After drinking the potion, Odysseus immediately felt as if he had been thrown into the depths of the universe, as if he were getting further and further away from the real world.
Odis looked around, but there was nothing there. An unprecedented sense of powerlessness filled his heart.
At that moment, a cluster of brilliant colors suddenly appeared in the distance in front of Odis.
Odis seemed to suddenly awaken, "recalling" that he was currently being promoted, and in an instant, he regained his sense of self.
He stared intently at the dazzling light and ran towards it with all his might.
At that moment, he didn't know if he was taking a step, but he was certain that he was rapidly approaching that patch of color.
Only a few seconds later, the color was right in front of them. Suddenly, a huge change occurred around Odis. First, green vortexes formed, and then these vortexes quickly calmed down and turned into grasslands.
The dazzling light before them split into two parts: one part was the neck of the multicolored star-eyed beast, and the other part was the starry sky above.
Odis noticed that starlight was flowing on his hands and body, and eventually the starlight gradually disappeared into his body.
He took a deep breath; he had been promoted.
Odis glanced at the colorful star-eyed beast that was gazing up at the starry sky and suddenly understood the meaning of the ritual.
The advancement to "astrologer" transformed Odis's spirit to a certain extent, but this transformation process could easily cause her consciousness to lose itself in an unknown space.
At this point, the neck of the multicolored star-eyed beast will become a "landmark" guiding him to regain consciousness.
Then Odis thought: This promotion went very smoothly, so smoothly that it didn't seem like a promotion to Sequence 5.
However, he quickly realized that this was the best performance he had ever been in for a promotion, which would greatly help him get promoted.
Then, Odis, while gathering her spiritual energy, jumped off the back of the multicolored star-eyed beast.
The moment their feet touched the ground, the voice of the "Hidden Sage" appeared again, still as cold as ever: "Boundless universe!"
"You are not just a pile of material possessions,"
"It is also a collection of information and knowledge, and a chaotic leap of spirituality."
"Chaotic babbling, is...knowledge...canal...endless..."
Now we can hear one more sentence.
However, since Bernadette was nearby, he didn't think about it further and continued walking towards her.
At this moment, Bernadette said, "First, gather your spirituality and feel your new abilities."
Odis nodded, sat down on the grass, and while gathering his spirituality, pondered why the "Hidden Sage" had "recited poetry" to him.
I can hear the first sentence now; it seems to describe the essence of the universe: a collection of information and knowledge, and the chaotic leaps of spirituality.
In some mystical concepts, everything in the world is closely related to knowledge. For example, the sprouting, growth, and withering of a blade of grass can all be studied as biological knowledge.
Whether humans study grass or not, this biological knowledge still exists; the grass won't stop growing just because humans stop studying it.
So from another perspective, it is that "knowledge" that guides the growth of the grass.
As for the "spiritual erratic movements," it immediately reminded Odis of his previous thoughts on the relationship between spirituality and the extraordinary.
He believes that spirituality and the extraordinary should be considered separately, but the two are also closely related.
Spirituality and mysticism are also inextricably linked, or rather, in Odis's view, this world is special not only in its "extraordinary" aspects but also in its "spirituality."
It's more like a ubiquitous, seemingly inexhaustible energy source.
Odis's current research focuses on finding ways to make the most of spirituality.
Thinking about all this, Odis thought to himself: I don't believe the "Hidden Sage" is so kind as to explain the nature of this world to me. He must have his own reasons for saying this.
However, because the clues were too few, Odis was also unsure what the "Hidden Sage" was plotting.
Anyway, since I can't stop myself from hearing those voices no matter what I think about it, I can only leave it at that for now and wait until I have the ability to completely block out the shouts of the "Hidden Sage" before doing anything else.
Then Odis began to use his spirituality to experience his newly acquired abilities. After his advancement, the new ability he mastered was "Star Sand".
First, these "stardust" can directly attack the target, entangle it, and cause it to disintegrate.
Odis's understanding was that the most direct way these "star sands" attacked was to destroy the molecular structure of the target, turning it into individual atoms, so that the attacked target would become "fine sand" that could not be seen with the naked eye.
Using "Star Sand" can also summon "Starlight Pillars," which will cover a certain area and cause the target to collapse quickly.
It can also use "star sand" to create "starlight cages", which are similar to the ability of "imprisonment", but the form is different. "Imprisonment" consumes a small amount of spiritual energy the moment it is used, and the effect disappears after a few seconds of imprisoning the target.
