Chapter 2: Goddess of the Night
So-called mysterious power was extraordinary power that ordinary people could not understand, such as magic, curses, and demons.
In the predecessor's memories, the people Bruce knew all worshipped a deity to varying degrees-the Goddess of the Night, which was also the deity the original Bruce had worshipped.
What kind of existence the Goddess of the Night was, they did not know; praising her was all that mattered. However, they did know a thing or two about the Goddess of the Night Church.
The Goddess of the Night Church was the sole designated official church of the Rune Kingdom. In every major city, every district, and even some larger villages and towns in the kingdom, a Goddess of the Night church would be established, with missionaries stationed there.
Take Lane Village, for instance. Although it was only a village, it was a large one with decent economic development and a large population, so a Goddess of the Night church was built there.
Yet this was not merely a general religious belief like the Catholicism of his past life. Although the Rune Kingdom was not a religious nation, it maintained a close relationship with the Goddess of the Night Church, and many members of the royal family worshipped the Goddess of the Night. The Goddess of the Night Church acted as the protective umbrella of the Rune Kingdom, shielding its citizens from the persecution of mysterious forces.
Danger existed in the darkness, and the Goddess of the Night Church was needed to guard the Rune Kingdom and protect the defenseless commoners. This was something acknowledged and firmly believed by all citizens of the Rune Kingdom.
The original Bruce was a devout believer of the Goddess of the Night.
He had not originally been a believer of the Goddess of the Night, nor had he believed in any deity at all, until a mysterious event occurred to him.
Missionaries from the Goddess of the Night Church would regularly come to Akin Village to bestow blessings. After all, this place was remote and the villagers had limited knowledge. Unlike people in cities who had already witnessed those terrifying existences, they were not devout toward the Goddess of the Night, making guidance and preaching necessary.
Bruce had not planned to go either, but hearing that the church was providing a free lunch for this blessing ceremony, he went. That was the first time he received a blessing prepared by the Goddess of the Night Church, and right as he prayed to the Goddess of the Night, Bruce heard the whisper of the Goddess with his own ears.
This was something that had truly happened, and it was also something he constantly flaunted to outsiders.
Ever since then, Bruce had not fallen ill, and his physique had become much sturdier, as if the whisper of the Goddess of the Night were indeed a blessing.
He began to earnestly believe in the Goddess of the Night.
The whisper of the Goddess.
Bruce rubbed the back of his head. There was a mild ache there, stimulating his brain. He could no longer remember the exact content of the Goddess's whisper; whenever he tried to recall it, his head grew increasingly painful, and even his own memories became blurry and fragmented.
It seems extraordinary power, deities, demons, and missionaries genuinely exist in this world.
As for stories of the mysterious, the original Bruce had learned them from the mouths of the Goddess of the Night Church's missionaries and from passing adventurers. He was extremely certain that deities, demons, and humans who grasped extraordinary power existed in this world.
He also considered himself a special kind of person, seeing that he had heard the whisper of the Goddess.
Am I special?
Bruce shook his head.
It seems I need to read more books and learn about the church.
Fortunately, this body is not illiterate; it knows how to read.
Based on the events that had occurred to him, Bruce could not help feeling a bit worried. In such a bizarre and fantastical world, could he live a normal life?
Just as he was worrying, a flash of blue light suddenly lit up at the corner of his eye.
Huh? What is this?
While Bruce was wondering what kind of bizarre change this was, that speck of blue instantly expanded, a blue interface materializing before his eyes like a gaming page opening up in front of him.
Looking at this page, which was full of sci-fi aesthetics, Bruce felt a slight shudder in his heart.
This page could roughly be described as a Character Status Panel, because it listed some conditions of his body.
The page was divided into two major parts. The first part was his primary information.
Name: Bruce Wayne
Identity: None for now
Spirituality: 37/30 (developable)
Talent: Grand Trend
The first part had a total of four lines, containing his primary information. The content description was extremely crude, lacking deeper classifications like strength or spirit similar to those in games, and it didn't even have the most basic race or gender.
The second part was a small box containing three lines of small text.
Grand Trend: Rhode Town is not peaceful, and some trouble seems to have arrived. For this reason, the Goddess of the Night Church has transferred a new bishop to be stationed in the Gothe District and has begun investigating related incidents.
Grand Trend: The Flekent Couple died suddenly, and a missionary from the Goddess of the Night Church in Lane Village is investigating, suspecting it is related to a mysterious event.
Grand Trend: Your actions harbor danger, but they are also accompanied by opportunities. Wayne Manor conceals quite a few secrets; you need to be careful and observe closely, as you may reap unusual gains.
Three messages: one concerning Rhode Town, one concerning the Flekent Couple, and one concerning himself...
Witnessing the scene before him, Bruce rolled over to sit upon the pile of silver valley grass, a storm and crashing waves churning through his mind as he plunged into deep thought once more.
Golden finger? System?
This suddenly popped-up thing could roughly be understood as a system or auxiliary tool-the standard, essential golden finger common among transmigrators. Bruce had some worldly wisdom; after all, having read extensively, nothing surprised him. He had already accepted something like transmigration, so the arrival of a system was nothing to make a fuss about or be ecstatic over.
The contents of this Character Status Panel were quite easy to understand.
The simple identity information had nothing particularly worth pondering.
As for spirituality and talent...
From these two item columns, Bruce could roughly deduce a bit of information.
Talent, as the name implied, was an innate ability he possessed.
The talent column marked a grand trend, meaning this grand trend was the ability he currently possessed.
Grand trend referred to the basic situation of the general development and evolution of things, hence why there were phrases like the irresistible sweep of the grand trend and the grand trend of the world.
The box right below on the page corresponded precisely to the specific manifestation of the grand trend, which also matched the original meaning of the term grand trend.
Through this grand trend, Bruce could learn some news he would not have known otherwise. From this, he could judge what he should do next. Although the surrounding environment and the progress of events could not be said to be entirely clear at a glance, having such a grand environment as a reference made it convenient for him to make decisions. It was equivalent to opening a God's-eye view to understand what was happening.
However, it seemed he could not control it himself or find out what he wanted to know. Overall, it was a good ability.
What about spirituality, then?
This was the first time Bruce had heard the word spirituality.
What does it mean for spirituality to be developable, and what can be developed out of it?
It's a bit like leveling up in a game...
Bruce rubbed his chin. Right now, he was sitting on a carriage jolting along leisurely toward Lane Village. The surroundings were deserted, wild grass lay low, and the sunshine was bright. It was a relatively safe time, so he could test what kind of function this spirituality development actually was.
There shouldn't be any drawbacks.
After all, it was his golden finger; it couldn't possibly pitfall him right from the start, could it?
Bruce had also read some system-genre novels that pitfalled their hosts, but it seemed this system of his was relatively simple and not intelligent at all.
The moment the thought to try it out crossed his mind, a finger instantly appeared on the panel, pressing down on the (developable) option. In a flash, the Character Status Panel transformed into a new appearance, like a switched interface.
Brand-new text appeared upon the entirely new page.