When he heard Klein’s question, Dunn glanced out the window at the corridor of the “Chanes Gate”. He took out his own pipe, stuffed it with tobacco and mint leaves, then put it beside the nose. As he sniffed a deep breath, his voice was slightly erratic.
"Only at home, can I enjoy the wonderful taste of tobacco and mint leaves in an unscrupulous way… Klein, do you know the myth of Creation?"
“Of course, when I received my primary education from the Sunday School, I had learned the language using the “Revelation of the Night”. The chapters ‘Book of Wisdom’ and ‘Letters from the Saints’ had both mentioned the myth of Creation.” Klein recalled the original-self's fragmented memory and slowed down as he spoke. “The Creator woke up from the chaos, he shattered the darkness, created the first ray of light, and completely integrated into the universe. The Creator transformed into the world, his body became the earth and the stars, one of his eyes turned into the sun, and the other one turned into the red moon. Some of his blood rushed into the seas and the rivers, nourishing and nurturing lives…”
As he reiterated, Klein subconsciously paused. It was half because the related memories were vague, and a half because the Creation myth was little similar to the story of Pangu(1).
[The imaginations of people in different worlds on myths and legends have something in common!]
Noticed that Klein encounter "difficulty" in reciting, Dunn smiled and helped him continued.
“His lungs turned into the elves; his heart turned into the giants; his liver turned into the treants; his head turned into the dragons; his kidneys turned into the feather serpents; his hair turned into the immortal birds; his ears turned into the demonic wolves; his mouth and teeth turned into the unusual species, and his remaining body fluid turned into sea monsters, the essence of which was Naga. His stomach, his small intestine, and the evil parts of his body turned into demons, evil spirits and all kinds of unknown malicious existences. His spirit became the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of the Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom…”
“The human beings were born out his wisdom. This was the first epoch, the Epoch of Chaos.” Klein finished the last sentence. In his heart, he felt funny and ridiculous.
As a keyboard folklorist, it was the first time for him to come into contact with such a detailed “arrangement” in a creation myth. It was detailed to an extent that each of the prominent races was described as a body part of the Creator.
[It's like children sitting in a row and receiving fruit…]
Moreover, this was not only mentioned in the literature of the Goddess of the Night, but also by the Church of the Lord of the Storms, and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. None of the religions praised itself alone or devalued the rest of the gods…
[This either indicates that the Creation myth is real or that the several churches in the pre-historic periods, before the Fifth Epoch, had finally reached an agreement after a long period of struggles and compromises…]
Thinking of this, Klein suddenly had another question. He frowned slightly and asked.
"I am little confused. Why were the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of the Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom born directly from the spirit of the Creator, and yet the Goddess was not?”
In the prehistoric records of the "Revelations of the Night", the Goddess of the Night did not wake up until the end of the Second Epoch. Together with the Lord of the Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and other gods, she blessed and helped humans to survive the Cataclysm. It was also known as the Third Epoch, “Epoch of Cataclysm.”
The Goddess of Earth and the God of War also appeared in the same period. On the other hand, the “God of Steam and Machinery”, formerly known as the “God of Craftsmanship”, was only born in the Fourth Epoch.
In this way, the status of the gods seemed to be self-evident.
Who was more ancient, who was more orthodox, was very clear!
This would have caused some troubles for the believers of the Goddess of the Night.
Dunn Smith held the pipe with his other hand. He did not answer but asked another question.
“Can you describe the complete title of the Goddess?”
Klein felt that he had stabbed himself with a knife. He racked his brains and tried to recall.
“She is nobler than the stars and more ancient than eternity. She is the Goddess of the Night, also known as the Lady of Crimson, the Mother of Occult, the Queen of Troubles and Fears, and the Ruler of Peace and Silence.”
Fortunately, Klein's mother was a devout follower of the Goddess of the Night. When she was alive, she used to recite this every evening and before every meal. Even if the memory of the original-self had become fragmented, it was not be lost.
“What does the Lady of Crimson symbolizes?” Dunn asked in a guiding tone.
“The red moon.” When Klein finished speaking, he seemed to understand.
“Which part of the Creator did the red moon came from?” Dunn smiled and asked.
“A single eye!” Klein and Dunn smiled at each other.
This was no worse than the Lord of the Storm which was formed by one-third of the spirit of the Creator!
As for the Goddess of Earth and the God of War, their churches should have similar explanations. Only the God of Steam and Machinery was “born” too late to find a reason – their church had been weak in the past one thousand years until the steam engine was invented. Only after then, it managed to seize the opportunity and become truly on-par with the other gods.
Dunn stroke the pipe gently.
“Human beings were born from the wisdom of the Creator, so we have a clever and extraordinary brain but lack magical abilities. However, from the Creation myth, we can derive a simple and clear conclusion. Everything comes from the same origin.”
“The same origin…” Klein repeated the last few words.
“According to this conclusion, under the shelter of the gods, human beings confronted the giants, the demons, and the unusual species. We have gradually explored ways to obtain extraordinary powers. This is by using the corresponding parts of the evil spirits, the dragons, the monsters, the magical trees, flowers, or crystals. Combining those with other materials, we prepare them into potions. In this way, we can absorb and master different abilities. This is a common knowledge for all extraordinary paths.”
