"Holy Spirit, our ancestors. Akai, the Holy Spirit of life and death, controls our life and death, soothes our souls, whether the morning sun becomes bright or the night becomes hazy, Akai never stops, composing the melody of life and death for mortals......"

In a world where gods are believed to be real, these seemingly godlike words may contain a lot of useful information—though I didn't hear anything.

"Mortal? Shouldn't a god be able to control everything in the world? ”

"Everything has its own destiny. Mortals, more precisely 'intelligent beings', are the only ones who can be favored by Akai. ”

The term intelligent beings on Earth specifically refers to humans, while on the planet Nairn, humans, elves, tiger people...... I'm a little confused about this fantastic world.

"Excuse me, how should you define 'intelligent beings'?"

"No mortal knows how the gods plan the world, but some of the characteristics contained in it can be glimpsed from the superficial phenomena. As for the difference between sapient beings and non-sapient beings...... "Andors walked to a altar, picked up a white crystal from a candlestick, and took out a black crystal from the cupboard.

"This crystal is called a soul stone, and it has a strong affinity with the soul, but it can only store the soul energy of non-intelligent beings. If the target is a sapient being, then it can only rely on this black soul stone. ”

I've seen a lot of these gems in the tombs inside the Snowy Mountains, and it turns out that they have such a purpose. "In other words, we can tell if a creature is a sapient creature by the color of the soul stone?"

"That's right, from domestic chickens to snow trolls in the wild, their soul energy can be absorbed by ordinary soul stones, so they are not intelligent creatures. The soul energy of humans, as well as elves, tigers, and wurmians, can only be absorbed by the black soul stone, so it can be judged that they are intelligent creatures. ”

"Since the meaning of the word has been divided into 'wisdom' and 'non-wisdom', why do you need to rely on soul stones to identify it?"

"Whether or not you have wisdom is just a convenient appearance, and the soul stone is the judgment based on the root of this world."

Based on the roots of this worldly realm...... This is the so-called will of the Eight Holy Spirits to create all things in the world. Whether it is the knowledge obtained from Musk or the teachings just told by the old priest, the belief system of this world is mentioned.

What is the Holy Spirit like in this world? The old priest in front of him had not seen or dreamed of Akai's manifestation in this world, but he could feel that Akai's power was everywhere, as if he was one with the world. As for the origin of the soul stone that embodies the root of the world, Andols has no relevant knowledge reserves.

"I've entered the ancient Ardn's tomb at the peak of the Cold Falling Mountain before, and I've found a lot of white soul stones inside. What do these soul stones appear in the tombs? ”

"There are some traps placed in the tombs of the ancient Nords, ranging from trigger-type hidden weapons to large trap doors and magic arrays, all of which require energy supply, and the soul stones filled with them can be used as a suitable source of energy."

……

As for the questions about the Soul Stone, Andols explained as much as he could for me with his limited knowledge. In addition, I asked him some questions related to his daily life.

"Do the current Nords still keep their bodies dried in the graves after they die?"

"A significant number of Nords still choose the traditional burial method, but cremation is not an uncommon option, and the ashes left behind are placed in containers and kept in the graves. There is a crafting table and a full set of embalming tools in that room, and if I receive a new commission, I will allow you to observe my work. ”

"Well, will they transform into ghouls in the future?"

"Only by burying warriors with their weapons will it be possible to give birth to ghouls after at least a few hundred years, subject to certain special circumstances. The Nords were born warriors, and it was their glory to die with their own weapons. ”

……

What the old priest said was very appealing to me, who came from another world, and if it weren't for the fatigue of the journey, I even felt the urge to talk to him all night. I tactfully expressed my intention to rest to the old priest, and the old priest began to arrange a room for me to rest.

"Under the moon, you said before that you once went deep into the ancient Nord tomb in the Cold Snow Mountain?" Andols asked as he tidied up the chuang shop for me.

"Hmm."

"What do you do with the ghouls in the tomb?"

"I have a special spell that hides me from the ghouls."

When the old priest heard this, he stopped speaking and began to ponder. From previous conversations, it is known that the work of the priests of Akai is basically some excesses, in addition to presiding over funerals and praying for mortals, and purifying the graves of ghouls who do not want to rest.

Does Andols want me to go with him to the Snowy Mountains to cleanse the ghouls? Perhaps with the help of Akai's strength, the amulet worn by Anduls, I could pass the Ghoul Lord's trials.

But the old priest had no intention of doing so. "I hope you can do me a favor."

"Tell me, if I can, I won't shirk."

"Some time ago Helgen was attacked by a dragon and suffered heavy losses, and even my students were injured there. So I had to go and hold the funeral ceremony for the deceased in person, and I couldn't take care of the Hall of the Dead in Snowman City for the past few days. ”

Indeed, the priestess who prayed for me on the execution ground could have been a student of Andalls? But I couldn't possibly ask, because I wasn't glamorous at the time.

"So what happened here in the days you're away?"

