Night fell over Igwynt, and within an apartment on Southern Sunflower Street in the upper city, Dorothy reclined on a sofa. She was curiously examining a ring on her finger that shimmered faintly with a dull silver glow. This ring had always been on Dorothy’s hand—a keepsake left by her mother, whom she had never met.
Now, the ring’s peculiar silver glow intrigued her. Dorothy understood what it signified: the ring was reacting to her recently acquired Cain’s Appraisal Skill, a skill that allowed her to perceive mystical items with the naked eye.
“This family heirloom from my mom is glowing? Does that mean this thing is a mystical item?"
The thought left Dorothy utterly astonished. She had never imagined that her absent mother, of whom she had no memory, might have left behind something so mysterious. Did this imply her mother had ties to the realm of beyond? Or was she herself a Beyonder?
But then, what kind of Beyonder would abandon their study of the mystic, marry a hunter, and settle in a remote village? The idea was baffling.
Dorothy suddenly recalled what Aldrich had once remarked.
Dorothy and Mayschoss, your first and last names are uncommon in this country—they have an Eastern flair to them...
"Indeed," Dorothy mused. "Greg and I have rare names here. Aunt Hannah once mentioned that our father wasn’t well-educated, so our names must have been chosen by our mother. If that’s the case, and my mother was possibly a Beyonder, could she have been from some Eastern country?"
Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, Dorothy pondered this mystery. However, after much thought, she couldn’t make sense of it and decided to shelve the matter for now.
"Phew… Thinking about this won’t get me anywhere. I might as well identify the ring first. Maybe it holds some clues."Fixing her gaze on the crescent-shaped ring, Dorothy concentrated and activated her Appraisal Skill. Since her skill was incomplete, it required her to expend spirituality, specifically of the “Lantern” type.
‘So it’s ‘Lantern’ that’s needed for identification… Does that mean ‘Lantern’ has properties of insight, observation, and unraveling mysteries?’
With this thought in mind, Dorothy consumed her only point of “Lantern” and began identifying the ring. The item’s information immediately appeared before her eyes.
[Concealment Ring]
[Effect: When infused with “Shadow” spirituality, this ring can conceal the holder and their mystical items from spiritual detection. During active concealment, it consumes additional “Shadow” to counter the spirituality of detection attempts. The stronger the detection or the more spirituality provided, the more “Shadow” is required to block it.]
Reading the description, Dorothy found herself intrigued. She carefully analyzed its abilities.
"It can hide myself and any mystical items I carry from being perceived by others with passive detection skills. And if someone actively tries to detect me using spiritual techniques, I can block them by spending ’Shadow’? This is an excellent tool for maintaining secrecy. Even though the Crimson Eucharist lacks ‘Lantern’ detection methods for now, this ring might prove invaluable if I ever face other Beyonders with such skills."
Examining the crescent-decorated ring, Dorothy thought, "This adds another layer of protection. It’s a valuable gift from Mom, I suppose. But why would she leave something like this for the original Dorothy? It’s practically useless unless one becomes Beyonder."
Leaning lazily back on the sofa, Dorothy was lost in thought when an unexpected alert echoed in her mind—a voice from the system.
“Warning… Information retrieval targeting the self detected. Warning… Information retrieval targeting the self detected… Estimated completion time: 124 seconds. Recommended to prepare countermeasures.”
Startled, Dorothy sprang up from the sofa and immediately questioned the system.
"Information retrieval? What does that mean, system?"
The system responded mechanically.
“Combining the use of ‘Lantern’ and ‘Revelation,’ information retrieval establishes a channel through ‘Revelation’ and applies ‘Lantern’ to locate specific data. Once completed, the retriever will acquire the targeted information. Countermeasures are advised. Estimated time to completion: 112 seconds.”
Listening to the explanation, Dorothy frowned.
"Using spirituality to extract specific information? Does this mean using spirituality to obtain certain information someone wanted to know? This feels like fortune telling… or, in more mystical terms, divination? Am I being divined upon right now? Someone’s trying to extract information about me using mystical means?"
With this suspicion, Dorothy quickly questioned the system.
"What can I do to counter this retrieval?"
The system promptly provided options.
Option 1: Correspond to the retriever’s ‘Lantern’ and ‘Revelation’ by providing equal amounts of ‘Shadow’ and ‘Revelation.’ This will block the retrieval.
Option 2: Provide spirituality exceeding the retriever’s ‘Lantern’ and ‘Revelation’ to initiate a counter-retrieval.
Option 3: Provide ‘Silence’ equivalent to the information being retrieved to erase the targeted data.
Option 4: Upon a successful counter-retrieval revealing the retriever’s location, provide at least three times their ‘Revelation’ to send a retaliatory feedback.
“Detected retrieval expenditure: 1 point of ‘Lantern,’ 1 point of ‘Revelation.’ Estimated time to completion: 90 seconds.”
Faced with the options, Dorothy’s mind raced. The time constraint left her with no room to ponder deeply.
Her analysis was swift: Option 2 was out—she had already used her only “Lantern” point earlier. Option 3 depended on having “Silence” equal to the value of the targeted data, and with only one point of “Silence,” it wasn’t viable. Option 4 was impossible without first executing Option 2, and even then, she lacked enough “Revelation.”
That left only Option 1: providing 1 point of “Shadow” and 1 point of “Revelation” to block the retrieval.
"System, I choose to block the retrieval."