They all call me Great Master

Sitting in the chair, Arthur's mind raced—

Assuming "Glyphic Language" is unique to the Mystic Side as a specialized script.

Then, Mystic Side Person should be familiar with "Glyphic Language."

At the very least, they should be able to master the basics.

Yet in Marinda's eyes, he should be from the Mystic Side, and should have grasped the basics of "Glyphic Language," but she still sent over the basics of "Glyphic Language" as a reward.

This was definitely not about being stingy enough to substitute inferior goods for better ones.

Given his understanding of this lady, her style of conduct was quite generous; she definitely wouldn't cut corners with 'rewards,' something so critical to the cooperation.

Was it a test?

Subconsciously, Arthur imagined the awkward situation that would arise if he went to her using the excuse, 'as a true Mystic Side Person, I would not lack basic "Glyphic Language" skills, yet you included the basic "Glyphic Language" in the compensation, going against the promised reward.'

It would be incredibly embarrassing for him!

Because, given this lady's style of conduct, there would definitely not be such an obvious flaw.

Which means, the remaining book must not only fulfill the original promise of value, comparable to the complete "Swift Bird Swordsmanship", but it must also make the basic "Glyphic Language" seem so reasonable that it is indisputable.

Of course, it would be even better if he hadn't noticed this test.

As a hunch surfaced in his mind, Arthur's tapping fingers suddenly paused.

Without hesitation, Arthur reached out and picked up another book.

"Discovering Glyphic Language (Advanced), determining..."

"Unable to detect mastery of Glyphic Language (Basic), determination failed!"

Looking at the text prompt in front of him, Arthur, whose suspicions were confirmed, sighed inwardly.

'Such a cunning collaborator!'

Offering just the basic "Glyphic Language" alone would make the previous promises laughable, but adding the advanced "Glyphic Language" changes everything.

It would only be seen as: perfectly appropriate.

After all, who could blame a lady who had already provided the appropriate reward of 'advanced "Glyphic Language" ', and out of kindness, included the 'basic "Glyphic Language" ' as a complementary gift?

Moreover, Arthur was sure that even if this left him feeling somewhat suspicious, this lady would have already thought of compensation.

This was this lady's style of conduct—

Intricate, subtle, yet overwhelmingly generous.

But...

'What does this lady want to do?'

'Why test me continuously?'

'Is it because of the "Spirit Medium" identity?'

'Or is it because I suddenly took the stage in South Los?'

'It couldn't possibly be because of the Kledos Family, could it?'

Arthur's fingers began to tap faster as he pondered.

But lacking key information, he inevitably came to no conclusion.

In the end, Arthur's gaze returned to the basic "Glyphic Language."

He looked at this key to the Mystic Side with hesitation in his eyes.

One must know, besides being intricate, subtle, and generous, this lady's style of conduct had an even greater hallmark: ruthlessness!

The kind of ruthlessness that doesn't blink an eye at murder.

Coste and Emmond can testify to that.

The families and guilds behind them can also testify.

Even the Scent of Blood on the coachman, which couldn't be concealed, proved this.

The fact that this lady, who is intricate, subtle, yet generous, has tested him repeatedly suggests that the matter is quite urgent.

Given such urgency, would she become anxious?

Yes!

Most certainly!

With such a premise, isn't the logical test itself a bit too simplistic?

Could there be another layer of testing hidden?

Arthur looked at the book in his hands: basic "Glyphic Language."

A bold guess emerged—

'Does the basic "Glyphic Language" contain danger?'

'Would those who learn it become involved?'

With this thought, Arthur narrowed his eyes.

Because this guess was very likely!

Compared to a logical test, if the basic "Glyphic Language" contains something, it fits the testing style of the Mystic Side even more.

Similarly, this lady's actions are still justified—after all, he, Arthur, was a Mystic Side Person himself, how could he possibly not be aware of the dangers of "Glyphic Language"?

The light flickered in Arthur's narrowed eyes.

