Chapter 55: The Summon Begins Again
“Write This Down” was playing in the cafe, at this moment, along with the music, the customer’s heart also eased a lot, all anxiety and restlessness washed away leaving a peaceful atmosphere.
Even though this cafe was located remote, the environment and taste were quite good, along with the thoughtful service and elegant temperament of its owner, which gradually led to its popularity growing and gaining many regular customers.
“Your coffee.”
With a smile, Shen Yi served a macchiato to a new guest.
“Thank you.” The guest nodded politely. He was a middle-aged man with gray temples who looked around the surroundings carefully.
The espresso had a layer of hot milk foam to keep the coffee warm, and the milk foam was sweet and smooth, just right to dilute the bitterness of the espresso.
A cup of macchiato was perfect for those who could neither give up the taste of coffee nor the sweetness.
In fact, it was only after learning to make the coffee did he know the actual meaning of macchiato, which actually means “Branding”.
Brand.
By this point, he couldn’t help but recall the red brand(imprint) that he saw in his dream last night and all the things that had happened recently.
It has been almost two months since the “Quiet Horror Incident”.
The months passed in a flash and it was September 2nd. During this period of time, Shen Yi had not been ushered in any new summons.
Sometimes he couldn’t help but give birth to the joyous thought.
“Is it all over?”
However, both the power in his body and the mysterious relics in his collection told him that everything was real and that it would never end simply.
From beginning to end, the Quiet Words incident did not hurt Beland, but it attracted enough attention from the Nolan Anti-Magic Bureau.
They transferred back a large number of people and hid themselves in Beland’s shadowy inner world, which immediately became difficult.
“Boss.”
A soft crisp female voice interrupted Shen Yi’s thought. The voice belonged to none other than the female high school student who was a regular customer and often came here to talk to Shen Yi.
The well-behaved Coke was lying beside the girl, watching the humans in the store coldly.
“Hello, what can I do for you?”
With a professional smile, Shen Yi calmly walked out from behind the bar gracefully.
……
Another day of business passed in a wink.
Once again, it rained hard tonight, and the sound of water baptized the ears.
“It’s raining again.”
Standing in front of the glass door, Shen Yi looked at the rainstorm in the night, which evoked some bad memories.
The water at his feet gradually rose, but there was still some distance from the diffuse into the door.
Along with the wind, the splash of water hit his hand, he shook his head gently.
Then closed the newly renovated door by pulling the glass door on each side.
Then, as usual, he swept the floor, cleaned the tabletop, and put all the messed things back in their original positions.
All along the soft and soothing music kept playing on the side while he worked attentively.
After everything was done, he let out a breath and wiped the sweat from his face.
“Sure enough, I still have to hire a clerk.”
A few months ago, the store’s expenses were so high that at one point he was on the verge of bankruptcy, and with no money, he couldn’t ask for “someone”.
Fortunately, nearly two months of good weather brought the customer back to the cafe. Because of the foundation of word-of-mouth, more frequent customers have turned the revenue situation on the offensive.
He silently calculated in his heart that a new period of heavy rain was about to begin, and the passenger flow would likely decrease again in the next few days.
In other words, there was no new staff needed for the time being.
“Well, let’s wait for this heavy rain before hiring a new clerk.”
He took another look at the downpour outside and subconsciously folded his hands, and prayed sincerely.
“I hope nothing will happen this time.”
After making sure everything was done, he returned to his room, taking out the notebook from the drawer, he sat on the bed and began to flip through it.
A lot of written information and drawing could be seen in the notebook.
Since the end of the last summoning, his “still” time has doubled, going from five to ten seconds.
The “still” has a lot more convenient after doubling. If Shen Yi had ideas and desires, he could use this power to get a large amount of money.
Although Su Ling vaguely hinted that even if he did some ordinary illegal acts, the Anti-Magic Bureau would turn a blind eye to it.
But Shen Yi didn’t want to let the Anti-Magic Bureau, who had never let down their guard downgrade his evaluation.
Another haul from the last summon was also huge.
