In a sense, the "Royal Law University" was the reason why Aiwass had to keep Avalon safe for at least two years.
It was a major experience ground where the Aiwass in the game had grown into a reliable ally in just half a year.
Even Hayna, a village girl who had never been exposed to Transcendence before and only started from scratch in the second semester of her freshman year... while she maintained first place in her cultural courses and studied a heap of various miscellaneous knowledge, she had grown to levels 25 to 26 before her senior year.
Even though the leveling up was quite fast early on, this was still a pretty impressive figure.
He was not a transmigrant who obtained language proficiency upon crossing over; instead, these were the past life memories recalled by Aiwass—at least, he crossed over when Aiwass was a child, or even just after he was born. If Aiwass didn't know something, neither did he.
The various settings and storylines Aiwass knew were also fragmented. He did not become arrogant or complacent because of his foresight. What he was familiar with were things a regular player frequently came in contact with—such as Path attributes, profession skills, gameplay techniques, and dungeon processes.
Moreover, Aiwass deeply understood one truth: Incorrect information is worse than no information at all.
Therefore, he needed the systematic knowledge of this world. For example, common knowledge known to ordinary people about the Nine Pillar Gods, the church—geographical knowledge of different areas and modern history.
And most crucially, language—especially written language, which is the most important skill in this world.
Hayna had to learn three foreign languages during college: Irisian Language, Star Antimony Language, and Elvish Language. As a Priest, Aiwass had to be even more proficient in Elvish Language... because most high-level Path of Devotion books are written in Elvish Language.
There's no so-called "Common Human Language" in this world. Not only do human languages differ, but there are also languages of other races—Elvish Language, Dwarven Language, Centaur Language... even Dragon Language.
And in this world, the most primary and stable way to improve Transcendent abilities is through learning.
But if you don't have a good enough tutor to feed you information directly, then you have to read books yourself.
For instance, the Alchemy Cipher was written in Star Antimony Language.
The mystical books of different nations and the Codex Books translated into the local languages are all in different scripts. Practitioners on the Path of Wisdom are essentially tool people in every country, and their main income comes from decoding original works incomprehensible to others into Codex Books and selling them on the black market. This also means that there are many local-language Codex Books circulating in the black market of each country.
Influenced by Yulia, Aiwass could understand Star Antimony Language. Yulia isn't a Transcendent yet, but her Adaptation is from the Path of Balance—she has a great talent for Alchemy, just as Aiwass has a talent for Ritual Studies.
He also understood Chinese, which is almost impossible to learn in Avalon... even Classical Chinese, but he could read and understand it normally. This was one of Aiwass's advantages.
Aiwass also knew a little Elvish Language. But his understanding of Irisian Language was only minimal, and he knew nothing of Dwarven Language. He still had to learn some Ancient Parthia Language to be able to understand those skill books related to Curse abilities that originated from the Parthian Ancient Country.
Otherwise, as a Demon Scholar, not knowing curses feels like something is missing.
Beyond linguistics, as the highest-level Transcendent academy in Avalon, the Royal Law University housed an extensive collection of books. While many were inaccessible to students, by establishing good relationships with the professors, he could also get some access to their private collections.
Through study, Aiwass could quickly raise his Path level.
Although defeating and killing Transcendents of a higher level could also yield experience, that method was too inefficient and dangerous. Moreover, the mystical skills gained in such a way only had a level but lacked true knowledge.
At the Theological Seminary of the Royal Law University, there were three elective courses that were extremely important to Aiwass.
"Curses and Diseases," "Demons' Weaknesses and Countermeasures," "Ordinary Ritual Studies."
Even though the core mystical knowledge of Transcendence Paths was carefully excluded in the course content, even the surface knowledge was meaningful.
And when writing academic papers, he could also borrow high-quality books.
Decoding that knowledge and thereby understanding it inversely could increase Aiwass's mystical skills of the Path of Transcendence. This was much more efficient than buying various dubious Demonology books.
—Perhaps in Avalon, the Demonology and Ritual Studies books available for purchase were always a mixture of truth and fiction, but the knowledge to combat demons and perform rituals was definitely genuine.
The reason Aiwass was so eager to improve himself was not entirely to thwart the schemes of the Star Antimony Kingdom, nor was it entirely the influence of the Path of Transcendence.
Because he didn't have much time left to develop.
The real crisis that would destroy everything was not the Star Antimony Kingdom but the Celestial Marshals. The current crisis was merely a prelude.
The first Celestial Marshal to descend was the Fallen Celestial Marshal, who came down from the Star Antimony Kingdom in version 3.0.
The name "Fallen Celestial Marshal" was not only because It was associated with the concepts of sin and degradation... but also because, in an era when Celestial Marshals could not descend to the human world, It was the first "Celestial Marshal to fall to the human world."
Before the descent of the Celestial Marshals, the world was mainly about mortals waging war against one another.
The specific time of arrival for version 3.0 was a year and a half later, in June.
The Rose Cross Society successfully restored the ancient ritual "Ring of Ouroboros."
This ritual required the sacrifice of a Transcendent who had reached the limit of their Path—a max-level Transcendent, using their body as an offering to beckon a Celestial Marshal. By granting the Celestial Marshal a material body and mortal desires, it allowed a Celestial Marshal from the Dream Realm to truly descend.
To descend in the flesh, rather than just being projected into the Material Realm as a Celestial Marshal.
