Only God-Chapter 530 - 456: The Curse of the Demigod (Double Update Combined)

Chapter 530: Chapter 456: The Curse of the Demigod (Double Update Combined)

As a Court Tutor, Belvan led a very regimented life.

He would generally wake up at the second crowing of the rooster in the morning and personally go to the kitchen to enjoy his meal, then head to his study and laboratory, where he would stay for an hour. Afterward, he would pray alone, beseeching Hiris to bless his research to go smoothly while also asking God for his own safety. For a long time in the prayers of this alchemist, the two Divine beings kept to their respective roles without interfering with each other.

After his prayers, Belvan would start two hours of reading, during which time he might enjoy a glass of malt liquor, depending on the situation—sometimes it was honey wine, but never grape wine, which wasn’t a favorite among Dwarves.

For the remaining time until noon, Belvan would be busy with his research. Due to the need to observe the stars, there was actually very little research he could do in the morning, so he often invited several of his apprentices to the study to teach his knowledge and the results of his research during this time.

After noon, it was time for the formal lessons. Dwarves, unlike humans, do not have universities or academies; the skills of craftsmen are mainly passed down through generations or apprenticeships. Thus, Belvan couldn’t find a place to teach. He had simply set up a small school in the Palace.

There were only a handful of apprentices in the school, no more than a dozen. Because Belvan taught Ancient Language Studies, Dwarves, who valued practicality, were not too interested. Therefore, only two of noble birth were present, Mura being one of them; the remaining apprentices were either orphans from the orphanage or children of the Palace servants.

After three hours of teaching, Belvan would return to his study and laboratory. Some students were particularly eager to learn and would request to follow the teacher to the laboratory. At such times, they were fortunate to hear Belvan’s private lessons.

Belvan devoted his life to the study of Ancient Language Studies. Despite his academic achievements hardly being noteworthy, this did not diminish his fighting spirit. On the contrary, even in middle age, he was full of confidence, and perhaps time would also forget to erode his past ambitions in the long river of history.

For his research, Belvan was shamelessly persistent in pleading for funding. He not only wrote letters and met privately with the King time and time again but also repeatedly encouraged his disciple, Prince Mura, to request funds.

Kafu the Sixth found this a headache. This King was actually a wise person and was not stingy with money. When facing talented craftsmen, he often awarded them generously, and the craftsmen could usually show results within a year or so. But Belvan... to this day had not found even a trace of achievement.

Apart from his research, Belvan’s life was exceedingly monotonous and dull, similar to an ascetic in the Temple. He was frugal in clothing and food and cared little for money. He prayed at the Temple once a week, following the Clergy in worshiping the two Divine Gods they believed in, well-versed in the Dwarves’ hymns, prayers, and scriptures, as well as all the Holy Scriptures and the Creed of the True Religion. Even without engaging in research, he could become an excellent member of the Clergy.

---

"Kagu, what’s the matter?"

In the laboratory, Belvan saw his student Kagu staring at a page of manuscript, holding it for a long time without letting go.

That was the manuscript Prince Mura had seen just yesterday.

"Teacher... does this mean... if one masters the trajectories of the Stars and understands the Ancient Language that represents each segment of the trajectory, one can gain power far beyond that of ordinary people?"

Kagu looked up, speaking somewhat incredulously.

"Not just far beyond ordinary people...

You would be closer to the Gods than ever before,"

Belvan said somewhat exaggeratedly.

In fact, he had no certainty as to what the situation would be. This topic was still in its nascent stage and required a great deal of time to develop.

At this moment, Kagu murmured under his breath,

"It’s similar to a book I’ve seen... quite similar..."

"What? Kagu, what?"

Belvan raised his eyes curiously and asked.

"A book... a book from a street stall, found by my friend in the fields, he took it to the stall to sell, and I glanced at it when I passed by."

Kagu paused here, his eyes lighting up with excitement,

"I’ll go buy it right now, I’ll go right now!"

His tone was urgent, his voice quivering, and Belvan heard in it an abnormal excitement.

Before Belvan could ask anything further, Kagu’s figure had suddenly disappeared from sight.

Belvan sighed softly.

Kagu was a poor student, a scorned Exile.

He became an Exile not because he had done anything wrong but because his entire Clan died in a mining disaster, leaving him the sole survivor.

Compared to the active Nobles and craftsmen in the Royal City, Kagu’s poverty was evident from his clothing. In this city, all reputable figures wore clothes made by human Tailors, while he wore clothes he had sewn himself, patched up in dozens of places.

"Kagu... seems like he desperately needs power..."

Belvan murmured to himself, he had seen this in Kagu’s eyes.

To be honest, Belvan had once overtly and covertly supported his impoverished student, for Kagu was one of the most earnest among his apprentices, and his intelligence was enough to make Belvan proud. If his talents could be applied to smelting and forging, he would certainly make a name for himself in the Royal City within ten years.

But Kagu still insisted on studying Ancient Language Studies, and this made Belvan both moved and guilty.

No knowing how much time had passed, when Belvan was considering having a glass of honey wine, Kagu’s figure burst into the study like a gaunt specter.

