Spear of Punishment!

"I hereby announce that the first meeting of the Ace of Spades Organization has concluded in complete success." *Clap clap clap!* As the host of the meeting, Alfred spoke as he stood up and applauded enthusiastically. However, though Purr and the golden retriever cooperatively patted their paws, paws naturally made no sound. Coupled with Karen merely clapping a few perfunctory times, the atmosphere of the meeting's adjournment ended up somewhat pitiful. Still, these were trivial details; Alfred believed that future murals would certainly dedicate significant space to this moment. Next, Alfred, having outlined the plans, summoned Boge. Boge hadn't possessed the qualifications to attend the meeting, but the decisions and projects produced from it required plenty of errand-running on his part. It couldn't be helped—Alfred still had to shoulder the responsibility of the young master's security, while the other two, a cat and a dog, weren't suitable messengers. Besides, the dog couldn't even speak. Before long, Old Anderson, having bustled about all day, arrived at the study with Mike and Mr. Bede. Karen didn't tell them about the royal family's impending move against Allen Manor. He merely instructed that once Prince Henry's funeral date was set, they needed to confer with him on the specific procedures, and also strengthen contact with the royal family—namely, Her Majesty the Queen. After all, she had just lost her beloved great-grandson... well, or grandson, who knew? Old Anderson nodded and agreed to it all, as these were things already agreed upon between the Allen family and the royal family; he would have done so even without Karen's instructions. That night, having taken a bath, Karen lay in bed, holding the treatment plan Purr had provided to resolve Mike's physical condition. Honestly, Karen couldn't fully understand it, but that didn't stop him from reading with relish. A family faith system awakened from bloodlines, emerging in a completely different manner from a church faith system derived from true gods and laws. Yet once channeled into the body, many aspects followed different paths to the same end. It was just that in the diagrams drawn by Purr, the circulation of elements through the human body bordered on the esoteric. Before purification, he wouldn't have understood it in the slightest; now, he could follow the diagrams and trace simple motions with his hands. At this stage, curing Mike was a shortcut to increasing their combat power, but he couldn't rush it. He was a doctor who had only just graduated, with residency training still ahead of him. On the windowsill, Purr and the golden retriever lay facing each other. Purr began flipping pages: "Meow?" "Woof!" "Meow?" "Woof!" The two of them were selecting spells for Karen's training starting tomorrow. The Church of Order was a massive religion. Its current stage of development and scale were vastly different from when the God of Order first founded it, having been substantially enriched and having branched out into numerous avenues. The path from God's Shepherd to Inquisitor, and then ever upward from Inquisitor, was merely the primary trunk. Within the church, there were many other advancement paths, and even systems originally belonging to other religions that had been adopted and modified. There were simply too many spells. Trying to master them all was practically like memorizing an entire set of textbooks. At a time like this, experienced tutors were needed to tailor the curriculum and highlight the key knowledge based on Karen's circumstances. Fortunately, Teacher Cat had stayed in the Inmerlais family for nearly a hundred years and was intimately familiar with the Church of Order's system. Teacher Dog went without saying—by Purr's deduction, since the creature could be summoned by an extraordinary ritual of the Church of Order, it had most likely been suppressed by the God of Order back in the day; even if the God of Order hadn't intervened personally, it had at least been sealed by the church's upper echelons. Teacher Cat knew the ins and outs from witnessing Diss's cultivation, while Teacher Dog had taken beatings firsthand. Highlighting the key points between the two of them was bound to yield twice the result with half the effort. As for Alfred, he sat alone engrossed in studying Mr. Hoffen's notes. His grasp of basic arrays had progressed rapidly lately, for which he had Teacher Dog to thank. Furthermore, his own Succubus Eye gave him an immense advantage in learning. Otherwise, Rasma wouldn't have coveted his eyes back then—as a High Priest, Rasma certainly lacked no ordinary treasure. What Alfred was doing now was mastering a fundamental buffing array in the Church of Order known as [Order—Primary Rendering]. This array possessed neither offensive nor defensive power, but it could enhance the efficacy of same-attribute spells and arrays within its area of effect—in short, providing buffs and dispersing strain. Because the young master had suffered severe exhaustion and fallen into a coma after attempting to awaken Count Rekar last time, Alfred believed this array could help alleviate the strain on him. Although he didn't know whether the black chains that had appeared beneath the young master's feet were an array or a spell—and the young master probably didn't know either—it didn't matter. Either would work. Human, cat, and dog were all busy. Karen set down the notebook in his hands, turned over, and switched off his bedside lamp. Sensing that the young master was going to sleep, the bickering between the cat and dog on the windowsill dropped considerably, and Alfred softened the sound of turning pages. Karen closed his eyes. At this