Chapter 25 "The Final Case"
Aiwass and Oswald returned very late.
Bishop Mathers had not been teaching the sacred arts for long.
Because after everything that needs to be said has been said, all that remains is persistent practice.
This kind of thing shouldn't be rushed. Ultimately, these mysterious powers resonate with transcendent beings as they navigate their respective paths and conform to the philosophical essence of their paths.
The reason why learning, practicing and using mysterious skills can improve the level of extraordinary professions is that when extraordinary people practice these skills, they are actually practicing their own paths.
Since it is a practice, it cannot be achieved overnight.
Unless you open it like Aiwass.
In addition to "prayer", Aiwass has quietly mastered the remaining three sacred skills. Prayer does not need to be taught specifically because it is the content of the seminary's teaching.
Aiwass's original "basic prayer" meant that he hadn't yet learned the correct prayer words and rituals. Teaching them would be too long and cumbersome... and whether or not he mastered the correct prayer method wouldn't affect his career advancement.
The correct prayer could only draw upon the power of the candle to heal the soul. Bishop Mathers had also demonstrated it to Aiwass.
Countless tiny lights, like larvae, flew toward Mathers from light sources on all sides. As he prayed, a thin shell of light gradually covered him, growing brighter with time.
During this process, Bishop Mathers' light-attribute mana was slowly recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Generally speaking, a depleted mana pool can only be replenished after sufficient sleep.
However, spellcasters on their respective paths usually have other means of emergency supplies besides these.
The means of the path of devotion is prayer.
In addition to the standard sleep spell, the Path of Devotion grants two opportunities to pray daily during the day. During this continuous prayer channel, the Light attribute mana pool slowly replenishes, restoring up to half of its maximum value. Illumination consumes a significant amount of mana, and without prayer to regenerate mana while out of combat, mana is simply not sufficient.
The greatest advantage of the mysterious art of prayer is that it requires no materials, no preparation, and will never fail.
As long as you pray twice a day for at least three minutes each time, you can gain skill experience steadily.
Skill level can be steadily increased over time.
Even the prayer times are flexible. If you're busy, you can combine two prayers before dusk. If you're really busy, you can even skip the prayers—that's just not a free, stable experience.
Afterwards, Bishop Mathers specifically explained the most important knowledge to Aiwass: "The Ennead Gods actually do not require faith.
"From a certain perspective, we are actually using faith and prayer to constrain the behavior of the Ennead Gods. In other words, we are like stakes driven into the land, and faith is the rope..."
But he didn't say anything specific.
That was something Aiwass wasn't supposed to know yet.
In short, even if Aiwass didn't master the correct prayer method, he would simply be unable to use this skill to restore mana. As he gained more knowledge of the gods and the prayer procedures, [Basic Prayer] would naturally become a [Prayer] of the same level.
Afterward, Aiwass stayed in the chapel for a quick lunch. The food he ate was the holy communion ritually sanctified during Bishop Mathers's demonstration of the "Blessing" technique. Consuming it granted a temporary buff, stabilizing his spirit and continuously restoring his physical strength.
In a sense, Aiwass's lunch is his textbook for the day. He ensures that nothing is wasted.
Aiwass also noted that Bishop Mathers made no mention of Aiwass's wheelchair use.
He didn't even specifically offer to heal Aiwass or help him "get back on his feet."
A healer of this level could tell with a touch that Aiwass was full of vitality and had no illness or disability at all.
So why does Aiwass use a wheelchair?
Bishop Mathers must have had this question in his mind. If it wasn't that Evans's adoptive father, James, had specifically mentioned this to him, then his emotional intelligence was simply too high—though I didn't know why, but if you don't mention it, I won't ask.
Less is more. Just pretend you didn't see it and didn't know it.
After that, Bishop Mathers dragged Oswald to what looked like a large football game.
The two parties are the "Unicorn Club" and the "Sword in the Lake Club".
The former is the team of the Theocracy, while the latter is from Avalon.
