When hearing Klein's question, Dunn glanced out of the window towards the corridor leading to "Charnis Gate", took out his pipe, stuffed tobacco and mint leaves into it, then placed it near his nose and took a deep sniff. His voice slightly faltered as he sighed and said:
"Only at home can I freely enjoy the wonderful taste of the mixture of tobacco and mint leaves... Klein, do you know the creation myth?"
"Of course. When I was receiving enlightenment in the Sunday school of the church, I learned the words by referring to 'The Revelation of Night', where both 'The Book of Wisdom' and 'The Letters of the Saints' mentioned the creation myth." As Klein recalled the memory of the original master breaking into pieces, he slowed down his speech and said, "The Creator woke up from the chaos, broke the darkness, created the first ray of light, and completely merged into the universe, becoming everything. His body became the earth, the stars, and one of His eyes turned into the sun, the other into the red moon. Part of His blood flowed as the sea and rivers, nourishing and nurturing life..."
At this point, Klein couldn't help but pause involuntarily. Partly because the related memories were blurry, and partly because this creation myth was somewhat similar to the creation story of Pangu in the giant-eating nation...
The imagination of people from different worlds in their mythologies have something in common!
Seeing that Klein encountered a "problem", Dunn smiled and helped him continue:
"His lungs evolved into spirits; His heart evolved into giants; His liver evolved into tree people; His head evolved into dragons; His kidneys evolved into feather serpents; His hair evolved into immortal birds; His ears evolved into demons; His mouth and teeth evolved into various species; His remaining body fluids evolved into sea monsters, of which the essence was naga; His stomach, his small intestine and colon, and the evil parts of his body evolved into demons, evil spirits and various unknown evil beings, and His spirit became the eternal sun, the lord of storms, the god of knowledge and wisdom..."
"His wisdom gave birth to humanity, this is the first era, the chaotic era." Klein finished the last sentence, feeling both amused and absurd in his heart.
As a keyboard folklorist, he had never encountered such a detailed creation myth "arranged" in such detail before, listing every race that evolved from the Creator's specific part in detail.
It's like arranging fruits in rows and eating them...
And not only did the scriptures and texts of the Night Goddess say so, but the church of the Lord of Storms, the God of Steam and Machinery also had similar descriptions, without elevating itself and belittling the other deities...
This either means that the creation myth is a true fact, or it vaguely reveals that several major churches reached an agreement in the prehistoric period, before that, through long struggles and compromises...
Thinking of these, Klein suddenly had another question, frowning slightly:
"I think there's something wrong. Why does the eternal sun, the lord of storms, the god of knowledge and wisdom directly emerge from the spirit of the Creator, while the goddess is not?"
In the prehistoric records of 'The Revelation of Night', the Night Goddess didn't awaken until the end of the second era, together with the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Sun and other deities, protecting and helping humans through the great catastrophe, which is also known as the 'Catastrophe Era', the 'Catastrophe Era'.
The Earth Mother God and the War God also appeared at the same time, the 'Lord of Steam and Machinery' originally named 'God of Craftsmen' was born in the fourth era.
As a result, the hierarchy among the deities seems to be self-evident.
Who is older and who is more orthodox, is extremely clear!
This also caused some confusion among the believers of the Night Goddess.
Dunn. Smith held the pipe in his other hand and asked nonchalantly:
"Tell me the full name of the goddess again."
Klein immediately felt as if he had stabbed himself in the back, frantically thinking and trying to recall:
"He is a higher being than the stars, a longer-lasting goddess of the night, the mistress of crimson, the mother of secrecy, the queen of misfortune and fear, the lord of slumber and silence."
Fortunately, Klein's mother was a devout follower of the goddess of the night. During her lifetime, she would recite this every evening after dinner, even if the memory of the original deity had fragmented, it wouldn't be completely lost.
"What does the mistress of crimson symbolize?" Dunn asked in a guiding tone.
"The Red Moon." Klein finished speaking and seemed to understand.
"Then what part of the creator evolved into the Red Moon?" Dunn smiled and asked again.
"A single eye!" Klein and the other person smiled at each other.
This is no less prestigious than the Storm Lord formed by the splitting of the creator's spirit into three parts!
As for the Church of the Earth Mother and the War God, there should be similar statements. Only the God of Steam and Machinery "was born" too late and had no reason to be found - their church was always weak before a thousand years ago, and only with the invention of the steam engine did they seize the initiative and truly stand alongside others.
Dunn stroked his pipe and said:
"Human beings were born from the wisdom of the creator, so they have intelligent and extraordinary minds, lacking other magical abilities, but from the creation myth, we can get a simple and clear conclusion, that is, all things are born from the same source."
"From the same source... " Klein repeated the last few words.
"Based on this conclusion, humans who fought against giants, demons, and other creatures under the protection of the gods gradually discovered a way to obtain extraordinary powers, that is, to use evil spirits, dragons, monsters, magical trees, flowers, or corresponding parts of crystals, combined with other materials, to make a potion, then take it and absorb it to master different abilities. This is the common knowledge of all mystery schools."
