Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Unlike the small yard Ande once lived in, this spacious courtyard was filled with decorations, plants, and some unnameable things; it seemed somewhat contrived. Ande felt that even the simple cups and pots in Laine’s small yard had more charm.

There was no helping it. Owing to the low artistic level of the Bronze Age, these items could scarcely exhibit any aesthetic appeal, but as a means of distinguishing from the dwellings of ordinary people, the effect was indeed striking.

If it weren’t for the impending cataclysm, perhaps in a few decades, humans might have developed primitive small manors. But now, there seemed no chance for that.

“Let’s hear it then,” Ande said in a solemn voice, “Why rush to summon me here? What’s the matter?”

The wilderness these days was far from peaceful, with only a few days’ journey separating the two locations, but the road was fraught with fierce wild animals.

However, Ande, who had hastened here, appeared more composed than the host himself, seemingly unbothered by fatigue. Although the decades hadn’t changed Ande’s appearance, his temperament had become vastly different.

“It has been a trying journey, Lord Ande,” the middle-aged man began with some caution.

“I’ve heard that you possess certain… extraordinary abilities?”

“If you’re referring to those little tricks that assist dramatic performances, then indeed,” Ande replied, nodding. He didn’t hide it; in fact, there wasn’t much to hide.

He indeed had learned a special skill called ‘meditation,’ but that was as far as it went; simply increasing his spiritual power didn’t show any distinct traits, and as for that special carving, he still lacked the qualifications to use it.

As for the so-called ‘little tricks,’ they involved using one’s spiritual power to manipulate the strings of the ever-present Magic Net, granting abilities such as controlling fire and water, and healing minor wounds. Even without much Magic Power, this didn’t hinder the control of Elements with one’s spirit.

Were he to live another hundred years, perhaps Ande could have derived something from these abilities and created rudimentary spells himself, but for now, they weren’t as damaging as the brute force impact of his spiritual power on others.

This was why these abilities had drawn little attention before; after all, Ande’s methods, resembling performances, hardly seemed like a path to Transcendence.

Furthermore, there was no concept of a Transcendent path among humans of the time.

“I’ll be blunt, Lord Ande; we need your help,” the middle-aged man said with a serious expression as he sighed.

“For reasons unknown, recently in Giant Wood Town, many people have suddenly become weak, lost their appetites, and started coughing and wheezing. At first, everyone paid it no mind, attributing it to fatigue—you know, life has been getting tougher for everyone in recent years.”

Ande merely nodded, offering no reaction.

While he remained kind at heart, Ande had come to take the words of the priests with a grain of skepticism.

Perhaps the lives of the common folk were harder without the gifts of the Divine, but this certainly didn’t apply to the man before him.

“If that were all, it wouldn’t be much of an issue. They were just weak and nothing more severe had happened yet,” the middle-aged man continued in front of Ande. “But we soon discovered that these symptoms can spread.”

“At first it was just a few people, then dozens, then hundreds. We can’t see a pattern to the spread; it seems anyone living in this town could be struck by it.”

“So, you don’t know how to solve it, and even you have caught this unknown thing; that’s why you thought of me?” Ande asked, his brow furrowed.

“But why would you think I can solve this problem?”

“What? I’ve caught this thing, too?!”

However, as soon as Ande finished speaking, the middle-aged man was taken aback. Aside from feeling tired, he had no other sensations.

“If this thing you speak of is the same as what I ‘see,’ then you probably have caught it; it just hasn’t taken effect yet. Like the toxins of some wild animals, maybe it lies dormant for a longer period,” Ande said, detecting the man’s abnormality with his spiritual sense. The man’s breath and body exuded a substance that seemed unhealthy.

“Sigh… Lord Ande, I didn’t hold out much hope, but now that you can ‘see’ the presence of these things, that’s already a promising start,” the middle-aged man said, taking a deep breath and managing a strained smile.

“Then let’s go, take me to the others,” Ande commanded, his voice serious. Although he didn’t know what this substance was, if he surrounded himself in the wind element from the Magic Net with his spiritual power, he could keep it at bay. So, he wasn’t too worried about this unknown substance.

However, others obviously could not do the same, so he needed to understand more deeply the patterns of spread and the origin of this substance.

Although those humans contaminated with the substance weren’t in mortal danger now, that did not mean they wouldn’t be later.

In the past, Ande had seen a human invaded by a chronic toxin, who after wailing in agony for a week, died in pain. The experience had shocked him profoundly at the time.