(TN: I am changing Graced to Enchanters as it sounds much better. I will change it in all s soon, so don't say that I am lazy)
The Enchanters of the Orthodox Church have no difficulty filling their bubbles due to the support of the Church, but as they are official personnels,they have very little access to certain secret arts that circulate privately.
Pseudo-God-believers or those who do not wish to register lack support of the Church, but they are able to exchange more with Enchanters of other schools and regions.
From what they've said, the ability limit for an Enchanter level 0 is 3 abilities, and excluding the world's gift ability and the soul trait ability, that should leave only just one bubble. But Jenkins, excluding the one he got from drinking the liquid, had three, and three bubbles plus three powers make it a total of six , which was twice the normal.
To gain an ability a corresponding ritual and a lot of practice is needed ,which not only required the knowledge of the exact steps, but also having the treasured materials, which was a major part of the deal.
"Okay, so that's it for this time."
It was still Mr. Hood who announced the end, "Because of the questionable identity of Mr. Dagger, the next meeting time and place will have to be done in a different way for safety's sake. But now the question is, does Mr Candle want to attend the following gatherings?"
He didn't answer immediately but hesitated for a second. After all, he could not let anyone think that he was interested in this, and his image should now be that of a foriegn Enchanters of unknown strength.
"So can we trust him?"
Mr. Hood asked the other four once more.
"Then congratulations to Mr. Candle. Let me think about it, okay. Remember, everyone, that the time and place of the next meeting will be determined by the weather. When the first sunny day of the following week appears, you will have to go and find the next day's newspaper. As to which one it is, it will be ranked by sales, with the last digit of the sunny day date being the answer of the arrangement. If there is no sunny day the following week, then the following week.
"You need to pay attention to the newspaper advertising section"
He bent down to pick up a piece of gravel from the ground and handed it to Mr Birchwood, who silently extended a finger. There was a muffled bang and the stone touched by the finger exploded.
Mr. Hood bent down and counted the number of broken pieces he could find. Then looked up and said,
"You have to look at the 8th ad in the advertising section, then note down which numbers appeared in it. The third volume of the Detective Knight biography is selected as the cipher, and as a reminder, I refer to the sixth printing edition of [Vine Press], so please support the original."
It sounds a bit complicated, but it's really safe and fits the bill for a "legitimate" gathering. Everyone in turn repeated what they had just said, and then they decided to leave.
In order to prevent being followed, only one person could leave every five minutes, and the order was determined by drawing lots. The one with the longest went first and Jenkins was second to last.
'Legal' gatherings are really prudent
He wasn't sure where it was, so when it was his turn, he chose to go in the opposite direction to the last person to leave.
After five minutes of walking in the light of the twin moons, he reached a slum area, with narrow alleyways that kept branching off and Jenkins had to follow his instincts. But his luck seemed good as the ground was becoming less littered and in the distance there seemed to be the sound of a carriage passing by with bells ringing.
Jenkins followed the same method he had used to retrieve the candle earlier, filling his black robe with the same ‘cold air current' and immediately a sketchy black robe pattern appeared in front of him.
A smile of satisfaction came out, but suddenly his eyelids seemed to grow heavy. It took him three minutes of walking like that, bypassing a drunken man holding the wall and vomiting to finally make his way back to the main road. By the time he reached there Jenkins was exhausted, his ears developing a slight condition of tinnitus, his muscles aching and his eyes dry and tired.
TN: Tinnitus is a condition in which there is a strange sound of ringing or buzzing in ears)
His last thought before passing out was, "Ah! Seems like you need spiritual support when using supernatural powers."
" I don't recognise the ceiling."
Jenkins opened his eyes, his head still hurt, as if he had stayed up for three consecutive days, and it seemed that the [Eye of reality] put a heavy toll on spiritual power.
He got up from the bed, the room was tidy with single beds lined in a row, somewhat like a hospital ward. A white porcelain mug of water sat on the cabinet beside the bed, and it was only when the sun shone on it that Jenkins saw the symbol of an open book faintly branded on its handle.
Looking out of the window, he was able to confirm that this was the [Knowledge and Books] Church in downtown Nolan City. The original owner of this body had come here many times with his family, and in his childhood Jenkins used to run around the backside of the church for playing .
Pushing the door in was an old man with a long white beard, wearing a clean white robe and glasses, He walked up to Jenkins' window with a smile.
"It's been a long time, Bishop Parrod."
Jenkins scrambled to straighten his clothes, then greeted him respectfully. This was not a stranger,in the real Jenkin's memories, the first time he had followed his father to church, they had been greeted by this same Parrod, who had then been a mere lay monk. More than a decade had passed since then, and "Naughty Jenkins" had become "Wild Boy Jenkins", while Brother Parrod became Bishop Parrod.
"You don't come to church very often these days."
The old man said in a somewhat scornful manner, but the smile on his face remained the same. Follow current novᴇls on NoveIꜰire.net
As if finding the embarrassment he remembered when facing his elders, Jenkins faltered and said in his defence :
"I was planning to come today."
It was then that he remembered what had happened last night and reached out to feel his pockets, only to find that his clothes had been changed.
"Don't worry, you've got all your stuff, you'll get it back later."
He asked with some hesitation.
The old man smiled and shook his head, "In such a hurry? Well, the scribe squad on patrol found you last night, and the church received the message from Mr. Barnard that [ No Light Moon] had delivered almost at the same time, and boy, I didn't think you'd go down that road. I know you have many more questions, but they cannot be answered by me, can you wait a moment?"
Out of trust in the bishop, Jenkins nodded slowly, knowing that he had only attended a "legitimate" meeting last night and had not expected to be immediately informed of his identity by the orthodox Church he believed in.
He warned himself that the test of his acting skills had only just begun, and that he was eager to find a foothold in this strange world, so he was reluctant to give up his identity as Jenkins.
It was not long after the old man had left that the door was opened again and this time a middle-aged man entered. Compared to Barnard, who had "lived and died with him", his expression looked very serious, his entire attire meticulous, and his clean chin was without a beard.
(TN: First chapter for today more coming soon as I have promised, it depends on my motivation that if you will get 4 chs today and will get a double next release day or 6 chs today.)