touchnovel Chapter 49 Revisited: St. Audrey's Church
Chapter 49 Revisited: St. Audrey's Church
Professor Anthony's academic speed is nothing short of terrifying.
In just one hour, he not only got Daisy to complete the Horn translation of the entire book, *Shadows of Innsmouth*, but also added grammatical notes in the margins that needed to be understood.
Lucius read it from beginning to end, and when he reached the last page describing the Black Skeleton Sacrifice ritual…
Mysticism Diary opened automatically:
[On July 3, 1855, during the Fifth Century, I read "Shadows of Innsmouth" and gained insight into a secret history, "The Call of the Deep."]
[Complying with the code of conduct "Seeking Knowledge" earns +1 Mysticism Point]
The Call of the Deep Sea
【Sexual Appearance: Secret History (1)】
[Effect: Descends, 0/3]
[Introduction: You think you're looking at the abyss, but the abyss has already flowed into your blood.]
"It's a secret history!" Lucius exclaimed in surprise, staring at the words that appeared on the diary.
Unlike the other eight principles, the Secret History does not provide any power that can be applied to the waking world.
It represents all forms of legend, forgotten accounts, and hidden pasts never acknowledged by official history.
In the internal archives of the Anti-Suppression Bureau, secret histories were marked as safe, valuable keys for development.
The person who possesses it can randomly become a character in this secret history through a special method called "descent".
Experience that hidden history and uncover lost secrets, potion ingredients, and ritual details.
Each appearance has a limited number of times, and according to the diary, it is marked as [0/3].
This means that Lucius can only explore a maximum of three times, after which its power will completely dissipate.
"So, shall I now delve into this secret history?"
Lucius shook his head. Although the Secret History was described as safe, it was not a wise move to recklessly expend resources on an arrival like this.
He needs to find more information in the library about the Black Tide, Dagon Tantra, and the Advent.
On Thursday morning, Lucius arrived at St. O'Dari's Church by public carriage.
Morning light streamed through the stained glass windows onto the gray stone vaulted ceiling, painting the entrance to the forging hall with a play of red and blue light and shadow.
He walked along the side corridor into the forging yard, where the flames around the forging tables had not yet been lit.
Old Master Reina bent over, cleaning up the scattered iron scraps on the ground, preparing for the midday Mass.
"Good morning, Bishop Reiner." Lucius stepped forward, naturally squatted down, picked up a few pieces of iron slag, and put them into the copper basin.
"Good morning, Lucius." Bishop Reiner straightened up, a gentle smile appearing on his face:
"I was having morning tea in my office when Felix submitted your sergeant promotion report."
At that time, I was thinking that the college student who came to collect eggs every Thursday three years ago was now able to shine his own light on others.
Upon hearing this, Lucius tossed the last piece of iron slag into the bronze basin and said thoughtfully:
"Perhaps this is the meaning behind the goddess and the church's continuous distribution of eggs."
The two exchanged a glance, chuckled in unison, and almost simultaneously raised their right fists in a sequence of shoulder, chest, shoulder:
"Wow, goddess!"
After doing all this, Lucius finally asked about the important matter:
"Bishop Reina, Captain Felix asked me to go to the Enchanting Workshop this morning. Could you please take me there?"
Bishop Reina nodded without saying anything more and led Lucius toward a side corridor on the right side of the forging arena.
From time to time, clergymen and blacksmithing apprentices wearing leather aprons would emerge from the side staircases or rooms, carrying ore samples or blueprints.
They bowed to Bishop Reiner upon seeing him, then continued on their way.
Lucius followed Bishop Reiner to the end of the corridor, where an iron gate appeared before them, behind which was a steam elevator.
Lucius asked somewhat uncertainly, "Bishop Reina, is it possible that the entire Church of St. Audrey has at least six underground levels?"
As far as he knew, the "Steam Elevator Law of the Kingdom of Horn" stipulated:
Only buildings taller than six stories can install steam elevators, such as the registrar's building at East York University.
"There aren't that many, only three floors." Bishop Reina opened the iron gate, and the two entered the elevator. He reached out and pulled the control lever, and the elevator began to descend.
"The Unyielding Order possesses the most advanced steam forging technology in all of Horn. Decades before that bill was discussed in the House of Lords, there were already steam elevators in the church's underground used to transport ore and semi-finished products."
Hull is no exception; this elevator is probably older than you and me combined.
Lucius nodded. After the brief descent, the elevator came to a stop, and the iron gate slid open automatically.
The air smelled of metal, minerals, and plants; it was somewhat peculiar, but acceptable.
Lucius followed Bishop Reiner and discovered that the entire underground three levels consisted of multiple rooms and corridors of varying sizes.
To the left is a large warehouse without a door, with shelves piled high with unrefined ore.
To the right is the high-temperature furnace area, where several shirtless forging apprentices are busy in front of the furnace.
Most of the rooms were apprentice forging rooms lined up on both sides of the corridor, each with its door closed, and small windows on the doors letting in varying degrees of firelight.
Bishop Reyna led him to turn left and enter through an iron gate marked "Enchanting Workshop".
The room contained a dozen or so workbenches, on which lay hammers, files, and other special tools that Lucius couldn't name.
Two worktables were already occupied, a man and a woman, both wearing the standard uniforms of the Unyielding Order forging apprentices.
The male apprentice, whom Lucius had seen at Mass last Thursday, was the blacksmith apprentice.
He didn't recognize the female apprentice at all; her wheat-colored skin and short hair gave her a wild and beautiful look.
Bishop Reina glanced at the other two people in the room, then said to Lucius:
"It's not even 8 o'clock yet. Felix usually arrives at the Enchanting Workshop right at 8 o'clock."
Before you go, you can get to know these two; they are currently the fastest progressing forging apprentices.
The two people whose names were mentioned came out from their respective workstations and introduced themselves:
"I am Thomas, a forging apprentice."
"I am a forging apprentice, Catherine."
Lucius nodded to the two men and smiled, "I am Lucius Anderson, and I'm here to learn equipment enchanting techniques."
Seeing that the three of them were getting along fairly well, Bishop Reyner patted Lucius on the shoulder, instructed Thomas and Catherine to take care of him, and then turned and walked out of the enchanting workshop.
After confirming that Bishop Reiner was far away, Catherine spoke directly in a frank yet polite tone:
"Mr. Lucius, I'm guessing you're Professor Felix's teammate, one of those formal Sequencers?"
Lucius could hear the envy in her voice.
They were about the same age. She was still training day and night to hone her skills and willpower to successfully accept the first secret manual, while he had already completed the entire process from secret manual infection to sequence advancement.
"Felix is a reliable captain," he confirmed Catherine's guess.
Following up on this topic, the three of them started chatting casually.
Thomas asked Felix if his daily routine at the Anti-Corruption Bureau was as strict as it was at the church, while Catherine was curious about the difference between the promotion ceremony for formal Sequencers and the theoretical procedures that apprentices read about in textbooks.
Lucius explained everything he could and also asked them some questions about the basic operations of blacksmithing and enchanting.
Both of their answers bore the marks of solid apprenticeship training.
At exactly eight o'clock, the iron gate of the enchanting workshop was pushed open, and Felix walked in.
He scanned the three faces in the room in turn, finally stopping on Lucius:
"It seems we all know each other, so let's get started."