"Look, look, here it is, this is the book!"

Kagu’s voice was as high as a rooster’s.

Belvan took the book, looked up, and saw that Kagu’s eyes were full of bloodshot veins.

The Court Tutor was a bit worried, but didn’t pay it much attention, merely glancing at it before focusing on the book Kagu had brought back.

The book was Nameless.

Belvan opened it to find it filled with the dense text of Logos, the language of the Elves, which normal people, even if literate, could not recognize. However, he had studied in the Danschel Empire, in that heavily True Religion-laden academy, where Logos was almost universally mastered, and he, a student of Ancient Language Studies, was no exception.

Belvan was initially indifferent; after all, this was just a book Kagu had bought from a friend’s street stall.

"The cover had no title and no author’s name emblazoned upon it, hmm...probably the work of some obscure scholar,"

Belvan briefly concluded.

If that scholar were renowned, then surely there wouldn’t be an absence of both a title and signature. A book such as this, devoid of both, was likely because the author did not want others to know who penned it. Why would someone do that? Probably out of fear of embarrassment.

Even knowing this, under the expectant gaze of his student, Belvan still decided to flip through a few pages. He looked at the beginning, and the first sentence was, "Praise be to God’s grace, praise be to the Lord’s holy name."

This prayer was exceedingly classical, instantly pulling Belvan back to his years of advanced study in Danschel.

"I have traveled, I have experienced, I have witnessed the great might of God, in that soulful place deep and profound, there exist holy temples unknown to all."

Belvan read the text softly,

"I see those ancient words scattered like stars across the sky, arrayed as if following patterns, like manifold pathways, and these patterns, these pathways, all come from His magnificent handiwork."

Reading this far, Belvan’s brows furrowed deeply, his breathing slightly rushed.

Initially standing while reading, he had unawares sat down. He grew more and more fascinated, straining to glimpse truth through the script. Astonishment, confusion, sudden enlightenment, ecstatic joy... a mix of emotions interweaved across his face.

He’d thought this was but a trivial, non-mainstream book.

But he was wrong,

The scenes described within were wholly the work of a master!

As the sun set, Belvan finally came back to his senses. He slowly closed the nameless tome in his hand, gasping deeply for air. He hadn’t finished reading, only having read a tenth of it. But even just that tenth was enough to shake the world of this alchemist.

"This... is it really just a travelogue?"

Belvan said in astonishment and disbelief.

Kagu, who had been waiting for who knows how long, leaned in excitedly and asked,

"Teacher... what’s written inside, what have you discovered?!"

"My hypothesis might be true, Kagu!"

Belvan leaped up, saying with immense excitement,

"There truly is a connection between the ancient words, they can converge into pathways!

The author of this book has described some associations between stars and ancient words, which coincidently align with my speculations, and they are even more rational and intricate.

Oh, damn it, how could this be just a travelogue!"

Belvan wailed. He couldn’t accept that this tome was merely a travelogue and not some more detailed scholarly work.

"The author inside claims he was given God’s permission to visit that deep and profound place of the soul, to see the temples built by the Lord out of ancient words."

Belvan conveyed part of the contents to Kagu, then pleaded after a moment,

"Kagu, leave this book with me. I must study it. It contains some descriptions on the ordering of ancient words that are of great significance to my research. Please, Kagu, I implore you in the name of Hiris and the Lord."

In his pursuit of truth, Belvan was unashamedly insistent, willing to beg not only Kafu the Sixth, whose status was far above his own but also his very own student.

Kagu nodded gravely, without refusing his teacher, and said with a voice trembling slightly,

"Teacher, if you find something, you must tell me...

Because... I need those things, I greatly look forward to that power."

Facing his student’s request, Belvan agreed without hesitation.

............

That alchemist didn’t really understand Kagu.

Or perhaps, Kagu didn’t want his teacher to know his background.

All his teacher knew was that his entire clan had perished in a mining disaster, which for dwarves, accustomed to mountain dwellings and forging, was not unheard of.

In dwarven myth, mining disasters were Hiris’s punishment for the greedy, for their failure to show restraint and their excessive lust for wealth. Hiris would covertly exert divine power, causing mountains to collapse and entomb the avaricious alongside the ores.

But Kagu knew that the mining disaster which annihilated his clan was not a result of their own greed.

It was intentionally wrought by someone.

As the sun gradually set, night began to dominate, and darkness fell upon alleys. A sensation of constriction suddenly gripped Kagu’s neck.

As if a pair of hands were tightening around his throat, attempting to strangle him alive.

Kagu’s eyes seemed to swell with even more blood vessels as he rushed back to his dwelling amidst the slums, and in an unseen corner, a cramp seized his stomach, as if reminding him of something.

The dwarven youth dropped to his knees abruptly, pressing his back against the wall, rubbing incessantly. In the fading din, only the sound of his rough scraping against the wall remained, like a rat gnawing at the barricade.

Dark blood began to ooze from his clothing.

He ripped open his clothes, revealing a gaunt back with a large sore upon it.

It was a curse.

A curse from a demigod. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

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