"Wait!"
Hana Ye swiftly locked the door, then immediately shut the windows as fast as she could with a series of clicks, her eyes wide, and whisked the curtains closed.
As the candle flame flickered to life.
The room's interior finally appeared before Lin En.
"Don't worry!"
Hana Ye earnestly made a "y" gesture at him.
"This is Hana Ye's room. They definitely won't come upstairs again tonight! So there's absolutely no problem with you staying here for a night!"
Lin En finally got a clear look at the room. An enormous, extravagantly luxurious bed stood in the center, the floor was covered with a carpet that looked outrageously expensive, and everything from the furniture to the decorations was more lavish than he could have imagined.
Lin En roughly gauged its size.
His balls instantly ached again.
"Are you kidding me? One little girl's bedroom is as big as my entire hundred-and-eighty-square-meter home!"
He immediately thought of the home he'd lived in before transmigrating. Compared with this, it wasn't even as good as someone else's damned bedroom.
"No way!"
Hana Ye widened her eyes, hurried over after changing into pajamas, and said:
"I'm not the only one who lives here! My big sister shares this room with me, but she became an Exorcist ages ago."
"And judging by what's happening today, she probably won't be coming home anyway. Don't worry, there's definitely enough room for you!"
"Your sister's an Exorcist?" Lin En asked uncertainly.
He wasn't surprised that she had a sister. That fellow named Jones had mentioned her, so it was probably true.
Hana Ye flopped onto the enormous bed, sprawled out, and closed her eyes.
"Of course! She's really amazing! That girl was born with a really powerful [Origin Substance] in her brain. Otherwise, she couldn't have become an Exorcist so young! It's not something just anyone can join!"
Lin En once again thought of the people he'd encountered at the intersection earlier.
There was no doubt.
They were probably all supernatural beings who wielded certain special powers.
"So..."
Lin En sat cross-legged, looking at the useless little girl.
"How does the power system here work? And that thing you just mentioned... [Origin Substance]. What exactly is it?"
Anyone who could create such an enormous magic circle was surely nowhere near as powerful as the Valkyrie he had imprisoned, but it was enough to prove that this was a high-magic world filled with supernatural forces.
Hana Ye froze and said:
"Huh? You really don't know anything?"
Lin En (ー`´ー) said:
"I already told you! I have amnesia. Amnesia! How many times do I have to explain it?"
Hana Ye scratched the back of her head and stared at him blankly.
"Uh... then I'll get you my textbook..."
"Heh. I'm illiterate." He sneered.
"..."
A dozen or so minutes later.
Only after the little girl had painstakingly explained everything to him with a book in hand did Lin En gain a rough understanding of this world's power system.
"So you're saying everyone who becomes an Exorcist gains the ability to fight those Evil Spirits and ghosts because they've implanted something called [Origin Substance] inside their bodies?"
Lin En asked uncertainly.
Hana Ye sat beside him with her legs splayed to either side, holding those stacks of books, and widened her eyes.
"That's what the books say. Apparently... uh, a really, really, really long time ago, when gods still walked the earth, this system was born out of war... um... I think that's right..."
[Origin Substance] in particular.
In a sense, it was like a human's second heart, and the source of all supernatural power.
Generally speaking.
A human could implant a total of nine [Origin Substances] within their body.
They would occupy different parts of the body, with the first in the brain and the second in the heart. As more Origin Substances were implanted, every part of the body would undergo a fundamental enhancement.
"I get it!"
Lin En closed his eyes.
"One Origin Substance means first rank! Nine means ninth rank! I've seen this in loads of novels. Then you ascend to godhood at the end, right?"
What a joke!
It was so clichéd!
When you transmigrated into a fantasy world like this, they were bound to throw a whole mess of systems at you. He understood it instantly!
Hana Ye rapidly flipped through the book and buried her entire face in it, speaking earnestly.
"Hmm... apparently they really did classify things that way before! But it seems everything changed later. Because of the special nature of [Origin Substance], people stopped using that classification about a thousand years ago..."
Lin En paused and asked uncertainly:
"What do you mean?"
Hana Ye lowered the book with a blank expression and held up the oil lamp to illuminate it.
"Look for yourself. It says..."
Thump-
"If I could read it, what would I need you for (▼皿▼#)?!"
"That doesn't mean you can hit my head!" she shouted. "You're always bullying me!!"
"I'll eat you!"
"Don't! Wuuu (ó﹏ò｡)!"
As the pages turned.
Lin En finally understood soon enough.
Although Origin Substance was indeed the source of all supernatural power in a sense, if the power it contained wasn't strong, then no matter how many [Origin Substances] you possessed, even a ninth-rank supernatural being could easily be killed by a first-rank wielder with only one.
That was because each Origin Substance could have up to nine [Divine Sequences] forged within it.
And each sequence represented a special ability.
They might be physical enhancements such as [Strength] and [Agility], or elements such as [Wind], [Fire], and [Thunder]. Some especially powerful traits could even grant stronger, stranger powers.
"Like Evil-Repelling, Healing, and Armament! The Church even has a really powerful standalone sequence: [Holy Flame]!"
Hana Ye closed her eyes and raised a finger, looking like a little teacher.
"And my sister, for example."
"She has a really powerful standalone sequence, [Eye of Truth-Piercing]! All she has to do is glance at you, and whatever demon or ghost you are, you'll have to reveal your true form! There's nowhere to hide! That's exactly why she could join the Exorcist Squad when she was so little! It's super amazing!"
Lin En said thoughtfully:
"I see."
It was precisely because of these sequences.
That this world had abandoned the traditional classification by rank. Instead, supernatural beings were roughly graded according to how many sequences they possessed.
Hana Ye swiftly flipped through the pages and blinked.
"Oh, right! The book also says not all [Sequences] are useful! In fact, really bad [Sequences] can even have serious negative effects on the person who has them."
Lin En asked uncertainly:
"For example?"
Hana Ye turned another page and puzzled out the words one by one.
"Um, like [Aging]. If this sequence appears in your Origin Substance, you'll age several times faster than other people! And there's [Limb Weakness]. If you get that one, it's exactly what it sounds like. Your arms and legs become so weak you can't even walk!"
"This one's the best, though!"
She suddenly perked up.
"[Idiot]!"
Lin En: "..."
She looked at the book with a (๑*◡*๑) expression and said, "There's a really funny story here. Apparently, many years ago, some incredibly badass genius actually awakened eight whole positive sequences in his Origin Substance. He shocked the entire city-state..."
"But who would've thought his ninth sequence would turn out to be [Idiot]... He went back to suckling milk the very next day! Hahahaha!"
(*≧▽≦)y!
"Is it really that terrifying?" Lin En asked uncertainly.
Hana Ye rose onto her knees, blinking as she rapidly flipped through the book.
"Of course! I love reading this stuff!! And there's more! This was another really, really powerful guy! His first three sequences were all top-tier! He could absolutely kill any god or Buddha that stood in his way. But guess what he awakened for his fourth?"
"What?"
"[Dick growing out of his forehead]."
"..."
Hana Ye rocked back and forth with laughter, ヾ(≧∇≦*)ヾ.
"Amazing, right? And because it was a [Sequence], even if he cut it off, it would grow back within a couple of days! Over and over, with absolutely no way to deal with it! So in the end, he could only go out with underwear over his face! Hahahaha! Seriously, super amazing! Anyone who didn't know would think he had some magnificent horn!"
Lin En: "..."
Before you continue