"Indeed..."
Listening to Aldrich’s words, Dorothy exhaled softly, her thoughts racing. The revelation that the elder before her was indeed "Grayhill" did not come as a great surprise to her.
After all, back when she was still in the carriage, she had already noticed the four stone-armored knights standing statue-like around Aldrich. These knights bore a striking resemblance to those she had seen at the Grayhill gathering. From that moment, Dorothy had begun to speculate whether Aldrich might be Grayhill himself.
Now that he had confirmed it, Dorothy felt a sense of relief, but also a rising tide of other questions.
"So, it’s true... you are Mr. Grayhill from the gathering. This means you were testing me back then, correct? What caught your attention about me?"
Dorothy questioned Grayhill again. Clearly, he must have recognized her as the young girl who had traded with him at the secret gathering. Dorothy, however, wasn’t entirely sure what had tipped him off.
Aldrich, maintaining a smile, waved a hand dismissively before replying.
"I suppose, Miss Mayschoss, you’ve never had formal training in voice disguise? At the gathering, your voice was quite unnatural. I could tell immediately that you were deliberately raising your pitch, trying to alter your voice."
"My voice..."
Hearing Aldrich’s explanation, Dorothy immediately realized where the issue lay. She had no professional training in voice mimicry. During the gathering, she had simply raised her pitch consciously. Anyone knowledgeable in this area would have been able to discern the flaw upon careful listening."You might fool the average person, but to me, your attempt at voice alteration was crude and amateurish. Not only did I notice the inconsistency, but I also used a mystic item to record your voice in secret. Later, I experimented with pitch-lowering techniques to reconstruct several possible versions of your natural voice. Unexpectedly, not long after, one of those versions reached my ears in the corridors of this very school..."
As Aldrich continued, Dorothy felt a sudden realization dawn upon her.
"So that’s how it is. You wanted to test me."
"Exactly. But in the end, I didn’t find much. What surprised me instead was some of your brother’s behavior. For a while, I wasn’t entirely sure if you were the girl from before—until today, when you approached me voluntarily...”
"Haha... secrets seem to run in the family. Are you two from some secret lineage? Neither ’Mayschoss’ nor ’Dorothy’ are common names in this country. They do, however, carry a hint of Eastern influence..."
After finishing his observation, Aldrich took another sip of tea. Dorothy then responded calmly.
"My brother is simply agile from a young age. We are not from any secret lineage. My encounter with the realm of beyond was purely by chance."
"Say what you will. As long as you don’t break my rules, I have no interest in prying into others’ secrets. Now, Miss Mayschoss, do you have any other questions?"
Setting the tea jar back on the table, Aldrich addressed Dorothy, who took a moment to glance at the many stone statues around her.
"Yes, I do. Sir, the path you walk—is it that of ’Stone’?"
Dorothy voiced her question. While she had a hypothesis about the spiritual domain Aldrich pursued, she wanted confirmation. Aldrich responded directly.
"Indeed, ’Stone.’ The spirituality I pursue—the stone that is carved, the stone that is shaped..."
Rising slowly from his seat, Aldrich gazed at the sculptures surrounding him. Dorothy followed up.
"You’ve created so many sculptures. Is sculpting a method of practice for the ‘Stone’ Beyonder pathway?"
"It is, but only one of them," Aldrich answered, walking toward the bust he had been working on earlier.
Running his fingers over it, he explained, "The spirituality of ’Stone’ is the most grounded foundation in this world, present in all rocks, minerals, and metals. It is the most apparent, the most expansive, and the most straightforward spirituality. It is also the most stable."
"Rocks, minerals, metals... truly can be found everywhere. That must make gathering spirituality convenient," Dorothy remarked, intrigued.
Aldrich shook his head in response.
"Not at all. While ’Stone’ is widespread, the spirituality within common rocks and minerals is sparse and heavily diluted, making it difficult to extract—except for a few gemstones naturally rich in high spirituality, unearthed from deep within the earth.”
"In contrast, take the ’Chalice,’ for example. Due to the depravity of the Afterbirth Cult, mainstream accumulation of ’Chalice’ spirituality often involves consuming flesh. But one cannot eat stones, nor digest them. Even if you were to fill your stomach with rocks, you’d barely extract any ’Stone.’”
"The spirituality of ’Stone’ possesses the strongest stability and inertness of all spiritualities. While this is an advantage in some respects, it poses a significant challenge in absorption. Thus, those connected to ’Stone’ have developed alternative methods to gather its spirituality.”
"The key lies in ’shaping.’ By pouring effort and skill into shaping metals and stones, a craftsman’s spirit resonates with the spirituality within the materials, making it more active and concentrated. The process of shaping is, in essence, a dialogue, a resonance, between the craftsman and the material."
As he spoke, Aldrich picked up his tools and made final adjustments to the details of the bust.
"To shape the physical form of stone with chisels, to shape the spirituality of stone with one’s spirit—when a piece is complete, the spirituality within the ’Stone’ changes. It becomes concentrated, active, intelligent, and... easier to absorb."
With these words, Aldrich made the last cut, set down his tools, and placed his hand on the bust’s shoulder. A faint gray light flashed from his hand, and the bust began to crack rapidly. Fine fissures spread across its surface before it crumbled into ash.
Witnessing this, Dorothy understood: the spirituality of ’Stone’ within the statue had been extracted by Aldrich.
Natural stone contained spirituality that was hard to absorb. However, through the painstaking process of crafting, the spirituality of ’Stone’ could be activated and concentrated, making it easier to absorb once the work was complete.
This was the primary method for ‘Stone’ Beyonders to gather spirituality.
"I see... truly eye-opening, Mr. Aldrich. But if extracting spirituality destroys the work, why are there still so many exquisite pieces of yours on display at the school?"
Dorothy’s tone was both astonished and puzzled. Aldrich sighed before replying.
"As you said, they are exquisite. And because they are so, how could I bear to destroy them? Carving a piece infused with spirituality demands full commitment and meticulous effort. Each piece is a labor of love. While I can part with the less perfect ones, I find myself reluctant when it comes to works I am truly satisfied with...”
"Perhaps, in a sense, I am more of a craftsman than a Beyonder."