However, the "Starlight Cage" will continuously consume spiritual energy after it is used, and can keep the target imprisoned indefinitely until the imprisonment is actively lifted.
However, there are two other situations where one is passively released from imprisonment: the first is when the enemy breaks free, and the second is when one's own spiritual energy is exhausted, forcing one to release their spiritual energy.
Speaking of the second situation, we must mention the changes in spirituality after advancement.
Odis felt that his spirituality seemed to have doubled after his advancement!
He felt he could "imprison" a target at Sequence 5 for more than half a minute, but this ability could only create opportunities for his teammates, because once the target was "imprisoned," Odis could not use any other abilities.
If you want to capture your opponent alive, this is a good ability; otherwise, you might as well just use "Star Sand" to kill them.
Not only can it be used for attack, but "Star Sand" can also turn Odis into "fine sand" so that he can pass through some extremely narrow or small places.
To be honest, this ability doesn't seem like a Sequence 5 level ability, because usually only when you reach the level of a demigod can you make a part of your body ethereal in order to avoid attacks or disasters.
However, after thinking about it, Odis felt it made sense. It was as if the "star sand" had transformed Odis's body into a molecular or atomic structure, and then immediately reassembled it in an instant.
It's similar to the "Shadow Transformation" of the "Mystic" pathway and the "Demon" pathway's "Incarnation of Desire".
Another ability is the "materialization" of "star sand".
Not only can "Star Sand" be used to acquire these extraordinary abilities, it can also become "materialized," for example, as a shield, which is much stronger than a "defense scroll," but it also consumes a lot of spiritual energy.
Since Odis currently has the more useful "Scale Armor Scroll" that consumes less spiritual energy, the shield is not very effective for him.
However, "star sand" can also form many other structures. For example, if you are passing through a swamp, you can use "star sand" to create solid ground to pass through the swamp.
There's no need for a spiral staircase when disembarking; just use "star sand" as steps.
The above are the new abilities gained after acquiring "Star Sand". In addition, "Star Sand" can also replace corresponding spiritual materials, allowing Odis to use "witchcraft" more quickly.
In other words, there's no longer a need to worry about running out of scrolls and carrying spiritual materials around. Whenever you want to use any "witchcraft," you can simply summon "star sand."
Moreover, the "witchcraft" used by Star Sand is about twice as powerful as that of Sequence 6, and has roughly the same power as the scrolls created in Sequence 6.
As for the scroll, its power has also doubled.
This was a complete "behind-the-scenes operation." The symbols on the scrolls were still the same symbols, and the spiritual materials were still the same spiritual materials, but the power was much greater!
In Odis's understanding, this was the qualitative change brought about by extraordinary characteristics.
After all, extraordinary characteristics, to some extent, bring distortion and chaos to this world.
So it can be seen that the characteristics of an "astrologer" caused those symbols and materials to be "orderly chaotic".
It's like something that was originally a "1", but after being "processed" by certain characteristics, it somehow became a "2".
Odis called this change "orderly chaos" because the process was so stable and reliable that it was always the same whenever Odis wrote on a scroll.
In addition, Odis could achieve a higher ceiling when writing scrolls.
Previously, many of Odis's ideas about scrolls were impossible to realize because their own characteristics were too low-level. Now that the characteristics have become higher-level, many ideas can be tested.
The most direct manifestation of this is that if the scroll is written with the "talks" of the "true creator," its power will be even greater and its abilities will be more diverse.
This is why, after digesting the potion, Odis immediately put away the "dreams" of the "true creator."
Furthermore, the utilization of spiritual materials at the demigod level can also reach new heights. With the amount of high-grade materials Odis has, he can soon have another batch of high-grade scrolls.
This is the enhancement of Odis's core abilities after his promotion. He also gained a new ability: astrology.
Moreover, the accuracy of "astrology" is comparable to that of "astrology" by "masters of occultism" of the same level.
However, other types of divination remain the same as before; they can complete the "divination" process, but they are far inferior to a "diviner".
In addition, "astrologers" can not only perform astrological calculations using crystal balls, but they also have the ability to conduct "video conversations" remotely using crystal balls, although this process also requires a continuous consumption of spiritual energy.
The "Eye of Mystery" has also been enhanced. At this point, the "Eye of Mystery" can see most of the mystical phenomena, as well as the basic operation of mysticism, or rather, the essence of mystical operation.
It can even see through some high-level occult barriers and see what it wants to see.
But the price to pay is that it's easy to see things you shouldn't see.
