Hearing Fawcett's account, Bruce pondered for a moment.
It turned out that this Dark Lord Eris had such an astonishing background.
The Dark Lord was not originally an evil god; he was once a demigod under the Goddess of the Night, and even a deity who successfully broke away from the Goddess of the Night's system to establish his own divine system, making him a true god.
Then why not call him the Dark Monarch? The moniker Dark Lord clearly lacked the prestige of the Dark Monarch. Perhaps when he held this title, he was still just a demigod governed by the Goddess of the Night.
Setting aside the actual divine position of the Dark Lord Eris, Bruce still harbored a plethora of doubts in his heart.
If the Dark Lord Eris had truly ascended to divinity and become a true god standing at the pinnacle just like the Goddess of the Night, how did he manage to acquire his identity?
This was the most crucial question.
Was it simply because of some connection between the Dark Bible and him that he could usurp the Dark Lord's identity and wield his divine power?
This seemed far too childish. The Dark Bible was merely a book recording magic, possessing a trace of extraordinary characteristics, and could not possibly compare to divinity.
The Dark Bible was just one of the mediums, and there had to be other factors. Could his Character Status Panel also be one of the primary factors?
There was another question: was the Dark Lord Eris still alive?
If he was alive, he ought to have sensed Bruce's existence. After all, Bruce was an identity thief who had offended him. Why remain indifferent?
If he was dead, then everything belonging to the Dark Lord would have vanished into thin air, including all the authorities he possessed, and Bruce would not have been able to usurp the Dark Lord's identity.
Bruce thought long and hard, finally boiling it down to one point: the battle with the Goddess of the Night.
According to Fawcett, although the Dark Lord was once a demigod under the Goddess of the Night, the two deities eventually became mortal enemies. Believers of the Goddess of the Night Church had always treated the Dark Lord Eris as an evil god, denouncing him in various church scriptures.
This struck Bruce as immensely bizarre.
Since he was a deity who had split from the divine pantheon of the Goddess of the Night, he should have been friendly with the Goddess of the Night's faction. How did they end up as mortal enemies?
In the scriptures of the Goddess of the Night Church, how did this Dark Lord Eris come to be preached as an evil god?
With matters concerning deities, the church's scriptures could not possibly have fabricated things out of thin air, nor could such a massive error have occurred. This could only mean that when the Dark Lord Eris became a deity, certain conflicts had occurred with the Goddess of the Night.
A struggle for divine power?
Did Eris betray the Goddess of the Night and turn into a double-crosser?
Some secretive and unfathomable events must have transpired; otherwise, how could the Dark Lord have been deemed an evil god by the believers of the Goddess of the Night Church? It was bound to be under the instructions of the Goddess of the Night.
Fawcett said that the Dark Lord Eris and the Goddess of the Night had engaged in a great battle. Did that mean that in the aftermath of that battle, the Dark Lord was on the brink of death, which was why he was powerless to stop Bruce's act of usurping his divine position?
A notion popped into Bruce's mind.
Gravely injured, trapped, or slumbering?
Bruce's mind raced with wild thoughts.
He boldly guessed that after that great battle, the Dark Lord Eris might not have died, but most likely fell into a deep slumber or a state of severe injury, which was why Bruce could usurp his identity without attracting notice or facing any retaliation.
As long as the Dark Lord Eris did not recover, he could maintain the identity of a deity indefinitely!
Thinking this, Bruce felt a stir of inner emotion and irrepressible excitement. He could even feel his blood growing burning hot, without a shred of fear.
This was rubbing back and forth on the edge of life and death. It turned out he still had such a crazy side to him, which Bruce also found incredible.
Having concluded the matters related to the Dark Lord, Fawcett and the Ghost successively inquired about questions regarding their own needs.
The specific solutions. One wanted a body, while the other wanted strength.
The corresponding solutions were all in the Dark Bible-just two spells, which were not a major issue. However, what was recorded in the Dark Bible still required Bruce to study carefully; magic could not be mastered overnight, and with even the slightest mistake, Bruce himself would become deeply entrapped.
The prerequisite was that he still had to become a wizard.
Regarding the extraordinary identity of a wizard, Bruce had already obtained extremely detailed information from the Dark Bible. He relied on runes, incantations, and the like to acquire powerful strength. The intricacies involved were extremely abstruse, encompassing a great deal, and were linked to many extraordinary identities on the mystical side, as well as maintaining intricate ties with mysterious entities like gods and demons.
Choosing the identity of a wizard was not out of the question; the Dark Bible even completely recorded the potion formula for a wizard. It all depended on whether Bruce chose to take on the extraordinary identity of a wizard.
Bruce remained silent, and Fawcett seemed to guess the thoughts in Bruce's heart.
"Are you considering whether to choose the extraordinary identity of a wizard?"
Bruce nodded. His original intention was to wait until he had a sufficient understanding of extraordinary identities before making a choice. He hadn't expected the Dark Bible to push him directly in front of the wizard identity. The Dark Bible recorded a massive amount of magic, and if he wanted to use it, he had to become a wizard.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Bruce asked.
Regarding wizards, after having been exposed to the Dark Bible, he actually possessed extremely detailed knowledge-perhaps even more than what Fawcett knew.
Fawcett shook its head. As it had stated before, the choice of an extraordinary identity depended on the individual's lodging. The identity of a wizard could be said to be very comprehensive already, boasting close combat, ranged attacks, defense, and escape-both offensive and defensive.
The only drawback was probably that once one lost their hands and mouth, a wizard would be unable to use magic and would become useless.
Yet whether it was Fawcett or the Ghost, from their own perspectives, they hoped Bruce could become a wizard, as this would be beneficial to them.
"Then I'll become a wizard."
Only after becoming a wizard could he wield the magic within the Dark Bible. This was his fortuitous encounter; since he had obtained it, it was perhaps predestined for him to become a wizard.
Fawcett and the Ghost also needed the magic within the Dark Bible. This was a deal he had promised beforehand, and he could not go back on his word. Bruce still had some integrity and could not turn his back and refuse to honor his debts; he still had many things to do in the future and a long road ahead of him.
Walking the road meant making friends.
Given the friendliness of Fawcett and the Ghost, Bruce was quite willing to make friends with these two extraordinary creatures, as the possibility of mutual assistance would remain in the future.
"I will prepare the wizard's potion formula next; it will take some time," Bruce said with a smile.
"Lane Village isn't convenient for casting magic. The magic both of you require involves darkness and evil, and the impact is too great. We need to find a safe location."
Fawcett and the Ghost both expressed understanding, indicating that they could wait.
Considering that the Night Watchers of the Goddess of the Night Church were patrolling nearby, the magic in the Dark Bible could not be tested for the time being. Most of the magic recorded in the Dark Bible would produce an aura of evil, and it was extremely thick-far too easy to be discovered.
To cast the magic from the Dark Bible, he had to steer clear of the Night Watchers.
And to avoid the Night Watchers, he had no choice but to leave the temporarily heavily guarded Lane Village and go somewhere the Night Watchers were not.
The Rune Kingdom predominantly worshiped the Goddess of the Night, but the number of Night Watchers was limited and they were hardly ubiquitous; there were far too many places the Night Watchers paid no attention to.
Even if every corner of the Rune Kingdom was off-limits, there were plenty of very suitable places abroad. Stepping out of the country was, after all, a very simple matter.
"Oh right, Fawcett, do you happen to have the potion formula for the Believer identity on hand, or do you know where I can acquire one?" Bruce asked again, realizing he still had quite a few problems to solve right now.