Chapter 41: Discussion of Secret Arts
"By now, the people from the Furious Wave City Political Affairs Department should be outside the Olu Academy!" Luke pretended to be engrossed in reading, but his mind was focused on the location of the Imperial spies and security officers chasing after him.
Inside the Room 36 of the library, it was eerily quiet, and the chilling atmosphere seemed to intensify without notice.
"He's here!"
"Elf, you seem quite interested in this book."
A voice came from behind.
Luke turned around and saw a ghostly figure hovering behind him. It was a middle-aged man with a chestnut-colored curly hair, giving off a sense of profound experience. He wore an old-fashioned Olu Mage robe and appeared as a grayish translucent form.
"You are... Professor Lowell Felix, the author of this book? I have seen your magical portraits in the Hall of Honor at the Olu Academy. You are one of the founding members of the modern Olu Academy, and your work 'Alchemy Prolegomena' is still a must-read for scholars in the field of magic.
However, I didn't expect to meet you in this way.
My name is Qing Kong, and I am an amateur enthusiast of secret arts."
Following the guide to successfully attract Lowell Felix, Luke continued to progress through the plot.
"I've been observing you for some time," Felix floated closer to Luke. "Your fascination with secret arts compelled me to appear and warn you. Secret arts originated from ancient rituals and are a form of unleashing mysterious powers.
Those who delve into secret arts are easily influenced by the mysterious powers. Once they become immersed in it, they lose themselves and sink into darkness and abyss.
The Olu Academy has paid a heavy price in the past for their involvement with secret arts. Although the academy doesn't explicitly prohibit research on secret arts, just look around here, and you'll see that the Olu Academy is highly averse to secret arts."
Luke closed the book in his hand and asked Felix, "Professor Felix... I've read your book, but I still don't understand whether curse arts belong to secret arts or if secret arts belong to curse arts."
When it came to academics, Felix forgot about his initial purpose for appearing.
"I wrote 'These are two interesting questions!' on the title page as a response. The boundaries of academia are often ambiguous, and there is a significant overlap between different disciplines. It's merely an intriguing question that doesn't require a definitive answer.
Moreover, this book was written during my early research on secret arts. Nowadays, mainstream academia tends to categorize secret arts as a branch of curse arts.
Academic classifications are unrelated to the disciplines themselves and don't need clear demarcations."
"Thank you, Professor, for clarifying. I have another question... Secret arts involve the release of mysterious energy, and such energy can have positive or negative aspects.
But why do you say that researching secret arts can lead people to descend into the dark abyss?
I've studied numerous cases of failed secret arts, and as you mentioned... researchers of secret arts always seem to uncontrollably drift towards the dark side."
Felix answered, "Regardless of the energy involved, its nature remains neutral. It's the individuals who cause the drift.
To be more precise, it's human nature.
Secret arts lack a solid theoretical foundation and heavily rely on the experiences of secret art practitioners. Each person has their own understanding of secret arts, leading to the absence of a universally recognized standard of measurement.
This makes it difficult for secret arts to be subject to academic exchange. Secret art practitioners become completely immersed in their own world, making it easy for them to develop psychological disorders.
Therefore, secret art practitioners often choose dimly lit and isolated places for their laboratories. Such mental states and environments easily push secret art research towards the dark side.
Observing your state, it seems that you've recently developed an interest in secret arts.
My advice is to distance yourself from it before it devours you. If the academy discovers your research on secret arts, it will have a detrimental impact on you."
"Thank you for your advice, Professor Felix."
Luke expressed his gratitude to Felix while thinking to himself, "Why haven't those people arrived yet? I entered the library so boldly, even deliberately greeting people I encountered on the way.
The Imperial spies couldn't possibly miss me!"
Fortunately, just as Luke was preparing to distract Felix by raising another question, the sound of hurried footsteps could finally be heard from outside.
There were many people.
Felix also heard the sound.
"What's happening? Why are there so many people coming to the library? It seems like they're heading this way."
Luke anxiously said, "Professor Felix, if they find me here, will they expel me from the Olu Academy?"
The footsteps grew closer and closer!
Felix told Luke, "I'll take you to a place. I'll bring you out once they leave. Don't mention me or this place to anyone."
"I promise I won't say a word."
A teleportation gate opened in the library, and Felix floated into it.
Luke followed and entered.
At the moment the gate closed, a security officer arrived at the entrance. He cautiously surveyed the dusty library and then proceeded to search the next room.
In a flash of light, Luke found himself in another library.
The library was enclosed on all sides, without doors, windows, or any visible exits.
The books on the shelves were placed haphazardly, some even scattered on the floor, indicating the hurried relocation of the books.
Felix navigated carefully, even as a spirit, he was afraid of damaging the books.
Meanwhile, he reminded Luke, "These books have a history of over a hundred years. Please be careful not to damage them.
Once the people outside leave, I will escort you out."
Luke looked at the names of the books on the shelves and asked, "These books are all related to secret arts, and they should have been destroyed. Felix, did you move them here to hide them?"
Felix answered with a touch of emotion, "Yes... Initially, the dean ordered the destruction of all books related to secret arts, but what connection do Viktor's crimes have with these books?
Energy is neutral, and knowledge is neutral too. These books are the research achievements of our secret arts department over the past century. They should not have been destroyed just because of a few individuals who went astray.
So, we fabricated a batch of secret art books to send for destruction and created a separate space to store these research achievements.
We hope that one day, the secret arts department can be reinstated, and secret art research can resume under regulation. However, the damage caused by that disaster to the Olu Academy was too severe, a scar that no one wants to reopen.
Secret arts have become a taboo here."
Experiencing this part of the plot in the game and witnessing it firsthand were two completely different feelings.
Looking at the books filling the room, one could imagine how much effort the secret arts department of the Olu Academy had put into secret art research and how much they had sacrificed to preserve these books.
But Luke hadn't forgotten his purpose for coming here.
"The Book of Calamity should also be here."
Upon hearing the book's name, Felix, who was originally a phantom, instantly solidified.
He looked at Luke warily.
"You know about the Book of Calamity! You deliberately made me bring you into this secret chamber!"