Chapter 9

Richard nodded forcefully and ran back to his room. However, judging from his excited appearance, he would likely not be able to sleep tonight. Elaine smiled and shook her head, then picked up the magic lamp and climbed up to the attic.

The attic was usually used for storing miscellaneous items, but it was also swept clean. Elaine moved a box aside, revealing a small altar behind it. The altar was made of stone, with its base intricately and accurately carved with a complex magic array. However, the spot where a divine statue should have been placed was now empty.

Elaine carefully cleaned the altar, wiping away even the tiniest specks of dust. Then she stood up and her gaze fell on a thick book casually placed on the side of the box. This book was unusually thick, probably having nearly a thousand pages, and was as large as four ordinary magic books, weighing at least a dozen kilograms. The bronze-colored cover shone with a luster, free of any dust, clearly indicating it was frequently read. Elaine was taken aback; she hadn't touched it for a long time, so it must have been Richard reading it. She hadn't expected the little guy to read it so frequently and enthusiastically.

Elaine walked over and opened it. Her fingers were long and beautiful, far surpassing her appearance in beauty. The men in the village had more than once privately discussed her hands.

The cover of the book was made of genuine bronze, heavy and cold, exuding the weight of time. Elaine knew that within the bronze, hundreds of crystal particles were scattered like stars. When they were simultaneously activated, they would form a miniature altar, and when the user was sufficiently devout and powerful, they could even use it to hear the voice of the Moon Goddess Elysia!

On the flyleaf, a long poem praising the Moon Goddess Elysia was written in elegant ancient Elvish. To this day, Elaine still remembered every syllable of the hymn. She flipped through the pages casually, the textured pages flowing like water between her fingers, filled with either long passages of Elvish text or vivid illustrations. Unlike human religious texts, the content of this book contained only a small portion dedicated to the Moon Goddess's teachings, with many more stories about Elysia before she became a goddess. Therefore, it included not only the continent of Norland but also many other continents and even other planes. Little Richard probably read it as a comprehensive geography and natural history book, which is why he found it so fascinating.

This thick book, which seemed unremarkable except for its weight, was once the most precious treasure of the Elven Court, the Holy Book of the Moon Goddess Elysia.

The Holy Book actually recorded seven unique divine spells of the Moon Goddess, but only those recognized by the goddess could see and use them. In her prime, she could use five of them. Apart from the Great Druids of the Court, she was the priest who had mastered the most divine spells, representing both her power and the goddess's recognition. Now, even at a great cost, she could only activate one spell, and that was with the help of the Holy Book itself.

The seven divine spells flowed through her mind like water.

- "Elysia's Destiny" Spell: Enlightenment

- "Elysia's Favor" Spell: Healing

- "Elysia's Wrath" Spell: Punishment

- "Elysia's Sword" Spell: Silver Moon Armament

- "Elysia's Will" Spell: Judgment

There were two more spells, one of which she had never mastered: "Elysia's Heart" Spell: Foresight.

The seventh spell, however, was only recorded in the Holy Book and had never been used by anyone: "Elysia's Confusion" Spell: The Dark Side of the Moon.

Elaine placed her hand on the Holy Book, quietly feeling the lingering sacred aura within. The fifth moon was hanging in the sky, and the cold moonlight shone through the skylight, illuminating her. The subtle divine power in the moonlight quietly seeped into her body, accumulating to prepare for the ritual in a few days.

The divine spell: Enlightenment, was to be Richard's tenth birthday gift.

On the night of Richard's tenth birthday, he was woken up at midnight, brought to the attic, and made to kneel before the altar. The Holy Book in front of Richard was already opened to a specific page, with several lines of prayer he had never seen before. They were in ancient Elvish, a language as difficult and obscure as the common tongue, which Richard had mastered. The content of the prayer was still a praise and request to the Moon Goddess, but as Richard silently recited it in his mind, he suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if his body was becoming transparent, and something that had been aimlessly wandering in the void suddenly discovered him and flew into his body. Richard felt a cold stream in his chest and abdomen, which quickly spread to his limbs and lower abdomen. This feeling was fleeting but very clear. However, it was common to have special sensations during divine or magical rituals, and many rituals even required enduring intense pain. So Richard said nothing and continued to gradually clear his mind as his mother had instructed.

"My Richard, soon you will enter the hall of the goddess Elysia and receive enlightenment about your destiny. You may have two or three choices. If so, you can choose..." At this point, Elaine suddenly shook her head and changed her words: "My Richard, choose whatever you want. Listen to the voice of the goddess and follow your heart's choice."

Richard nodded, still a bit confused. As Elaine's gentle prayer began, his consciousness gradually blurred, as if he was being separated from the world around him.

When he regained consciousness, Richard found himself standing in front of an extremely vast and high temple. The place where he stood was a huge square, several thousand meters in diameter, making him feel as small as an ant. The square was paved with silver-gray stones, shimmering with a faint, mysterious light. Looking around, he saw an endless starry sky, with stars so close that they seemed within reach. The square and the temple were suspended in the starry sky.

The vast space brought almost unbearable pressure to little Richard. His heart beat faster and faster, and he dared not look around any longer. Instead, he ran towards the temple. He ran for a long time, crossing the entire square and climbing a thousand stone steps before reaching the entrance of the temple. If it weren't for the strong bodies and endurance of children from the mountains, Richard would have collapsed long ago. Once he started running, he didn't dare to stop, as the vast square filled his vision, the shimmering light seemed to be moving according to some rule. Richard had the illusion that if he stopped, the square would tilt, and the smooth, mirror-like ground would offer no grip, causing him to slide helplessly and fall into the bottomless abyss.

