Chapter 208: Night Class

The middle-aged woman who led Xia De to meet Miss Danister just now led Xia De back to the open space where 【Broken Old World Map】 was stored from between the bookshelves, and then let him return through the map.

And before going back, Xia De, with a thick skin, asked the three people who operated and guarded the map for "souvenirs" with the Saint Byrons school badge.

Thus, after another fantastic illusion, he appeared in the room on the second floor of Schneider's psychological clinic holding five fountain pens.

The other four people who were chatting on the stools by the wall stood up immediately, and only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing it was Xia De who returned.

"Look! Souvenirs! I brought them back specifically from the college!"

He smiled and showed the fountain pens in his hand to the four. The Doctor took one and watched it excitedly under the lamp:

"Oh, Xia De, tell us quickly, what exactly is the college like?"

Among the five people present, Doctor Schneider was the one most eager to go to the college. While telling everyone about the experience just now, Xia De was still thinking in his heart that if he brought back the news that "Saint Byrons is actually a scam" after returning, the Doctor would probably lose control on the spot.

Because of Xia De's accidental "long journey," the rest of the afternoon completely turned into him recounting what he saw and heard. Clearly, the whole process of meeting Miss Danister was only half an hour, but under the questioning of everyone for details, he talked until five-thirty in the evening before finishing.

Of course, the Silver Moon and Red Moon matters were not said, only saying that there were important things that needed his own assistance to complete.

"I have never seen a Thirteenth-Ring Shushi, but after hearing you say so, Miss Danister seems very approachable."

This was the Doctor's evaluation of Xia De's description, but looking at the reactions of others, Miss Louisa, Miss Annet, and Priest Augustus all seemed to have had contact with Thirteenth-Ring Shushi.

The Doctor cared about the academic atmosphere and learning environment of Saint Byrons, and felt regret that Xia De could not talk to the formal students of the college; Miss Louisa curiously asked about the details of the Thirteenth-Ring librarian Miss Danister, and even let Xia De accurately describe the other party's attire and hairstyle.

Priest Augustus was curious about the rich collection of books in the library Xia De described. When he heard Xia De talk about the *Pink Book*, he, like him, didn't understand it. Doctor Schneider and Miss Annet didn't understand this book either, but Miss Louisa seemed to have thought of something, and then stopped Xia De from discussing with the other three, saying lightly with a red face:

"Unhealthy reading material, there are a large number of Miracles and Curses related to reproductive behavior recorded inside... I haven't read it, just learned about this book when writing course papers."

Xia De understood completely after saying this, and the topic came to an abrupt end.

As for Miss Annet, she cared about the Miracle 【Soul Echo】 Xia De brought back and the final divination. This Miracle, according to Miss Annet, could be considered one of the most powerful Miracles that a low-ring Shushi could master through normal means. That Thirteenth-Ring librarian was really generous.

"As for divination, I haven't heard that Miss Danister is proficient in divination before, so Xia De, you don't have to take it too seriously."

This was the advice she gave, but the result of the divination overlapped too much with what Xia De was going to do, so he decided to try it.

The study group ended around six o'clock that day. When it ended, everyone was still not satisfied, so much so that Xia De and Miss Annet almost forgot to return the library Miracle and Curse catalog borrowed last week.

After the study group ended, everyone left separately. Doctor Schneider was in a hurry to go out for a consultation again, Priest Augustus's Saint Prayer Festival preparation work was becoming increasingly busy, as for Miss Annet, she was going to see Miss Beiyasi. With Xia De's information, the relationship between them would probably have a rapid improvement.

Miss Louisa left with Xia De. The two had dinner together first, and then went to Quill Avenue to conduct the first lecture.

The lecture location was Miss Louisa's study. Compared to the study at Saint Theresa Square, the study in the rental apartment was slightly cramped, but the number of books piled up inside was probably five times more than Xia De's study.

The desk had been cleaned up in advance. Xia De sat opposite Miss Louisa, with paper and pens and notebooks placed beside the table, and three books placed beside his hand. Looking at Miss Louisa's meaning, these books were what he needed to study and submit reading notes next week.

"First of all,

The blonde Miss was wearing a well-fitting lady's shirt at home, her hair hanging loose behind her head, with the hair tie she used to bundle it up wrapped around her wrist. She had prepared many things for tonight's lesson; paper, pens, and a notebook were laid out in front of Xia De, and there were three books placed at his side. Judging by Miss Louisa's intent, these were the books he needed to study and submit reading notes on next week.

"Basically, I don't understand anything at all."

Given that Xia De's basic knowledge was essentially zero, Miss Louisa spent a large amount of time during the first hour of the lesson letting Xia De understand the development of the "Enlightenment" element and the current status of Ringed Shushi who were proficient in it.

