Before Physique Crown, the Wizard World had the Five Major Schools, corresponding to the five points of the Wizard Pentagram.
Among them, the Curse School has the most ancient and mysterious history.
In ancient times, the term Curse School had not appeared yet. At that time, there were people called Witch Sacrificers among humans, who were actually Curse Wizards.
In the now mature Wizard System, the Curse School is one of the rare systems that focuses on experience-based inheritance.
Mysticism, the foundational theory of the Curse School, is filled with subjective assumptions, baseless associations, and explanations that contradict conclusions from other schools.
In other words, Mysticism is a broad form of idealism.
After systematically learning the knowledge of the Curse School, Richard’s evaluation of this school is that it is building skyscrapers on phantoms.
But astonishingly, these skyscrapers stand tall and continue to grow.
On the absurd to nearly illusionary dimension of Mysticism, Wizards have established a continuously developing school, which has occupied an important position in wars.
"How did the Curse School develop based on these things?"
Richard rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache while looking at the Introduction to Mysticism in his hand.
This book offers many seemingly true theories, such as the theory of body fluids, the original Four Elements theory, astrology... all of which, outside the Curse School, have been classified as theories from humanity’s Dark Age, a naive exploration of the natural world, and are all regarded as correct theories.
These theories even have conflicts, yet this does not affect the simultaneous validity of both theories.
"Perhaps I need a little help."
Richard closed the book and took out the Communication Crystal Ball to send a message to Ali.
Before long, Ali arrived at the laboratory. She approached Richard, curiously examining the book on the table.
"Why did you suddenly start studying Mysticism?"
Richard rubbed his forehead, lightly exhaling as if trying to let out his frustration.
"Something happened on the front line, and many Great Wizards were severely injured by curses from Mayflies."
Saying that, Richard handed the basic Mysticism to Ali.
"You haven’t returned your Mysticism book to Master Susanna, right? Help me understand these things, why these theories have conflicts and yet hold true to each other.
Take this Fluorescent Stone, for example. In the theory of the Karra school, it is a Sunstone, a fragment of the sun, a symbol of supreme authority. But in Mirad’s theory, this thing becomes a Moonstone, a stone that absorbs the sun’s power, an enemy of the sun.
What is all this nonsense?"
Richard’s voice was filled with helplessness; this was the first time he failed to teach himself.
This textbook covers everything from basic theory to practical teaching, but it is more difficult to learn than the complex advanced Rune Studies or even mathematics.
"Isn’t this quite normal?" Ali looked at Richard with some confusion, "In the Karra school, the Fluorescent Stone is the Sunstone. In the Mirad school, the Fluorescent Stone is the Moonstone.
Their theories differ, so naturally, their positions differ. If you change the theory, the Fluorescent Stone might become a Star Stone.
This is very common in mystical theories."
"...How can you say that so calmly?" Richard said somewhat frantically, "This stone is just a Fluorescent Stone. It glows not because of the sun or the moon; it glows because it contains Magic Power, which is dispersing in the form of light."
"That’s in Alchemy, Richard," Ali said helplessly. "You can understand it as the same substance playing different roles in different experiments.
The substance hasn’t changed; what changes are the experiment and the theory."
Richard was momentarily at a loss for words in the face of this explanation.
Is it possible to draw an analogy between these two things?
Seeing that Richard still couldn’t understand, Ali softly said, "Richard, I know how you feel. When I first learned from the teacher, I also thought Mysticism was pseudo-science made up by charlatans.
The teacher told me at the time.
We live in a material world. The definitions we assign to things are based on the material world as a foundation.
But Mysticism does not describe the material’s definition in the material world; it describes the material’s definition in the world of Mysticism.
Each of its theories corresponds to a world of Mysticism."
"Each theory corresponds to a mystical theory?"
Ali’s words touched Richard’s heart, reminding him of the Endless Dimension beyond the veil.
In those absurd dimensional worlds, anything is possible.
And the Power of Mystery exists in the gaps between dimensions, so perhaps a theory corresponding to a world is true.
If that’s the case, then Mysticism can be explained.
Anyway, just let the Endless Dimension lean on it; when in doubt, it’s quantum mechanics, right?
"So, every theory is correct. They just apply to different mystical worlds, meaning the frames of reference are different."
Ali nodded slightly: "You could say that, but this is just an explanation to help understand.
In reality, many Curse Wizards can only use curse witchcraft born under one or two theories."
With that, Ali couldn’t help but sigh.
