Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Nya's silence conveyed surprise.

This was an emotion that didn't require spiritual analysis to be felt, and it seemed he had never considered that Shiller would choose him.

But what followed was a surge of elation, an emotion so potent that it even annoyed Shiller, who sighed and said, "I advise you not to rejoice too soon. While I am not the sort to borrow and not repay, whether I can actually repay is another matter altogether."

"Alright," Nya said, "my condition is actually quite simple. I've placed a box in the depths of an underground cave, and I hope you'll help me find it."

"...Is that it?" Shiller's tone was full of skepticism.

"Your request isn't hard to fulfill," Nya said with seeming fairness, "It won't necessarily drive one mad, and if you approach it with a resistant mindset, you might not be affected at all. Otherwise, how would those crazies in Arkham Town study the spells?"

A thought struck Shiller, and he asked, "Does this cosmos have an Arkham Town? Is there a Miskatonic University?"

"Perhaps, but it's far from here."

Nya gave a vague answer, but Shiller felt it might be a crucial clue.

He remembered that the renowned Miskatonic University was located in Massachusetts, and the Sirteck family's insurance business covered Connecticut and Massachusetts—could this be a coincidence?

Connecticut and Massachusetts, both in the Northeastern United States, are two neighboring states with significant bordering areas. They are essentially within the same region.

Despite their small size and inconspicuous nature, both states share a commonality—excellent educational resources, one hosting Yale University and the other MIT, along with many other notable institutions.

And in the Cthulhu Mythos, the infamous Miskatonic University in Arkham Town is situated in Massachusetts.

Considering the climate conditions of Faralines, Shiller could roughly deduce that this village was also in the Northeastern United States and coastal, so if not within these two states, then surely not too far, perhaps the southern part of Maine or the northern part of New Jersey.

Shiller didn't think it was a coincidence. Since they were so close to Miskatonic University, that region must be a map available for exploration. However, Arkham Town was not exactly tranquil, and with his current level of knowledge, he would only be throwing his life away if he went there.

Could Nya be trying to lure him there?

Of course, Shiller wouldn't be so easily deceived, and though he wanted to see the legendary Miskatonic University, the conditions were clearly not ripe. It was too soon to compete on the same stage as the legendary investigators when dealing with a Deep Diver was already troublesome enough.

"Okay, I agree," Shiller said, "You know this won't be the last transaction."

"Don't worry, you won't die easily."

As Nya's voice fell, Shiller felt his vision shrouded in shadows, his mind becoming very clear, and the cover of the Book of Water God illuminated bizarre and variegated colors.

Shiller opened the book. Reading Latin was a bit challenging for him, but having put points in the skill, he quickly understood the content.

In fact, rather than a spellbook, it was more like a travelogue, recording various strange and curious events of different rivers and lakes, a fascinating read from a literary standpoint.

However, whenever the text dealt with the possible gods and monsters in these water bodies, the descriptions became very detailed. They were accompanied by hand-drawn images and an abundance of spells and text.

Just glimpsing these things was enough to cause dizziness and headaches. Shiller noticed the shadows in his field of vision starting to fade, realizing it was the influx of forbidden knowledge assaulting the barrier Nya had provided. He quickly flipped further back in the book.

Although the contents of the book had not caused him real harm, he still remembered nearly all the names and spells. While many were familiar from his past, reacquiring knowledge in this world gave him a legitimate reason to share the intelligence with his teammates. And his teammate was Batman—this was of great importance.

Shiller quickly finished the entire book and, on the penultimate page, found a distorted pentagram, the legendary old seal.

In Shiller's vision, the seal emitted a gentle glow that stood out from the rest of the book, neither mercurial nor casting fearful shadows. Simply looking at it was invigorating.

Shiller gently placed his hand on it.

Suddenly, he felt a pain in his palm, and when he withdrew his hand, it bore faint, glowing ink marks, apparently capable of only one or two uses.

But this was also good news. It meant that for a short time, Shiller would not fall prey to forbidden knowledge or lose mental health value from witnessing any twisted entities.

The old seal in the book continued to glow, but Shiller dared not touch it again. He felt he could probably extract its power one more time, but if the seal lost its power causing the book to break free, that would be far more troublesome.

