Merrywick focused on the Hallucination Point Counter with a practiced mental fluidity. He had gone through the basic structure of the system already. But it couldn't hurt to look for more subtle details.
Two smaller panels popped up underneath the counter immediately.
[ Accumulation History ]
[ Expenditure History ]
Merrywick willed the expansion of the first pop-up, prompting a new, secondary panel to replace the Principal Panel. There was only one record inside it.
[ Date: 5-27-97 ]
[ 3 HP earned from Crippling a Rank-1 Mage from using magic. ]
"Poor Priest Edwards," Merrywick said in a melancholic tone.
If people were still spying on him, his genuine display of sorrow would perhaps lessen the hostility and suspicion they harbored towards him for now.
Although the priest's death couldn't fully be attributed to Merrywick, the vengeful administrator of his system had given him the credit. After all, death was a valid equivalent to being crippled from ever casting a magic spell. And that's all his system cared about.
After he summoned the other secondary panel showing the expenditure of the Hallucination Points, Merrywick sighed.
[ Expenditure History: ]
[ 3 HP Spent on Acolyte-grade Hallucination ]
This was the source of his first magic spell. As a commoner, he had never had the opportunity to cast a spell before. The government-funded training after graduating from the Secondary Education Academy had only provided a bare-bone understanding of how some common Tier-1 spells worked.
But after experiencing the Hallucination where he had watched from the first-person perspective how a real mage cast that spell, he had finally grasped the basics.
And that had reduced his HP count to zero again.
Merrywick began to contemplate how to complete the missions provided on the Principal Panel. In the hospital, bandaged and locked in, he had no chance. Hence, he had repeatedly tried to convince the authorities to discharge him as fast as possible. The funeral of his parents was a great excuse to get an early release.
But first, he had to finish up the little problem with the devotees from Sunbreaker's Church.
Another hour passed, uninterrupted by anybody, not even the nurses who were supposed to come and examine the conditions of his injuries.
Bored out of his mind, Merrywick went through every letter inscribed into his progression system, again and again, trying to form a better understanding of the unique features in it.
For example, he knew that the concept of 'Mastery' had great impact on a mage's progression. Not only did it counter mana sickness, it also made a huge contribution to a mage's combat skills. But what he hadn't been taught was that there were more than 3 grades of Mastery!
On the mastery upgrade panel, five levels were visible in a drop-down menu, four of them locked. Perhaps after he gained an Acolyte grade mastery over a spell, the following level would be unlocked!
He came to learn that even though he could technically cast a spell as a mage, it didn't really meet the requirement parameters to cement his foundation as a Rank-1 mage himself as per the standards of the system. There was no stat declaring his rank.
He'd probably have to practice casting the spell a few more times, even experience more Hallucinations to make his mastery of the spell reach the true potential of a Tier-1 spell.
Only a mage capable of casting a Tier-1 spell with Acolyte-grade mastery would be considered a proper Rank-1 mage, the bottom-most tier among the rankings.
This world was truly interesting. He had to give the twelve deities credit for their creation. A power system so intricate and wide in scope appealed to every human's primal instincts.
Merrywick had to force himself not to smile while contemplating what kind of reaction the deities would have if...no, when they discovered the true nature of his unique system of progression.
Suddenly, he noticed the indistinct noises coming from outside the cabin grow in volume. Loud voices began to penetrate their way into the room, voices he found familiar.
Merrywick leaned over from his bed and used the walking stick nearby to balance himself on his weakened legs. Ignoring the searing waves of pain surrounding his upper chest, he hobbled over to the other end of the room, placing his ears near the door to the entry room.
"This is absurd! I was informed that my nephew is alive, but now that I've rushed to the hospital, you're saying that he's unavailable for visits? What procedures have you put him under without our permission?"
"Sir, please try to understand. This is a sensitive issue. You can see the men of the Church here. The problem is of such caliber that we have no authority to divulge any details unless given express permission from our higher-ups."
"And who might these higher-ups be? What authority does the Church of Sunbreaker have over a private hospital?"
"It's not just the Church, sir. The law enforcers have been involved as well. At this point, even our board of directors is following orders. Surely, you understand what kind of situation may warrant movements from the Circle of Aristocrats itself."
His father had no siblings. Sorting through his memories, Merrywick eventually pinned down who the newcomer might be. It had to be his father's business partner, Mister Steffen.
The man had a reputation in his circle for being headstrong. It would take a lot more than a few intimidating words to calm him down.
More and more voices joined the fray, arguing loudly enough to create a significant commotion throughout the floor. Merrywick listened patiently for a while before hobbling his way back to the bed.
Soon, the door to his cabin swung open and one of the inquisitors from earlier interrogation hurried in, coming close to his bed and whispering, "We'll let your relatives visit you. For now, we strongly advise you not to divulge any information about your patron deity; it's not the right time and place for that. But before they visit, you have to undergo some more cognitive stability tests to ensure their safety, are we clear?"
Merrywick was more than happy to cooperate. He was just glad that neither the law enforcers, nor the Church authorities had irrationally decided to play a risky game and lock him up permanently for experiments and tests to determine the characteristic of the 13th deity. That was one of the worst possibilities he had foreseen, and he didn't really have a foolproof plan to get out of that scenario.
The subsequent tests were smooth sailing, whether they relied on Comtech or Magitech. Brainwave scanners, mutation detectors, mana stability test, mental manipulation spells, nothing elicited a response from him that could disqualify him from public contact.
By dawn, his cabin was open for those waiting outside. More than a dozen people waved at Merrywick from the corridor, but only two of them, both certified Rank-2 mages, walked in.
"Hello, Uncle Steffen, Aunt Helen, thanks for that fight you put up outside. Really sped things up." He greeted them with a wide grin, trying his best to follow the usual mannerisms he had shown in the past.
Taking their seats as close to the bed as possible, they examined his bandaged wounds with visible concern.
"What's all this fuss about sensitive issues?" Uncle Steffen whispered.
"We heard you used magic to get out of the storage. Have they examined you for mana poisoning yet? The possibility of latent dangers cannot be ignored," Aunt Helen said, droning over Steffen's question.
Merrywick placated them with the fewest possible words, taking care not to say anything about the dream or the deity, and got to his objective fast. There was a reason why he had been eager to meet them.
"Hey, I need a favor. Can you..." Merrywick glanced surreptitiously at the door of the cabin before finishing the sentence. "Can you help me liquidate all the properties I'll inherit? The house, company shares, my parents' business, securities... Help me convert everything into cash, as quickly as you can."
"....."
"....."