I Loaded the Mysticism Panel

Hecate waved her hand over the tabletop, and the empty chair dimmed.

"Let’s continue," she said.

"The two newcomers."

Her gaze paused on Richard, then on Nemesis.

"According to the rules, you two must also put your items on the table tonight."

Nemesis spoke first. "I’m prepared."

Richard followed. "I’m ready as well."

Hecate nodded.

"In that case, let the trading begin."

Dionysus took a tin box, one size larger than before, from a hidden compartment beneath his chair and placed it in the center of the table.

He opened the tin box, revealing three items arranged neatly inside.

The first item was a new copy of the Perception Shielding Technique from last time, but this time it was a small booklet of four folded pages.

"It’s the same Technique," Dionysus said, opening the booklet to one of its pages. "But I’ve added three variations."

"Variations?" Prometheus looked up.

"One targets living beings, one targets artifacts, and one targets an area."

Dionysus turned the page.

"The original can only be used on a single living being."

"These three new variations allow you to hide Marvels from remote Perception, shield an entire house, or even lay down a shielded corridor along a road in the wild."

Richard listened intently.

That ordinary shielding techniques only affected living beings was a bottleneck for most Secretive Ones.

But the Ether residue from Marvels was much easier to locate than that of a human. When a Hunter squad entered an enemy stronghold, the signature Marvels they carried were the things most likely to give them away.

Dionysus had expanded a single Technique into a toolkit.

"I stated my price for the original last time," he continued, swirling the wine glass in his hand.

"This time, I won’t be trading the shielding Technique for an admission ticket to the third floor of Imperial University."

"Oh?" Prometheus raised an eyebrow.

"I’m looking for something different tonight." Dionysus’s gaze shifted in Richard’s direction before moving to Prometheus.

"What I want is... a revision patch for the mainstream academic model of Curtain dynamics from the last three years."

He stressed the words "three years."

Richard’s focus sharpened instantly.

Academic research on Curtain dynamics within the Imperial borders had undergone a paradigm shift in the past three years.

The old version of the Haldane Model had been drastically revised through a joint effort by several professors from Imperial University and the Royal Academy.

’The revised version hasn’t been publicly released yet. I learned that from Mr. Hutton; the old gentleman has his own established academic circles in the Imperial Capital.’

’Dionysus actually knew about this.’

’Not only did he know, he even knew that this revision was a "patch" and not a "new model."’

’That means he’s been tracking internal academic progress and has at least one channel that consistently feeds him information.’

Prometheus didn’t respond to the offer. Instead, he pulled an even larger cloth bag from beneath his chair.

He untied the bag. Inside were twelve small vials.

"Deep Ether Condensate. The concentration is a grade higher than the last batch."

"I used a portion of the last batch for myself and reformulated the rest."

"Impressive," Dionysus said. His hand, holding the cup, was a bit unsteady, a clear sign of his astonishment at the other’s power.

"What I want in return has also changed," Prometheus said.

He pushed the cloth bag to the center of the table.

"What I want now is something on another level..."

"A complete internal collection catalog from any of the old, cloistered orders within the Empire. It must cover all manuscripts from the order’s founding to its dissolution."

"The name and location of the order don’t matter. I want the catalog itself."

Hearing this, Richard began to mentally review what he knew.

’I’ve heard the names of a few old, cloistered orders within the Empire that were dismantled.’

’They were all small, reclusive communities from the last two centuries, purged in a joint effort by the state and the National Church for all sorts of unsavory dealings.’

’Most of their collections were scattered, locked away, or simply incinerated during the purges.’

’Finding one with a complete catalog remaining would be nearly impossible.’

No one at the table spoke up to accept his offer.

Prometheus didn’t seem to expect an immediate response.

He left the cloth bag in the center of the table, indicating the offer was still open.

"As for me..."

Richard also retrieved two prepared sets of materials from the hidden compartment under his chair.

The first was the complete Technique description for Stone Armor.

The second was a reverse-engineered theoretical model of Shadow Armor, with the core equations removed.

He placed both sets of materials neatly in the center of the table.

"Stone Armor."

"It’s a universal Protective Technique with a standardized medium and a standardized Casting process."

"It’s universally compatible with the three major schools, has no special requirements for one’s Breathing Technique, and can be used by practitioners of Gold, Burning Blood, and various other branches."

"The original Technique originates from the Inscription Master Guild of the Western Continent and dates back approximately four hundred and sixty years."

"The Technique itself is open-source, so it won’t leave any traceable brand on the user."

He spread the pages of the Stone Armor document out on the table.

Prometheus and Nemesis both turned their gazes to it at almost the same time.

"Stone Armor," Prometheus repeated. "I’ve heard that name before."

"You’ve heard of it?" Dionysus turned his head.

"I saw it in an old catalog," Prometheus said. "Never the complete version."

Richard’s explanation was nonchalant. "An old heirloom I dug up."

Dionysus chuckled, holding his wine glass.

"An old heirloom you just happened to ’dig up’ turns out to be a universal Technique. Your family must be quite something."

Richard didn’t take the bait, instead spreading out the second set of materials.

"This other document is a theoretical model I’ve reverse-engineered myself."

He pushed the model’s table of contents to the center of the table.

"Using Stone Armor as a foundation, it reverse-engineers the conversion path from ’internal reinforcement’ to ’external application.’"