Dunn didn't do much description, just briefly introduced, "During this process, our ancestors discovered through painful lessons that if they directly took high-grade, unconventional potions, they were very likely to have a tragic outcome. There were only three possibilities."
"Which three?" Klein asked curiously.
"The first, mental death, body collapse, every piece of flesh and bone turned into a terrifying monster. The second, the power contained in the potion instantly changed their personality, becoming cold, sensitive, irritable, cruel, indifferent to everything. The third, well... " Dunn put down the pipe and picked up the nearby porcelain cup, took a sip and said, "The Fermer coffee from the Pas River Valley is very bitter but very fragrant, with a great aftertaste. Would you like a cup?"
"I prefer the highland coffee from Fen波特, of course, I have only drunk it a few times at the Welch family's." Klein politely refused. "What is the third one?"
"The mental disorder, going crazy on the spot, more demonic than a demon, this is out of control." Dunn emphasized the word "out of control".
Before Klein could speak, he placed the coffee cup, continued to say:
"After a long process of experimentation and exploration, along with the emergence of the 'Desecrated Stone', humans finally perfected the potion system, forming some sequential chains that gradually improved and steadily grew. The lower the sequence number, the higher the potion grade. Today, the seven churches each have at least one complete sequence, and there are still several hundred or several thousand years of incomplete 'paths' collected."
"The Desecrated Stone?" Klein picked up this term.
During the "party", "The Hangman" also mentioned it!
According to "The Hangman's" statement, the Desecrated Stone was the most crucial factor for the formation and completeness of the potion system!
This is not quite the same as Dunn's previous words.
"These are things created by some evil gods. I'm not too clear about which era it appeared, what it recorded, and what was special about it. If you have any clues, you must report them to me immediately, it has the highest response level." Dunn mumbled an explanation, "I just mentioned one type of disintegration. Now I'll talk about the remaining four."
"Um," Klein put aside the "desecrating the stone slab" issue and listened attentively.
"Although humans only have intelligent minds and no other extraordinary abilities, this is not absolute. There are some lucky ones, or unlucky ones, who are born with higher inspiration. Well, that is, the ability to sense the spirit. They can hear sounds that others cannot hear, see things that others cannot see, and possess some extraordinary characteristics."
While Dunn was speaking, he looked around at the empty space, causing Klein to shudder. "In other words, they are half of the extraordinary individuals of sequence 9. They have fixed characteristics. Sequence 9 is the lowest grade in the 'chain'... In summary, they can only choose the corresponding and fixed sequence path. If they take other 'paths' of magic potions, they will have mild mental abnormalities, severe loss of control, or even death."
"Understood," Klein nodded slowly.
"The third type of disintegration is similar to the second. Once you have chosen the sequence chain, you can only follow this 'path' and cannot go back. If you take other 'paths' of magic potions of the appropriate sequence, although there is a high probability of obtaining combined, strange, and distorted abilities, it is almost certain that they are in a semi-insane state, or sensitive and irritable, or cruel and bloodthirsty, or silent and melancholic."
"And such an opportunity only occurs once. From then on, whether taking the original 'path' magic potion or the current sequence magic potion, there is only one outcome of disintegration. It depends on whether it is mental death, the body collapsing into a monster, or evolving into an evil spirit."
As Dunn spoke, he picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.
The person listening, Klein, was somewhat frightened and silent for a few seconds before saying again:
"What about the fourth type of disintegration?"
"The fourth type, hehe, this is one of the most common problems. When we take magic potions, we gain abilities that belong to extraordinary species, which are unnatural and derived. They are more or less affected by residual mental influences. Maybe there are no symptoms, and outsiders cannot detect it, but there is definitely something hidden in their hearts. Before fully mastering the extraordinary power brought by the magic potion and eliminating those subtle traces, taking higher sequence corresponding magic potions rashly will accumulate madness and disintegration..." Dunn suddenly fell silent.
After a pause, he sighed and said: "The internal regulations of the night watchmen are that even if a team member has made great contributions, they must wait three years after taking the previous magic potion and pass the corresponding examination before they can be promoted. But even so, many people still lose control every year."
How terrifying... Klein took a breath and said:
"What about the last type?"
Dunn's mouth curled up but there was no smile:
"The fourth type, hehe, this is one of the most common causes of disintegration. For extraordinary individuals, their inspiration is more or less enhanced. The smaller the sequence number, the greater the enhancement. Thus, they can hear sounds that others cannot hear, see things that others cannot see, and encounter things that others will not encounter. They are constantly under mysterious temptation and illusionary bewitchment. Once there is some other stimulus or a greedy desire, they will gradually move towards disintegration."
As he spoke, Dunn turned to look directly, and his gray eyes reflected Klein's figure.
His tone became desolate:
"The founder of the modern night watchman system, Bishop Charnis, once said:"
"We are guardians, and we are a group of pitiful creatures constantly fighting against danger and madness."