Dorothy’s Forbidden Grimoire

Western Addus, Dorsa.

At dawn, in Dorsa's train station, steam spread across the platform floor. The massive iron beast stood ready on the tracks. Under the strict watch of the Addus Revolutionary Army, the long steam train was busy loading and unloading goods, as workers bustled about. While supplies were being offloaded, soldiers from across Addus boarded the train, beginning their return journey.

On the platform beside the front of the train stood a man using the alias "Nei," who was watching Shadi, the Revolutionary Army Commander, personally seeing him off. Nei smiled and spoke politely.

"Thank you for seeing me off, General. This trip to Karnak went smoothly thanks to your cooperation and support."

Shadi nodded seriously and responded in kind.

"We should be the ones thanking your sect. Without your help, the situation in Karnak wouldn't have been resolved so easily. I hope this cooperation can deepen further. Should your sect encounter any trouble in Addus or North Ufiga, don't hesitate to contact us—we'll help however we can."

"Of course. For a promising partner like you, General Shadi, we place great importance on that relationship. Well, it's about time. Farewell."

Nei bid goodbye and turned to board the train. Just as he turned around, Shadi hesitated slightly, then called out again.

"Mr. Nei, there's one more thing I'd like to ask—regarding the whereabouts of King Rachman's soul... do you know anything?"

"King Rachman is currently searching for a suitable spiritfield to heal the wounds his soul has suffered over hundreds of years. Once healed, he intends to travel across Addus to see what it has become. Oh—and he asked me to pass on a message to you: He'll be watching you."

With that, Nei turned away and walked toward the train without looking back. After he boarded, Shadi remained standing still, stunned by the words. When he finally reacted, he clasped his hands behind his back and sighed, a trace of anxiousness flickering in his eyes. From within him, Setut chuckled.

Eventually, the train doors closed. Thick black smoke spewed from the engine's chimney, and with a long whistle, the locomotive slowly began to move. Iron wheels clanked as the train pulled away into the distance.

…

After acquiring the Goblet of Nether Guidance, Dorothy parted ways with Shadi and boarded the Revolutionary Army's train convoy with Nephthys. Upon reaching Mont, they transferred to another train bound for Kankdal. After several days of continuous travel, Dorothy finally returned to one of the gateways of North Ufiga: the independent Freeport city.

Back in Kankdal, Dorothy let out a long sigh of relief and immediately checked into a luxurious hotel in the foreigner district. There, she took a proper bath and rested well on a soft bed for the night, relieving herself of the discomfort and fatigue built up from the long journey. This trip had taken her to far more remote regions than usual, and the living conditions had been much rougher—an uncomfortable experience for someone used to never compromising on material comfort.

After resting for a day, Dorothy went to the Craftsmen's Guild branch in Kankdal and bought the only two available mystical texts of the Stone category to replenish her spirituality. The cost totaled around 1,100 pounds, a price so steep that Dorothy cursed bitterly in her heart for quite some time.

After purchasing the mystical texts, her remaining cash dropped to just over 200 pounds, making her feel a sudden sense of financial crisis. Fortunately, part of the Mazarr property—like dividends or land rents—had just matured, giving her an additional 400 pounds. That brought her liquid funds back up to 600 pounds, enough to cover her daily expenses while traveling.

Even so, the situation made Dorothy begin paying more attention to her finances. She used the Literary Sea Logbook to inquire with Beverly about the full audit and valuation of Mazarr's assets. The response was that the audit was still in progress. The assets were spread across many countries, and just reviewing all of them would take quite some time.

Later, in the hotel, Dorothy began reading the two newly purchased mystical texts to extract spirituality. The first book was titled "Tombstone of the Grave", written by a treasure hunter from North Ufiga. Its contents concerned the craftsmanship and rarity of a particular type of rock found in North Ufiga tombs—Netherfrost Stone.

From the mystical text, Dorothy learned that the author recounted how, during long years of tomb raiding in North Ufiga, one might occasionally encounter extremely sturdy chambers built from a strange black, icy stone. These chambers were harder than steel—impossible to dig through, impervious to explosions. No matter how hard treasure hunters tried, they could barely leave a scratch. These were always the main chambers that held the primary sarcophagus and the richest treasures. To come that far only to be stopped by one wall left tomb raiders helpless—staring at untold treasures just out of reach.

