The black sun hangs high

Chapter 37 Bad Taste

Theseus.

As a writer, Hughes had certainly heard of this name.

The king, burdened with many myths and fables, once solved a strange labyrinth, defeated the legendary minotaur, fell in love with a valiant female warrior, and even plotted to abduct the wife of a god…

However, what is more familiar to many is the classic paradox known as the "Ship of Theseus," which is a discussion about whether an object or living being can retain its original nature after its constituent elements have been repeatedly replaced.

Hughes was very familiar with these things.

But he couldn't understand why such a being would appear before him.

Hugh was certain that in his understanding of Vaan, there had never been a god called "Theseus." As for the strange titles Vaan possessed, he had never heard of them before. These elements were just as unfamiliar as the concepts of evil magic and ancient gods that he had heard from Verin.

Thinking of this, Hugh's gaze involuntarily slid to the black door on the wall. On that door, there seemed to be a pattern symbolizing the philosophical paradox of "The Ship of Theseus". In addition, he recalled the dream he had when he first completed the magical inscription.

That bizarre dream where you find yourself aboard a giant ship on a vast ocean, only to be tossed about by the waves, listening to its constant creaking and groaning…

The fog and darkness that had been like a carnival gradually subsided, and Theseus sat up straight again, his distorted, chaotic face calming down a little.

"Come on, darling, continue with your questions... The 'little girl' who's alone with you right now is very worried about your condition, and perhaps it won't be long before she tries to forcibly wake you up."

Unbeknownst to him, Theseus's voice had begun to shift slightly in a more feminine direction. Hughes found himself able to detect a hint of softness in the other's strange tone, which sent chills down his spine.

The strange feeling became even more pronounced when he used that voice to say "darling".

But Hugh knew this wasn't the time to discuss those things, so he gritted his teeth and asked, "I still don't quite understand. What's the deal with this dream and you? What... exactly do you want me to do?"

"You're really in a hurry, aren't you? You're already digging into the details?"

Theseus said, “I certainly can’t answer your questions directly… However, you can think of yourself as an improvisational actor in a large-scale performance. You can act according to the ‘script’ in your mind, or you can try to do things outside the script.”

"Whether you follow the rules or find another way is entirely up to you."

Theseus's smile, distorted by the mist, grew even more bizarre. He stared at Hugh and said, "I agree with your thoughts and opinions, but before you utter words like 'riddlers deserve to die,' you'd better think carefully about whether you yourself were once a professional 'riddler'?"

"..."

Hugh's eyebrows twitched slightly. He realized that his thoughts, feelings, and emotions were likely not escaping Theseus's perception, and that Theseus could freely browse everything in his mind!
For himself now, and for the dream world he now relies on so heavily, Theseus is a true god.

"Perhaps, at this stage, going along with the other party's arrangements is the choice I should make?"

The moment this thought popped into Hugh's mind, Theseus's smile vanished, and he sighed as if in great disappointment: "You change your mind so quickly... Such willpower is not firm enough, that's not good."

Clearly, Hugh's thoughts had not escaped the other party's perception.

However, Hugh wasn't too keen on delving into the strange being's quirks and eccentricities. He gathered his thoughts and then asked, "Theseus... uh, sir? Is it alright to address you like that?"

"Whatever you like, you can call me Miss if you wish."

"..."

Hughes's words caught in his throat for a moment, then he continued, "I suspect that everything in this dream, and the powers I can now control, probably originate from within my mind... If that's the case, Mr. Theseus must have something he wants me to do, right?"

"Couldn't it be a favor I'm bestowing upon you?"

"To be honest, you don't look like that kind of person."

"correct answer."

Theseus nodded slightly, but his face, which was made of thick fog, instantly transformed into a huge checkmark.

"What a lunatic!"

Hughes couldn't help but curse inwardly, but this thought was also picked up by Theseus. He wasn't angry at all; instead, he shook himself with glee. After being happy for a while, he said, "However, I need to correct you... Although you are always in a deep sleep when you come here, this is not some ethereal dream, but a real place. I would suggest that you call this place 'Sanctuary'."

"Shelter?"

"Yes... a sanctuary for countless poor children who are homeless, wandering outside, and have lost the blessings of their God."

He leaned forward slightly: "You should have noticed, shouldn't you? False gods, who possess little power, are now controlling the minds and thoughts of the people in Vain. False faith, false worship, and those temples and sculptures that are no different from caves and rocks... It's all meaningless."

“All living beings on this land have failed to live up to the blessings bestowed by the ancient gods, but things are different now.”

Theseus, who had the name of a thousand faces, constantly changed his appearance, and all sorts of indescribable symbols appeared with his words.

These symbols even include many patterns and expressions that Hugh was very familiar with and had used before, including some that are extremely abstract. It is unknown where Theseus learned these things.

"False miracles will soon be destroyed by harsh reality, and useless faith will be abandoned by people, replaced by buried omens and allegories..."

Theseus let out a cold laugh: "Just as you wrote, when the black sun descends upon people's heads, all their past knowledge will be destroyed, and at that time, it will be the true gods who will teach them." As if they had heard some important declaration of war, all the unknown things sealed in various containers by the black mist began to stir, until Theseus raised his palm and pressed it lightly in the air, and they finally calmed down.

