Nightmare’s Call

“So this is the Ashen Seal?”

Lin Sheng stood there in a daze. He did not expect the surprise to come so easily, but he did not know if it worked.

He flipped through the book and read about how to meditate.

The woman named Ancellia had mentioned that the Ashen Seal could not last very long.

Yet, it appeared to be all right now.

Lin Sheng quickly memorized the meditation method then turned back to the page where the seal was.

Beneath the Ashen Seal was a line of small delicate writing.

 “Ashen Seal: the Sanctuary.

“Note: the spiritual requirements for meditating on the Ashen Seal are extremely high, and failure to meet them for the first time can lead to serious consequences.”

“The Sanctuary? Is that the name of this Ashen Seal?”

After he read the book for a while, he already knew that each Ashen Seal had a different function. And different seals were inherited by different temples in different regions. Therefore, knights in different regions had different styles of fighting due to the different seals they inherited.

The Ashen Seal in front of him was the Ashen Seal of Blackfeather City’s temple, the Sanctuary.

“I should just try it.” Lin Sheng stared at the Ashen Seal decisively.

The White Tarots incident greatly angered him.

Apparently, the White Tarots had stopped harassing him and his family due to the intervention from Russell’s family, otherwise, they would have never given up.

He needed to be stronger!

For the first time, he was so eager for power.

He stared at it nonstop, not blinking. It took more than twenty seconds to complete the first Ashen Seal imprint.

Lin Sheng kept his eyes wide open, fixing them on the Ashen Seal.

One, two, three…  he counted in his mind.

His eyes were sore and tingling. He wanted to blink, but he restrained himself.

Twenty-five seconds passed by quickly. Fearing that he may have made any mistakes in his counting, he waited five more seconds just in case.

He closed his eyes and rested for more than a minute before he opened them again.

He was surprised to find that the Ashen Seal seemed to have taken root in his mind. He could easily recall it whenever he wanted, and he could even remember the details of every line vividly.

“Yes!” Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.

According to the book, that meant the first Ashen Seal imprint was successful.

However, the book recorded that only people with extremely strong will and spirit could succeed on the first attempt, and that puzzled him.

Most needed to try at least ten times to be able to complete the Ashen Seal imprint.

He knew his own level, and though he had some self-control, it would be a joke to say that his will was extremely strong.

“Is it because I’ve absorbed so many pieces of memory?”

Lin Sheng closed the book and closed his eyes to recall it. The Ashen Seal had indeed magically stayed in his mind.

As soon as he thought of it, the Ashen Seal immediately emerged before him like a picture.

“Cool!” He was amazed.

The church did not seem to be in danger, so he just kept testing the seal.

The book was very thick, and there was much he had yet to read, hence he just took his time.

Lin Sheng stood in front of the altar and read the rest of the book. Unfortunately, apart from the little information on the Ashen Seal, the rest of the book consisted of poems and songs praising God.

The church believed in Hir, the god of light.

He stood there reading until his vision began to blur. He realized it was time to wake up.

Closing the book, he stepped down and went out. He quickly closed the iron fence in the yard followed by the church door. This gave him a sense of security.

Then, he sat down on a bench to rest, falling asleep soon after.

…

Lin Sheng turned over and jumped out of bed.

He was filled with anticipation after the dream.

He did not expect to get the Ashen Seal so easily

If it had not been for the time constraint, he would have searched the church again. Maybe he could have found something good, such as equipment.

In front of his desk, Lin Sheng calmed down, closed his eyes, and began to recall the Ashen Seal.

To his surprise, the Ashen Seal, which was supposed to be very difficult and required a high level of mental willpower, came to his mind in a flash. It was extremely clear.

The meditation of the Ashen Seal was very simple.

He just needed to focus on the runes of the Ashen Seal as they clearly emerged in his mind. He stared at a segment of the runes and began to move along the line of runes all the way to the end. If one did it all the way to the end, it was considered a successful meditation cycle.

Without wasting any time, Lin Sheng immediately began to try.

To his surprise, the first step was simple. The runes came to mind quickly. But, not the second step. It was hard to focus, stare at the line of runes, then move along the line all the way to the end.

After three attempts, he succeeded only once. And after his success, there was no special feeling. After completing one cycle, Lin Sheng continued to meditate and succeeded twice.

He felt exhausted and drowsy after some time so he went back to bed.

This time, however, he did not enter the dream realm again.

The next morning, Lin Sheng carried his sword, left the house, and took a bus to the club.

The previous incident had given him another plan. Russell’s grandfather solved the problem this time, but what about next time?

He knew that he possessed the power of the dreams and that sooner or later, he would take an extraordinary route, therefore it was better to be prepared in advance.

The bus stopped at Steelscale Club. After he got off the bus, he quickly walked into the club.

The receptionist nodded and smiled politely.

“Good morning, Mr. Lin. So early today?”

“Hmm, I couldn’t sleep well so I came in earlier. Are they coming?” Lin Sheng asked casually.

“Miss Shayeen is here, but the others aren’t. They only come once in a while when you’re not here,” the receptionist whispered back.

Lin Sheng nodded and hurried up to the second floor. He quickly reached the only room with an open door and turned right into it.

Shayeen was standing by the window talking on the phone.

Noticing that Lin Sheng had entered the room, she paused for a moment and quickly ended the conversation.

“Master, why are you here today?” She wondered.

“I have an idea, but I need to ask your permission.”

“What is it?”

“I plan to open a defense club and also a training class on self-defense.”

“Self-defense?” Shayeen blinked.