Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 58: Above the Gray Fog

Upon returning home from the Harvest Church, Cyril immediately locked himself in his room, painting a symbol combining secrecy and voyeurism on the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the corner, while softly calling out Arodes's name.

The next second, the mirror reflecting the room suddenly darkened, like a pool of dark water rippling with waves.

Soon, one by one, silvery-white Rune characters appeared:

"Great and sublime being, Arodes has come to pay homage. What business do you have with me?"

Cyril stared thoughtfully at the words on the mirror, discerning a deep respect and a hidden reluctance to see himself in the text.

...This little mirror is two-faced, it seems.

He sighed silently to himself, then looked at the mirror and asked in a deep voice, "I need a meteorite crystal. Do you know where I can find one, and what's the easiest way to obtain it?"

On the mirror, silver ripples spread instantly, and the words rapidly rearranged:

"A sublime existence. The Abraham family, the Tamara family, and the Aurora Society all have well-preserved meteorite crystals. They are also found in the spirit world, on the sea, and in the warehouses of some orthodox churches."

"If we limit the scope to Backlund, then there are three meteorite crystals, which belong to the Aurora Society, the Church of the God of Steam and Machines, and the Vampires, respectively."

"The easiest one for you to obtain is the one kept by the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. It is stored in the warehouse in the basement of St. Hillan Cathedral. You just need to have your believer exchange it for the merit points he has accumulated. He has just accumulated enough merit points to exchange for a Meteorite Crystal during this period."

Cyril nodded slightly: "I understand."

...The Aurora Society, the Vampires, and the Church of the "God of Steam and Machines" are quite widespread. Going to Emlyn before was definitely the right decision, but unfortunately he was unwilling to help me and didn't even want to listen to me.

Is the only option to have House exchange for the meteorite crystal from the Church of the "God of Steam and Machinery"?

Go to the Harvest Church again tomorrow. If Emlyn refuses, have House exchange for the Steam Church piece.

Having made his decision, he then looked at the newly appearing words on the mirror, a question from Arods based on the principle of reciprocity:

"Supreme being, could you please help me leave the Steam Church?"

"No." Sirion shook his head directly in refusal, paused slightly, and then added:

"In the future, you will meet someone you truly want to follow, and they will take you away from that person."

On the dim mirror surface, ripples spread outwards, and silvery-white words formed and vanished one after another. After a moment of this repetition, it finally coalesced into a complete sentence:

"Someone you genuinely want to follow?"

"You sublime being, do you have any more questions? We can have another Q&A session, no, you can ask two questions."

Following his principle of avoiding spoilers, Cyril wanted to decline Arods's invitation to ask questions, but before he could finish, he suddenly changed his mind:

"I recently found a magical item and now I know roughly about its extraordinary effects and negative impacts. What else do you think I should be aware of?"

After a ripple on the mirror's surface, exaggerated silver words appeared:

"I think it's best not to let its original owner, no, its former owner, know that you found it."

"Also, it's best not to use it for extended periods during combat. While its side effects may seem insignificant to you, the negative impact of attracting conflict is on a fateful level, and if you're not careful, the battle could become increasingly intense."

"Besides that, it's a good weapon, especially when facing evil and corrupt things."

"A sublime existence—do you have a second question?"

...As expected of a sealed artifact with maximum subjective initiative, it can even use this method to circumvent its own instincts.

After a brief sigh, Cyril pondered for a moment and chose to ask a question that he needed but wasn't in a hurry to answer:

"Do you know where I can obtain the complete Brain of Asman and cursed artifacts from ancient vengeful spirits, something suitable for my current identity?"

On the deep, dark mirror, Arodes seemed to have prepared his answer beforehand, giving it almost as soon as the question was asked:

"The former can be obtained through the Abraham family, or ask me for the coordinates of an Asman hiding near Backlund."

"The latter could be found in the Church of the Night in Backlund, or in an underground ruin near Backlund, or in an ancient forest on the outskirts of the city, where ancient vengeful spirits reside. But both places are very dangerous; one involves Amon, and the other involves the underground."

Cyril nodded slightly: "I understand."

As the sequence advances, it becomes almost impossible to find the ingredients for the next potion in the city. Once you become a "Record Officer," you must leave Backlund, whether to digest potions or to find the ingredients for the next sequence of potions.

As his thoughts drifted, he saw silver words, each carrying a sense of caution, emerge on the mirror before him:

"Merciful and sublime being, could you tell me who is the one I sincerely want to follow? Or could you tell me some information about him?"

Cyril shook his head slightly: "When you see him, you will know that he has already arrived in Backlund not long after."

"All right."

A line of words filled with deep disappointment appeared on the mirror, and then she politely took her leave.

After Arrodes left, Cyril looked at the full-length mirror, which had returned to normal, and suddenly slapped his forehead. He had forgotten to ask Arrodes to pass on a message; he couldn't contact House on his own initiative yet.

"Never mind, I'll look for it again after I go to the Harvest Church tomorrow. Anyway, this little mirror is pretty free, and it certainly won't refuse to be bothered by me a few more times."

As he whispered, a thick gray fog suddenly appeared before his eyes. Before he could react, an invisible force appeared, as if trying to pull his spirit out of his body and into an infinitely distant place.

He frowned slightly, his body instinctively resisting the pulling force.

"Um... wait, isn't this just making it obvious that I have a problem?"

Realizing what was happening, Cyril immediately suppressed his instincts and allowed his mind to rise upwards, drawn by the pull emanating from the gray fog.

.....

Meanwhile, above the gray fog, inside an ancient palace that resembled the dwelling of a giant, Klein frowned as he watched the crimson star continuously shrink and expand.

His attempt to pull people up from the gray fog was met with resistance, albeit only for a very brief moment.

He hesitated for a moment whether to continue pulling the other person into the space above the gray fog, but soon he stopped hesitating because the other person had already appeared in front of him.

Cyril felt as if he had only been in a daze for a moment, and then he found himself in an ancient palace shrouded in endless gray mist. Before he could even take in his surroundings, he was met with a tremendous repulsion, as if every wisp of gray mist in the entire palace was rejecting him and trying to push him away.

The surrounding gray fog surged wildly, creating exaggerated "waves," each one seemingly trying to shatter his spirit and drive him away from this place completely.

What's even more unbearable is that he feels his soul is being suppressed here, as if he's been enveloped in a layer of weakness, and he doesn't even have the strength to lift his hand.

"Holy crap!"

"Does it have to be so rough? Pulling and kicking me all the time, am I some kind of ball?"

He muttered a somewhat speechless and resentful complaint as he watched a deep red light rise from his body.

Then, one second, two seconds...

Several seconds passed, and he found himself still standing in the same spot.

The surging gray mist around him subsided abruptly, leaving only ripples, and at the same time, he felt the weakness clinging to his body disappear.

He finally had the energy to look around. It was a palace where every detail exuded an ancient feel. It was so huge that he felt like he had come to a land of giants. Beneath his feet was an endless gray mist, which was still rippled slightly from the tremor.

Before him, at the head of the long, weathered table, a figure shrouded in gray mist sat leisurely in a high-backed chair, quietly watching him:

"What you just spoke wasn't the language of this world, was it?"