Lord of The Mysterious Realms - Chapter 19: Papa Oliver

Jenkins sat in the carriage looking at the city of Nolan that had just woken up, the smell of soot in the air was strong even in the morning. For the people of this world it was the smell of development and progress, for Jenkins it was the smell of cancer.

The city had no [Nature’s Spirit] church, which was why the aristocrats, factory owners and capitalists in cahoots with the Urban Council were able to be so arrogant about it.

(TN: Basically this line is saying that due to absence of nature spirit church, there is no one to stop the exploitation of natural resources)

Pops Antiques was located on the famous shopping street of Nolan- the [Fifth Queen’s Avenue], it belongs to the main road of downtown Nolan, and ten minutes further east along this road was the real dock area. The special location makes this street generally very good for business, but this doesn’t include Pops Antiques.

The antique shop was situated on the east side of the shopping street and had only an old sign in front of it with the name of the shop, and at the bottom of the sign was a small line – [Selling antiques since 1821, Papa Oliver’s Reputation Guarantee].

“The year is 1865 on the universal calendar and 763 on the Kingdom’s [Golden Chestnut Kite] calendar, so this shop was 44 year old .”

The wooden door of the shop had a brown cardboard with word [Open] on it, Jenkins hesitantly knocked on the door, seeing no one answering he pushed the door and walked in .

With a crisp sound of bells, Jenkins was met with a somewhat cluttered shop interior. Perhaps the owner’s original intention was to have rows and rows of shelves, but now it looked like the whole shop was piled high with mess.

Fortunately, there was still room to walk.

“Are you Jenkins Williams?”

The tall, thin old man with a small set of eyes asked from the wooden counter directly opposite the door. He had a very healthy face and a voice full of air, but he seemed to be at least 60 years old.

“Yes sir, I’m Jenkins Williams, are you Papa Oliver ?”

“The old man at the counter nodded.

“Yeah. You look younger than in the picture, well now turn around and turn the cardboard outside the door, then close the door and walk over here, do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

He turned around as requested, adjusted [Open for Business] to [Closed for Business] and then closed the door and walked toward Papa Oliver.

The old man waved his hand, opened the folding panel of the counter and stepped out, then walked towards the dark wood-paneled door at the side of the room carrying a large set of keys threaded with black wire.

Jenkins immediately followed.

Behind the door was a small courtyard with a low, tiled house in addition to a pile of crushed corrugated cardboard boxes along one side. “That’s where I live.”

He pointed to the upper floor of the shop he’d just walked out. There were two rusted, red-copper steam pipes that ran up the walls.

“This is the shop’s warehouse.”

Then pointed to the tiled room.

“I’m Clover Oliver, the owner of this place, your employer, and the guide. Is there any problem?”

He looked calmly at Jenkins.

“None.”

“Very well, a smart lad.”

The old man nodded and led Jenkins back inside the shop once more.

He returned to the counter and fumbled with his hand inside it for a moment, and with a click, a downward passage was revealed in the floor on one side. Judging by the style, this was the modification of the cellar that was already there.

“Why is it like this everywhere?” Jenkins complained

It seemed like Oliver didn’t hear Jenkins’ complaints. He didn’t let Jenkins go down and then disappeared there by himself. Five minutes later, he came out with a roll of paper.

“Sit down.”

Pulling two chairs at hand, the two sat down at the counter.

“Here’s your apprenticeship contract.”

He handed over a page of paper . Jenkins signed his name after looking at it twice and realising that it was the same one Bincy had brought yesterday.

“I need to make it clear that going forward you will not only be here under me to learn about the Enchanter, but also about antique appraisal, is that fine?”

“Yes.”

Jenkins immediately nodded his head.

A smile appeared on the old man’s face, “That’s good, in the ancient times, the Enchanter’s heritage was based on the link between master and apprentice. In those days the apprentice was required to undertake many duties, including but not limited to servant, bed-attendants, and escort. But this is no longer the case now. The Orthodox Church generously shares its knowledge with its followers, and I will merely provide you with a place to learn and guide you on the right path. But accordingly, as a guide, I do not have to share my unique abilities with you.”

“Sir, I am not very clear about the matter of abilities, may I ask what does unique abilities mean?”

Jenkins asked immediately.

“Young man, what do you know about supernatural abilities?”

Pops asked rhetorically.

“I don’t know anything about it at all.”

Jenkins replied honestly.

Old man Oliver squinted his eyes and nodded, “Well then, I’ll tell you from the beginning, listen carefully. The only people in this world who can use supernatural abilities are the Enchanters, and that is because we are able to mobilise our own spirits. As for what the spirit is, everyone has their own answer, and you have to find it out for yourself. Accordingly, by knowing ourselves and knowing the world, we are able to increase our spirit and thus increase our Enchanter level . A level 0 Enchanter can only have three abilities, and after upgrading, every odd number increases by one and every even number increases by two. For example, I’m currently a level 4 enchanter, capable of having nine abilities, but in fact I’ve only picked seven to learn as of today.”

It was clear that the old man had lied,after activating his [ Eye of Reality] Jenkins noticed that the old man had 8 dots of light in front of him.

“It’s not just through those light spots that you can use abilities, any enchanter can also use abilities they haven’t mastered through rituals as long as they know the corresponding methods. But not only do rituals require precious materials and a specific location aside,but also the transformation of spirits and abilities . They are far less efficient than using the enchanter’s abilities directly. Let me give you an example, news from the Church states that your soul essence ability is of the healing type?”

“Yes.”

Jenkins admitted.

“There are many rituals of the healing kind kept by the Church, the simplest of which requires silver leaf herbs, three-legged slugs and the like, arranged under the light of the moon on a full moon light, It is used to speed up the healing of cuts and wounds .the person have to remain within the ritual area for three days. But the spirits needed to set up the ritual would need at least two first class enchanters.”

“That’s why the healing ability is so valuable.”

Realization dawned on Jenkins in his mind.

“The light point ability of an enchanter could be obtained through learning, which also requires a corresponding ritual and a lot of practice to truly condense the light points. The Enchanter’s abilities are their biggest secret , and everyone has more or less some other way to obtain them, other than gaining them from the Church, and these abilities that only you have mastered are called unique abilities.”

For example abilities gained from legal gatherings.