
"Tear—"
The sharp sound of tearing leather rang out as a line on the girl's face ripped open from the inside. Sharp teeth thrust outward, and in an instant, a terrifying bloody mouth appeared on her face.
"Pain..." The newly formed bloody mouth let out a baby-like cry of pain, despite having no vocal cords.
Like a chain reaction, the sound of tearing flesh continued to ring out. Eerie rifts of various shapes opened across the girl's body, and in a flash, her form was covered in gaping mouths and tongues.
A cacophony of different voices, mingled with weeping and whispering, sounded like thousands of people wailing and crying. It was enough to drive any ordinary person, or even a low-level Transcendent, into madness.
Just as the noise reached a crescendo and the Bell of Restraint began to crack, all sound suddenly vanished.
"Cough—"
A mouthful of black blood was coughed up by the girl, and the rifts on her body completely disappeared.
Her skin remained delicate and smooth, and her face, lovely with the air of a budding cold beauty, was flawless. There was no sign that any rifts had ever appeared.
It was as if everything had been an illusion.
"Ha... ha..." The girl panted slightly, cold sweat soaking her forehead.
"That was intense... What just happened..."
Syl struggled to stand up, leaning against the nearby table, her mind still somewhat unsettled.
"Transcribe it... Record it..."
"All the secret arts in the world should belong to me..."
"All of this should have been mine, yes, all mine..."
A strange whisper echoed in Syl's mind, but it quickly vanished with a roar from within her head.
This sensation left Syl somewhat surprised.
The whisper sounded like the effect of the potion, the Ritual she needed to complete. The roar, however, sounded like it had come from one of the rifts on her body earlier.
It sounded... as if the rifts had scolded the whispers of the potion.
Also... Syl reached out to touch her face and arms, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
When she first drank the potion, Syl hadn't felt much.
But suddenly, the Missionary persona activated the skill [High-Speed Chanting] on its own. Instantly, rifts covered her entire body, seemingly using eerie wails and roars to combat the ravings.
As a result, Syl's mind was now incredibly clear, feeling as if she hadn't drunk the potion at all.
However, looking at her character panel, her class had indeed changed to [Scribe], and her rank had become "Rank 1."
Syl had successfully advanced. Furthermore, she felt she could consume the Rank 2 potion already. Although the process was terrifying, the side effects of the potion had vanished.
"So that's what High-Speed Chanting means... I thought it just increased the speed of chanting..."
And when the Missionary had unleashed High-Speed Chanting earlier, Syl had a faint feeling.
These rifts from High-Speed Chanting seemed to be able to help her chant spells.
Without thinking for too long, Syl took action. She opened a basic notebook of secret arts and looked at the first spell recorded inside.
"Light Spell... requires Shining Powder. I remember buying some..."
Syl began rummaging through the materials in her cloth bag, eventually finding a small bottle of Shining Powder.
"Uh... what script is this? Luckily there's an ancient greater saya language phonetic transcription below... It feels like learning a foreign language in my past life."
Syl smiled, then poured out a bit of the Shining Powder. The glittering powder emitted a faint shimmer in her hand.
Syl's right eye flickered with blue light as her spiritual power was steadily depleted. A magic circle slowly formed in her hand. At the final moment, following the instructions in the notebook, she tossed the Shining Powder.
(ancient greater saya language) "Flash!"
A bright flash erupted from the powder Syl had thrown, its brilliance far exceeding what the material should have been capable of.
"Is this magic...?"
Although her eyes were momentarily blinded by the flash, Syl was still very excited... This was the first time she had personally chanted a magic incantation and released a spell. It was completely different from the innate, practiced abilities of the character cards.
This sense of novelty made Syl want to try again.
This time, she also wanted to try using [High-Speed Chanting].
If [High-Speed Chanting] could help her increase her chanting speed or allow her to cast different spells simultaneously, it would be an unexpected finishing move—likely becoming her life-saving trump card at this stage.
Syl poured out some more powder, pinched it in her hand, and after a moment of preparation, she thought to herself:
"High-Speed Chanting."
Thousands of rifts tore open all over Syl's body; some rifts even had smaller rifts inside them, like an endless series of nesting dolls.
Syl quickly threw the Shining Powder and shouted low, following the previous method:
(ancient greater saya language) "Flash!"
This action of Syl's triggered a different reaction.
The rifts all over Syl's body began to chant simultaneously:
(ancient greater saya language) "Flash!"
(Third Ancient Leighton Language) "Awe!"
(Fourth Ancient Guga Language) "O Light!"
"..."
Each rift uttered a different eerie language. Countless magic circles appeared all over Syl's body, and her spiritual power was drained at an incredibly rapid pace.
"Boom—"
The tiny amount of Shining Powder erupted with an astonishing incandescent light and a thunderous roar. However, all of this commotion was blocked by the Bell of Restraint and did not spread outside.
But the Forbidden Bell shattered instantly after blocking everything, and even Syl was plunged into temporary blindness.
"Physician—"
Syl quickly transformed back into the Physician. Looking at the mess in the room, with faint scorch marks everywhere, she was completely stunned.
The corner of Syl's mouth twitched involuntarily.
"You call this a simple Light Spell for illumination?"
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