Bestowing the Mark, the Ritualist's Advancement

At this moment, Bai Zhou fully inherited all of Troy. The mark of Sacrifice, bound to vengeance, finished forming on Bai Zhou's hand. Adventurer Bai Zhou, before a new adventure arrived, gained a brand-new ability. Just as a hero dons the great red cloak fated for him. "Troy would not choose the wrong person. From this day on, you are the Executor of our civilization and our history." So the Wolf Knight said. "As for this God-Chosen Mark..." The Wolf Knight statue's voice paused. The pair of deep-green gemstone eyes on its face shifted their light and slowly turned toward the wrist of Bai Zhou's left hand. Bai Zhou looked as well, above the altar pattern on his wrist. Drawn there was a broken spear piercing a skull. The emblem shed a faint gold-red glow. It stood apart from the flowing light and shadow of the civilization's altar below, and yet the two subtly coexisted. "A God-Chosen Mark whose source is the God of War and Protection, and the highest grade of mark in Troy's records... its projection." "It can guarantee your safety within the territory of the Roman Empire." "But." The Wolf Knight statue's tone turned. The light of its emerald eyes shone steadily upon Bai Zhou. "According to the trial procedure, once the task is complete, this projected mark from the High Priest ought by rights to be taken back personally by its owner—that is, by our king." Taken back? Bai Zhou's heart gave a jolt. How could something already given out still be taken back? Hadn't you only just finished saying that if one sacrificed the divine mark through the altar, one could obtain the High Priest's strike reaching across time and space? So the divine mark being offered up wasn't on him, but on the queen? An imperial commissioner sent out under orders must, in the end, return his sword of authority. Bai Zhou knew the particulars of this mark better than anyone. It truly was not his mark. He had never been "chosen" by any god. In fact, it came from the Scarlet Queen—that half-mad current High Priest, seated high above the temple, in essence half a war angel—and had only been lent by her to Bai Zhou. The saintesses of every generation of the temple bore a God-Chosen Mark like this upon their bodies. It was the sign that a god had chosen them, and it possessed all manner of inconceivable effects. And the High Priest, the Scarlet Queen, being half a war angel—the God-Chosen Mark on Chi's body was, without question, of the highest grade, even the highest in Troy's historical records. For the trial to proceed smoothly, the Scarlet Queen had placed her mark upon Bai Zhou. Although Bai Zhou could not use the mark, the blessing and protection that came from it could keep him from getting lost during teleportation. Once the task was complete, he could return at any time. "Hold my mark... anchor the far side." "Scarlet Blessing... nothing is forbidden!" The "knowledge" Bai Zhou had gained from the mark back then had already explained its effects clearly. Even holding this mark, Bai Zhou could only count as half a God-Chosen. He could neither use the mark directly, nor rely on it to summon divine might the way the Blood-Red Skeleton did. But that was precisely what Bai Zhou needed. That god had long since abandoned Troy. No one even knew what state that god was in now. The mark it had left on the Blood-Red Skeleton had even gone utterly dormant when faced with the Senate's Touring Branch. For all anyone knew, its main body had long since died in some godforsaken corner. But... "A projection of the mark?" Bai Zhou murmured the Wolf Knight's words, and then it dawned on him. Only now did Bai Zhou understand that this God-Chosen Mark was not the "mark" itself, but only a "projection" from Her Majesty the Queen. No wonder that, within the projection of this God-Chosen Mark, he had felt only a connection to this temple and to the High Priest overhead. There was neither faith in a god, nor any influence from a god to be sensed within it. Even when he had met that Blood-Red Skeleton, neither the Blood-Red Skeleton nor his God-Chosen Mark had sensed Bai Zhou's presence... That was even better. If a "God-Chosen Mark" was the sign that a god had chosen the Scarlet Queen, then this "projection of the God-Chosen Mark" on Bai Zhou's wrist was only the sign that the Scarlet Queen had chosen Bai Zhou. The principle was like a minister's loyalty to a king—but a minister's minister owed the king no loyalty. He could be loyal only to the minister. The only one who could form a connection with Bai Zhou through the projected mark was this queen overhead. But Chi was already "dead," no longer clear of mind, and even less able to give Bai Zhou any command. In other words, though he enjoyed the benefits of the projected mark, Bai Zhou would not be watched by anyone. The power flowing through this God-Chosen Mark was, moreover, all but masterless. Bai Zhou had even been counting on growing strong enough someday to study this projected mark and see whether he might gain something from it... How was it to be taken back now? "You seem reluctant to part with this projected mark?" The Wolf Knight statue had seen the worry on Bai Zhou's face. "There's a story from my hometown." Bai Zhou blinked twice. "It tells of a woman who picked up a treasure box named 'Pandola.' Lots of people told her the box held treasure beyond counting, and that she had only to open it to gain