Although Aiwass didn't know what the point was of these two high-level transcendents watching a group of mortals play football...but this seemed like a very important game. That's why Oswald didn't send Aiwas back, but instead half-heartedly agreed and took him to the stadium.
Anyway, with them two protecting us, nothing will happen.
Although Aiwass was not interested in this, these two were elders worthy of respect, so he just treated it as accompanying the old man out for fun.
So Aiwass also put on a cheerful and cheerful front. Judging from the results, it was obviously a good match.
The former defeated the latter 4-0, a crushing defeat that even a complete layman could see. Oswald looked delighted, and Bishop Mathers had no particular reaction, only complaining, "I've known for a while that the manager of Sword of the Lake was a problem." Overall, everyone was happy.
However, Aiwass got a very strange piece of information from their conversation -
That was Oswald, the old butler of the Moriarty family. Although he had served the Moriarty family since the founding of the Kingdom of Avalon, he had a deep sense of identity and affection for the Eternal Church.
But even so, when Aiwass tentatively asked him "Do you want to go back and take a look?", Oswald just shook his head.
There’s no going back. The old housekeeper sighed and said casually.
"Everywhere in the Church is good, except that I have no home. It's better not to go back."
This was also the first time that Oswald, who was as taciturn as a shadow, mentioned his past in front of his "little masters" like Aiwass.
After that, Aiwass was also silent.
It was already evening when Oswald slowly pushed Aiwass home.
The setting sun hung in the sky, and the lake at Moriarty Manor shimmered with a golden glow. And in front of the iron gate at the entrance of the manor, a thin young man with black hair and brown eyes was quietly leaning against it.
He flipped through the dark golden book in his hand as if no one was around.
The page in his hand was emitting a mysterious blue-green glow, like the clear water of a lake.
He openly read the banned book in front of Moriarty Manor without any fear, which shows that he is very familiar with the place and feels at ease.
Because Aiwass was sitting in a wheelchair, his line of sight was relatively low, so he saw the name of the book in the young man's hand at a glance.
——"The Secret Sutra of Emptiness and Illumination".
Aiwass knew the book.
This is a mystical art from ancient times—a time when the lines between paths were not as distinct as they are today. Therefore, many ancient arts could belong to multiple paths simultaneously. This book is an exception.
It has strong attributes of the path of wisdom. The "empty and clear technique" it describes is the origin of the mysterious skill of "meditation" in the path of wisdom.
In the game, the book is believed to be owned by Sherlock Hermes, who acquired it shortly after the main storyline began.
Sherlock is a powerful transcendent who is adaptable to both wisdom and authority. In version 1.0, he had the dual professions of "Lawyer" and "Mage".
He is a powerful helper who is independent of the protagonist group.
Although he didn't become the player's partner, he occasionally came to help solve problems. After the fall of the Kingdom of Avalon, he didn't follow the player to the Theocracy or the Star Antimony Kingdom. Instead, he accepted an offer from the Iris Kingdom and served in a government position for a period of time.
As the name suggests, the prototype of this character is Sherlock Holmes.
But it is slightly different from the stereotype of Holmes as a "pipe and cane" - Sherlock is half a member of the Glass Island Supervisory Bureau and a high-level extraordinary person. He is much richer than the Holmes in the original book, became famous much earlier, and does not have his own Watson.
At the beginning of the main storyline, Sherlock was only 26 years old. At this time, he was already the "chief advisor" to whom even the inspector general of the White Queen District had to be polite.
As a lawyer who came from the authoritarian path, he was much more lavish in spending money on enjoyment.
He would buy the most expensive cigars he could afford, rather than cheap pipe tobacco. He also didn't skimp on food, treating players to meals whenever they met. He even traveled abroad to attend the best concerts. The gifts he gave to his friends were also very expensive—for example, the gifts that planners gave to players on his behalf were often valuable in-game purchases.
This is a typical characteristic of the authoritarian path: only the best is wanted, not for the sake of enjoyment itself, but for the sake of obtaining the "best."
