Chapter 51: Chapter 51

As it turned out, when Jenkins advanced to the next level, he hadn't gained the usual single bubble, but two. This meant he could now possess a total of nine abilities—seven plus two—putting him on par with a Level 4 Enchanter. But Papa Oliver had warned him that the synergy between his abilities would become increasingly important. After long consideration, Jenkins chose to learn only two, even going into debt with the Church for 500 pounds, since the rules only permitted him to select one.

One of them was the [Disease Curse], a Yellow Spell.

This ability covered a wide range of illnesses, but casting it required not only an incantation but also a special component: Cursed Black Gold. This wasn't actual gold, but an extraordinary metal forged from ordinary pig iron through a specific ritual performed in a special location.

The Church had its own channels for acquiring it, and Jenkins felt this strange, secretive ability suited him well, especially since the curse's effectiveness was directly related to the caster's understanding of the specific illness.

The second ability was a supportive one: [Astral Perception], also a Yellow Spell. This power would allow Jenkins's consciousness to immerse itself in a special dimension known as the Astral Plane beneath the night sky, from where he could observe the real world and detect unusual changes.

It sounded useless on the surface, but Papa Oliver had strongly recommended it, though he would only explain why after Jenkins had learned it.

Learning the first ability posed no problem. The Church had all the necessary materials, and Jenkins could purchase them with a few gold pounds.

Climbing into a carriage from the cemetery, Jenkins and Papa Oliver made their way to the sanatorium, where they could stay for the night.

Jenkins hadn't been home in four days, a necessity he'd had Bishop Parrold explain to his father. As an ordinary man, old Williams had been whisked away from the front lines at the first sign of battle and was perfectly safe.

He shed his clothes and drew a perfect circle on the floor. On the left, he inscribed the simple holy symbol of Death and End, as the ability seemed related to that Righteous God. On the right, he etched the symbol of the Legacy Sage, for as a believer, he had to make his allegiance clear when invoking the power of another god.

He drew the prescribed wavy patterns within the circle using ritual chalk, then cut his wrist and let the blood drip into a glass vessel.

"Add the powdered shell of a Plaguebone Worm, recite the incantation, and gently shake the vessel to mix the blood and powder thoroughly."

Jenkins whispered the instructions to himself, his hands moving without pause.

"Break the breath of one who died unjustly and let it fill the sealed room."

The "breath" was contained in a transparent glass tube. While it appeared empty to the naked eye, activating his Eye of Reality revealed a faint aura and a series of roaring skulls constantly materializing on the tube's surface.

"I am not performing a cult ritual," Jenkins told himself.

He smashed the glass tube on the floor, then grimaced as he picked up the "right hand finger of a three-year-old child who died of illness." Holding it like a pen, he dipped it into the mixture of his blood and the powder.

Jenkins didn't doubt the finger's origin. In this era, when a poor child fell ill, death was almost a certainty. No one would hesitate to sell a part of the corpse if it could fetch a good price.

Soon, the floor was covered in ritual symbols radiating a sinister energy. Jenkins then anointed his own body with holy water, mallow blood, and the juice of a plague flower.

The holy water here symbolized "protection, so that no harm comes to the caster"—Jenkins had simply asked Bishop Parrold to bless a small cup of boiled water. The mallow blood symbolized "impurity"; the Church had provided it in a tin flask, and Jenkins had to perform the ritual quickly before it spoiled. The plague flower symbolized "disease." It was a highly toxic plant that grew only on the 5,000-meter-high mountain ridges of Mount Lopida. Colorless and odorless, just three drops of its juice could kill a healthy adult man, making it a staple court poison in contemporary adventure and knight novels.

Of course, it was only toxic if ingested, not when applied to the skin.

"I will never choose an ability again!" Jenkins silently vowed, then placed the most crucial and expensive component—the Plague Seed—in the very center of the array. The green, seed-like object was an absolute taboo, its terrifying potential reminding Jenkins of the T-virus from his past life.

Fighting back a wave of intense nausea, he sat cross-legged in the center of the circle and began to pray.

Not every ability could be learned by any Enchanter; a factor similar to "compatibility" was at play. The most significant influence on the success rate of learning an ability was one's birth month. Since different months corresponded to different Righteous Gods in this world, Enchanters born in certain months were essentially barred from specific abilities.

Take Jenkins, for example. His current body was born in the "Month of the Full Moon and Chirping Insects," which corresponded to May, the month of the Unlit Moon. As far as he knew, his chances of mastering an ability in the Church's collection called "Silent Portal (Yellow Spell)" were very low. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novèlfire.net

Of course, gender, age, and faith also influenced one's ability to acquire a power, but with specific methods to increase the success rate, theoretically no ability was truly impossible to master.

He mastered the Disease Curse without a hitch. That night, however, staff from the sanatorium, wearing black, crow-beak-like masks, had to thoroughly cleanse both Jenkins and the room—he had used far too many materials that could potentially trigger disease and plague.

Mastering Astral Perception required extremely expensive materials. Although the Church would provide them for free, the core component, a crystal called Stardust, was temporarily out of stock. It was a special crystal found alongside meteoric iron, and the next shipment wouldn't be available until June of the following year.

After a long bath, Jenkins went to say goodnight to Papa Oliver, only to be shooed away. The old man told him to keep a close eye on the black market, as someone had been selling Stardust there just two months prior.

The day after acquiring the Disease Curse ability, Jenkins returned home. Mary Williams hugged him, sobbing, "Oh, Jenkins, does this mean you're moving out now?"

He did have such plans, but his "Stranger's Story Collection" had only just finished printing. It would be some time before he received his first payment.

He wanted his family to get used to his absence.

"I am Jenkins Williams."

He repeated the name to himself over and over. But no matter how hard he tried to immerse himself in the role, a part of him knew the truth: he was just a visitor from another world.