"It covers the basic logic of reverse-engineering a Technique, a feasibility study on the medium, and an analysis of Casting stability under various conditions."

"Take note..."

He admitted openly.

"It’s currently in the model stage. The section with the core equations is not yet complete."

"Anyone who reads the model will understand the line of reasoning, but you’ll be on your own to derive a functional Technique from it."

Prometheus said nothing, but he reached out and picked up the model’s table of contents.

He read it from top to bottom, then flipped back to the first page to read it again.

The entire process took about two minutes. Richard sat in his seat and did not rush him.

From across the table, Nemesis watched the scene quietly.

The Balance Scale above her head remained steady all evening, without the slightest sway.

Prometheus placed the table of contents back on the table.

"This reverse-engineering approach of yours," he said, looking at Richard.

"The breakthrough is in shifting the Technique’s output from one’s own body to an external target."

"Yes."

"I’m very interested in this," Prometheus said.

Dionysus snorted, swirling his wine glass.

"I’m interested as well. Anyone can see the potential of reversing a Technique."

But he set down his wine glass.

"Interest is one thing, but an unfinished Technique goes for an unfinished price. That’s just the market rate."

"I’m not much good at deriving Techniques myself. Let’s talk again at the next gathering, once you have a finished product."

Richard nodded slightly. "I understand."

Prometheus was not as reserved as Dionysus.

He picked a Condensed Liquid Bottle from the cloth bag and placed it by itself in the center of the table.

"This for your model."

Richard reached out and took the bottle.

As he stored the bottle in the hidden compartment under his chair, he pushed the complete materials for the second item toward Prometheus.

"It’s yours."

Prometheus folded the documents for the model neatly and tucked them into the inner pocket of his coat.

But neither of them offered to trade for the Stone Armor, which was just as Richard had expected.

Nemesis then placed her own item on the table.

She produced a thin booklet with an indigo cover.

"Moon Nail."

Nemesis announced the Technique’s name.

"An old Technique from the Moon-Hunting Tradition. It’s a bit older than your Stone Armor—from around five or six hundred years ago."

"This is also a universal Technique," she pointed out.

Nemesis opened the indigo booklet.

"The principle behind the Casting is simple. It uses a sharp silver object as a medium. The cheapest option is a Silver Needle, though a short silver blade can be used if you’re feeling more particular."

"The Caster uses their Breathing Technique to channel Ether through the medium to its tip, where it condenses into a high-density ’Nail.’"

"Once cast, the Moon Nail has a dual piercing effect on both the Material Layer and the Ether Layer."

She closed the booklet.

"Against a person, a Moon Nail’s destructive power is roughly equivalent to a normally thrown dart."

"Against Evil Beings, the Moon Nail will penetrate their Ether Layer."

"That is its true purpose."

"Once the Ether nail penetrates, it will tear an opening along its trajectory."

"Against the lowest-rank Evil Beings, such as Wandering Spirits and Ghouls, a single Moon Nail is enough to at least seriously wound them."

"Lower-rank Evil Beings can last a bit longer, but their mobility will decrease significantly with each hit."

"As for Middle Tier Evil Beings and above..."

She explained candidly,

"The Ether Layer of a Middle Tier Evil Being is tougher and heals actively, so the significance of the Moon Nail lies more in ’interruption.’"

Richard felt a stir of interest.

’This Technique is excellent. I’ve been worried about my lack of offensive measures for dealing with Evil Beings.’

"Can this Technique be used by someone at Minor Mastery or above?" he asked, getting to his most pressing question.

"Of course. Someone at Minor Mastery could even modify it themselves," Nemesis said.

"In versions I’ve heard of, some have modified Moon Nail into ’Moon Blade Rain,’ using Ether to condense dozens of Moon Nails to blanket an area."

"Others have elongated it into a ’Moon Chain,’ which extends to the next target after piercing the first."

"There are even more esoteric variations, like extracting the ’Ether’ component of the Moon Nail to create a probe on the pure Perception layer, which you can stick through a wall to scout what’s on the other side."

Richard started doing the mental arithmetic.

’Ordinary firearms, including military-grade rifles and the police revolvers used at the Branch Office, are extremely inefficient against Evil Beings.’

’Enchanted Bullets solve that problem, but they’re expensive—the more Inscription Rings, the more they cost.’

’A single Single-Ring Bullet costs as much as dozens of regular bullets, to say nothing of a Three-Ring Bullet.’

’That box of six Three-Ring Enchanted Bullets Aries pulled out last time was part of his personal stash, something he couldn’t even bear to use.’

’And the cost of a Moon Nail?’

’A single Silver Needle, plus the Caster’s own expenditure of Ether.’

’You can buy Silver Needles at any tailor’s shop, and they won’t cost more than a shilling at most.’

’A Cultivator who has mastered Moon Nail is essentially carrying around a box of low-cost, reusable "Enchanted Bullets."’

’Most importantly, Moon Nail is a legitimate Technique with potential for advancement, and I have Shadow Reversal.’

Richard was ready to make the trade.

"Nemesis, can I trade the Stone Armor for..."

"Done."

Nemesis’s reply was crisp and decisive.

Richard pushed the documents for Stone Armor to her side of the table.

Nemesis pushed the small booklet for Moon Nail to his.

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