wealth and glory." "But she didn't pocket what she'd found. She turned it in to the Black Robes. The Black Robes opened it, found three liang of cured meat inside, and gave her one liang of it as a reward." For some reason, the Wolf Knight statue seemed to fall silent. The august artificial intelligence of the Sun Temple now seemed to have met a profound problem it could not solve. Data churned wildly, yet it could not tease out the slightest logic in the story. Pandola... was that the "la" of cured meat? And what was a "Black Robe" supposed to be? Bai Zhou sighed. "The first time I saw this story, I thought the person who made it up was a fool. A box that small—how could there be gold and jewels beyond counting inside?" "Even so, I still felt that if I were the one who picked it up, I would at least open it and see what was actually inside before I considered turning it in." "This mark is the same." Bai Zhou gave a shake of the God-Chosen Mark on his wrist. "Even if it's only a projection, it is without question a very, very fine thing... To give it back exactly as it was, before I've studied it clearly, before I've experienced anything of it—I would still find that rather a pity." "Truly greedy." The Wolf Knight statue observed, "Yet greed is precisely the hallmark quality of an Adventurer. It needs only to be paired with sufficient caution, and it can often burst forth into inconceivable power." "However..." The artificial intelligence loaded in the Wolf Knight statue was silent for a moment. "This story you told, about a treasure box—once, in the age when Trojan civilization stood in the world, something similar seems truly to have happened." The Wolf Knight shook its head. "Only, I do not know why, but my records on this are incomplete. I only vaguely remember that the woman in the story had a similar name." "Of course, it was not any 'Pandola.'" "By the pronunciation of the language you commonly use, that name should be..." The Wolf Knight's voice gradually grew low and grave. "Pandora." Hum! The instant the sound fell, an unexplained feeling rose from the bottom of Bai Zhou's heart—oppressive, chilling with dread—as if to listen any further would be to meet some terrible omen. The feeling had no source. It came quickly and left quickly, gone in the turn of an eye. And so a certain understanding rose in Bai Zhou's heart. Just as the story of Trojan Laia had been passed down to later ages and gradually became the image of the Goddess of Light. Perhaps the stories handed down to later ages—the so-called "Pandora" and the "box"—also had a corresponding original in a civilization lost countless years ago. Only, Wancheng's story had surely been warped far too much from the original... If they could invent this many stories for the textbooks, the Black Robes were altogether too dedicated to education. This name, and the story that went with her, were likely a taboo. Even the temple's artificial intelligence could not remember it clearly. Merely mentioning it offhand here gave Bai Zhou an inexplicable sense of ill omen. A similar feeling, Bai Zhou had known only from that seven-colored ancient glyph deep in his mind, though by comparison the seven-colored ancient glyph had been far more severe. It was as if, upon the ruins of Troy, within this stretch of Trojan history, the name "Pandora" was something that could not be lightly spoken. At this thought, a measure of curiosity could not help rising in Bai Zhou's heart. If he were on Blue Star, in Tinghai, and someone spoke the name "Pandora," would it be like this too? Or was it only here that it would not do? "But, that said." The Wolf Knight statue spoke again. "The procedure is as I described. Yet as things stand, our king does not seem to intend to take this mark back." At those words, Bai Zhou understood, and his eyes lit. "After all, theoretically speaking, since you are the inheritor of the civilization, you are naturally also our king's successor across the generations." The Wolf Knight shook its head. "Perhaps this is the gift our king left for you." "The gods have already gone far away, and the mark no longer holds divine favor. In the course of our king becoming an angel, this mark, symbol of war and protection, also became something that belonged to our king alone." "The projection bestowed by our king is naturally formed of our king's power as well. Its inner workings are exceedingly profound. It gives you a measure of confidence in your adventures in Rome, and at any time the chance to slip free and return to Troy." With that, the Wolf Knight statue spoke in solemn warning: "But you must use this power with caution, and keep it from notice as best you can... If a true great figure of the Roman Empire takes note of you and follows the trail back, there is no guarantee they will not find Troy's coordinates." "And then—" The Wolf Knight statue said no more, but Bai Zhou already knew how grave the matter was. If Troy were truly invincible, it would not have been reduced to its present state. The Roman Empire had its heavyweights... For example, the original of the statue enshrined at the center of the Senate—that mysterious, terrible Emperor! "But you need not worry too much." The Wolf Knight statue reminded him, "Beings in this world stronger than our king do exist, but there are not many. Looking across the whole of the Roman Empire, those who could use teleportation to locate Troy's coordinates, besides