When he stood at the entrance of the temple, Richard's heart was almost pounding out of his chest, and his breathing was extremely difficult. After a while, he finally caught his breath, remembered his mother's instructions, and looked up into the temple.

The temple had no dome but was surrounded by a circle of tall, white stone pillars. In the center was an altar, with three faint goddess statues standing around it. They had different postures and varying distances between them. There were supposed to be six goddess statues around the altar, each representing a different ability. The more goddess statues Richard could see, the more abilities he could potentially activate during the enlightenment.

Richard's memory was exceptional, and he quickly identified the three goddess statues. They represented 'Supernatural Power,' which could grant the enlightened one great strength; 'Life Stream,' which provided strong vitality and healing abilities; and 'Wind Speed,' which increased speed and agility.

Richard was slightly disappointed. In his young heart, he had already made a choice: 'Wisdom,' which would significantly enhance his intelligence. Because a true man needed wisdom.

However, having three choices was still good, and his mother had only hoped for more than one choice. In fact, Elaine hadn't told Richard that most people who received enlightenment saw only an empty temple.

Richard walked to the altar, trying hard to open his eyes to see 'Wisdom.' But the temple and the starry sky were not real, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see anything. Instead, his hesitation and doubt made the three goddess statues start to blur.

"Do you want more abilities?" a voice suddenly sounded in Richard's ear.

Richard was startled and looked around, but saw nothing. The voice was sudden and mechanical, cold and emotionless, making him feel very afraid.

"Who... who are you?" Richard summoned his courage and asked in a trembling voice. His voice echoed in the temple, and the heavy reverberations startled him again.

"Who I am is not important, and I won't appear again. Strictly speaking, I am the hidden half of your heart," the voice said.

"Impossible!" Richard firmly replied. His mother had said his heart was very pure and free of any impurities. Moreover, after a few exchanges, his fear gradually subsided. Children from the mountains were very brave, and his initial fear was just because he didn't know what was happening and was caught off guard.

But the voice was unaffected by Richard's response and continued in the same tone, "Now, choose what you want."

In front of Richard, the altar glowed again, and three more goddess statues appeared! In addition to 'Wisdom,' there was 'Elemental Affinity,' which was crucial for mages. This ability made it easier for mages to communicate with external elements, allowing them to cast spells with less effort. In simpler terms, a mage with 'Elemental Affinity' could have one to three more spell slots than a mage of the same level. This was a terrifying ability that became more powerful at higher levels. The other ability was 'Nature's Messenger,' which provided a deeper and more intuitive understanding of nature, significantly improving stealth and movement in complex terrains, enhancing the power of nature spells, and increasing resistance to poisons.

Now, all six abilities of the enlightenment were presented to Richard.

"This... this..." Richard's mouth was wide open, and he couldn't speak. His young mind was in chaos, unable to understand what was happening. The only reasonable explanation was that everything he saw was an illusion. What else could it be? This was different from what he had read in books and what his mother had told him.

Richard didn't forget his purpose and, trembling, reached out to the goddess statue representing 'Wisdom.' Before the towering statue, which was over ten meters tall, little Richard could only touch the goddess's feet. This was part of the ritual's meaning, as touching the goddess's feet represented humility. When Richard's hand touched the statue, a clear cracking sound echoed in his mind, and the world seemed to become more real and clear.

"Wisdom allows people to see the world more clearly." This was a line from the Holy Book, and now Richard finally understood its meaning.

After touching the Wisdom statue, all the goddess statues disappeared. Normally, this would mark the end of the enlightenment ritual, but the temple did not disappear.

Richard looked around in confusion and suddenly saw a new goddess statue appear in front of the altar. Her posture was with her hands crossed over her chest, her face slightly turned to the side, and her expression was melancholic and focused. Unlike the other goddess statues, this one had no texture and seemed to be made of shadows. Was this also an ability? Richard tried hard to remember but couldn't recall what this statue represented. Even in the Holy Book, there was no record of the Moon Goddess having this form, though it was indeed a statue of Elysia.

"Do you want another ability?" the voice asked again.

"What ability is that?" Richard paused and said loudly, "I don't want to give up Wisdom."

"You can call it 'Truth.' It allows you to observe the world from another perspective, and at the end of this path, you might see something else."

"Something else? What is that?" Richard asked curiously.

The voice fell silent and did not answer.

Richard wanted to leave. He now knew that he could return to the real world whenever he wanted. The temple was a world constructed by the ritual's power, designed to help those with talent see their abilities and choose their future path. However, this world was not entirely illusory; the temple floating in the starry sky was filled with the goddess's divine power, and all six abilities were granted by Elysia's favor.

But the voice in Richard's mind and the seventh goddess statue, which was not recorded in the Holy Book, completely颠覆了Richard的认知。Richard突然有一种感觉，这……很像恶魔的诱惑。但是恶魔的力量怎么可能出现在月之女神神圣的仪式中？

看着那第七座神像，Richard真的犹豫了。两种不同的声音在他的意识中激烈辩论，不分高下。拿，还是不拿？

Richard犹豫挣扎，但人却一步步走向了第七神像。“世界是平衡的，一切收获都有其代价。”Richard记得圣典有这样一句教诲，而平衡是艾露西娅教义的核心之一。那么收获了第二个能力，又会付出什么样的代价呢？

小小的男孩第一次迷茫和挣扎，但最终，他还是向着神像伸出了手。妈妈说过，他可以按照自己的想法选择，而他不愿意放弃这次机遇，并且已经做好了付出代价的准备。小Richard是有勇气的，他愿意为意外的收获去奋斗。而且他是聪明的，他知道妈妈内心深处，是希望他成为一个英雄，一个真正重要的大人物。

至少要超过塔克男爵的大人物。

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