Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 135: Gawain’s Perception Problems

For a good five minutes, Gawain did not return to his senses.

And after he recovered from his daze, he stared blankly at the Eternal Stone Slate fragment before his eyes, sinking into a prolonged what-the-f*ck state.

A huge amount of information echoed in his mind. The thoughts filling his mind jumped around like a drunk Amber. At this moment, Gawain felt like there were innumerable words stuck in his throat, but precisely because they were jammed too firmly, he couldn’t even get a word out in the end.

He could only be sure of one thing: he had heard those things without a doubt. There was still a mild dizziness that the ‘immersed state’ caused that allowed him to be especially certain of this.

So these were the contents recorded in the Eternal Stone Slate? This was the knowledge about the gods?

Gawain looked at the faint gold metal plate like he had seen a ghost. He could not help but shake his head the moment this thought emerged in his mind — impossible; it was impossible that these were what the mortal scholars who first created religion heard in the Eternal Stone Slate. After hearing all this, which person with a pit in his brain would create a sect for this bunch of gods who sounded like they’d been killed!

He soon began considering if this was an abominable joke or a certain audacious hoax.

But what was the point in such a joke? Who would create such a hoax? What kind of person, with what aims, would cook up such contents? And most importantly —— in such a primitive and backward medieval society, which person with an imagination greater than the skies could make up a term like ‘heavy bombing fleet’?!

Gawain frowned as he pondered about the significance behind the information carried by this Eternal Stone Slate and was deeply skeptical whether those normal believers had heard the same thing after coming into contact with these stone slate shards.

After thinking for a good while, he finally made a decision and called to the outside of this tent. “Betty! Go get Philip, Heidi, and Amber here.”

A while later, the three people arrived in Gawain’s tent.

Gawain looked at the three people before him, the three of them were, amongst the people he knew, the people who had their own beliefs and who he could trust the most in the territory. And they happened to be able to represent three different kinds of believers — Philip was a pious believer of the God of War sect, and he’d even been baptized; Heidi was an official believer of the Goddess of Magic, but the degree of her faith was relatively shallower, while Amber was a mad believer of the Goddess of the Night and Shadows.

The three mental states of mortals after they’ve started believing in gods could more or less be found in these three people…

Gawain put the Eternal Stone Slate fragment on the desk and pushed it forward. “All of you should know what this is.”

“The Eternal Stone Slate fragment,” Amber replied like it was only natural and right. “I watched you keep this thing in your chest then.”

As Heidi wasn’t present at that time, she was looking with great curiosity at the faint gold metal plate. However, she’d learned about the matter regarding the Eternal Stone Slate fragment previously, so she wasn’t too surprised now. She only watched her own ancestor curiously, unsure of what Gawain had in mind.

“All of you, interact with it.” Gawain nodded. “Touch it with your spiritual power. — Philip, you first.”

Gawain wasn’t worried about the ‘stone slate’ being harmful as he had already tried it personally. Other than some terrifying information records, it would not have any long-term effects on the body. Moreover, even if Heidi and the rest really heard the knowledge of the gods when they interacted with it, as this fragment was very small, it was unlikely to brainwash the three of them into becoming some fanatic — otherwise, those kings, aristocrats, and big merchants who treated the stone slate shards as collector’s items would have long become fanatics.

Philip revealed a surprised and hesitating expression. “Lord, are you… really sure? You want to give me such a chance?”

“I’m sure, but I have one thing to remind all of you about.” Gawain nodded. “Regardless of what you see and hear after interacting with the shard, remain calm. Even if you hear things that conflict with your beliefs… don’t be too agitated because this thing might be fake.”

He gave a heads-up in advance in case Sir Philip who was devout to his faith had his values collapse after listening to those things that he shouldn’t hear. Sir Philip moved closer to the stone slate fragment while asking curiously, “It might be fake?”

“I can’t tell. Try interacting with it first.”

Sir Philip nodded. Placing his hand on the stone slate fragment, he pushed his own spiritual power and attempted to connect with the fragment.

Almost instantly, Gawain sensed a subtle change in the aura of this young knight. A vast, ancient and mysterious power force seemed to envelop him, ‘exalting’ his entire being, yet such an aura could in fact just be a delusion. This was because Gawain did not sense any changes in Philip’s powers. Moreover, that unusual aura only appeared for a moment before it promptly vanished.

A moment later, Sir Philip opened his eyes. He glanced at the stone slate fragment with an astonished and excited expression and then stepped back slightly. Joy covered his face as he said, “Lord, I seemed to have heard the voice of the God of War. There was a kind of… indescribable enlightenment and revelation surging into my heart. I feel like I’ve received a certain blessing. Such a blessing might be the greatest help when polishing my combat skills henceforth!”

Gawain raised a brow. “That’s all?”

