Master of Outlining Human Bodies

As the gas lamps were lit, Fan Ning saw the knives, firearms, and ammunition boxes displayed on the steel racks inside the cramped armory.

Some were dull-colored, while others gleamed with a dangerous metallic sheen. Their smell was somewhat like the paints and turpentine in his father's private studio at the art museum, though lighter.

"Do you know how to use a gun?" Dupont asked.

"Yes, but I'm not very skilled. My father used to have one." Fan Ning's answer was much the same as it had been during his interrogation at the Public Security Bureau.

"Then I'll pick one for you."

Dupont brought revolvers one by one to the gas lamp mounted on the rack and inspected them carefully.

Fan Ning then accepted one he handed over. It felt light yet solid, hard and cold.

To Fan Ning's untrained eye, it looked rather crude as well. The grip had a warm ivory sheen, but the exposed steel hammer, brake mechanism, and brass cylinder were all imbued with a violent mechanical beauty.

Dupont explained, "Although these revolvers are all mass-produced under steam milling machines, each one has subtle differences. The one I picked for you has the most properly aligned rifling and cylinder. The gaps in its mechanical structure are also generally smaller, which can minimize gas leakage when firing."

"Those of us who like playing the piano certainly don't want our fingers ruined by escaping high-pressure gas and metal fragments. Aside from that, things like handling are too nebulous to judge, and service life isn't important either. Accuracy will mostly depend on yourself."

"Thank you." Fan Ning smiled sincerely. Dupont's words had undeniably drawn the two of them closer.

"Your free weekly ammunition allowance is one box, twenty rounds. If you need more, they're four pence apiece. Take what you need, then register it downstairs yourself."

All right, so everything had to be collected and registered personally...

Was this the Buddhist-style, self-service management approach?

"Then I'll take two boxes for now." Fan Ning rubbed the tip of his nose.

Inside the copper box, the golden revolver cartridges were wrapped in oiled paper and arranged neatly in four rows of five.

"If you're not very skilled yet, I recommend practicing every day from today onward. Once you pass through this room, you'll see shooting ranges at various distances. Just shoot to your heart's content. Someone will come to clean up every day."

"Okay."

Fan Ning recalled the single battle he had fought early that morning and fully accepted the suggestion.

A Knower's body was still as fragile as a paper doll's.

At those life-or-death moments, the crucial objective was to find an opportunity to send the other person away with a bullet.

Whether he could find such an opportunity depended on all sorts of bizarre mystical abilities,

while whether he could seize it depended on his physical fitness and marksmanship.

At least, that was his current understanding.

"Dupont, there's something I'd like to ask your opinion about." Fan Ning spoke after some consideration.

"Hmm? Is there some new development in the mysterious incident at Saint Leniya University?" Clearly, Vyadlin and Dupont both knew about what had happened before.

Fan Ning then recounted the entire sequence of Hiran's attack, including what he had learned from the gray-clad man and the questioning he had undergone at the Special Inspection Office.

There were too many parts of the matter he couldn't judge for himself, and he was even somewhat lost.

Aside from the matter of his transmigration, his father, and the fact that he had actually advanced through the pathway beacon of a Lord of Witnesses named "Endless Fugue"... he still needed to investigate and verify those three matters with caution.

As for everything else, he shouldn't hold anything back from the Guidance School, nor was there any need to.

After listening to Fan Ning's account, Dupont thought for a moment. "The information you obtained is valuable, but my personal advice is that I don't recommend you attend that 'Sylvia's' gathering to investigate. The gains and risks aren't proportional."

"This entire series of events happened at Saint Leniya University. The Bologna School will bear the pressure at the front, followed by the Special Inspection Office. Of course, because of the relationship between Anton's family and our Guidance School,

"after learning that you'd been caught up in it, we also began a covert investigation."

"A series of mysterious incidents has occurred in the South Wharf District recently as well. We sent two other members there to investigate because we suspect there may be a connection behind these events."

"The chairman is away at the moment, so it's best to be cautious. Once the members return this weekend, we'll all meet, exchange our respective information, and then discuss our next move."

Fan Ning nodded slightly. Dupont's proposed approach was indeed more prudent, and it also put his mind somewhat at ease.

"Caloen, were you really only promoted to Knower recently?" Dupont asked.

"More precisely, I was promoted only last night. Why?"

Dupont folded his arms and leaned against the weapon rack as he slowly said, "I was thinking about that Benjamin from the Special Inspection Office. How did you manage to cooperate with him during the examination yet avoid being noticed when he searched your Astral Spirit Body?"

"Don't let his old-fashioned, weathered appearance fool you. He's more than a decade younger than me. He should only be twenty-seven or twenty-eight now."

I didn't expect Dupont to already be over forty. He didn't look it at all. Though judging from that weathered outfit, he and Benjamin were evenly matched in that regard... Fan Ning thought to himself.

"Benjamin's talent is excellent, and he's extremely steady and cautious in everything he does. He's highly valued by the Special Inspection Office. He should have been able to step into the middle sequence of the fourth rank long ago, but because he wasn't completely confident he could avoid 'Lostness' or 'Aberration,' he's delayed attempting the advancement."

