Gerald was deeply puzzled.
Could this disk have some sort of mental imprint on it too?
To test his theory, Gerald extended his divine sense toward the disk.
The instant his divine sense touched the dark-gold energy core at its center, his entire consciousness felt as though an invisible hand had seized it and yanked it inside.
The scene before his eyes abruptly changed.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a room with no doors, windows, or decorations.
Gerald quickly realized that he had probably entered something like a mental space.
He looked around and discovered a hunched old man standing before him.
The old man wore a dark robe whose original color was impossible to make out. Its hem trailed along the floor, and the fabric was worn but clean.
His back was severely hunched, his whole body like a dead tree bent beneath the weight of time, his neck jutting forward.
He had deeply carved features, with cloudy gray-blue eyes set in sunken sockets, prominent cheekbones, a pointed chin, and pale, shriveled lips.
The moment Gerald saw him, he felt that he had seen him somewhere before. After a moment's thought, he remembered.
Isn't that the bust of Paracelsus on the seventh floor?
"Hello. I didn't expect a child to obtain this." The old man spoke slowly, with a trace of an old-fashioned scholar's refined manner. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Paracelsus. If you know of me, could you tell me how long it has been since my death? Sorry for the trouble."
Gerald was somewhat surprised. He had assumed the disk would be like the runic Stone Tablet from before, containing nothing but a mental imprint.
He had not expected something far more advanced.
The mental imprint in the runic Stone