Contemporary research into the Enlightenment element is divided into two major directions: obtaining enlightenment from literature and obtaining it directly from civilization.

Miss Louisa was proficient in the former and, categorized by literature, listed for Xia De the similarities and differences in the power that could be obtained from different types of stories. As for obtaining power from civilization itself, according to Miss Louisa, very few people in this era specialized in this method.

"Strictly speaking, any method of obtaining elements by viewing words written by humans belongs to the way of extracting Enlightenment elements. Therefore, research into the Enlightenment element can also help you dig deeper into the mysteries within those ancient classics."

This kind of systematic learning was exactly what the Outlander, who knew nothing, lacked. Although correspondence Ringed Shushi were free, they correspondingly lacked the opportunity to receive systematic training. Having a "teacher" like Miss Louisa, who was willing to provide help without reservation, could quickly allow Xia De to fill in those basic common sense gaps and walk faster on the path of the Ringed Shushi.

Therefore, although both sides could be said to have their own needs, Xia De was actually very grateful to Miss Louisa.

Around seven-thirty, the two took a short break. Afterward, Miss Louisa took out a translation of the transcript of the original fairy tale "The Tree's Kiss" that she had found, and let Xia De study it carefully.

After Xia De explained his inexplicable connection to the 【Father of the Infinite Tree】 a few days ago, Miss Louisa temporarily changed the teaching plan, believing that runes related to the 【Tree】 might be of great help to Xia De.

As Xia De read the story, Miss Louisa explained the detailed content within it, and based on different legends and stories, explained the meanings that the giant tree and Princess Tavier in the story might represent. Although this book used the common language, some metaphors and different interpretation methods could have a great impact on understanding the story itself.

By the time Xia De finished reading the first pass in its entirety, Miss Louisa was sitting back behind the desk, covered in sweat. She looked at Xia De, who was neither flushed nor out of breath:

"Xia De, I wanted to ask last time when we faced that magic eye, just how high is your soul resistance? After reading a story this close to an original text, do you really not feel any discomfort at all?"

A chuckle came to his ears; Xia De simply hadn't realized that this kind of book would pollute the spirit.

In any case, reading it once today was enough; the two would continue to study this book in next week's lesson. Miss Louisa estimated that in at most a month's time, Xia De would be able to obtain a sliver of power from the book. Coupled with "The Mad Light-Chaser" which he was still studying, Xia De might have many unexpected gains in the near future:

"This kind of treatment, having another Ringed Shushi help interpret stories, is something you could never find anywhere else in this era. The one-on-one apprenticeship system of the past era did have this phenomenon, but the teachers in the apprenticeship system wouldn't be as generous as I am."

She was probably praising herself.

Near nine o'clock, the formal lesson ended. Miss Louisa had Xia De manifest his Ring of Fate, and then under her instruction, he continuously attempted to use 【Mirage: The Little Match Girl】, in order to let Miss Louisa experience the power of the 【Match Girl】.

Xia De didn't see what the point of doing this was, but the blonde female writer claimed she had gained a lot.

This research lasted until ten o'clock before ending, because the apartment the female writer rented did not allow any man to stay past eleven, and the landlady downstairs had already come to urge them many times.

When Xia De prepared to say goodbye, he had three books and a study notebook that Miss Louisa had used in the past in his hands.

But Miss Louisa did not send him to the door; instead, she picked up the coat she wore when going out and followed Xia De out of the apartment door and onto the night-time Quill Street.

"Miss Louisa, are you going to walk me to the intersection? It's such a short distance, there's no need to see me off."

"Of course not."

The blonde Miss signaled for Xia De to follow her along the street:

"Although you didn't say what materials the 【Soul Echo】 miracle requires, I think it must be inseparable from corpse materials and soul materials. Xia De, do you know where to get such materials?"

She put on that coat, which was still quite loose, and tapped her right foot on the ground to make her shoes fit better.

"Go to Old John's..."

"He doesn't even accept magic eyes, why would you think he has those disgusting materials? Corpse-type materials are hard to find even in the black markets of cities with strict controls like Tobesk; this requires special channels."

As she spoke, she took the lead in walking toward the intersection and waved at Xia De:

"Follow me, I'll introduce you to a good place."

In the night, the blonde Miss's back, under the not-very-bright gas streetlights of Quill Street, appeared exceptionally dazzling. Xia De knew that using the word "dazzling" to describe a back was inappropriate, but it was the only word he could think of at the moment.

He hurried to catch up, this time not saying anything like "thank you." The two chatted about the feeling of carrying the 【Leaf of Youth】, and together they disappeared into the night fog that was gradually emerging.