moment, it felt like the university dormitory from his past life. Yet looking at the actual situation, it was more like several exceptional teachers burning the midnight oil to prepare lessons for a primary school student like him. In any case, before long, Karen drifted off to dreamland. *** Early morning. A rare, brilliantly clear day, though the morning breeze still carried a distinct chill. Boge had laid out the cushion beforehand, and Karen sat down. All around was lush green grass—a rare sight in winter. In the early years, the Allen family had certainly taken many factors into account when building the castle here; even this persistent greenery was a symbol of the family's heritage. Yet such things could easily turn into original sins once a family fell into decline. Purr sat on the golden retriever's back, wearing a little red hood. Karen took a sandwich from Boge and ate. After yesterday's experience, he wouldn't allow himself to enjoy breakfast in peace anytime soon. Even having Old Anderson set up a small kitchen on the third floor would have to be postponed. Sometimes, one couldn't help but sigh: only after leaving Diss did he realize that the happiness of peacefully preparing meals for a family was actually such a luxury. "Boge." "Here, Young Master." "Demonstrate your abilities first." "Yes, Young Master." Karen wanted to see how the power of the Allen family faith system manifested, and Boge was undoubtedly the best candidate. Boge walked to the center and closed his eyes. When he opened them, a bright spark of fire clearly shone in his left eye. Immediately afterward, two fireballs appeared above his outstretched hands. Purr, who had been enjoying the breeze and gazing at the scenery, instantly narrowed its eyes the moment its gaze landed on Boge. "What about offensive power?" Karen asked. Boge hurled the fireballs. Five meters from his body, the fireballs burst apart, scattering into drifting sparks. Chewing his sandwich, Karen thought to himself: *In actual combat, it's pretty useless.* It might be flashy enough to impose considerable psychological pressure on an enemy, but its actual potency and effect couldn't compare to a rifle. "Young Master, Rank One in the family faith system is just like this. It only proves I've awakened the bloodline and possess the ability to use bloodline powers. I've seen Rank Two members use their abilities in the family—they can ignite balls of fire from afar, or produce water mist and freezing cold." "Oh." Karen nodded. So if one truly wanted to fight, they needed to be at least Rank Two. Rank One could only serve as cheerleaders. The trouble was, without enough Rank Ones forming a solid base, there was no way to cultivate and develop more Rank Twos and Rank Threes. "What about Rank Three?" Karen asked. Boge answered, "I've heard others in the family say that Rank Three allows one to condense fire or water power and coat their body with it. Besides increasing defense, it enhances physical attributes across the board in that state, like speed and reflexes." Karen nodded. Looked at this way, Rank Three was what matched his perception of an "expert." No wonder Purr had said that Rank Three in the Allen family faith system was roughly on par with Alfred. After all, Rank One was like doing parlor magic tricks, Rank Two was like doing street magic tricks, and only at Rank Three, once one mastered the elemental attribute power, could it actually be used in a fight. Purr narrowed its feline eyes, keeping its gaze fixed on Boge. "All right, you can rest," Karen said. Boge didn't step down, however. Instead, he licked his lips and said to Karen, "Young Master, I have another secret." Hearing this, Purr's gaze softened considerably. "Oh?" Boge closed his eyes again. When he reopened them, a faint blue glow—the sheen of water—shone in his right eye. Promptly, two clusters of water appeared in his palms, and he threw them: *Splat!* The two water globes hit the ground and splashed apart. "Both water and fire?" Karen looked at Boge in surprise. Naturally, Karen understood how difficult this was—after all, Mike's legs had blown apart trying to pursue dual water and fire. Ancestor Allen's portrait had hung in the study all along, urging descendants across generations to pursue having dual attributes in their bodies, which led to geniuses losing limbs and becoming crippled in every generation. Yet the youth before him possessed both attributes while still at Rank One. A genius—a true genius of the Allen family! Considering that Judia was born into royalty, and despite messy family ties had certainly received different resources, whereas this youth had grown up in a brothel throughout his childhood... Thus, even though Judia was younger and had reached Rank Three while Boge was only Rank One, in essence, they could be said to be geniuses on the same tier. Most importantly, Boge's potential for future development was vastly broader than Judia's. Karen subconsciously rubbed his chin. Could Ancestor Allen, in the unseen depths of fate, have sensed that his descendants had become utterly pathetic, causing geniuses to burst forth? Or perhaps Ancestor Allen was long dead, but this bloodline passed down over the centuries could be regarded as a living entity. If even bacteria could be viewed as a "population" observed and defined through collective survival mechanisms, why couldn't a bloodline? The bloodline sensed the danger of its own extinction, so it awakened geniuses in this generation to save itself. Only, this method of self-preservation was rather ironic: One awakened in the Gloria family, and the other awakened in a brothel. At that thought, Karen turned to look toward the distant castle, lost in