the emperor of Rome, are likely only a handful." "These beings are not ones you can come into contact with in the short term. Caution is enough. There is no need for excessive fear." Bai Zhou nodded to show he understood. The words were true enough, but he still decided to use this teleportation ability as little as possible. In any case, he had a higher substitute, more mysterious and more powerful: the Zhuluoji Gold Pass! At least last time, when Bai Zhou used the pass, that overbearing "Senate Touring Branch" had been unable to stop him. "Aside from teleportation, does this projected mark have any other abilities?" Bai Zhou asked all at once, lifting his hand and giving his wrist a shake. He fiercely coveted the might of the Blood-Red Skeleton's mark. If he could borrow even a share of power from the "High Priest," Bai Zhou could swagger unopposed anywhere he went. As for what the Wolf Knight statue had said—"If the offering is valuable enough, one can use the Altar Mark to sacrifice the God-Chosen Mark upon it, in exchange for the High Priest's strike reaching across time and space!"? Talk like that was only worth hearing. That "valuable enough" offering alone—Bai Zhou did not think he could obtain one any time soon. "In Troy's history, every generation of the God-Chosen could, by means of the God-Chosen Mark, gain inconceivable abilities. Those abilities helped the God-Chosen grow at tremendous speed and become the backbone holding up the civilization." The Wolf Knight statue gave its reply. "Yet you are not a true God-Chosen." "The gods are far away. The one who left this mark was not a god, but our king in person." "So this projected mark... should in fact be called a King-Chosen Mark." "And you, Bai Zhou—you should count as a... King-Chosen!" King-Chosen? Bai Zhou's brow lifted. "The Altar Mark links to the historical root of the civilization. The projected mark of war and protection links to our king in person." The Wolf Knight statue went on: "You are the Executor chosen by the civilization's history, and at the same time the King-Chosen chosen by our king. In the future you will inherit Chi's mantle—and even surpass it." "As the Executor chosen by the civilization's history, you have already completed the corresponding trial in Rome, and so you may directly use the power of the altar's projection." "However, if you wish to become a true King-Chosen, you have not yet met the corresponding basic threshold." The instant the voice fell, a pillar of white light descended from the sky and enveloped Bai Zhou. At the same time, a mechanical voice came from all around. Testing. Testing complete. The tester's life tier is—ritualist apprentice, Professional level 4. "A life tier like this is still far too weak." The Wolf Knight statue said coldly, "How lofty a caliber does kingship demand? Among the King-Chosen of Troy through the ages, a Professional would never appear." "Meet the conditions, prove one's aptitude and character, and at last stand out through countless brutal contests—only then can one become one of the King-Chosen selected by the king." "Of course—right now you are Troy's only choice. So long as you meet the lowest threshold, with no competition required, you can directly become Troy's only King-Chosen." "In other words..." The Wolf Knight said in a grave voice: "When you break through Professional and become a Fate-Forger, or else become a formal second-rank ritualist—" "you will meet the lowest limiting threshold, and may begin to bear the King-Chosen Mark, and bear the weight of the name 'king'!" Professional? Fate-Forger? A second-rank ritualist? Terms he had never heard left Bai Zhou bewildered, and his heart nearly missed a beat. This was... Above level 6! Above level 6, beyond any doubt! "In fact, Troy's greatest strength was nothing else. It was ritualists." The Wolf Knight's head lifted. "Look across the Three Hundred City-States. Even Rome could not contend with Troy in the art of ritualists." "This Wooden Horse, wandering the endless void, is the pinnacle masterpiece of ritualists!" Before the voice had finished— Rumble! Behind the Wolf Knight statue, stone pillars slowly rose in answer. Upon them rested two pages of ancient, weather-worn parchment. Bai Zhou turned his head and fixed his eyes upon them, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. The writing on the paper was complex, the patterns elaborate. He could not make them out. But in the first instant he saw these two pages of parchment, Bai Zhou felt the writing was alive, pouring through his eyes into his mind. He had known this feeling before. At the Dead Sea Secret Scrolls. So... these two pages of parchment seemed to come straight from some forbidden tome. In all likelihood, they were two pages of original text from within a forbidden tome! Hum... Knowledge surged and squirmed, raging through Bai Zhou's mind like worms. Only after a long while did he digest it. "This is..." Bai Zhou's heart seemed to pause for an instant, then pounded wildly. Then knowledge that had been "translated," knowledge Bai Zhou could understand, appeared plain in his mind. The title written on the first page of parchment was: Bestowing the Mark—A Ritualist's Advancement in Rank! And the second page of parchment actually held the full details of two "first-rank rituals"... One was called the Hundred-Paper Corridor Ritual. The other was called the Lesser Amber Domain-Sealing Ritual!