The description of "The Hermit" Odis from the very beginning seems to open up a new world for everyone and give them new concepts.
"The Fool" Klein thought to himself: How come I didn't think of that before? The existence of the Ancient Gods is equivalent to breaking the legend that the Seven Gods have existed since ancient times. They are not gods who have existed since the creation of the world; there were gods even more ancient than them before them.
Alger, the "Hanged Man," also remarked: "I've heard of the concept of the Old Gods before, and I used to think it referred to gods who had already fallen. Now it seems that besides their fall, there's another concept: those who are even older than the Seven Gods."
"Justice" Audrey and "Magician" Fors also understood the concept of the ancient gods, but talking about gods in this way still made them feel somewhat blasphemous.
The most composed member should be "The Sun" Derrick, after all, their general education includes descriptions of the ancient gods.
"'Elven King' Suniasolem is one of the eight ancient gods," Odis said. "In various descriptions, the ancient gods are portrayed as twisted and insane, and their state is quite different from that of modern gods."
"Based on all other intelligence, I have some guesses about their situation."
"Although it's a guess, it's probably quite reasonable."
People are quite interested in the speculation about the "Hermit". The "Hermit" had previously made some speculations about Amon's actions during the Fourth Age, which everyone felt were quite reasonable.
Odiston paused and continued, "As we said before, becoming a god requires three Sequence 1 properties of a path, but the properties used by some ancient gods when they became gods may not be Sequence 1 properties of the same path."
"For example, one piece of information that I am fairly certain of is that the 'Vampire Progenitor' became a god by using two Sequence 1 traits from the 'Pharmacist' pathway and one Sequence 1 trait from the 'Farmer' pathway."
"Under such circumstances, these ancient gods must be insane and twisted."
"And some deities, in addition to possessing the characteristics of this path, also possess the characteristics of adjacent or non-adjacent paths."
"The 'Giant King' and the 'Elf King' seem to be in this situation, so after they had offspring, their condition became more stable than it was at the beginning of the Second Age."
Alger thought to himself, "The Hermit doesn't seem to have much respect for the gods at all, making such casual guesses about them."
Klein thought to himself, "These guesses about the 'Hermit' seem quite reasonable, and they don't even sound like guesses."
Audrey then bluntly asked, "Why did their situation become more stable after they had offspring?"
Odis replied, "In the extraordinary realm, there is a common sense that one can expel excess characteristics from the body by giving birth."
"For example, if you repeatedly take a magic potion in a situation that is out of control, you won't feel anything if you are in good condition, but if you are not in good condition, you will clearly feel a certain burden."
"At this time, you can try to have children to pass on some of your traits to them, thereby reducing your own burden."
"However, at most, a Sequence 6 level will give the child half of the characteristics of a Sequence 9, so that from birth, he can only choose the same path as his father."
"Moreover, at this level, extraordinary individuals cannot determine whether or not to give their children special traits. Often, even if they do not intend to give them, their children will still possess half of the traits of a Sequence 9."
"It is said that after becoming a demigod, one can control to some extent how many extraordinary traits are given to a child."
Alger nodded slowly; he knew this "common sense" too.
Fors then thought of Hugh, who was born half a Sequence 9, but still needed a Sequence 9 potion to complete his advancement and become a true Extraordinary.
Audrey opened her mouth, not expecting such a thing to be possible: "So...so even gods can use this method?"
Odis nodded: "Yes, many ancient gods have used this method to make their extraordinary characteristics even purer."
"Once you become pure, your condition will improve."
The "world," who had been listening all along, suddenly asked the "hermit": "What is your basis for those speculations about the extraordinary characteristics within the ancient gods?"
Alger looked at the "Hermit," which was also his question.
Odis replied, "The main basis is that the 'Blasphemy Tablet' only appeared at the end of the Second Age, which means that before that there was no concept of potion advancement, or even the concept of a path."
The other members were all somewhat surprised, not expecting that it would involve such high-level information as the "Desecrating Slate".
Fors even asked, somewhat unconsciously, "Is there really such a thing as a 'blasphemous tablet'?"
The issue of "blasphemous tablets" was discussed at the Tarot Club a long time ago, but at that time, Fors had not yet joined the Tarot Club.
In her mind, the "Desecrating Slate" was something legendary. The sudden mention of the "Desecrating Slate" made her feel as if the legend had come to life.
"It does exist," Odis replied. "But that's another matter. All we need to know is that the 'Desecrating Tablets' didn't exist before the appearance of the ancient gods."
Alger then asked, "How did the ancient gods become gods?"
"Devour!" Odis replied. "As far as I know, it is to constantly devour the extraordinary properties one encounters."
This answer once again greatly exceeded everyone's expectations. "Little Sun" Derrick said, "Mr. Hermit, if you randomly devour extraordinary characteristics, it's like drinking magic potions indiscriminately. You should fall into madness and completely lose control."
"I believe that many powerful beings perished in that crazy era in this way," Odis replied. "The eight ancient gods were luckier; they mainly devoured extraordinary characteristics from the same or adjacent pathways."
"Of course, there are also some laws of extraordinary properties at play here. As everyone should know, the extraordinary properties of adjacent paths have the property of mutual attraction."
"Even if they occasionally devoured characteristics that were not from adjacent pathways, their enormous bodies were enough to make them withstand the chaos brought about by the extraordinary, so those eight ancient gods were basically insane and twisted."
Derrick nodded slowly, which did indeed explain why the ancient gods were so insane and twisted.
Audrey was once again shocked by the Hermit's answer: So, this chaotic devouring had already begun before the eight ancient gods? Right, those were the ancient gods of the Second Age. Perhaps the entire First Age was an era of indiscriminate devouring?
