abnabooks Chapter 17 Sexuality
Chapter 17 Sexuality
Sexual characteristics.
Lucius first encountered the word in his occult diary, The Secret of the Night Watch, which explicitly records the two aspects of "lamp" and "need for knowledge".
"Captain Felix, what is sex?" Lucius asked, not understanding.
Felix smiled and said:
"Sexual characteristics reflect the thoughts, influences, and features of desire, and are the foundation of all desires."
Originally there were only nine, but as the gods perfected the world through their wheel of fortune, there are now over a hundred recorded types. The original nine are what we call principles.
Lucius suddenly realized that he remembered the line of text that appeared in his diary when he received mystical points: "In accordance with the code of conduct 'Seeking knowledge'."
He even went a step further:
Every action that conforms to the criteria earns occult points. So, could he acquire points more efficiently by identifying the criteria he possesses?
"Alright." Felix stood up, walked around the desk to Lucius, and pulled him back to reality.
"That's enough theory for now. The potion for the talent test still needs to be prepared on-site. Now we're heading to the potion alchemy room. You can ask us any more questions along the way."
Lucius nodded, and the two walked out of the captain's office together. A few steps later, they stopped in front of a purple door.
"This is the Gate of Scars," Felix explained, his hand hovering an inch in front of the gate without touching it directly.
"The door in front of us leads to three rooms: the Materials and Alchemy Room, the Secret Texts Room, and the Armory."
When you push it open, silently think of which room you want to go to, and it will take you to that room.
"A very cautious approach," Lucius commented, noting that even the Anti-Corruption Bureau itself operated this way.
He then pointed to the eighth scarred door at the end of the corridor: "Captain, where does that door lead?"
Felix replied without hesitation, "This door leads to only one place: the relics storage room."
"Uh, relics?" Lucius's first thought was that they were keepsakes.
"It's not what you think." Felix saw through his guess immediately, shook his head, and explained:
"The term 'relic' in the context of doctrine and the transcendental world refers to mystical materials imbued with intense desires, which, after being processed and forged by the Fiery Ones, become mystical items that can be safely used."
He paused, seemingly considering his words, and then added:
"But there are too many ambiguities in this sentence."
For example, it doesn't necessarily have to be the Fiery Ones who process the relics. Other sequence pathway users can also perform appropriate and simple processing on the relics, but the effects and safety are usually not as reassuring as those of the Fiery Ones.
Moreover, safe use is a relative concept, and most relics are frankly not very safe.
"It's amazing," Lucius exclaimed.
"These relics are quite varied," Felix said, raising his right hand and placing his palm on the seventh scarred door.
"Like the sequence advancement, relics are also divided into nine levels, and this classification system is universal throughout the extraordinary world."
People with lower sequences should avoid using relics that exceed their own sequence level.
Like a small horse pulling a large cart, not only will it fail to satisfy the appetite of the relics, but it may also be devoured by the desires contained within them.
He turned around, his hand still on the door, and said to Lucius:
"Your information has not been entered into this door yet. Every new member needs to be guided by an official member when using it for the first time."
The Gate of Scars will record the imprint of your desires, so you can use it alone without needing anyone else's company.
Upon hearing this, Lucius quickly stepped forward, and just as his hand touched the Scar Gate, Felix's voice rang out again:
"Silently recite the words 'materials' and 'alchemy room' in your mind."
Lucius did as instructed, and the next moment, he and Felix stood in a huge alchemy chamber.
The layout here bears a striking resemblance to the forging hall of the Church of St. Audrey, with its circular dome and central area used as the core operating space, but their purposes are entirely different.
The tiered pews in the church have been replaced here with rows of storage cabinets, each drawer with information labels inlaid with copper plates.
The spot in the center of the hall where the forging table was originally placed has been taken over by a stone pot.
This is a stone vessel taller than Lucius himself, and its exterior retains the rough texture of the original stone.
A long table is placed directly in front of the stone pot, along with a ladder with wheels for climbing to the top of the pot to add ingredients.
Lucius looked around and found that the alchemy room had far fewer facilities than he had expected.
Aside from the materials cabinet, stone pot, long table, and ladder, there were only a few iron buckets and several copper long-handled spoons of different sizes in the corner.
There were no precision instruments: graduated cylinders, distillation condensers, or even a basic balance.
"Uh, Captain, isn't this a bit too rudimentary?" Lucius said tactfully.
Felix wasn't surprised at all. He led Lucius to the nearest row of filing cabinets, explaining as they walked:
"In the field of mystical alchemy, symbolism outweighs practical significance."
Mystical alchemy has four color methods: blackening, yellowing, reddening, and bluening.
We simply need to add the ingredients in the correct order, allowing the symbolic meaning of each ingredient to be transformed within the stone pot.
The final stage involves the Blazing One using the power of fire to complete the final crimson transformation, resulting in the correct alchemical product.
He pulled out a long, rectangular tin box labeled "Black Mandrake" from the materials cabinet, opened the lid to inspect the dried leaves inside, and then continued walking.
The selection process lasted about ten minutes, and finally they returned to the long table, where Felix laid out the selected ingredients one by one.
Lucius counted them; there weren't many kinds, only five:
A large barrel of distilled water, two black mandrake leaves soaking in a transparent glass jar, a small piece of argentite with iridescent luster, a small brown bottle sealed with wax, and a small cloth bag containing azurite powder.
"Making the sex-detecting potion is very simple," Felix said, lifting the bucket of distilled water with both hands.
"Although it can't compare to a real Sequence Potion, this thing is still quite valuable. On the open market, it's roughly equivalent to two weeks' salary, which is about 10 pounds."
He carried the bucket up the roller ladder, stood on the platform at the edge of the stone pot, turned his head and shouted to Lucius below:
"I need to determine a symbolic amount: how much distilled water would you like to add to the stone pot?"
"Huh? Me?" Lucius pointed to himself.
He looked at the huge stone pot, then at the bucket Felix was carrying, hesitated for a second, and then pointed to about halfway up the bucket.
"About half, around here."
Felix nodded and immediately poured in half a glass of distilled water.
After getting down, he picked up the glass jar containing black mandrake from the table and used a pair of copper tweezers to take out two whole, dried leaves.
"Black mandrake, a plant that only grows in the shady north side of the cemetery."
He held up two leaves to Lucius with copper tweezers.
Which patch of grass best represents your concept of "a patch of mandrake"?