He is still only a Sequence 5, and if he accidentally sees a mythical creature wandering in the spirit world, he will definitely be corrupted.
Therefore, it is essential to seal away the "eyes that peer into secrets" at all times.
Perhaps because there is so much occult information available, after advancing in rank, one can observe another person's astral body and see their luck within a week, as well as the key to changing that luck.
However, this can also be done using astrology, and it's a more reliable method.
If there is a similar need, Odis will use "astrology" to try not to break the seal on the "Eye of Secrets".
Finally, Odis's mind was filled with a great deal of knowledge about the stars, as well as knowledge about interpreting them.
Odis took a deep breath. Overall, the improvement from sequence 6 to sequence 5 was much stronger than the improvement from sequence 7 to sequence 6.
Since Bernadette was still around, Odis couldn't immediately go to the "Wilderness of Knowledge" to check on the new abilities he had gained there; he could only wait and see.
Then, Odis spread his arms and lay down on the grass: "Sequence 5, not far from becoming a demigod."
Bernadette, standing nearby, cautioned, "You're overthinking it. Sequence 4 is a difficult hurdle for any extraordinary individual."
"Potion recipes and extraordinary properties are not something you can obtain simply by having a need for them."
Odis, however, was quite optimistic. He smiled and asked, "Didn't you say you were going to provide a clue to a Sequence 4 level master material?"
Bernadette sat on the stone throne: "At least you need to stabilize your condition and start digesting the potion before I tell you."
"Okay," Odis said. "Don't sit, come and lie down with me. It's really comfortable to lie on the grass."
Bernadette was somewhat tempted, but she simply leaned forward slightly and said, "Let's sit down."
"There's no one else here," Odis said. "If you talk like this now, all I can see are your feet and your legs."
He paused and smiled, "Although you are the Queen, which is in line with your high status, you are also a very understanding, approachable, and beloved Queen."
"It's just that I, an ordinary person, always have to look up to you..."
"Alright," Bernadette interrupted, "your sudden use of the formal 'you' gives me goosebumps."
As they spoke, the rustic stone chair disappeared, and Bernadette sat down next to Odis, bringing the two of them much closer together.
Odis looked at the starry sky and said, "When I was little, my grandfather grew watermelons for a few years."
"When the watermelons are almost ripe, we have to stay in the watermelon field at night to prevent anyone from stealing them."
"I love going to see watermelons with my grandpa the most, because we can eat as many watermelons as we want in the field, and grandpa seems to know everything. No matter what question I ask him, he can answer it."
"He also likes to tell ghost stories, which both scare and fascinate me."
"After Grandpa fell asleep, I looked at the night sky and thought about all sorts of things."
At this point, Odis let out a long sigh of relief: "I haven't seen such a beautiful starry sky since I went to study in the city."
Bernadette glanced at Odis beside her before taking a deep breath and saying, "When I was little, whenever I was angry with my father, I would climb onto the roof and count the stars, and after counting them, I would stop being angry."
"When I encounter something I can't understand or something that makes me uncomfortable, I start counting stars. As I count, my mood improves."
She gave a faint smile: "I also feel it's a pity. Counting stars won't help with the problems we're facing now."
"No matter how many times I count, my mood won't improve."
As she spoke, she lay down on the grass, gazing wistfully at the brilliant starry sky.
Odis asked, "Your home is in Trier, isn't it?"
"I…" Bernadette suddenly laughed: "Sometimes I don't know if that's my home."
Will you miss that place?
"Sometimes," Bernadette said with a sigh. "Back then, I had a fairly happy family."
"Then that is your hometown," Odis said. "Hometown doesn't necessarily refer to a specific place; sometimes it also refers to the place where one's heart finds its home."
Bernadette turned to look at Odis, who was resting her head on her hands with her eyes closed, as if enjoying the peaceful night: "That sounds quite philosophical."
"I've read some philosophy books," Odis said with a smile. "To be honest, my first impression of them is that they're just word games."
"But it is only when I really want to express my inner thoughts that I realize I need these philosophical insights."
"This reminds me of my experience studying philosophy." Bernadette's lips curled into a smile: "That was a disaster!"
"I still can't understand why I had to study philosophy... "
At that moment, Bernadette heard soft snoring. She turned her head and saw that Odis had fallen asleep.
She stared at Odis's handsome profile for a while before saying, "You must be tired too, take a rest."
Then she smiled and said, "It seems you feel very safe with me around."
After a few quiet minutes, Bernadette suddenly felt that the tranquility was wonderful.
...