The author had been one such unlucky raider. Originally the leader of a treasure-hunting society, he once encountered such a tomb chamber, its walls made from pitch-black, frigid stone. The wall cost him the treasure on the other side. Refusing to accept this, the author devoted years to researching the nature of the material in hopes of finding a way to break through.

After over a decade of investigation and inquiry, the author finally uncovered information about the stone and part of its crafting process.

According to the mystical text, this stone was known as Netherfrost Stone—a type of mystical masonry produced and controlled by the White Craftsmen's Guild. Its crafting process was said to be extremely complex: the stone had to be mined from the Strata layer of the Earthly Inner Realm, then transported to the Forged Steel Vault—the forge realm of the God of Craftsmen—for a preliminary refinement. After that, it had to be soaked for at least fifty years in the River of the Netherworld within the Spirit Realm. After soaking, it would undergo a second refinement before being returned to the real world.

Because Netherfrost Stone was not only extremely durable but also nourishing to souls and conducive to deep slumber, it was a favored material for constructing meditation fields and main burial chambers for Silence Beyonders. For centuries, the White Craftsmen's Guild had profited from selling it to organizations like the Nether Coffin Order and even to royal families of various nations. Fortunately, the stone's exorbitant price kept it from being commonplace—not every king could afford such a tomb, giving North Ufiga's tomb raiders some peace of mind that they wouldn't always run into these indestructible walls.

After reading this mystical text, Dorothy finally understood what the stone she encountered in King Rachman's mausoleum was. Not only was it incredibly hard, but it also blocked mystical effects. No wonder—it was one of the White Craftsmen's Guild's high-profit products.

"So that's why that stone was so strange… the forging process alone is extraordinary. Just reading this mystical text shows it involves three different realms and takes over fifty years. The cost must be astronomical. Rachman really went all out to protect the ritual site for the king-forging ceremony.

"What a shame… such valuable stone, and I couldn't take any of it back. I wonder how much it could've fetched. And those good-for-nothing Baruch royals—not only did they shackle their ancestor's soul, but they also cleaned out all the treasures from the mausoleum. Didn't leave a single coin behind."

After finishing the mystical text, Dorothy considered carefully, noticing another significant detail: two new inner-world realms—the Earthly Inner Realm and the Forge Realm, the latter also known as the Forged Steel Vault, which seemed to belong to the Core of Order. Dorothy began to speculate if perhaps every deity possessed their own distinct inner realm. Was the Dreamscape, or the Dream Realm, the domain of that butterfly or moth deity? Did the Earthly Inner Realm belong to the Stone Prince? And what about the Nether Realm—was it ruled by the King of the Underworld or the Great Soul?

After pondering briefly, Dorothy shifted her attention back to the mystical text. Extracting spirituality from "Tombstone of the Grave", she obtained 4 Stone, 1 Silence, and 1 Revelation.

Then, Dorothy moved on to study another mystical text titled "Gemstone Secrets", written by an anonymous Beyonder specializing in the Stone Path. This author seemed to possess extraordinary expertise regarding various gemstones found in the real world, and this text documented part of his research results.

In this mystical text, the author expounded the mystical significance of gems like rubies and sapphires, detailing their connections to various types of spirituality. He argued strongly that gemstones were superior spiritual containers compared to other materials and thus should ideally serve as the main ingredients for spiritual storage items. Strangely, however, the mainstream choice for storage items had gradually become metallic currency.

The author dedicated significant effort in demonstrating the superiority of gemstones over metal materials for crafting storage items, not only due to ease of crafting but also because gemstones offered superior capacity and affinity for spirituality. He even found some ancient gemstone-based spiritual storage items as physical proof, suggesting that in earlier times, gemstones had indeed been the prevalent choice among mysticism practitioners.

Yet, in recent centuries, spiritual storage items had inexplicably transitioned toward metallic currency forms. The author hypothesized that this shift might have been intentionally driven by the upper echelons of the White Craftsmen's Guild. Still, he couldn't quite figure out why the Guild would choose to do this.