Dunn didn’t dive into the details. He had only made a brief introduction. “In the process, our ancestors relied on painful lessons to discover out that if you took high-grade, hyper-extraordinary potions directly, it would easily to lead to tragedies. There were only three possible outcomes.”
“Which three?” Klein curiously asked.
“First, mental death and physical breakdown. Every piece of flesh and every drop of blood transformed into a terrible monster. Second, the powers in the potions would instantly change one's personality. One would become cold, sensitive, irritable, cruel, and indifferent. Third, well…” Dunn put down the pipe and picked up the porcelain cup next to him. He took a sip, “Fermer coffee from the Paz Valley is very bitter but also very fragrant. It has a great aftertaste. Do you like to have a cup?”
“I prefer Feneteau plateau’s coffee. Of course, I had only tasted it a few times at Welch’s house.” Klein politely refused, “What about the third?”
“Mental abnormality, madness on the spot, more devilish than the devil, this is known as losing control.” Dunn added an accent on the word “losing control.”
Not waiting for Klein to continue, he placed the coffee cup on the table and continued.
“After a long period of experiment and exploration, coupled with the discovery of the ‘Slate of Desecration’, humans had finally perfected the potion system. We formed a series of step-by-step, stable progression paths along the sequence chains. The lower the sequence number, the higher the magic potion rank. To date, each of the seven churches has at least one complete sequence and a few hundred years of collections of less complete ‘paths’."
“Slate of Desecration?” Klein had sharply noticed the term.
In the “meeting”, The Hanged-Man had also mentioned it!
According to The Hanged-Man, the slate was the most critical factor in the formation and integrity of the contemporary potion system!
This was not the same as Dunn's words.
“It was something created by some evil gods. I am not too clear which era it was created, what was recorded on it, nor what was special about it. If you discover any clues, you must report it immediately. It deserves the highest level of response.” Dunn vaguely explained, “I have just mentioned one of the types of losing control. Now, I am going to elaborate on the remaining four.”
“Ok.” Klein left the “Slate of Desecration” issue behind his mind and listened attentively.
“Humans have smart minds but no other extraordinary abilities. However, this is not always the case. There are always some lucky people, or rather unfortunate people, who are born with high insight. Well, that is, the ability to sense the spirits. They can listen to the sound that others can’t hear, see what others can’t see, and have partial extraordinary features.”
As Dunn spoke, he stared into the emptiness around him which gave Klein a sense of creepiness. “In other words, they are equaled to half a Sequence 9 Extraordinary, with some fixed characteristics. Oh, Sequence 9 is in the lowest grade in the 'chain'… In short, these people can only choose the corresponding, fixed sequence pathways. If they take other potions, they may suffer mental disorders, loss of control, or even direct death.”
“I understand.” Klein slowly nodded.
“The third kind of loss of control is similar to the second one. Once you have selected a sequence chain, you can only go down this ‘path’ and you can’t change your mind. If you take the potion of another suitable ‘path’, although there is a high probability that you will get a mixed, unusual and distorted ability, it is almost certain that you will enter a state of semi-madness, becoming either highly sensitive and irritable, cruel and bloodthirsty or silent and melancholy.”
“And there is only one such opportunity. After that, whether it is taking the original path’s potion or the current sequence of potion, the only result will be losing control. It can be mental death, or the body collapses into a monster or an evil spirit.” Dunn continued speaking as he took another sip from the coffee cup.
Klein was a little scared and was silent for a few seconds.
“What about the fourth kind of loss of control?”
“The fourth kind, huh, is one of the most common problems. After all, we take the potions and gain the abilities that belong to extraordinary species. This is an unnatural progression. Therefore, we are more or less affected by the residual spiritual powers. Perhaps, the symptoms are not manifested nor detectable, but they are always hidden in our mind. Before one can fully master the extraordinary powers of the potions and eliminate these subtle traces, rushing to take a higher sequence of corresponding potions will accumulate madness and the possibility to lose control…” Dunn suddenly stopped.
After the pause, he sighed. “As per the internal rules of the Night Watchers, even if the team members make a great contribution, they must wait for three years and be examined before they can be promoted. Even so, there are many people who lose control every year.”
[It's terrible…] Klein took a deep breath.
“What about the last type?”
Dunn's mouth was tilted but he's not smiling.
“The fifth is also a common cause of loss of control. For an extraordinary, one’s insight is more or less improved. The smaller the sequence number, the greater the improvement. Therefore, you can hear the sounds that others can’t hear, see the things that others can’t see, and encounter the things that others do not encounter. You will be tempted by mysterious lures and illusions. Once you receive other simulations or have your own desires, you will slowly get out of control one step at a time.”
As he spoke, Dunn turned to face Klein. His gray pupils reflected the image of Klein.
His tone became sorrowful.
“The founder of the modern Night Watcher system, Archbishop Chanes once said.”
“We are the guardians, but at the same time we are also the miserable people who are fighting against danger and madness.”
TN:
1) Pangu – Chinese creation myth