Chapter 44: Increased Power

After parting with the old priest, Xia De found the three-story gray building of the rental carriage company office three streets away according to the map. The main business here was to pre-book carriage services for important travel, but there were also carriages that could carry cargo.

Xia De knew that his books were best not seen by ordinary people, so he specifically asked the driver if he would check the cargo.

"We are a professional rental carriage company. Even if you are pulling a corpse, no, even if you are pulling a whole carriage of corpses, as long as you don't leave traces, it has nothing to do with us at all."

The middle-aged accountant who took the money from Xia De emphasized with drooping eyelids:

"We are very professional."

The carriage pulling cargo was much cheaper than the carriage carrying people, even if it also had to carry Xia De back. When Xia De moved those books into the house at No. 6 St. Theresa Square trip by trip, he only spent less than 8 shillings in total.

Although Room 1 on the second floor looked very large in the past, after moving in so many books, he could feel that the space in the study was not enough. Xia De controlled the curious orange cat Mia not to touch his books, while thinking that when he had time, he must develop the remaining space of this house.

He didn't go out again this day. The exaggerated thick fog weather outside was also not suitable for going out, so he honestly flipped through the books he bought for 50 pounds at home, consuming gas and steam whose prices were still unknown.

Most of the freshman courses for Ringed Ringed Shushi only involve knowledge, not supernatural, so most of them are memory-based exam subjects. As an outsider who has undergone a complete education system, Xia De is very good at this, and believes he has the confidence to finish most of the freshman courses in the exam season at the end of this year.

As for those courses that require practical operation, he maintains great curiosity about power, and also believes in his self-study ability, so he believes he won't need too long to finish those courses.

Since he got the textbooks, Xia De's most concerned ones are of course 【Zhou Shu】 and 【Zhou Shu】, these two are the ways to directly gain power. Although he kept the doctor's admonition in mind, Xia De still believed that he needed the most basic self-protection power.

As a freshman Ringed Ringed Shushi who just enrolled, Saint Byron's Comprehensive Academy did not directly mention too many Zhou Shu and Zhou Shu in the "Basic Course for Ringed Ringed Shushi - Zhou Shu" and "Basic Course for Ringed Ringed Shushi - Zhou Shu" courses, and the few Zhou Shu and Zhou

St. Byrons Comprehensive Academy provides three types of Zhou Shu and four types of Qi Shu free of charge to first-year correspondence Ringed Ringed Shushi.

The free 【Zhou Shu】 have a standard system; regardless of which academy a student belongs to, the Zhou Shu they are first exposed to are identical.

Among them, the Zhou Shu recommended for initial learning and use are 【Ignite】, 【Call Water】, and 【Move Object】, respectively. These are the most primitive forms of manifestation of mystical power since the ancient era, and they possess more advanced 【Zhou Shu】 that can be extended from them.

Furthermore, the learning methods for these three types of Zhou Shu do not require many materials, and casting them requires no casting materials at all, making them the most convenient Zhou Shu. Xia De spent half a night learning and mastering them—

"Ha!"

His eyes were fixed on the newspaper in his hand, and the newspaper finally emitted a wisp of burning blue smoke, frightening the small orange cat that was playing by batting at the paper on the other side into Xia De's arms.

"Ha!"

His right hand continuously shook the empty water glass, and as he shook it, the inner wall of the water glass actually became moist. Xia De wiped the sweat from his forehead and placed the water glass back on the table, but before he could check it, the soft orange cat Mia in his arms curiously pounced toward the glass.

"Ha!"

Looking at the water glass with a gaze so intense it seemed it would bleed, the glass on the tabletop automatically moved backward slightly. The orange cat pouncing toward the glass changed direction in mid-air, its little paws pushing off the tabletop, and it jumped back into Xia De's arms again, looking as if it had been frightened once more.

This was a somewhat timid cat; its fierceness toward strangers was merely a means of self-protection.