"So… in the past, gemstones were the primary form for spiritual storage items? The current metallic currency appearance was intentionally introduced by the White Craftsmen's Guild… But why would they do that? Though, compared to Stone, the Core of Order indeed leans more toward metal…"

Dorothy contemplated while examining the mystical text before her. She then began to extract spirituality from this text, eventually obtaining 3 Stone and 1 Revelation. Combined with her earlier gains, Dorothy's current spiritual reserve was now at 17 Chalice, 11 Stone, 9 Shadow, 14 Lantern, 27 Silence, and 50 Revelation.

Although her overall reserves were still somewhat modest, at least her main combat spirituality, Stone, had recovered considerably—enough to handle at least one more significant conflict.

Seeing her current spiritual state, Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting at the hotel table, she stretched comfortably and closed the mystical text. Gazing out at the deep blue sky and ocean through the window, she picked up the coffee cup from the table and took a leisurely sip.

"Now that the Silence divine artifact is safely in hand, the next step is to seek clues about the remaining artifacts. But first, I must check on Vania's current situation…"

As she contemplated, Dorothy put down her coffee cup, picking up today's newspaper from the edge of the table and unfolding it. Her gaze immediately landed on the bold and prominent headline on the front page:

"A Major Turning Point in Addus! Revolutionary Leader Publicly Declares Firm Support for the Radiance Church as Addus' Sole Legal Religion, Affirming the Holy Mount's Universal Authority, and Condemning All Heresy!"

"More than a month after Church Envoys' return, Addus' religious crisis reaches a perfect resolution! What exact role did Sister Vania, head of the delegation, play? Why did this declaration come one-and-a-half months late? Turn to page two for analysis by our distinguished commentator…"

Reading the information in the newspaper, Dorothy nodded with satisfaction. After fully resolving the lingering resistance at Karnak, Shadi had finally eradicated all remaining Savior's Advent Sect forces and publicly declared the new Addus government's official stance, inevitably causing a great sensation throughout North Ufiga.

"Now everything is publicly clear. Even those Church opposition parties can no longer ignore Vania's contributions. Let's see what kind of reward our dear nun receives from such a grand Church…"

Dorothy put down the newspaper, gazing expectantly out the window.

…

Several days later, in Kankdal foreign district, within a chapel not far from the White Dove Hotel.

In the bright and spacious chapel, a nun dressed in pure white robes knelt devoutly upon the carpet. With hands clasped in sincere prayer, colorful sunlight streamed through the stained-glass window depicting the Holy Mother, sprinkling vibrant patches of light onto Sister Vania's white habit.

Standing in front of Vania was an elderly bishop in ceremonial attire, while rows of praying priests and nuns lined both sides of the chapel. The bishop quietly regarded the reverent Vania, holding an exquisitely decorated wooden case in his hands.

"Sister Vania, your efforts in Addus have been recognized. Your bravery in combating heresy alongside the other guardians, and your willingness to sacrifice and embrace martyrdom, have deeply touched our Lord. Therefore, you shall receive blessings…"

As he spoke, the elderly bishop solemnly extended the wooden case towards Vania. With reverent gratitude, Vania raised both hands, gently accepting the wooden case while softly whispering.

"Praise be to the Lord…"

Upon seeing Vania receive the case, the bishop straightened himself again and continued addressing her.

"What you now hold is the Sacred Remains Scripture of Vitamio, which once contained the remains of ancient saints and has served as scripture during the journeys of contemporary saints. It is one of the most precious treasures of the Radiance Church—a true holy relic."

"From today forward, you are entrusted as the Bearer of the Holy Relic, holding a saint's relic, traveling far and wide to reveal the grace of the Lord. This holy relic will protect you from disaster and evil and aid you in spreading the sacred gospel."

With solemn dignity, the bishop finished speaking. After listening, Vania reverently held the case and slowly bowed her head.

"Vania… will fulfill this mission and spread the grace of our Lord…"

Observing Vania's deeply devout demeanor, the bishop nodded in satisfaction before continuing.

"Indeed… your surviving guards from the Addus mission have also received promotions and rewards. They have all been incorporated into the newly formed Pilgrim Guard Unit, placed under your direct command to safeguard the holy relic. Your pilgrimage will begin shortly."