Theseus turned to Hugh and said, “Telling you more now won’t help you, believe me… You should focus on your own stage now, just as you’ve been thinking lately, just survive.”

Hearing this, Hugh couldn't help but glance at the "exchangeable items" that were eagerly awaiting their return, but were all restricted by various strict conditions. He gritted his teeth and asked, "In that case, could you...?"

"Of course not!"

At this moment, the faceless chaotic god finally laughed with genuine joy: "Have you forgotten that you received the gift I gave you from the very beginning?"

"You don't really think that you can get a precious magic inscription opportunity with just 20 silver coins, do you?"

……

"Crack!"

With a crisp crack, the completely drained magic crystal shattered, and the scattered fragments burst open in Hugh's palm. The sharp crystal shards pierced Hugh's skin, creating numerous tiny wounds.

The pain pulled Hugh from the bizarre dream of the "sanctuary" back to reality. He cried out in pain, quickly sat up, shook off all the crystal fragments from his body, and then gritted his teeth as he looked at his hands, which were already dripping blood.

Hugh raised his head, preparing to find a way to treat the wound on his palm, only to see that Verine was already standing to the side, observing him with a cold expression.

Seeing Hugh look over, the female mage shook her head, then picked up her spellbook, and a faint, dim yellow light was released into Hugh's palm.

The pain disappeared immediately, but the wound did not heal and blood continued to drip.

"I've temporarily blocked the pain for you. Let's treat the wound now... The magic won't last long, so you'll still feel the pain once the magic wears off."

After saying that, Weilin went to the window. She gently lifted a corner of the curtain and saw that the sun was shining brightly outside, and there was no trace of thunder and rain.

Hugh quickly brought over a basin of clean water and then carefully began to pull out the magic crystal fragments that had pierced his palm. The feeling was very strange, because the magic that Verine had cast only isolated his pain, but when Hugh pulled out the fragments, he could still clearly feel the subtle friction between his skin and the crystal fragments.

“It’s afternoon now… Mr. Hugh, you’ve been asleep for half the day.”

Vera lowered the curtains, her expression extremely unfriendly: "Besides that, you also drained all the magic from an entire crystal. I remember you were once an apprentice at a magic academy, so please tell me..."

She took a deep breath, then pointed to the scattered crystal fragments and asked, "Based on your common sense and understanding of magical crystals, how long can a high-quality constant magical crystal supply magic power to a Stream-level spellcaster?"

Hughes stopped moving.

Because Verin's question was rather pointed, according to Hugh's own understanding, a magic crystal that is considered "high-quality" on the market can often support a Stream-level mage's magic consumption for more than a week.

This is under the condition of frequent spellcasting. If you encounter those lazy people who don't use magic more than a few times a day, such a crystal can last for two whole months.

In magic academies, it's extremely rare to see cases where a magic crystal is completely drained and destroyed on the spot. Such incidents usually occur in workshops that need to mass-produce magical items, or in the laboratories of experienced magicians...

"Is it Theseus?"

Hugh quickly figured out the key point.

The amount of magic power one's body can hold is definitely limited. Even when asleep, once one's body is full of magic power, one will naturally stop absorbing the power from the magic crystal. If this happens, it can only mean that something else is taking a cut during the process.

Considering that Theseus had never appeared before, Hugh concluded that one of the key conditions for this guy's appearance in the Dream Sanctuary was probably sufficient magic power.

"I'm already in this state, and they still want to draw my blood?"

Hugh cursed inwardly, then exerted force with his fingers, pulling the largest fragment from his palm and throwing it into the basin of water in front of him.

The faint crimson color from the blood slowly spread in the clear water. As Hugh made up some words in his mind, he looked at Vera, only to see that she had already walked towards the bathroom in the corner of the room, which was separated by wooden boards: "Wait for me a while after you've treated the wound. We should set off to look for the 'Golden Boot Caravan'... As for your explanations, Mr. Hugh, you can make them more detailed. I'm not in a hurry."

After saying that, she closed the bathroom door. That wasn't all. With the continuous hum of magic, two seemingly translucent magical barriers, but strong enough to block all sight, were erected beside the small space.

Hugh rolled his eyes. He raised his palm and examined the tiny wounds by the light of the old magic lamp on the wall. After picking off two pieces of overly fine debris, he placed the basin in the corner of the room.

Perhaps due to the magical inscription's alteration of his body, the healing speed of these minor wounds was astonishing. Seeing that most of the wounds had stopped bleeding, Hugh picked up the new crystal gun that Verin had brought back. His current means of self-defense were still too scarce, and such a weapon could perfectly fill his current shortcomings.

With his rudimentary knowledge of firearms and his "cloud knowledge," Hugh quickly figured out how this new revolver-like crystal gun worked. Presumably because it didn't require much consideration of things like propellant or cartridge cases, the crystal gun was simpler and more violent to use. When the trigger was pulled, the loaded crystal bullet would be fired forward under the activation of a small magical ritual, continuously consuming the magic power contained within the bullet.

When it hits its target, all the remaining magic power inside the crystal bullet is released upon impact. The invisible impact force carries the solid, sharp bullet fragments outwards, completely tearing everything in its path.

…………

It's been hollowed out!

Still the second update
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(End of this chapter)