Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 23 The Power of Dimensions and Imagination

Adam did not explain the Dark Cross in too much detail, but he believed that Cyril had sufficient knowledge of this magical object.

Cyril wanted to ask how long he could borrow the item, but it seemed Adam had already left.

"They really do appear and disappear without a trace."

With a sigh, he reached out and grasped the Cross of No Darkness. In an instant, a burning sensation appeared, as if he were being scorched by the blazing sun. He felt that every cell in his body was rejecting this thing.

If he hadn't known that holding the Dark Cross would cause some discomfort, and hadn't been trying to control his instincts, he would have instinctively thrown it away immediately.

This pure and powerful purification is not pleasant; it rejects all extraordinary factors, and Cyril has a vague feeling that even ordinary people without extraordinary powers would be purified to the point of madness or fanaticism after prolonged contact with the Cross of No Darkness.

After examining it curiously for a while, he placed the physically "hot" cross on the half-open tablecloth scroll.

The moment he touched the painting, a clear light shone from the mottled verdigris of the cross, spreading across the table. Then he saw the paint on the tablecloth begin to dry and melt.

It seems that the Dark Cross is particularly averse to certain forces within this painting.

After waiting a while longer and confirming that nothing unexpected had happened, he lay back down on the bed. Having tossed and turned for most of the night, he was really tired this time.

"The Listener of Sequence 8 is most likely a member of the Aurora Society. No gang that can survive in Backlund is an ordinary one..."

He mumbled a few words to himself and gradually drifted off to sleep in the quiet night.

...

The next day at noon, Sirion was awakened by a knock on the door, and she pulled open the door while grabbing her messy hair.

Outside the door, Ha Wen, who bore a striking resemblance to him, looked at him with suspicion: "Just woke up?"

"Did you not sleep at all last night, or did you sneak out?"

Cyril glanced back at the clock behind him; it was already 11:30... No wonder he was knocking on the door so urgently earlier.

He rubbed his slightly swollen eyes and then said, "I've been having trouble sleeping last night, it's been like this for the past two days, it'll be fine in a while."

Ha Wen's expression softened outside the door, and he gave her a deeply sympathetic look:

"It seems this incident has finally left you with some psychological trauma. I hope you can keep it up and not cause any more trouble for those ridiculous hobbies, leaving me to clean up the mess for you in the end."

"By the way, as per Father's request, I will be in charge of your living expenses for the next six months. I will ensure you have three regular meals a day. As for your allowance, that will depend on your behavior."

"Also, Beth will be bringing Thomas over this afternoon. You'd better stay home and play with Thomas today, since you're about the same age."

Cyril stared blankly at the incessantly chattering Havin, wondering how someone so young could speak the words of someone so old.

"Okay, okay, I got it. Call me when lunch is ready, I'll tidy up first."

After much hesitation, he couldn't resist pushing Ha Wen towards the stairwell, and then walked towards the restroom on the other side.

My twin brother, despite his young age, is showing signs of becoming like Tang Sanzang (the monk in Journey to the West).

He hadn't taken two steps when Ha Wen called out to him, "Wait a minute."

"What's wrong?" Xi Ruien turned around expressionlessly and saw Ha Wen handing her a deposit slip.

"This is?"

"Were your living expenses paid in advance?"

Havin smirked: "Didn't you ask to borrow money yesterday? This is all my savings, 113 pounds in total. If that's not enough, you can go to a nightclub and sell your body."

Xi Ruien paused for a moment, then suddenly felt the deposit slip in his hand was a little hot. The number, with both odd and even figures, must be all the savings this guy had accumulated since childhood.

He instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing Ha Wen's serious expression, he gave up the idea. This was his younger brother's concern, so of course he had to accept it.

I can just find another reason to pay him back later, but I'll have to add interest.

However, the thought that Havan had saved over £100 while he only had £10 suddenly stung.

He paused, put away Ha Wen's deposit slip, opened his arms to the other person, and gave him a big smile:

"Thank you, my dear brother!"

Harvin nodded expressionlessly: "Don't forget, you need to stay home with Thomas today. They should be here soon."

After saying that, he went downstairs. His sister and nephew would be arriving soon, and he needed to prepare lunch for them quickly.

With his father gone, he is the most mature man in the family and has to support the family.

Watching Havin's retreating figure as he went downstairs, Xireen raised his hand and touched his chest, a smile unconsciously appearing on his face.

.....

After leaving the bathroom and returning to her room, the first thing Cyril did was go to her desk to check the condition of the Dark Cross and the tablecloth scroll.

The cross of darkness was still shining, but because it was daytime and the desk was placed in front of the window, the light was not very noticeable.

Beside the cross of darkness, three orbs of light, each the size of a baby's fist, appeared: one silver-white, one eerie green, and one jet black.

Perhaps because the Dark Cross was constantly releasing its influence, the three clumps of power extracted from the scroll did not disappear; instead, they remained quite stable.

Cyril raised his hand and patted his forehead: "We can't be so careless next time. The power of the blessing will dissipate. This time we can only say we were lucky, otherwise we would have suffered a huge loss."

As he spoke, he reached out and grasped the ball of silvery light. Without any resistance, the ball of silvery light merged into his body, as smoothly as if he were reclaiming his own power.

As this energy was absorbed, Sirien felt that he had gained more knowledge in his mind, including mystical knowledge such as setting up totems, holding rituals, and communicating with the natural environment, as well as practical knowledge such as painting and makeup skills.

In addition, his eyes have also been modified. Originally, his spirit or inspiration could occasionally sense existences beyond reality, but now he can see them more directly.

Using the knowledge he had just acquired, it could be said that his eyes could see through reality, and to a certain extent, he could see through abilities such as concealment and illusion, and he could see things beyond reality.

In addition to these, there are also physical enhancements; he now possesses extremely high speed.

"With the increased speed, the ability to see reality, and the opening of the 'Apprentice' door, it seems like I'm going further and further down the road of survival and escape."

With a sigh, he looked down at the table again. The two dark green and black orbs of light beside the Cross of No Darkness were rapidly dissipating under the powerful purifying light.

In just a breath or two, the ball of light on the table disappeared completely, leaving only the mottled patina of the dark cross and the tablecloth scroll underneath, its colors dull and lifeless, having lost its magical effect.

"So, if the power within the painting doesn't find a new vessel immediately after being extracted, will it really disappear completely?"

"So before that... it was the power of the Dark Cross or Adam that kept me going?"

At this moment, Sirion awkwardly wanted to dig his toes into the floor.

The next second, the Cross of No Darkness vanished before his eyes, disappearing without a sound, as if it had never existed at all.

Cyril blinked blankly for a moment, then quickly realized... So, this Cross of No Darkness had always been a figment of imagination?

Slightly surprised, he didn't dwell on the question and reached out to touch the tablecloth scroll.

The moment his hand touched it, the seemingly intact and brand-new tablecloth instantly weathered away, and gray, decaying dust covered the desk and floor.

Sirien stared speechlessly at the dust scattered on the floor.

If it's broken, it's broken. Why not just disappear like the Dark Cross? Why leave it all over the place? It's so annoying. I hate cleaning the room.

Shaking his head, he turned around helplessly and went to the bathroom to get a mop and broom to tidy up the room.

He froze as soon as he entered the bathroom; the mirror embedded in the wall appeared to undergo some strange changes in his eyes.

He saw a dark, illusory, and unreal road behind the mirror. Deeper still, there were many more such roads, intertwined to form a complex and mysterious "spider web," which seemed to be a profound and bizarre world different from reality.