"No wonder the teacher said that Curse Studies must be learned early; if a wizard forms fixed cognition, learning Mysticism later would definitely result in twice the effort for half the reward."
Richard forced an awkward smile. A Five Rings Great Wizard being educated by a Three Rings Wizard—he might be the first in the entire Wizard World.
After resolving the fundamental theoretical issues, Richard took out the Curse Principle from his pocket.
At the moment the Curse Principle was taken out, the atmosphere in the entire laboratory almost instantly changed.
It seemed as if an invisible mist enveloped the room, and within the mist, countless eerie creatures invisible to the naked eye were wandering.
As a note from the Curse Crown, this object was actually in a suppressed state at the headquarters. Once it left the light of that small room, this thing became one of the most terrifying mediums in the Wizard World.
Simply possessing it would attract Curse Creatures wandering in the Dimension Gap.
Unfortunately, Richard’s spiritual sensitivity was zero, just like ghosts can’t scare the blind; this kind of passive invasion went completely unnoticed by Richard.
But just because he couldn’t sense it, doesn’t mean others couldn’t.
"What is this... this... this... this?"
Ali, who hadn’t left yet, suddenly dove into Richard’s arms, looking at the Curse Principle with eyes full of terror.
Unlike Richard, who was a spiritual insulator with zero spiritual sensitivity, Ali was quite spiritually sensitive, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been picked by Susanna at a glance.
In Ali’s perception, those Curse Creatures almost became visible. And in the world of Mysticism, observation is mutual.
Once you observe a Curse Creature, that Curse Creature can observe you.
"These are the notes of the Curse Crown, documenting the Curse Crown’s thoughts on Curse Witchcraft."
Richard opened his palm and pressed it on the Curse Principle.
In the next moment, the mist in the laboratory, and those invisible monsters, were as if encountering a black hole, instantly absorbed cleanly by the mark.
"Crown’s... note? Are you a Crown magnet? So many Crowns are related to you."
Ali was dumbfounded with astonishment, notes aren’t just given to anyone.
Generally speaking, apart from students, no one can see a wizard’s notes.
"But the Crown gave it to me. Now I’m going to read it, do you want to join me?"
"Together? Are you crazy or am I crazy!"
Ali jumped out of Richard’s arms like a rabbit, "These are the notes of the Curse Crown, without his permission, I guess I’ll be cursed to death after just one glance."
She looked at the notebook in Richard’s hand as if seeing a plague, and said to Richard with a false bravado:
"Before you put this thing away, don’t call me over, even if you call, I won’t come."
After saying that, she left the laboratory as if fleeing.
Richard shook his head with a smile, and opened this notebook recording the Curse Crown’s notes.
The notebook’s exterior was very plain, and after opening the cover, he saw a sentence.
A sentence seemingly left specifically for him.
"You might be puzzled about Curse Witchcraft, and that’s normal. Perhaps by now, you’ve already found some consistent logic, but trust me, it’s best to temporarily forget it now.
Because I’m going to show you the real principles of Curse Witchcraft.
Remember, temporarily."
Looking at the message from the Curse Crown, Richard furrowed his brow slightly but still followed the instructions, sealing his memory.
Then, he turned to the first page and was engrossed.
"Mysticism is the babble of ancient humanity; these theoretical logics are forced or lack logic, even though they are feasible, they leave one puzzled as to why they work."
"I have explored this issue for a long time, and finally, when I became the Sixth Circle, I found the answer."
"My conclusion is as follows."
"The foundation of mystical theory lies in belief."
"Because people believe in this theory, it is feasible."
"In the realm of Mysticism, there is no truth, only lies named truth sitting high on the throne."
The Curse Principle notebook recorded many things, including Power of Faith, spiritual power, soul, and many other things that even seasoned Curse Masters couldn’t understand.
But undoubtedly, the content of this notebook lived up to its name.
It used the simplest and most straightforward language to tell Richard that the wizards of the Curse School were just a bunch of gullible fools, and the ones responsible for fooling them were big cheaters.
Closing the book, Richard unsealed his memory.
He really wanted to see what he had sealed away.
Familiar memories returned to his brain, recalling the conclusions he had made, Richard paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
"Looks like I’m a fool too. Managed to come up with a theory from just a word from Ali."
But self-deprecation aside, Richard now understood the message the Curse Crown wanted to convey to him.
The strength level doesn’t affect whether a lie can be believed.
Looking at the Curse Principle, Holy Light suddenly emerged in Richard’s hand.
"If that’s the case... maybe I can create my own Curse Witchcraft."