Aurelio didn't rush to answer. Instead, he held the hilt of the sword towards Gloria and handed it back to her. The female knight took the sword in astonishment. Looking down, she saw the spider's body fluids on the sword being evaporated by the remaining energy, emitting white mist.
After a dozen or so seconds, the remaining light on the sword blade gradually died out. Only then did Aurelio begin to speak: "About eleven or twelve years ago, the academy launched a plan to understand the power used by the knight order and the clergy. And, quite unusually, it received support from both sides. It was the only time in history."
"I was still young back then... I didn't know much about it. And I haven't heard of it since."
"Because it was discontinued after just over a year."
"Why was that?"
"Because..." Aurelio hesitated, then after a moment of silence, he answered in an even lower voice, "I don't know either."
Gloria clearly sensed that Aurelio was deliberately hiding something. She speculated in her heart, "Could it be Father...? No, it shouldn't be, right?" But she didn't press further.
"Although this plan was abandoned halfway, we still gained something. After understanding the nature of the holy light, we could simulate it. Although it differed a bit from the way knights manipulate it and wasn't perfect, but... these could all be improved." Aurelio paused briefly and corrected himself: "Could have been improved originally."
"How long have you been practicing this simulation?"
"I've only read a few related materials. This was the first actual application." Aurelio replied. What he said was the truth. He had always been glad that he was able to succeed on his first attempt. He thought again, "Being able to create holy light and attach it to a weapon, and perhaps attach other elements to it in the future. This could be considered a new ability too."
"Really...?!" Gloria was dumbfounded. "A novice knight who has been in the order for less than a year would definitely not be your match!"
"Is that so?" Despite receiving the compliment, Aurelio didn't show the slightest hint of joy on his face. Instead, his eyes became melancholic. "If that plan could have been carried out, I would definitely not be a match. Even for a novice, I wouldn't be. The power of knights could have been stronger, and mages could have been closer to the essence."
"Essence? What's that?"
"The essence of magic is still something unknown to humans." Aurelio replied, "We only know the phenomena but can't discover the essence behind the phenomena. In this regard, we are all the same. Only, perhaps mages are a step ahead. The knight order and the clergy are hostile towards mages and prohibit them from delving deeper. This actually slows down the progress of all three."
"Are you criticizing us?"
Aurelio was taken aback. Before he could reply, Gloria added, "On this issue, you can be straightforward."
Seeing her sincere gaze, Aurelio nodded and said, "Yes and no."
"What do you mean?"
"Rather than criticism, it's more about feeling regret. Magic should have been a tool for everyone, for every weak individual. It's not perfect, but we are working on improving it. We lost such an opportunity. And perhaps, there will never be another chance in the future." Aurelio said this with a heavy sigh.
Gloria couldn't help but lower her head in thought and said, "You're right. I feel regret too... I've always wanted to become stronger."
"Sorry for talking too much." Aurelio turned his back, "If you're rested, let's go."
"Where to? To that old man's house?"
"Yes. It's getting late. We can't camp out in the woods. Who knows what other dangers there might be? That kind of monster..." He pointed at the spider's corpse on the ground, "...we don't know who created it."
"My brother told me... usually in such cases, it's the demons who are responsible." Gloria responded.
Aurelio said, "It's indeed possible. Demons often create all kinds of strange things. Since that's the case..." As he spoke, he hoisted the detached spider leg onto his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Gloria was startled.
"Taking it back for research." Aurelio said, "Maybe it has some special effects, can cure some diseases, or enhance certain abilities. I'll hand it over to..." He was about to say Valentino when he suddenly remembered that his friend was still in a life-or-death situation. His heart sank, and after a pause, he continued, "Never mind, let's go. I don't trust that old man, but I have a way."
The two of them walked along the path pointed out by the old man. In less than ten minutes, they arrived at a clearing in the woods. This clearing wasn't formed naturally: there were many tree stumps on the ground, and the cross-sections of the stumps were still quite fresh, clearly having been cut down recently.
About twenty paces ahead, there was a small wooden cabin. The wooden cabin was quite simple. Outside the cabin was a small yard, enclosed by a simple wooden fence—the fences were only half a person's height. There were several racks in the yard, on which some dried meat or untanned leather was drying. In front of the yard gate, a watchdog was tied. The dog stood up 警觉地 when it saw the two of them from a distance.
"Don't make the dog bark." Aurelio reached out to stop his companion and whispered, "It does look like a hunter's cabin, but... let me take a look." With that, the two of them backed up a few steps together.
Aurelio opened his waist pouch and picked out a ball of black cotton cloth from it. He looked up at the sun that was about to set in the west, turned his back to the west, and used his body to block the sunlight. He opened the cloth ball, and inside the cloth ball were more than ten colorless and transparent crystals. Their shape was similar to that of peridot, but the color was slightly different.
Those crystals were stuck to the cloth by some kind of glue. They were arranged from left to right, from large to small. Aurelio quickly picked out the smallest one, then hurriedly wrapped the cloth back up and carefully put it back in his waist pouch.
He held the crystal tightly in his palm, then took out a parchment scroll. He unrolled the scroll and flattened it, placing it on the ground. A circular magic array was drawn on the parchment paper with vermilion ink. Around the magic array were some strange symbols, which were hard to tell whether they were words or patterns.
Aurelio placed the crystal in the center of the magic array. As soon as the crystal left his hand, it began to vibrate violently. Within a few seconds, its color gradually deepened and turned into a cloudy amber color. The vibration of the crystal soon stopped, and the scroll turned to ashes. But the magic array drawn on the paper was magnified several times and transferred to the ground, emitting a faint blue glow.
Aurelio stepped into the magic array, facing the direction of the small wooden cabin. After just one glance, he stepped out of the array again. He turned around and said to Gloria, "There's only one person inside the cabin."
"How do you know? Is it the effect of this magic array?"
Aurelio nodded and replied, "Yes, life detection."
"Can I go in and take a look?"
"Of course."
After getting permission, the female knight took a step and stepped into the magic array. "Ah! I can't see anything!" She exclaimed and immediately backed out. Only after opening her eyes again and finding that her vision had returned to normal did she bravely step in again.
Inside the magic array, one would temporarily lose their normal vision and instead have a special sense. Gloria looked around. All animals within dozens of paces, from humans and beasts to insects as small as they come, were reflected in her "vision", leaving an outline—she tended to think that this outline was a light red color. And those inanimate objects or plants formed a "black" background. She looked around with great interest until the magic array lost its effect a few minutes later.
"Interesting!" She said excitedly, like a child who had just gotten a new toy, "Do your spells have a lot of things like this that are really interesting?"
Aurelio shrugged and said, "Not really. Most of them are quite boring."
"Is... is that so?" Gloria looked disappointed.
"Anyway, it's getting late. Let's hurry over there." Aurelio took out his pocket watch and checked the time again, "There's only one person. We can handle it."