thought. Perhaps he had been too narrow-minded? The bloodline merely sought to preserve its own continuation; it held no sense of belonging to Allen Manor. Extrapolating from that, was the relationship between laws, churches, and true gods the same? They appeared to be conjoined symbiotes, yet in truth each operated according to its own set of fundamental principles. To outsiders, their relationship was actually that of the most familiar strangers. Boge had intended to wait for Karen's questions, but seeing Karen gaze into the distance with no intention of asking more, he could only drop to one knee and speak up: "Young Master, the Allen family doesn't know that I also possess water-attribute abilities." He had concealed it from the Allen family. He could have concealed it from Karen as well, but he chose to disclose this secret. After all, the most direct way to draw closer and integrate into a group was to share a secret. Purr turned its head away, silently twitching its feline lips at the empty air. Karen broke from his reverie and nodded at him. "I know." A smile surfaced on Boge's face. He rose, stepped back to the perimeter, and then led his horse further away before coming to a stop. "He's a genius," Purr commented. Beyond that, it said nothing more. After all, judging from yesterday's meeting, it felt that the radio fairy had genuinely caught up and squeezed ahead of it. *This cat was here first!* Cognitive adjustment took time. After moving past its initial excitement upon returning home, Purr had clearly realized a new crisis: their bond had grown distant. "Can you teach him?" Karen asked Purr. "I can. I'll train him as best as I can and just have the radio fairy relay my instructions. When you feel the time is right, you can bring him into the Ace of Spades, and I'll be able to speak directly to him then." "Mm." Karen nodded. He wiped his mouth and hands with a handkerchief, stood up, and walked to the center. The golden retriever trotted over holding a notebook in its mouth. Karen took it and flipped it open; four spells were recorded inside. "These are four of the more practical spells for the God's Servant stage. Their difficulty is relatively high for this stage; ordinary Servants need a long time to practice them, but you should pick them up quickly." "How long did Diss take to learn them back then?" Karen asked. "Diss..." Purr furrowed its brow. "Diss seemed to just glance at spells and instantly know them." "All right, got it." Karen examined the first spell closely and asked, "Does the incantation need to be so long?" "Chanting is an aid to help you better resonate with the laws or the God of Order. It's like begging someone for help—you naturally say as many pleasant things as possible, don't you? "Of course, once you grow powerful, it'll be like having close ties: a simple word will do, or even just a glance." "Mm." Karen indicated he understood. "Now then, stand straight first, and open your right hand. We brought the *Light of Order* book along, but you can also pretend you're holding it in your hand. That'll better help you commune with the God of Order. "Imagine the magnificent God of Order. You are praying to him, calling out to him, begging him to bestow the radiance of Order upon you. What immense bliss that is." Purr attempted to guide Karen through the process using the traditional teaching method. Yet what surfaced in Karen's mind was the God of Order walking along, casually flicking his fingertips to cast down a vast shower of starlight. When you prayed sincerely to god, god was actually just perfunctorily and carelessly responding en masse—and that response was still contingent on your status, station, and rank. The most laughable part was that god... lacked divine will. He was merely a god's husk, or what might be called a puppet named "god," coldly carrying out divine duties. With that image and realization emerging in his mind, Karen found it completely impossible to muster the emotions Purr described. That sacred prayer, warm calling, and sincere gratitude... No matter how he looked at it, he felt like a shameless sycophant. What was worse, he knew the object of his fawning was just the gear of a running machine, where licking a drop of machine oil at the end was counted as divine grace. However, the image of Diss also flashed in Karen's mind at this moment: *Diss: The God of Order was raised by a whore.* So respect wasn't entirely necessary after all. Karen took a deep breath, opened his left hand before him, and chanted: "O great and supreme God of Order, O chains of Order that judge all; "Hear my sincere call; bestow protection upon your believer, and guard this heart that yearns for Order and an unswerving faith in Order! "Order—Primary Shadow Armor of Protection." No sooner had the words left his mouth than the shadow behind Karen immediately swept upward. His face, his skin, and his clothes all darkened noticeably in tone, as if a cloak had been draped over his body. Alfred's mouth fell open. *He succeeded on the first try?* The golden retriever opened its mouth wide too, sticking out its tongue and panting. Purr instantly fell into reminiscence, recalling the sight of young Diss practicing Order spells after completing his purification. This grandfather and grandson weren't merely alike—they were practically identical. Karen didn't notice the reactions of the cat, dog, and radio. He merely glanced down and continued chanting the next spell. *Right, the introductory nonsense is the same.