At last, he slowly set down the book in his hands.

If the dangers lurking within "Glyphic Language" were only his speculation, there was one thing Arthur was certain of, the higher the spirituality, the higher the likelihood of encountering mystical events!

So, would learning the basic "Glyphic Language" have any effect on "Spirituality"?

Put simply, would the basic "Glyphic Language" increase his "Spirituality"?

The probability was high!

Since "Glyphic Language" was the script of the Mystic Side, it was bound to be extraordinary!

It absolutely couldn't be viewed as an ordinary script!

Now, a 0.2 in "Spirituality" had already caused him to experience two unexplainable bizarre events.

In particular, during the second one, he had slightly delayed and it had already progressed to the point where his "Death Intuition" was about to flash.

What if it increased further?

Taking the principle 'the higher the spirituality, the greater the probability of encountering mystical events' as a standard, the frequency of bizarre encounters would inevitably increase as spirituality did.

And with increased frequency, it was unavoidable to come across things that couldn't be handled.

By then, he would be on a path to certain death!

Leaving things to chance was something Arthur always rejected.

In his view, even a ninety percent chance was exceedingly dangerous.

As a result, Arthur postponed learning the "Hand of Void".

'How do real Mystic Side persons solve the troubles of "Spirituality"?'

'What is the right way to learn "Glyphic Language"?'

'Could there be any connection between the two?' he wondered once more.

After a good ten minutes or so, Arthur sighed, shook his head slightly, pushed these thoughts aside for the time being, and stood up to pull out a book from the third row on the far right of the bookshelf behind him.

Click!

As the springs turned, a secret compartment under the desk appeared.

This compartment, located in the exact center under the desk, was square and not very large, but it was more than enough to store a couple of books and a scroll—before placing them in, Arthur curiously touched the scroll.

"[Secret technique discovered, assessing Spirituality...]"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"[Spirituality has not reached the minimum learning requirement, assessment failed!]"

"[Yes/No] Spend 20 XP to learn this secret technique through overloading?"

(Note: Overloading learning will result in irreversible changes!)

...

Words like overloading and irreversible naturally made Arthur instinctively refuse.

His intuition told him that this would be something even more terrifying than death.

Click!

As he pushed the book back into its place on the shelf, the secret compartment automatically closed, driven by the springs.

This was Old Charlie's design.

This elder of the Kledos Family had made seventeen secret compartments within No. 2 Cork Street, of various sizes, some for storing firearms and ammunition, some for medicine, and others like this one, empty, intended for valuable items.

'The most important thing for a Spirit Medium is to adapt to any situation, and to do that, one must be fully prepared!'

It was one of Old Charlie's famous sayings, dismissed by his former self.

But Arthur?

He considered it a profound truth.

So, after Arthur placed the two books and the scroll properly, he began to organize his Spirit Medium Box again and then slipped 'Anna' into his chest.

Sitting at home waiting would not yield a method to resolve the problem of "Spirituality".

He needed to take the initiative, to cover every corner of South Los with his own feet, to search with his own eyes for any possible traces of the Mystic Side.

Although the chances were slim, it was still better than simply waiting and doing nothing at all.

As for bringing 'Anna'?

That was just in case he encountered that beggar again.

Of course, it was a must to carry an umbrella when going out in South Los.

An ordinary umbrella, with its single use, did not please Arthur.

He preferred an umbrella with a longsword hidden in its handle, which was convenient and practical—during the daytime, "Spider's Claw" could not be openly carried.

According to new laws, South Los did not allow ordinary people to carry swords in public.

Of course, this included firearms as well.

Even though most of the time, no one really cared, Arthur's experience told him not to engage in such flagrant actions.

Especially when an Umbrella Sword was not at all rare inside No. 2 Cork Street.

However, just as Arthur had left the Spirit Medium Parlor and was about to pick out an Umbrella Sword, the door at the end of the hallway rhythmically knocked—

Thump, thump-thump.

It was the knocking code he had agreed upon with Wiggins.