Whispering Verse

"Doctor, I've also heard of this ancient relic, but you can actually find this?"

Luvia sat on the sofa and whispered.

Dr. Schneider nodded:

"Feature, if you put these hairs close to your head, it will automatically connect to your own hair. This feature is not valid for people without any hair on their heads, and for people whose longest hair is less than 0.1 inches (about 2.54mm). And Once attached to these hairs, your luck will become extremely bad. In the longest record, someone persisted until the 13th day before being killed by bad luck. And the only way to get rid of these hairs is"

"Shave your hair off?"

Shade asked, and the doctor smiled helplessly:

"How can it be so simple? The only way is to gain good luck while being attached to the relic. Any method will do, including your [Twenty-sided Dice of Destiny]. I remember that the effect of your dice has a high Priority, the number rolled is not affected by the luck of lower priority items.”

As the doctor spoke, he saw the cat behind Shade's head and reminded:

"This thing is also useful for long-haired animals, Shade, watch your cat."

Shade immediately turned around and grabbed Mia, holding her firmly in his arms.

Mia looked happy.

"Doctor, but this is just bad luck. What about good luck?"

Dorothy got the point.

"It's very simple. First, splice another person's hair on your own hair. It must be black, and it is natural black, not dyed. Then, splice [the unfortunate person's long hair] on another person's black hair. The other end. [Unlucky One's Long Hair] can only be effective on the hair that is still growing on the scalp, so it will not work on another person's hair. And because it is separated by one person's hair, it is spliced ​​with the user's hair. , thus achieving an ambiguous flip in a certain sense. This state will last for about 10 seconds, during which the user will be extremely lucky, and after the time is up, the relic will fall off on its own."

"What's the price of manipulating fate?"

Luvia asked cautiously, and the doctor shook his head:

"For at least half a year, the user will be easily attacked by evil spirits, and the deceased around him will also be easily able to return in the form of evil spirits, but the specific time will depend on the user. Don't underestimate this side effect, the record says After using a relic, you must not go near haunted houses or other areas for a short period of time. This is a side effect of the relic itself. In addition, there is an absolutely equivalent fate. Whatever luck you get, you will pay the same. A degree of bad luck. This kind of bad luck is delayed, but it will definitely happen.”

"No problem, just use this."

Shade said that if he used the dice illegally, not only would he have to bear the cost of further damage to the dice, but he would also be unsure whether the good luck brought by the numbers would definitely come to the road signs he chose.

The good luck brought by hair lasts over time. He didn't want much, just a few percent chance of hitting once. As long as he was fast enough, he didn't have to worry about using the relic but not getting the desired effect.

"Shadow"

The doctor looked at him but didn't stop him:

"The academy has given the news and they are investigating. I can't stop you, because I also want to save Priest Augustus, or at least know what happened to him and bring his body back. Go, Shade, you must be safe."

"We are waiting for you here. No matter what happens, you must come back at five o'clock in the afternoon to say something."

said Dorothy.

"I have divined Priest August before. He definitely did not die in Fort Midhill. Shade, please be safe."

Luvia also whispered, then looked at the people around her and asked again:

"But do you have black hair here?"

"Yes, I have a black hair from my friend."

Shade nodded slightly. Luvia knew that Shade had an unusual relationship with the witch's maid, so she raised her eyebrows and said nothing. Dorothy even knew that Shade had a close relationship with "her" aunt and a better relationship with the maid, so she just glanced at Shade and said nothing.

From the study, take out Tifa's hair. Let Dorothy help tie the short hair next to his right ear, which is a very delicate technique.

Afterwards, the four people came to the first floor together. The doctor didn't follow. He didn't want the devil in him to see more secrets. But before parting, the doctor gave Shade a wooden button. This is an alchemy item he made himself. After use, he can use the distortion of light to distort his facial features, never forming a certain degree of camouflage.

However, this kind of alchemy item can only last for half an hour, and it is easy to be detected by ring warlocks, so it can only be regarded as a backup prop for Shade.

After thanking the doctor, Dorothy and Luvia sent Shade to the wall together. They were not surprised at all that the other knew the secret.

"Anyway, be careful."

They didn't say much, and Shade put the cat that was clinging to him into Dorothy's arms. Although Mia was dissatisfied because she lived with the blonde female writer for a few days, she did not escape.

"You go have lunch first. I'm afraid I won't be back until evening."

He turned around, and Luvia put the metal box containing blood on the ground, fished out the hair in the blood, and tied it to the long black hair on Shade's side face.

The feeling at this moment was very strange. The hair itself had no touch, but when [Unlucky One's Long Hair] came into contact with Tifa's hair, Shade actually thought that his hair "felt" an extremely cold chill.

The whispering in his ears became more obvious, and Shade could even tell that it was a woman telling her miserable life in an ancient language.

Shade didn't say anything, and quickly walked into the hidden wall in front of him, and touched the statue in the center of the circular space without stopping:

"May the original crack protect me in the infinite space."

A thick white fog immediately surged in, wrapping Shade in it. He once again entered a world wrapped in white mist, and on the blurry path in front of him were two old wooden signposts.

At the same time, the mental pressure caused by using the relics suddenly eased, and even the whispers in his ears became fainter:

"You must not be suppressed by this space."

[Outlander, you have entered the "space maze". 】

[Message from the ancient god "Original Crack": ]

[Existing space road signs: 2. 】

"Sacrifice this white stone crystal."

Time was tight, and Shade immediately raised the white crystal in his hand upwards. It disappeared silently into Shade's hands, as if blending into the thick fog.

[New information obtained, you can search for new information]

"southeast!"