But that method, instead of "calling down," was more about "dragging down" the Celestial Marshal.
"Celestial Marshal" is a being even more advanced than an "Angel Envoy" and is a type of Phantom Demon. Celestial Marshals do not directly serve the Nine Pillar Gods, but rather as candidates for the Pillar Gods of various Paths.
When forced to descend through the "Ring of Ouroboros" ritual, they become subject to the laws of the Material Realm due to their fleshy bodies, their levels dropping to the maximum that the Path of the Material Realm allows to reach... hence there is a possibility of defeat.
The purpose of calling down a Celestial Marshal is that these Celestial Marshals guard the key nodes of the Paths, diverting away a portion of the Path's power.
——That is, the "level cap".
Mortals are always greedy. They yearn for powers that elevate them above others, powers that can change the world.
And once Transcendents set foot on this path, they cannot bear the stagnation of their advancement.
Although Phantom Demons do not die, once a Fallen Celestial Marshal is defeated and resurrected, they lose their celestial status and become pure Phantom Demons. The powers of the Path they once held are released, allowing Transcendents of that Path to ascend to higher positions, thus unlocking more advanced "career" possibilities.
The person who defeats a Celestial Marshal can obtain the most celestial essence. They can then gain more power in the Ring of Ouroboros ritual.
But the Rose Cross Society still underestimated the power of the Fallen Celestial Marshal—even if its energy level was balanced to the Material Realm's limit, the luxurious assembly of four level-fifty "Demon Incarnations" still failed to defeat the Fallen Celestial Marshal and were instead slaughtered by it.
The Fallen Celestial Marshal, once descended upon the world, merges its personality with the spiritual foundation of the sacrifice and dominates it, with the former providing the basis.
Before the Demon Scholars understood the taboo of "Heaven's Calamity," they could only advance to Demon Incarnations at the fourth energy level.
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As demons, their characters are filled with uncontrollable violence and cruelty, even to themselves.
Everyone knows that the Path of Transcendence would never have volunteers willingly become sacrifices for experiments—this sacrifice was a colleague betrayed in their internal power struggles.
The sacrifice merged with the Fallen Celestial Marshal not only annihilated the entire Rose Cross Society but also slaughtered the entire Star Antimony royal family. With sheer brute force, he usurped the throne, freely indulging in a massacre within the kingdom of Star Antimony. Influenced by the hatred of the Fallen Celestial Marshal, unable to end the ritual and return to the Dream Realm, he instigated a war of utter destruction without reason.
——A war that targeted the entire world.
It wasn't until the Fallen Celestial Marshal was subdued by a squad led by "players" that the level cap of the Path of Transcendence was first opened.
And with that, Pandora's box was also simultaneously opened. From that moment on, the world inevitably fell into chaos.
This marked the end of the 3.0 main storyline.
But Aiwass did not forget...that this world had no "players."
If he did nothing, the Fallen Celestial Marshal would directly flatten the world. This meant that he must advance to become a Great Sin Scholar and reach the maximum level of fifty before Transcendence's fifth advancement ritual could be completed.
If he did not reach the sixth energy level, even with the advanced understanding of the Great Sin Scholar, a heroic career, he would still be unable to defeat the Fallen Celestial Marshal.
This meant he only had one and a half to two years.
If things were like the original story, where Avalon fell and he wandered between countries—when the Fallen Celestial Marshal descended, he would still be a level-thirty rookie Demon Scholar.
By then, who could Aiwass depend on?
Keep in mind that Aiwass was already over level twenty when he fled Avalon with the players half a year later. But at the time he was rescued by the players, he was only level three.
From the time Aiwass attended school with the players until the incident in Avalon occurred, there were only eight months in total!
He managed two advancements in eight months...and in the following ten months, he only raised five levels, barely completing one advancement. This is the difference when resources are abundant.
...But there is one problem.
That is, inside the school, there is his foster father, Professor Moriarty.
And he's the teacher for higher mathematics...a required course.
This made Aiwass feel somewhat awkward.
Although he was aware that Professor Moriarty would become a world-class BOSS in the future, the feelings accumulated over so many years of upbringing were genuine. Even if his past-life memories were awakened, he could not ignore the impact of this life's memories.
But it was only half a day later that Aiwass received an uplifting piece of news from Oswald, who had just returned home after lunch:
"Father went to the Holy Nation?"
Although it only delayed the inevitable for a bit and didn't solve the problem...it was always better to take a breather and not immediately face this troublesome issue.
At least Aiwass could catch his breath.
"Yes," the old butler answered, "it might be a long time before he returns. Starting from tonight, young master Edward will be coming back to stay. If you need anything, you can ask him.
"Additionally, the Hall of Silver and Tin has extended an invitation for you to be a guest tonight at a private banquet. I advise against refusing. Due to certain reasons, this banquet is not suitable for me to accompany you. Do you have any preferred guest to bring along?"
The royal family is looking for me?
Aiwass was startled for a moment.
His initial thought was that the princess wouldn't have blown his cover so soon, right?
But he quickly realized—it must be about that newspaper article he had been involved with. So, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then...can my brother go?"
"I'm afraid Edward is too busy,"
Oswald replied, "He has gone out with Mr. Sherlock and might not be back in time before the dinner. But if he does return, I will request him to come for you. The nights are not very safe lately."
Aiwass said offhandedly, "Then let's go with Lily. Going to the Hall of Silver and Tin as a guest, there's no need to worry about safety anyway."