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Odis found herself in a confined space.
It was pitch black all around. He touched the ground in front of him and felt the texture of a stone wall. There was another stone wall to his right.
He felt as if he had suddenly fallen into a stone coffin. The claustrophobic feeling and the illusion of being buried alive made him panic.
However, he immediately realized that he was now at Sequence 5 and had many new methods, which were sufficient to deal with more complex problems.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.
Suddenly, Odis felt something move on his left. He was startled and tried to open his eyes wide, but the "Eye of the Secret" seemed to have no night vision effect at all, and he could not see anything on his left.
Odis suddenly remembered that the "mysterious queen" had been to his right, so he asked, "Bernarde?"
The other person paused for a second or two before answering, "Edwina."
Odis was taken aback. He had sailed in different directions from "Iceberg Admiral" that afternoon, and was now on an island in the Misty Sea. How could he possibly encounter Edwina?
At this moment, Edwina asked, "Where is this place? How did you get here?"
"I don't know," Odis said truthfully. "I was asleep when I suddenly appeared here."
"Me too," Edwina said. "By the way, have you seen my letter?"
Odis paused for a moment before saying, "No, I left the ship around ten o'clock."
"I see," Edwina said. "Later that night, some crew members noticed that First Mate Blue was acting strangely."
"I went to see him, and for some reason, his whole face looked gaunt, as if he was extremely dehydrated."
"But he didn't seem to realize it, so I used a 'secret technique' to put him to sleep and gave him a check-up."
"His spirit seems to be connected to something. I've tried many methods, but I haven't been able to sever this connection. If this continues, he and the other person may completely switch places."
That's why I wrote to you to ask what you think.
"But you didn't reply until after 3 a.m.
"At that moment, I thought of a way to temporarily stabilize the situation and prevent First Mate Blue's condition from developing in a dangerous direction, so I went to rest."
Odis paused for a moment: "I fell asleep around one in the morning."
Then he tapped the stone in front of him: "Could this be one of the stone coffins we explored during the day?"
"Not only was Blue affected, but we were also affected without even realizing it?"
This sounds a bit scary, but it's a logical conjecture.
The only thing Odis couldn't understand was that Bernadette was right beside her. After she suddenly disappeared, didn't she even look for her? Or did she leave after seeing that she was asleep?
While thinking, Odis said, "In any case, let's take a look at the surrounding situation first."
As he said this, Odis reached out and created a small ball of flame from stardust.
What he saw was horrifying: the person next to him wasn't Edwina at all, but a shriveled corpse!
The face had empty eyes, and the lips were so dry that they revealed teeth, making it look extremely ferocious.
A look of surprise gradually appeared on the other person's gaunt face...
Whew~
Odis suddenly became alert; the first thing he saw was a huge, colorful umbrella.
Then he saw the bed "reappear" beneath his body. It turned out that it was raining, so Bernadette "reappeared" with an umbrella and a bed.
The brilliant starry sky was gone, and the surroundings were dark; the only sound was the raindrops hitting the grass.
Bernadette sat on the other side of the bed: "Did you just dream that you went to another place?"
Odis was startled, then suddenly remembered her dream: "Yes!"
He then told the "mysterious queen" about his dream in detail, and briefly described his exploration that morning.
Bernadette thought for a moment before saying, "I realized it wasn't that dangerous, so I didn't wake you up rashly."
"It's pretty much what I guessed earlier. Your spirit established some kind of connection with a corpse in the tomb, so a part of your spirit and consciousness returned to that stone chamber through these connections after you fell asleep."
Odis nodded slowly: "In other words, sever this connection, or destroy those corpses... No, we must sever the connection first, and then destroy the corpses."
Bernadette hummed in agreement.
Odis thought for a moment and then asked, "Could this just be a dream I had?"
"That's easy to verify," Bernadette smiled. "Just wait until you get back to the Argo and see if you've received any letters from Edwards."
She paused and then said, "However, I think it's most likely not a dream."
"In the Tertiary period, cremation was not common; only criminals or heretics were burned to death."
"If a demigod's corpse is not cremated, even if its extraordinary characteristics have been extracted, it will still undergo certain mutations."
"Before the church was buried, the clergy there would seal it or do some other treatments, but after the church was buried, no one cared about the situation there."
"So the corpses there may have mutated into monsters with certain strange abilities."
Odis and the others had also thought of this, so they only looked at the murals and did not open the sarcophagus.
He stood up and said, "I'll go back now."
At this moment, Bernadette suddenly asked, "How many people participated in the exploration?"