Dupont continued thoughtfully, "Could it be that you've only just advanced, yet already reached the third rank or even gone beyond it?"

"Perhaps. When I received the Light of First Acquaintance, I did indeed feel my spirit leap directly from the previous bottleneck to the next." Fan Ning replied.

He didn't need to conceal that result. Keeping the reason confidential was enough.

"Your talent for Inspiration does indeed have the potential to make you an artist, or even a master artist, but—"

Dupont's tone shifted. "You must never underestimate Benjamin. That fellow may already have his eyes on you. Although he hasn't advanced all this time, according to our intelligence, at least three middle-sequence Knowers have been killed by him. And he won't be waiting much longer to advance. Afterward, his strength may become even more formidable."

Fan Ning's heart tightened. He then asked, "How exactly do you determine your own or someone else's rank, and how do you advance further?"

"It's difficult to determine accurately, and it's also difficult to find any stable patterns."

Dupont gave a largely negative summary of both questions.

"The deeper I study, the more chaotic I feel the mystical system is. There's no particularly accurate way to measure how many times stronger a Knower's Inspiration is than an ordinary person's, and it isn't the only factor in determining rank. These seemingly detailed definitions actually exist to correspond to the levels of other mystical elements, such as Hidden Knowledge, Phase, and mystic rituals, making them easier for us to study."

"As for advancement, the general path is easy to understand: approach the Radiance Tower, then climb upward. Generally speaking, the low sequences correspond to the outer 'Wasteland Regions' floating around it, the middle sequences correspond to ascending into the 'Ring Mountain Region,' and the high sequences correspond to crossing the ring mountains and descending into the 'Basin Region,' which is closest to the Radiance Tower. Once you truly pass through the first gate and enter the Radiance Tower, you become a 'Dawnbringer.'"

"But the circumstances within the Migrant Surge are actually bizarre and ever-changing, with no regard for logic. The patterns recorded in Hidden Knowledge texts always have countless exceptions. For some people, the method of advancement can be traced like a scientific law. Others see things in the Migrant Surge that are completely different from what everyone else sees. Some gain stronger positive powers after advancing. Some aren't skilled in combat, but their auxiliary mystical abilities are impossible to guard against. And some instead move toward death even more rapidly after advancing..."

"My advice is to maintain an attitude of study and constantly strengthen your Inspiration, but don't pursue advancement excessively. You should understand that to return from the Migrant Surge to the waking world, you need to retrace your steps to the point where you entered. Staying conscious in the Migrant Surge is far more difficult than in a lucid dream. The deeper you go, the blurrier your consciousness becomes. Attempting to advance across regions is the most likely way to brew the tragedy of 'Lostness.'"

"Thank you for explaining." Fan Ning firmly memorized this information. His awe had increased greatly, but he couldn't help feeling puzzled as well.

Was my method of strengthening Inspiration through recreating music controllable during advancement?

Yet he had a vague guess in his heart. When he finished filling in the first spiral ring on the church's marble door, perhaps that would be when he advanced to the middle sequence next time.

"Do fourth-year students at your conservatory still have many classes?" Dupont asked.

"Far fewer than before, but there are still some. For example, I have classes all day tomorrow." Fan Ning replied.

"Hmm... Knowers who study art have a great advantage. It's related to Inspiration. Music, marksmanship, physical training, learning ancient languages, and researching Hidden Knowledge—these are all extremely important."

Dupont tossed a small piece of white-bronze key to Fan Ning. "The chairman assigned Office 209 to you. I've already had someone clean it out."

Fan Ning reached out and caught it.

"I'm going back to practice the piano. Arrange all your own affairs properly. Next time you come, I have some basic mystical knowledge I need to teach you as soon as possible." After saying that, Dupont went downstairs.

A few seconds later, the classical guitarist's faint voice drifted up from the stairwell again. "Oh, right, Caloen, there's also a basement beneath our restaurant. Don't go there on your own. It's very dangerous."

The words stirred Fan Ning's curiosity, but only briefly. He had no intention of courting death on a grand scale.

"Right. So aside from investigating the incidents and protecting Hiran, my recent tasks will also include composing music, practicing piano, practicing shooting, exercising, studying ancient languages and mystical knowledge, and dealing with commissions or missions that may arrive at any time... And, of course, making money."

Looks like Knowers had to work nine to nine, six days a week too...

Inside the shooting range.

Fan Ning stood at the ten-meter range. He used one finger to flip open the revolver's retaining latch, slowly swung out the cylinder, and pressed the brass bullets into the chambers one by one.

He calmly pressed down on the gun's frame, closed the cylinder, pulled back the hammer until it locked into place, and then raised his arm.

Squinting at the ten-ring target ahead, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!—Bang!—Bang!—

The gunshots rang out loudly enough to make his ears buzz.

The thick smell of gunpowder was somewhat choking.

After trying to shoot three times, Fan Ning weighed the gun in his hand and frowned at its rough, uneven surface.

So when I shot someone in the head from a little over a meter away early this morning, I really had been relying on luck?

One shot hit the first ring, while two missed the target entirely.

He gave an amused, helpless smile.

"Is there still hope for the Master of Outlining Human Bodies?"