But after he quickly spends the money he gets, he will calmly downgrade his consumption and live a life of poverty happily until the next event makes him rich again.
Shylock's biggest characteristic is that he never saves money. He never considers the possibility of running out of money in the future.
Because young Sherlock is full of confidence in his own abilities. As long as he has his own abilities, he can always get a sum of money - he doesn't make money simply because he has no interest.
He believed that if he thought about what he would do in the future, he would be subconsciously suggesting that his talents would eventually decline. He could not accept the fact that he would become stupid one day, even more than the decline in his quality of life.
This talented and extremely proud, yet friendly NPC has always been quite popular among players. There are also a large number of fan art, cosplay, peripherals, and handwritten books.
Until the main line of version 5.0, Sherlock was very active and had many highlights.
In the end, he died in the main storyline of 5.1.
The cause of death was very strange - when investigating a case at a critical point, he was killed because he was investigating the case alone.
Although the plot is different from "The Final Case," perhaps to hint at the direction of the next story, the name of that chapter is "The Final Case."
Looking back now, the person who killed Sherlock might have been James Moriarty, Aiwass's adoptive father. Because it was after Sherlock's death that Aiwass's adoptive father reappeared in the plot.
At that time, one player said: "Oh no, the one who came back from the 'empty house' is Moriarty."
Aiwass was deeply impressed by this incident.
When the reveal of this suggestive main plot title was revealed, online discussion and excitement exploded. When the plot finally came out, the players' reactions were unbelievable.
Instead of anger and sadness, more comments were like "How dare you send him a bento", "He's not really dead, is he?", "Waiting to return to an empty house".
I don't believe it's true, but I'm afraid it's true.
It feels like the moment a primary school boy makes a girl cry and then says, "You really cried."
Even Edwards specifically asked his screenwriter friend whether Sherlock was really dead.
The response he got was also vague, "probably."
But even after Aiwass's journey, Sherlock's "empty house" plot still hasn't arrived. Instead, James Moriarty jumps out and reveals himself as the final boss of the main storyline.
As if noticing the extremely complicated gaze, Sherlock suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of Aiwass.
Seeing Oswald pushing the wheelchair over, he smiled and put away the book in his hand.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Oswald."
He greeted the old butler briskly and nodded to Aiwass with a smile.
Oswald obviously knew Sherlock and greeted him warmly: "Mr. Sherlock, why don't you come in and sit down? The professor has mentioned you a lot recently."
Aiwass knew that the old butler had a rather proud character, with the stubborn temper and arrogance of an elf.
If it wasn't someone he approved of, he would never be so nice to him.
"Forget it. If I go in, the professor will nag me again. I'll just drop the things off and leave. If there's anything else, just say hello to the professor for me."
The black-haired young man politely declined.
"If you have something to do today, why don't you come to the family dinner tomorrow? I'll ask the cook to prepare some delicious dishes in advance."
Oswald asked kindly, his attitude completely different from the indifference he had shown when he met Haena: "After all, the professor has been talking about you for a long time - and Mr. Sherlock, you haven't visited the professor for almost a year."
"I just have something to do tomorrow night... you know. When I'm free later, I'll send you a formal visit."
Sherlock was evasive.
He exchanged a glance with the old butler, and Oswald nodded in sudden realization, not mentioning the matter any further.
And Aiwass also realized what Sherlock meant.
If there is something big happening tomorrow night, it is most likely advancement.
His vague attitude meant that this advancement was most likely illegal—he even dared to openly read the mystical books on the path of wisdom, yet remained vague about the matter.
That must be the secondary path he had just obtained. The "Mage" profession in the Wisdom Path is about to be advanced to the second level!
...same as me.
Aiwass was stunned for a moment.
Good job.
——Are we going to meet in the dream world?
Today is still an update of more than 6,000 words, I can't control the word count at all...
Wish the babies a happy Children's Day!
(End of this chapter)
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