Odis paused for a moment before answering, "Eight people."
How many stone coffins are there?
Odis thought for a moment: "Seven mouths..."
He understood what Bernadette meant: "I will investigate everyone who has conducted the exploration."
Bernadette nodded slowly, indicating that this was exactly what she meant.
There were 7 stone coffins, but because one of them contained two corpses, there were a total of 8 corpses in that dark room, which corresponded to the 8 people who were exploring.
In the world of mysticism, sometimes many questions can be answered simply by looking at numbers.
Bernadette watched Odis's figure disappear into the void, looked around with some melancholy, and then vanished as well.
The colorful umbrellas and beds that were "reproduced" gradually became illusory and eventually disappeared without a trace.
All that remains here is the sound of rain under the night sky.
...
In the Argo's workshop, a phantom door suddenly appeared in the center.
Odis pushed open the door and looked at the workbench first. Sure enough, there was a letter from Edwina.
The contents of the letter were similar to the conversation between the two people inside the stone coffin.
Just as Odis finished reading, the now flesh-and-blood messenger delivered another letter, also from Edwina.
He had already guessed the contents of the letter. When he opened it, it indeed described the dream he had just had. However, Edwina saw that Odis was a corpse, which was what woke her up.
At the same time, Edwina guessed that the problem must have been caused by the exploration of the dark room during the day.
She invited Odis to the "Golden Dream" to discuss solutions to the problem.
Odis did not immediately head to the "Golden Dream" because he wanted to first examine the abilities he had acquired in the "Wilderness of Knowledge".
Perhaps the new skills I've acquired will come in handy when I try to solve problems in the future.
After reading the letter, Odis leaned back in his chair and entered the "wilderness of knowledge" through "meditation".
Upon entering, the entire "Wilderness of Knowledge" seemed to tremble slightly. Odis took a step and arrived at the tower composed of spheres of light.
As soon as he entered, two orbs of light suddenly detached from the tower and flew toward Odis.
Having learned from his previous promotion, Odis immediately reached out and touched one of the orbs of light.
The sphere of light quickly merged with Odis, giving her an immediate way to avoid being contaminated or affected when observing the starry sky.
When Odis used astrology by observing the stars, there was a certain probability that the questions he wanted to ask would be noticed by some outer gods.
With the protection of the "barrier," the Outer Gods might not be able to corrupt Odis, but being targeted by them is never a good thing.
The method provided by the light sphere is a magic circle.
This magic circle was exactly what Odis had dreamed of—a magic circle that would prevent the gods from seeing Odis.
Odis immediately "looked" at the magic circle in his mind and found that it was very similar to the magic circle he had designed to block the gaze of the "God of Steam and Machinery".
The only difference is that this spell requires the use of a "Trickster's" extraordinary property.
Odis immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but think to himself: the direction of combining magic circles with special properties is correct!
By making slight use of its extraordinary properties, it's possible to deceive even the gods.
Of course, using this magic circle under the watchful eye of a deity will have no effect. It is suitable for situations where one anticipates the deity's gaze but does not pay particular attention.
If you don't want to expose yourself in such a situation, you can use this magic circle.
Specifically, it serves to obscure the "true vision" of the gods to a certain extent.
However, if a certain deity is particularly concerned about the actions Odis is about to take, this magic circle will most likely be of little use.
After all, that was a deity, and the properties utilized in the magic circle were merely a "thief's" pathway, a sequence level 8 property. If the deity paid close attention, it could find Odis.
With the protection of the "barrier," it's possible to deceive the outer gods, but it's somewhat difficult to deceive the gods inside the barrier.
Thinking of this, Odis chuckled to himself. He was no longer fighting alone like he had back in Backlund, and he didn't need such a magic circle to prevent the God of Steam and Machines from finding his trail.
When faced with a problem you can't solve, praying to the goddess of night is the best solution.
Then the only function of this magic circle is to prevent it from being contaminated by external gods.
Then, Odis reached out and touched the second orb of light.
The knowledge stored in this sphere of light is how to use "star sand" to write occult characters and create some strange abilities.
Oddess was taken aback; he himself hadn't expected this.
The specific usage is that by using "star sand" to write a "Garr symbol" like writing on a scroll, one can create abilities that can only be mastered through many other means.
For example, by using the correct "expression", one can use "star sand" to simulate the "magician's" "air bullet" ability!
Odis grinned. His previous research on the "Recorder" had led him to discover how to express extraordinary abilities using the "Garr runes".