Soul ball.
Holding the pale blue soul ball in his right hand, he leaned against the bedboard and rested his head on the solid wall.
The soul ball contained Yare’s memory.
Old-colored cross… he silently began to contemplate in his heart, sketching the outline of every part of it, and finally depicting the faded cross full in his mind.
The soul ball in his hand gushed out a faint coolness, which immediately went upstream along his wrist and gradually came to Shen Yi’s body.
And he got an extra memory picture in his mind that did not belong to him.
It belonged to Yare Villard. Shen Yi saw that holding the old-colored cross in his hand, Yare explained to the believers about its magical effect and its cost involvement.
The images he saw were dreamlike, unreal, but real.
After learning the thing he wanted, he loosened his grip on the soul ball, even so, the memory of the old-colored cross still existed in his mind.
Like playing the ball, he tossed the soul ball into mid-air and caught it again.
“In short, it’s a searcher with 100-year memories.”
At first, he didn’t expect Yare’s soul to be so useful, but now he felt that this man’s soul was more important to him than all the mysterious relics.
“Yare, you’re still very useful.” He sighed with a smile.
After all, the occult knowledge contained in the library was only introductory and limited, and it was impossible to disclose the truly useful knowledge.
With this soul ball, his knowledge of occultism has been greatly improved. After “Yare Villard’s” “remedial lessons” for several months, he was no longer a beginner in the field of the occult.
Whether it was an old-colored cross, the transit ring, or the shadow mask, he already knows the effects and costs of several mysterious relics.
Along with he also discovered an interesting thing accidentally, that he never seemed to pay the price, but could activate the mysterious relic at will.
This was unique in the field of occultism.
In fact, prior to learning this, he had some knowledge that this was a big thing, that some “untouchable” level relics even had the effect of changing the world, but they also had a terrible cost at the expense of the individual, which couldn’t be borne.
Perhaps…it’s the power and breath of an extraterritorial god…a kind of benefit…
He also thought so in his heart, after all, he was repeatedly summoned as a spurious god, so it was normal to dip a little benefit.
“Alas, I still lack the ability to attack directly until now. I hope the next summoning will allow me to make up for the shortcomings.”
He played with the Soul Ball in his hand, but in fact, he was still a little depressed.
Through Yare Villard’s memory, he came to know that he also learned a lot about intangible techniques and how to use invisible arts, and Shen Yi naturally wanted to learn them.
But when it comes to him he couldn’t even learn a single invisible art.
“In Yare’s memory, it is said that ordinary people can also learn a few basic invisible techniques. Those with talent can master more than a dozen, and true geniuses can master even more… Why can’t I even learn the most basic ones?”
Shen Yi didn’t know why he had no talent at all for invisible arts.
He did a few magic rituals in the cafe, but nothing worked.
As he was pondering it, the time passed gradually and it was time to zone off.
Putting the ball and notebook back in their place, he went to take the bath, changed into pajamas, turned off the lights, and lay down on the bed.
And closed his eyes and zoned off.
“Another beautiful and peaceful day.”
……
The ground gradually began to vibrate.
Once again, some kind of unknown murmuring sounded in his ear.
This time the voice sounded like a female.
It seemed to be crying and angry, but also like being apathetic and quickly hiding everything behind indifference.
“The earth that accommodates the other world, the colorless land of illusion.”
“A colorless city where all people contend, praised, and feared.”
“I will offer the ever-changing sword.”
“Ask the Great You to open the door and welcome the humble me to it, so that I can get a glimpse of true power.”
Shen Yi opened his eyes, rolled over and sat up from the bed, slowly turned on the light, and changed his clothes calmly.
“Alright, here we go again.”
By the time he put everything on, the surroundings were already filled with gray fog.
He remembered that he had seen in “The Origin of Gods Beyond the World” that the Colorless City’s essence was a vast kingdom, connected by an endless number of cities, with almost no end in sight.
“This kind of thing…How on earth is it going to be disguised?” He couldn’t help but think so.
This time, the summoning became a little different.