“Yes, this is a very unspeakable feeling.” Sir Philip nodded calmly then questioned curiously, “But Lord, you said earlier that this might be fake… Could what I felt be an illusion?”

“I only said it could possibly be fake, but judging by your reaction, ten to one, it’s real.” Gawain’s mood was changing, but he did not show it in his expression; he only looked toward Heidi. “Come and give it a try.”

Heidi nodded and also walked forward to rest her hand on the Eternal Stone Slate fragment.

This time, Gawain also felt a subtle change in Heidi’s aura. However, such a change was even milder and briefer. Heidi also opened her eyes faster. “Ancestor, I feel like I caught a glimpse of some secrets about magic. I also have a vague sense of enlightenment, but it wasn’t as evident and profound as Sir Philip described. Also, I’m not sure if it’s an illusion, but this stone slate seems to be rejecting my… interaction. I wanted to probe about a certain spell mold with the help of the enlightenment, but the force of the stone slate fragment suddenly avoided me, and there seemed to be a voice that told me to refrain from continuing to interact with it…”

“It actively avoided?” Gawain repeated in surprise, instantly feeling that this situation had gotten a little more complicated.

How was the Goddess of Magic different from the other gods? Was her inheritance not carried out through the Eternal Stone Slate?

As he mused, his eyes landed on Amber. Before he spoke, Miss Half-Elf had rushed forward eagerly. “Hey, hey, me, it’s my turn! All of you made it sound so incredible. Is this thing really that formidable?”

Before she finished speaking, she had already pressed her hand on the surface of the fragment, then closed her eyes, suppressed her strength, and began to build a connection with this metal plate.

Moments after, her brows knitted tightly together; her hand also started exerting more and more force. Her face was flushed red, and even the desk was swaying slightly. Gawain quickly spoke upon seeing that, “Telling you to use your spiritual power to connect isn’t equivalent to telling you to use force. — If you press this thing into the desk, are you going to be the one digging it out?”

“There’s no reaction!” Amber opened her eyes instantly and removed her hand in exceptional dismay. “I used spiritual power! But there wasn’t any reaction at all. I didn’t hear nor sense anything… Say, you two are putting on a show to fool the two of us, aren’t you?”

Sir Philip exclaimed, “How could that be! I could clearly sense a very evident enlightenment!”

Heidi also frowned. “I sensed it too though it was very weak…”

Amber stared suspiciously at the two people before her, then at the metal plate on the desk. “Could it be that there’s a limit to this thing’s energy? Coming into contact with it once is equivalent to weakening it once, so it got weaker and weaker with the two of you, and when it came to me, there was no longer a reaction?”

Gawain instantly felt that what the girl said made sense too, so he had Sir Philip try again then and there. However, the outcome was a complete counter to Amber’s guess — Sir Philip was shrouded in that miraculous aura once again. Gawain even suspected that if he continued interacting with the stone slate fragment for a while longer, he would be ascending and becoming an immortal…

“It seems that Amber — you really have no way of resonating with the stone slate.” Gawain shook his head. “Perhaps it has to do with the degree of one’s piousness. Philip is a devout believer. Heidi is an ordinary believer, and you are a craz… shallow believer. This is probably the reason. Say, are you really a believer of the Goddess of the Shadows?”

“Yes! Why not!” Amber instantly bulged her eyes, like she was very displeased with Gawain’s questioning. “I’ve believed in the Goddess for more than ten years, alright! Let me tell you, although I’ve never been baptized nor have I entered a church before, I do pray properly when I remember to. Besides, the Goddess had chatted with me several times…”

Heidi examined Amber up and down several times with great questioning. “Are you sure it’s not an illusion you had from drinking too much shadow potion?”

Amber was instantly on her toes. “Don’t think you can spout nonsense because you’ve got big boobs!”

“Cough, cough. Could the two of you stop arguing once you meet? And it’s always over trivial things.” Gawain cut the two off with a hand wave as they were giving him a headache. “Alright, alright, I have nothing else here. Go get back to your respective duties. I still have to give this some good thought.”

The trio who were full of doubts left the tent, leaving Gawain to stare at the stone slate fragment on his desk and sink into deep thought.

According to the reactions of Philip and the two others’ reactions, this stone slate fragment was probably real.

However, the things that they heard after interacting with the stone slate was entirely different from what he had heard!

And it wasn’t the first time there was such a ‘difference’.

Previously, that high priest Sandy, she was a rather normal human in the eyes of others, but to Gawain, she was a translucent figure who radiated light from all over.

For the Eternal Stone Slate fragment this time, others heard the knowledge of the gods after interacting with it, yet in Gawain’s mind, what resounded were the communication records of an influence suspected to be ‘Zenith Fleet’ getting in groups to exterminate the entire Divine Realm.

Gawain could not help rubbing his own forehead.

Could it be that when it involved the ‘gods’, his senses would show variations from the average person? What he saw and heard… Was it the truth or an illusion?