* "O great and supreme God of Order, O chains of Order that judge all; "Hear... "Order—Primary Shrouding Mist." A faint mist appeared around him, swirling toward Karen and enveloping him. Next, Karen proceeded with the next one: "O great and supreme God of Order, O chains of Order that judge all; "Hear... "Order—Primary Wall Door." "O great and supreme God of Order, O chains of Order that judge all; "Hear... "Order—Primary Swirling Black Feathers." Before Karen, the phantom silhouette of a black door manifested; on either side of his body, two black wings appeared and wrapped around him. At this point, with dark shadows, dark mist, a dark door, and black feathers, Karen was completely smothered in pitch-black layers, making it impossible to tell that a person stood inside. *Ahem...* Karen cleared his throat. The shadows, mist, door, and feathers all dispersed. Karen's complexion was rosy, showing not the slightest sign of excessive spiritual energy consumption. He only asked in puzzlement, "You two spent last night carefully picking these four out? Why are they all defensive?" Purr answered, "Because God's Servants only train in defensive spells. A Servant's priority is to protect themselves properly so they can grow." "Are there none with offensive properties?" Karen asked. Did this mean that every time he fought in the future, he would just slap a turtle shell onto himself and wait to take a beating? "God's Revelation also focuses primarily on defensive spells, along with learning spells to better hear revelation from god. The God's Shepherd stage is different; only then do offensive spells appear. After all, if an Inquisitor is like a local police chief, then a God's Shepherd is like a detective under him." "Are there any here?" Karen began flipping through the pages. "No," Purr said. "I think that at your current stage, being able to stack defenses to protect yourself, or stalling for time until the radio comes to save you, is plenty. I was worried that overexerting yourself too early might lead to depletion. Though looking at you now, your performance is far better than I anticipated. Maybe I can consider looking for..." As Karen flipped further back, he found a page where the handwriting was atrocious. If the earlier handwriting was scratched out by cat claws, then this page was literally dog scrawl. *Spear of Punishment?* Karen looked at the golden retriever, who twitched its eyelids at him. Rather than chanting the dog scrawl right away, Karen asked Purr directly, "Which stage does the Spear of Punishment belong to?" "Primary Spear of Punishment? That's studied by God's Shepherds... Dammit, you stupid dog, how dare you sneak in material beyond the syllabus!" Purr realized what had happened at once and swiped its paws at the dog's head. "Can I try it?" Karen asked. Purr paused its scratching and hesitated. "Well, you could try. But if you feel your body can't handle the strain, you must stop early like you just did." Having received confirmation, Karen nodded. He truly didn't want his first spellcasting lesson to end with stacking turtle shells over himself again and again. Looking solemn, Karen read aloud from the dog scrawl: "O great and supreme God of Order, O chains of Order that judge all; "Permit me to draw upon your power to punish acts that defy Order, and wipe the dust from Order's name; "Order—Spear of Punishment!" After finishing the chant, Karen opened his eyes and looked around him, finding no sign of any spear. *So... did it fail?* As expected, skipping ranks to learn spells wasn't that easy. Just as Karen resigned himself to reality, he suddenly noticed Alfred, Purr, and the golden retriever looking above him, wearing expressions as if they had seen a ghost. Karen looked up as well. There, above his head, hovered a black spear. It was enveloped in black mist, with archaic, mysterious runes shimmering along its shaft. *It worked!* Subconsciously reaching out, Karen wanted to grasp the spear, but as his hand moved, the spear rose higher in tandem. Evidently, it couldn't be held by hand. How should he control it? Karen shifted his right hand toward the east, and the Spear of Punishment above his head turned along with it, aligning almost identically with his hand. *Oh, so that's how it works.* Karen raised his right arm, and the Spear of Punishment flew higher accordingly. Karen pointed his finger at an open patch of green in the distance. As if by clear instinct, he blurted out: "Punish." *Hum!* Karen swayed. It felt as though someone had struck the back of his head with an open palm, and liquid seemed to drip from his nostrils, but... it was bearable. It was far better than before, when any overexertion knocked him into a dead faint. This sensation made Karen feel he could even cast another. The Spear of Punishment shot forward, plunging into the open patch of green. Immediately— *Boom!* Even though Karen had deliberately aimed far away, the explosion's power still surpassed his imagination. Because of the consecutive days of rain, the ground was already soft and wet; in an instant, a massive spray of soggy black mud and green grass was blasted into the sky, raining down on everyone present and leaving person, cat, and dog splattered from head to toe in muck. Purr murmured, "Impossible... impossible... How is this a Primary Spear of Punishment? This clearly pushed straight toward Advanced! Oh gods, damn it, Karen! You didn't chant 'Primary' in the incantation, so it automatically defaulted to scaling to the highest-tier spell you could withstand! You skipped words, Karen! "You stupid dog, you didn't even write it completely! "I'm going to scratch you to death, you idiot hound! Do you have any idea what could have happened?!" "Woof! Woof! Woof!" Karen first used the back of his hand to wipe the mud from his face, then used his palm to wipe away the trickling nosebleed. Letting out a long breath, he smiled. "Not bad."