[Ancient God-Primal Crack, accepted your sacrifice. 】

[Randomly linking space landmarks. 】

[Link successful, existing space landmark: 3. 】

Shade immediately reached out and took off the bloody lock of black hair that was hanging on the side of his face. He was relieved after making sure that the hair was not stuck to Tifa's long hair.

Obviously it is not a containment condition now, but those black hairs are motionless as if they are "dead".

"Is there still an element of whispering?"

Shade himself can no longer feel the elements.

[Yes, but very weak. 】

Shade nodded, which meant that low-level relics would be suppressed in areas where the ancient god's power remained.

He did not touch the third wooden signpost that appeared on the path in front of him, but took a step back and returned to the hidden wall of the basement. Walking out of the wall, he handed this dangerous relic to the anxious girls, and then he officially started another long-distance adventure.

After touching the statue again, I returned to the [Space Maze] and walked on the blurry path in the white mist. The third newly appeared road sign was also inserted crookedly into the ground. A wooden arrow was nailed to the worn wood, and the number three was crookedly written on it.

Shade put his hand on the road sign:

[The original rift will guide you. 】

The white fog dissipated.

Shade stood there without moving. When the white mist completely dissipated, what appeared in front of him was a circular space exactly like the one behind the wall of his basement.

The statue of the ancient god [Original Crack] stood quietly in the center of the space, glowing as Shade watched.

In both Saint Teresa Square and the circular space at Coldwater Harbour, Schade placed features that identify the place. As for the current space, there is nothing inside except the statue of the god.

"I'm also looking forward to getting the property or relics left by our predecessors in a place like this."

Shade thought in his mind and looked at the wall facing the direction of the statue. Summon the life ring behind you, and control the spiritual light of the core spiritual rune [Time and Space] to illuminate the wall. The wall disappeared silently, but there was a faint light outside.

"What?"

The light should be far away, so the opening of the wall did not trigger any reaction.

Shade waited for a few seconds to make sure he didn't hear approaching footsteps, and then quietly walked out of the circular space to the outside world.

There is a strange musty smell in the air. I calm down and listen. The wind blowing through the treetops and the last wail of summer insects in early autumn are the only sounds.

The light comes from above on the other side of the room you are currently in, and is the natural light of the sun.

Shade then lit up the light on his fingertips and looked around, finding that it seemed to be an abandoned basement. Animal feces and all kinds of worthless garbage were thrown on the ground, and spider webs hung all over the corners.

The moonlight even disturbed the bats resting in the darkness. Those creatures tried to attack Shade, but after a flash of moonlight, they fell to the ground.

"Where is this basement? It smells really bad."

There are no steps from the basement to the upper floors, and the two are connected by a trap door. There might have been metal or wooden escalators, but now there are none.

Although the distance between the ground and the basement was not more than ten meters, because he didn't know what was going on above, Shade did not choose space movement but chose [Frog's Leap].

"Hi!"

After taking off lightly, his hand grabbed the edge of the square entrance to the basement, which was the edge of the gap in the first floor. After still not hearing any human voice, he used his arms to raise his head from under the trap.

This kind of pull-up-like movement puts no pressure on Shade now:

"Where is this place?"

With curiosity, he finally saw everything around him. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and rusty or even rotten metal furniture was piled messily against the walls. There are some traces of a fire on the ground near the right, but that was at least a year ago.

The space on this floor is actually circular, and the walls are made of rough gray square stone bricks. There is no trace of the steam industry era.

Looking up, the spiral staircase spreads upwards. A slender but very strong-looking metal pole extends from the top of the tower to the ground, making it easier to fall from the top floor back to the bottom.

"Tower? Bell tower or lighthouse? Judging from the style, it seems to be neither."

The sunlight comes from directly in front. There are no traces of human use in this large tower. The door at the bottom of the lighthouse has been removed, and the bright sun shines into the first floor of the lighthouse from the outside, and then shines into the basement through the square gap in the ground.

Shade used his arms hard, and after his upper body jumped out of the basement, he first put his legs on the dusty ground, and then climbed up.

As he stood up, he dusted off his clothes and palms. Because of his movements, there was some grainy dust in the sunlight coming in from the front door. This look simply told Shade that this was an area far away from human communities.

“Hopefully it’s not too far from the city, hopefully this is Fort Midhill.”

Xia De thought quietly in his heart, and then he remembered that he nominally believed in the righteous god [Mr. Liming], so he prayed to Mr. Liming in a low voice.

The sunlight shining in from the door was a bit dazzling. He raised his arms to cover his face. Instead of exploring this long-abandoned old tower, he walked into the light of the door.

The wind blew through the treetops, allowing Xia De, who had lived in the Steam City for a long time, to feel the breath of nature for the first time in a long time. There is a forest in front of you, and the old tower behind you has almost completely integrated into the forest. It may have been abandoned for more than 100 years.

The treetops have rested on the outer walls of the old tower, and tree vines connect the towering trees and stone walls. Moss, weeds and various plants that Shade could not recognize covered the ground. Looking up, birds flew out of the windows of the old tower, as if they had been living in the tower for several generations.

"The air is really nice, but what is this tower originally used for?"

He thought to himself.

There was no immediate nighttime expedition because he found a metal plate nailed to the stone wall at the door of the old tower. A few lines of vague words are engraved on the metal plate in the form of official documents to explain the situation here:

[The 1st Regiment of the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Delarion - the 3rd Brigade of the Windy Trail - Tower 12 was abandoned due to the relocation of the front line, and the nearby camp has been demolished. Hunters, lost persons, and stowaways active in the Sikar Mountains can move northwest at 11 o'clock and find a path into the mountains. They can reach the southeastern suburbs of Fort Midhill in about 30 minutes.

Royal Army of the Kingdom of Delarian, Logistics Support Bureau

Universal Calendar 1765]