Though this book has neither hands nor feet, it is a living creature personally authenticated by Nya, and such cursed objects have myriad ways to bring you misfortune, ensuring they end up with someone even less cautious, further spreading their taboo and tainted knowledge.

The book's former owner must have been one of those fanatical cultists; otherwise, why would they have devoted both body and mind to this book?

Having acquired what he wanted, Shiller closed the book and placed it, along with the Bible, into his bosom as he walked back onto the street.

Batman returned just in time, encountering Shiller as he was walking out, holding some things that were clearly his preparations.

"I made some homemade Molotov cocktails and used flour from a nearby house's kitchen to make a dust explosion device, an igniter, and I also want to return to the lighthouse to modify the electric shock device Joker made. It should be useful."

The two returned to the lighthouse together, this time there was no need to conceal their tracks. They found a car by the road, loaded the items, and drove toward the lighthouse.

Deep Divers tried to block the road as well, but Batman's driving skills were good, shaking them all off, and before long, they arrived at the lighthouse.

The two of them made their final preparations there, first eating something, treating their wounds, and Batman modified Joker's electric device, making two simple electric batons, giving one to Shiller.

Shiller really didn't want to use such a dangerous weapon; it looked like a detonator that could explode in your hand at any moment.

But he had to admit, electricity's lethality on carbon-based organisms was too great. Using these to shock the Deep Divers, one shock meant one down; had the storage capacity been sufficient, they could literally have fought back and forth on the ship.

Before heading for the dock, Shiller gave Batman the cross necklace he had found in Old Sirteck's safe. He said, "This should have some effect against mental contamination, but it can't be used many times, so better not to risk it."

Batman did not stand on ceremony with him and didn't ask something stupid like "What about you?" because he knew that if Shiller was giving it to him, it meant he must have another way.

Neither of them was the type to sacrifice themselves for others at any moment. Even though Batman was a good person, he understood his own importance and wouldn't make a senseless move to take a hit for someone; naturally, Shiller felt the same.

Having such a teammate was indeed very reassuring: They both felt this way and didn't need to bother explaining anything. They just needed to move toward the goal.

They set off for the dock via a small path on the southeast side of the lighthouse and encountered two or three patrols of Deep Divers.

But these bipedal creatures clearly preferred walking on roads built by humans, rather than moving through forests. Therefore, Batman and Shiller, walking through the woods, went undetected.

The sun was just right, but the dock was enveloped in thick fog, which could be rightly described as sunless. It was only slightly brighter than the previous night, and the visibility was still very poor.

Shiller and Batman climbed over the fence at the dock, and using the cargo on the dock for cover, they sneaked up to the gangway of the first big ship.

There was a guard at the ship's door, and Shiller hesitated for a moment about whether to take him out because they couldn't be certain how many people were inside the ship. If they dragged the body away and aroused the alertness of the Deep Divers inside, it could spell big trouble.

But Batman had already crouched down, poised to strike, and Shiller could only follow behind.

As the Deep Diver turned, Batman executed a sleek chokehold, dragging him to the stern of the ship and snapping the creature's neck with a strong twist of his arm.

Shiller dragged the body aside and threw it into the sea.

He did not know whether Deep Divers could come back to life once they returned to the sea, but obviously, they couldn't just leave the body there; after all, if a patrol came by, they would know there were invaders.

At this point, Batman had already silently made his way to the door and gestured to Shiller, who arched his eyebrows and gave Batman a look, to which Batman nodded.

The tide was high, which allowed them to bypass the tightly-guarded deck and directly enter from the lower cargo area. The two moved inside the door with utmost caution.

It was pitch black inside, so Shiller put on his night vision goggles. Batman did not wear any equipment, yet moved with ease.

Shiller finally couldn't help but whisper, "How do you do it? Got X-ray vision?"

Batman turned back to give him a slightly puzzled look.

Shiller then remembered Batman seemed to have maxed out his Spiritual Analysis Skill, and his current mental state was not good, meaning he was operating in full force mode. Arrogance might even be guiding him on the side. Wasn't that pretty much like having X-ray vision?

Thinking of this, Shiller felt at ease; it didn't matter to him who went mad, as long as it wasn't himself.

While advancing in the dark, Shiller couldn't help but ponder if Nya had placed his own thing in the deep cave when the Transcendent wasn't around – if this was part of the plot he intervened with?

What could be in that box?