“The Great Soul... the origin and final destination of all souls... Is this the deity worshipped by the natives of the New Continent?”
Sitting in the quiet corner of the library, Dorothy ponders Kapak’s response. Based on the description, if the Great Soul is indeed a deity, it might belong to the Silence domain.
“Just from the description, it sounds quite impressive—more so than the Three Saints of Radiance or Gluttonous Wolf. But I’m not sure if it’s real. It might just be a myth or exaggerated legend.”
Dorothy thinks this to herself, then continues to ask Kapak more detailed questions about the Great Soul. The answers she receives, however, surprise her.
"I’m sorry, Respected Scholar, but I actually don’t know much about the Great Soul. In our land, although all tribes revere the Great Soul, the level of devotion is not particularly high. While the Great Soul holds a prestigious position, it is not as important to the tribes as their own wilderness spirits. The shamans in our tribe rarely conduct direct rituals for the Great Soul.”
"For us ordinary tribesmen, the Great Soul is revered but not particularly significant. Other spirits are more closely tied to our daily lives, so I don’t know much about it…”
Reading Kapak’s response, Dorothy frowns slightly. His words remind her of something.
“Revered but not particularly important...? This feels similar to the Radiant Savior in the Radiance Church. The Radiance Church focuses on the Three Saints, with most rituals and prayers centered around them. The Radiant Savior, from whom the Three Saints originate, feels more like a background figure, less prominent.”
Dorothy ponders this but doesn’t dwell on it further. Instead, she shifts the conversation to other topics.
During their exchange, Kapak shares some of his difficulties with Dorothy. "Respected Scholar, to be honest, I really want to acquire more knowledge to help my tribe, especially in the field of medicine. I’ve seen the wonders of the invaders’ medicines, and now I’m eager to learn more about medical knowledge to help my people, who suffer from various illnesses.”
"However, what troubles me is that if I want to ask Aka for more knowledge, I need to offer valuable knowledge in return. Unfortunately, the precious knowledge in our tribe is kept by the shamans, and I don’t yet have the authority to access it."
Sitting in her seat, Dorothy strokes her chin as she reads Kapak’s words. After understanding his predicament, she begins to think.
“This young man raises a valid point. In such tribes, traditional knowledge is highly valued and not easily accessible to those without status. Kapak doesn’t seem to hold a high position in his tribe, so it might take a long time for him to gain access to the shamans’ knowledge. Perhaps I can help him a bit, to improve his standing in the tribe.”
Dorothy thinks this to herself. In her view, if Kapak can make some contributions to his tribe, he might have a better chance of accessing their inherited knowledge.
With this in mind, Dorothy continues writing in the logbook.
"I understand your predicament, Kapak. I think I can help you with this. Here’s what I’ll do: I can offer the corresponding knowledge to Aka without expecting anything in return. I’ll ask Aka to grant you the rewards I receive. In a couple of days, you can pray to Aka to claim them."
After writing this, Dorothy watches as the words slowly sink into the paper. Soon, Kapak’s excited, slightly distorted handwriting reappears.
"Really!? Thank you so much, Respected Scholar! I will remember your kindness and find a way to repay you!"
Reading the text, Dorothy can imagine Kapak’s excitement and joy. She smiles slightly.
“To reap rich rewards, one must first invest. Helping this young man gain a higher status in his tribe is necessary, and this investment isn’t much of a loss for me.”
Dorothy thinks this to herself. Kapak wants knowledge about medicine, and coincidentally, the Royal Crown University has a medical department, and the library holds many medical books.
“For the tribesmen in the New Continent, some basic medical knowledge could have a significant impact—things like plague prevention, parasite control, proper use of medicines and medical equipment, wound treatment, simple surgeries... These are all techniques that can improve survival rates in less advanced environments. Finding books on these topics in this library shouldn’t be difficult.”
With this thought, Dorothy looks around the spacious, brightly lit library, with its rows of neatly arranged bookshelves.
This is the library of the capital university of the Pritt Kingdom, and its collection is astonishingly vast, covering almost every aspect of the mundane world. It’s safe to say that while you won’t find mystical texts here, books on almost every other subject can be found.
This is why Dorothy enjoys spending so much time in the library. Many non-mystical knowledge sources are still very useful. For example, she once studied civil engineering to command her corpse marionettes in clearing ruins and digging tunnels.
"Alright, let’s go find some medical books. Where’s the medical section again?"
Muttering to herself, Dorothy stands up from her seat, ready to search for the relevant books.
Just then, a system alert sounds in her mind.
“Warning: Detected information retrieval targeting the host... Warning: Detected information retrieval targeting the host. Estimated completion time: 97 seconds. Please prepare accordingly.”
Hearing this, Dorothy is momentarily stunned. She sits back down, frowning. She has heard this warning once before, back in Igwynt, and she knows what it means.
“This warning... Someone is performing divination on me? Who? The Serenity Bureau? Or the Eight-Spired Nest?”
Dorothy thinks to herself. Clearly, her recent actions have caused quite a stir. Preventing the desecration ritual and killing a White Rank Beyonder is enough to draw serious attention from relevant factions, enough to expend precious Revelation resources on divination.
“I doubt it’s the Serenity Bureau... I haven’t threatened them in any way, and they probably aren’t fully aware that the ritual site battle involved a White Rank. The Eight-Spired Nest, on the other hand, knows they’ve lost a White Rank combatant and had an important ritual disrupted. My threat level to them must be quite high.”
Dorothy analyzes the situation but doesn’t dwell on it further. For now, the most important thing is to deal with the divination.
“System, consume spirituality to block the retrieval.”
Dorothy silently commands the system. Fortunately, she currently has plenty of both Shadow and Enlightenment spirituality, so she isn’t too worried about divination.
“Retrieval blocked…”
As 1 point of Shadow and 1 point of Revelation are consumed, the system’s voice confirms the action. Just as Dorothy breathes a sigh of relief, the system’s warning sounds again.
“Warning: Detected information retrieval targeting the host... Warning: Detected information retrieval targeting the host. Estimated completion time: 97 seconds. Please prepare accordingly.”
Hearing the system’s repetitive warnings, Dorothy is momentarily stunned, then can’t help but mutter.
“Huh, are they really going to keep pushing this?”