"I don't know what the road is, but when I came back, I found that there was a restless atmosphere in the tomb. Many of the corpses have been transformed into ghouls, more than I can control. ”

Legend has it that the ghouls were cursed by the dragon, so the activity of the dragon Alduin caused some mutations in the corpse, and this explanation makes sense. So what does the old priest need me for? I continued listening.

"I used to place one of the most powerful Akai amulets in my hand in the depths of the tomb to save my workload, and now I have to use the power of this amulet to calm the ghouls' restlessness, but I can't retrieve it through the area controlled by the ghouls."

"It's unpredictable." It's like locking the key in the house. The old priest couldn't open the door, so he had to ask me to help. And the place where he wants to use me is probably the magic I have in my possession that can shield the ghoul from the senses.

"You said you would have a way to conceal your aura, and even be able to move freely in the Coldfall Temple, but I wonder if you can sneak into the depths of the tomb and help me retrieve the Akai amulet. Only then can I use the power of this artifact to appease the ghouls from scratch. ”

"As you wish. I'll do it early tomorrow morning. ”

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

I closed the iron door and unleashed three magics: Detect Trap, Detect Life, and Detect the Undead. The tomb has always been guarded, and I didn't find any traps or life, but I detected the undead and saw a lot of corpses that had turned into ghouls lying in the wall coffins. All you have to do is sneak to the very back to retrieve the talisman without worrying about stepping on any traps or being besieged by a bunch of spider snow rats.

After finding out the situation, I blessed myself with the necessary spells. This magic, known as "Namira's Cloak", is used to conceal the aura of the living by emitting a corrupt force, presumably causing the ghouls to see the caster as of their own kind, ignoring the caster's lack of malicious intent.

When I first entered the Temple of Coldfall, I didn't trigger a single ghoul because Musk used this spell. Musk's magic skills are very high, and he did the opposite, changing the object of this magic release to all the ghouls in the temple, causing a tomb full of ghouls to be temporarily turned into a non-dangerous tourist destination by him.

Although ghouls are a terrifying being, Musk's high opinion of this magic has reassured me. With the same feeling as I had when I was on a plane for the first time in my youth, I started my diving journey.

……

Torches, braziers, and chandeliers were all lit along the way. Musk once told me that he had observed the natural activities of ghouls. Ghouls will actively light up the lighting in the tombs, as they still have a shred of human instincts - the instinct for light and warmth, and the ghouls themselves prefer dry environments.

Also instinctively, they will take up arms to fight intruders, ghouls with higher posture levels will recharge triggered traps, and some even salute in the direction of the ghoul lord's coffin on a regular basis.

"Some tombs are thousands of years old, and although there are a lot of clay pots in them to store oil, they will always run out, right?"

"Only the most rudimentary ghouls use oil to keep the lights on. Some ghouls are mages in their lifetime, and they can use their magic to keep the flames burning. Moreover, to some extent, the soul can also be burned, and the most indispensable thing in the ancient tombs of the Nords is probably the soul. ”

……

According to Musk's observations, the ghouls still have a sense of time after death, and will try to light the lights that are extinguished in the evening, so I set the time for diving in the morning to avoid a possible crash.

The act of lighting the lamp by ghouls is based on instinct, but their bodies are not well suited to this delicate job. Torches are fine for these large fixed targets, but there is a small chance of an accident when a ghoul tries to refuel a hoisted clay pot.

According to Musk's observations, ghouls often do not grasp the amount of oil when pouring oil into clay pots, which is easy to overflow, resulting in a puddle of oil stains on the ground.

In the unlikely event that a ghoul will stumble and fall on such slippery ground, falling to the ground with a clay pot, and burning at the touch, the result is conceivable.

It's going to be a very curious scene.

……

The two square boxes overlap at a forty-five-degree angle, with a ball sandwiched in the center. As the old priest said, this is Akai's amulet, but the material is ordinary, and it doesn't feel anything special in your hand. Let's take the amulet and go back to the entrance.

"Nine Holy Spirits are above...... It's great to see you back safe and sound. "The old priest who had been waiting outside for a long time gave me a thumbs up.

"The amulet has been retrieved. Does this really work? It looks like it's ordinary. "I gave the amulet to Andols and asked him.

But before I could finish speaking, the amulet changed as soon as it reached Andols's hand, and the difference between the front and back made it difficult for me to explain it at once, and intuitively it became brighter.

"The strength of your body is not in line with Akai's teachings, so the talisman is dim in your hands." The old priest said such an inexplicable remark.

"Not in line with Akai's teachings?" I thought about it and immediately figured out what the problem was. The magic that has just been cast has added a layer of decaying power to me, causing the living to exude the breath of the dead, which is a blasphemy against the god of life and death, who presides over funerals and rest.

I quickly glanced at Andalls's expression and saw that he didn't show any obvious unhappiness, and I calmed down a little.

Andols walked into the tomb with his amulet, and I found a copy of the Snowy Castle Etiquette Guide on the shelf, reading it while waiting for the old priest to return.

===================== the author's words ========================

Inevitably, the book will quote some books and letters from the original canon, as well as some key dialogues, which the author will try to annotate, modify, condense and expand, and so on.