A few days later.
In the plaza in front of the granary.
Alan was engaged in his daily training, the slender Cross Sword in his hand moving as if it weighed nothing.
During this period, he had been constantly trying to absorb spirituality. Although it always dissipated in the end, it seemed to be beneficial to his body, improving both his strength and speed.
"Or perhaps it's the result of the potions I concocted earlier?"
Alan was somewhat unsure, but there is no doubt that further improvement in his abilities was a good thing.
"My lord, something has happened!"
Just as Alan was about to continue, Eight Fingers ran over, his face looking grim.
"Oh?" Alan put down the Long Sword, frowning.
"There has been a murder case in the village. Poor old Crow and his entire family are dead. It looks like it was done by outsiders..."
Eight Fingers reported.
"Take me to see it."
Alan picked up his sword and let Eight Fingers lead the way.
In the village, outside a straw hut, a group of people gathered, pointing and discussing. Several guards stood at the entrance. When they saw Alan approaching, they quickly saluted.
Alan squeezed into the straw hut. The walls, plastered with mud, had small windows, making the interior dimly lit. He could still see overturned wooden bowls filled with pea porridge, and scattered on the ground were some radishes and carrots.
A pool of dark red blood had already stained the ground.
"Old Crow and his wife are both dead, along with his daughter... However, his son wasn't home last night and escaped by luck."
Eight Fingers explained from the side: "The murderers were many in number. They did unspeakable things to Old Crow's daughter and wife, and took the little they had..."
Alan pressed his lips together, remained silent, and stared at one of the walls.
On the wall were three diagonal marks, resembling the claw marks of some enormous beast: "Is this a provocation?"
"Yes, it's the mark of the Wild Wolf bandits. We can be sure that they are the ones responsible!" Eight Fingers wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
The baron had entrusted him with the task and even allocated manpower, yet not only had he failed to capture the bandits, but the bandits also wreaked havoc. It was his incompetence!
"A mere bandit daring to challenge a lord?"
Alan tapped his forehead, deep in thought.
Well, at the moment he lacked spirituality, and [Danger Sense] could only be used in dreams, so he couldn't get any clues from the occult direction.
But his usual caution and meticulous thinking still made him feel something was wrong.
At this moment, a soldier hurriedly ran over and whispered something to Eight Fingers.
Eight Fingers' face lit up with joy: "My lord, the culprits finally left traces last night. I had people track them, and we've caught up to them..."
'Coincidence... more coincidences... Although this is reasonable, still...' Alan thought to himself and then said: "Let's go back to the manor first and regroup."
In any case, these bandits were somewhat capable and shouldn't be underestimated.
...
In Blackstone Manor.
Alan handed over the task of gathering men and distributing weapons to Sanchez and his subordinates. He went back to his bedroom and immediately fell asleep.
"Hmm... If instant sleep could be considered a skill, I must be at an expert level..."
In the dream world, Alan murmured to himself.
The next moment, he felt the sensation of [Danger Sense].
Nothing...
"Though I've been strengthening my consciousness these days, this ability seems to have made little progress... Of course, it might also be that the danger is too far away..."
Alan sighed.
If [Danger Sense] could be used in reality, he wouldn't be so troubled...
At this moment, he could only go to a branch of the Light of Redemption and wait for someone to pray or offer a sacrifice.
Luckily, the time ratio in dreams was different, and those believers were devout, so it wasn't difficult to establish contact.
"Oh Lord... please forgive my sins!"
Before the altar, Calvin, dressed in a black robe, was praying.
He was captured along with red-haired Lem by Olivia in a previous battle. After identification, Lem, who committed too many crimes, was directly killed, while Calvin prayed at the altar of the 'Spirit of Illusion' and received the 'blessing' of the Lord, gaining redemption.
Recalling what he did in the cult earlier, it was like a nightmare.
"Calvin..."
Alan walked around but didn't find anyone else praying. Olivia and Lin were also absent and seemed busy with something.
After obtaining the 'Flesh Staff', Lin often went out to clear the monsters in Diatt city and took in other survivors, seemingly intending to integrate the city.
"Forget it, it'll be him then..."
Alan extended a thought.
Instantly, Calvin felt the gaze of a great presence, tears of joy streamed down his face, and he knelt devoutly.
He listened carefully and finally stood up, shouting, "My Lord requires a sacrifice, the dark spirituality is the best offering!"
...
Blackstone Manor.
Alan woke up and felt the spirituality within him, smiling slightly, "With this preparation, I can be considered half an extraordinary being..."
The reason he needed 'dark' spirituality was because the [Black Sun] or the sun seemed to symbolize divination.
Although any spirituality could be used for rituals and divination, the effect of 'dark' was the best.
"No... that's not right, maybe the path representing the crimson sun has the best effect, after all, it is the source of all mysteries, the creator in the sky..."
Alan's thoughts wandered for a moment before he took out a crystal ball and built a wall of spirituality around him.
The light in the room dimmed instantly, and in the candlelight, a hazy illusion seemed to emerge in the crystal ball.
Now, equipped with knowledge of many mystical schools and secret traditions, his vision was quite extraordinary.
He mastered various divination methods including pendulum divination, crystal ball divination, numerology divination, and dream divination.
At this moment, he was using crystal ball divination.
"The outcome of this action!"
"The outcome of this action!"
"The outcome of this action!"
Alan chanted the divination content in an alternate language as he felt his inner spirituality being rapidly consumed.
In the next instant, faint whispers seemed to reach his ears.
Under the dim candlelight, numerous images flashed within the crystal ball.
Among them were three parallel claw marks representing a wild wolf, burning flames, and blood, finally transforming into a bottomless darkness.
Alan's expression was stern as he calmly ended the ritual.
Divination sometimes didn't provide an accurate result, but rather many symbols, and the diviner's role also involved interpreting these symbols.
"This matter indeed involves wild wolves... Fire and blood represent great danger... The final darkness indicates the possibility of falling into the abyss, is this a fatal danger?"
Alan sneered.
If he wasn't prepared, he would still be a normal person right now, at most robust and skilled in swordsmanship.
If ambushed unexpectedly, he could still die!