As for the 【Qi Shu】 provided by St. Byrons Comprehensive Academy for first-year students, they are determined according to the Ringed Ringed Shushi's core Ling Rune.

Xia De's talent was quite good; 【Space-Time】 and 【Silver Moon】, while rare, were not obscure. In the basic course on Qi Shu, the academy's suggestion was to lean more toward Qi Shu related to 【Silver Moon】, as for a mystical scholar just starting out, the 【Space-Time】 Ling Rune is both dangerous and complex.

Therefore, among the four free Qi Shu provided by the academy, the only Qi Shu related to 【Space-Time】 was 【Perceive Time】, which is to say, giving Xia De the ability to know the exact point in time he is in at any moment.

Although this Qi Shu sounds not very useful, learning it is quite troublesome. As a basic Qi Shu provided by the academy, the materials required for learning are naturally provided by the academy as well. Among them, a pocket watch with a hundred-year history is easy to find, but a peculiar plant like the "Four-Leaf Clock Flower," although the School of Chemistry has a nursery for it, has a very troublesome harvesting process, so Xia De will not be able to obtain it from the doctor until next month.

As for the Qi Shu related to 【Silver Moon】, the academy provided three—

【Cynthia's Silver Moon Gift】, which grants healing abilities under the light of the silver moon; it can heal oneself and can also heal others. This is a Qi Shu that can only be learned and used by holders of the 【Silver Moon】 Ling Rune, and it is limited to nighttime use.

From the naming method, one can see that this is a Qi Shu developed by academy-style Ringed Ringed Shushi, hence using a name as a prefix. If the 【Silver Moon Light-Producing Spell】 invented by Xia De is strong enough, he can name it 【Xia De's Silver Moon Light-Producing Spell】.

【Moon Shadow Illusion】, which allows one to cast some simple illusions with the help of moonlight on any night. Any holder of a Ling Rune related to the moon can learn this Qi Shu, but depending on the Ling Rune and the user, the illusions also have slight differences; it is likewise limited to nighttime use.

【Silver Moon Slash】, which draws a streak of silver moonlight in the air to attack enemies, having a very good damage effect against enemies with Enlightenment and Blasphemy elements. This Qi Shu can also only be learned by holders of 【Silver Moon】, but holders of other moon, star, or even sun concept Ling Runes have similar Qi Shu, only with different effects.

This is the only attack-type Qi Shu among the three.

The night sky of this world has three moons: silver, yellow, and red. The three moons have different meanings in mysticism; among them, the red moon is related to flesh and reproduction, the yellow moon is the "Moonlight" and "Guide," while the silver moon is synonymous with "Guardian," "Holiness," and "Mystery."

Therefore, Qi Shu related to the silver moon concept are different from other moons. If Xia De's Ling Rune were a higher-specification concept like 【Moon】, the Qi Shu he could learn would actually be even more numerous.

The three Qi Shu can also be considered as having been specially selected by the academy, leaning toward healing, illusion, and attack respectively; it can be said that they are very comprehensive.

And the learning materials were still sent along with the books, which were respectively: "Silver Moon's Moon Essence," a liquid resembling mercury contained in a thumb-sized glass bottle; a piece of silver silk cloth embroidered with the holy emblem of an unknown ancient god; and a broken silver knife with only the blade part remaining, with a crescent moon engraved on the blade.

But it is not the case that one can learn them just by having the materials; Xia De also needs to prepare the corresponding environment and master the corresponding incantations. None of these can be solved in a single day, so as of this night, he had only learned 【Silver Moon Slash】.

The learning requirement for 【Silver Moon Slash】 only requires the Ringed Ringed Shushi to be able to adhere the silver moonlight to the broken silver knife, which is quite simple for the current Xia De.

He repeated this process under the moonlight at night; each time the moonlight was adhered, the knife became shorter. On the 13th time of adhering the silver moonlight, the broken blade in the light completely turned into light and disappeared. Xia De looked at his slightly glowing hand, and a realization dawned in his heart: he had learned this attack-type Qi Shu.