Klein couldn't help but sigh: Although some legends and official records of the Extraordinary mention "testing medicine on oneself," the concept of "testing medicine on oneself" probably didn't exist in the Second Era. Back then, people likely relied on their instincts to devour things. It's impossible to become an Ancient God just by trying things out; rather, one becomes an Ancient God by simply devouring things and getting lucky.
Alger thought: So the Second Age was darker and bloodier than the legends say.
Only Fors remarked, "The Hermit is so learned; he explains every question so clearly."
Odis waited a moment, and seeing that no one had any further questions, he continued, "'Elf King' Suniasolem is said to be the first elf."
"Are the later elves his descendants? Or did they mutate under some influence?"
At this point, no one paid much attention to the description of "mutating into an elf".
Odiston paused and then said, "In that ancient era, the elves were one of the most powerful races to rule the world, and most of them were extraordinary individuals who had passed through the 'sailor' pathway."
"It is said that they loved food made from the blood of a certain animal and also enjoyed eating animal organs, but that food has now been lost. There are also rumors that they liked to drink human blood, but this should be corrected; that was a special dietary habit of theirs."
Klein, stunned behind the gray fog, wondered: Could it be Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish)? Or something similar to Mao Xue Wang?
Alger was slightly taken aback: the church's legends about the elves actually had a prototype, but there were obvious elements of slander.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Odis continued, "The Second Era is too far removed from the present, and we can no longer obtain much detailed information."
"I only know roughly that at the beginning of the Second Age, the Elven race formed an alliance with the Giants and the Blood Clan."
"Later, with the fall of the 'Vampire Progenitor,' this alliance completely collapsed, and the elves and giants became enemies."
"It is said that throughout the Second Age, most of the battles revolved around the giants, dragons, and elves."
"Until the appearance of the ancient sun god, who successively defeated the 'Dragon of Imagination,' the 'Elf King,' and the 'Giant King,' the third era began, and the decline of the Elf race began from there."
Klein frowned behind the gray fog: The history of the Second Era is like a fog, elusive and unfathomable. The "Hermit" knows the general history of the Elven race, which is already very valuable information.
Alger then asked, "During our last gathering, didn't the clues in the ancient Elven script say... well, that the Lord of Storms' divine position was taken from the Elven race? Why was it the Ancient Sun that defeated the Elven King?"
"I know a little about this information," Odis said with a smile. "But in my opinion, it is a very important and valuable piece of information that cannot be answered specifically in this transaction."
"However, there is one thing I can reveal: the Lord of Storms was once a subordinate of the ancient sun god."
Alger opened his mouth wide, speechless for a long time: The Lord of Storms... was once a subordinate of another god?
The other members weren't as surprised as Alger, but they also felt something was off. Could it be that a god was once subordinate to another god?
"Little Sun" then asked again: "Mr. Hermit, are you saying that the ancient sun god created the Third Era? But this is somewhat different from the history of our Silver City. In our records, it was the omniscient and omnipotent creator who created the Third Era."
Odis glanced at the "little sun" before saying, "Have you ever considered that your all-knowing and all-powerful creator is the ancient sun god we speak of?"
This time, "Little Sun" was speechless for a long time.
The other members also had a very vague understanding of the concepts of "the creator of Silver City" and the ancient sun god. Apart from Klein, no one knew about this in advance, so no one reminded "Little Sun" in advance.
Klein, who had never had the chance to remind "Little Sun," was now hearing the "Hermit's" reminder. He thought to himself: It's better to know sooner rather than later, so as to avoid having unrealistic hopes.
A few seconds later, "Little Sun" finally reacted and said, "I... I remember you said that the ancient sun god... has already fallen?"
Two lines of tears had already flowed down his cheeks without his noticing. Even now, every year, Silver City would offer sacrifices to the all-knowing and all-powerful god, presenting the first harvested black grass.
But more than two thousand years of sacrifices have yielded no response; it turns out they have already perished...
Odis replied, "Based on the information I have gathered, it cannot be said that He has perished. After all, at this level, it is not so easy for Him to perish."
Hope rekindled in the eyes of the "little sun": "You mean, the all-knowing and all-powerful God, one day..."
Odis interrupted him, saying, "Just consider Him as fallen, for He has abandoned the 'Forsaken Land,' or rather, He can no longer protect you as He did back then. Don't have any hope in Him anymore."
Derrick immediately said, "But..."
"There are no buts." Odis intended to make this matter clear today: "Compared to the ancient sun god who has already abandoned the 'Forsaken Land,' the Fool who has begun to pay attention to the 'Forsaken Land' again is your new hope."
"Little Sun" seemed to suddenly have a great inspiration: Yes, for thousands of years, Silver City has received no response from the "All-Knowing and All-Powerful Lord." Whether he has fallen or not is no longer so important. In any case, he will not answer our prayers. Mr. Fool's gaze is Silver City's hope. I should grasp this hope instead of wallowing in the sorrow of the god's fall.
"The Fool" Klein thought to himself, "This 'Hermit' guy would be perfect as a missionary!"
After that topic was put aside, Alger asked, "Why do you say that 'Elf King' Suniasolem was the first elf?"
"I'm not entirely sure either," Odis smiled. "It's quite possible that He created the elves, but I can't be sure of that."
In fact, Odis already had a relatively reasonable guess: Suniasolem should be the first human to be affected by extraordinary characteristics and mutate into an elf.
However, this involves a lot of ancient and high-level information, and what he said at this time is somewhat unreasonable, or rather, it is not information that ordinary extraordinary individuals can access.
The deal was now closed. Audrey said, "I will pay the £300 after the party."
Then she said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have received important information: in the not-too-distant future, we will face the end of the world?"
She saw this information in "Spiritual Encounters" provided by Fors and wanted to share her thoughts on the matter with everyone.