Chapter 119: Druids’ Change of Conviction

After hearing Gawain’s words, Pittman raised his brows uncontrollably and said, “There are only a rare few individuals who understand the druids’ history so well.”

“I’m not that versed in it, but it’s no secret that druid spells are developed from nature theurgy. I can only say that the people of this era have very narrow-minded knowledge.” Gawain described indifferently, “Back in the Gondor Empire era, many druid factions put on their signboards as the empire’s holy hall of knowledge.”

“Hehe, I forgot again that I cannot judge you normally as you are an ancient figure from seven hundred years ago.” The little old man chuckled before gathering the tools meant for the concoction of medicine. “You’re right. Druid spells originated from ancient nature theurgy. In fact, the druids were from a kind of purist religion during the earlier stages. It was a religion that was similar to the current Church of Holy Light or the Sect of the God of War. But as time changed, many religions had declined or vanished. Those that could barely pass on… were either evil cults or had a change in form like the druid religion.”

“There are plenty of druid factions — Heart of the Forest, Spirit of Nature, Wild Nature Faction, Rock Cave Faction, Element Faction… These factions that I listed are the large-scale ones, and there are probably several dozen smaller-scaled factions.” Gawain spoke frankly, “It is said that the splitting of the druid factions originated over three thousand years ago during the ‘White Starfall’. A huge internal change happened to the original druid religion after that incident. In just a short period of time, several factions were split up. Originally, all of you believed in a ‘God of Nature’ who didn’t have a definite form. But after the White Starfall, this conviction had changed altogether…”

Pittman might not look like a reliable druid, but his spells proved that he had received a completed druid inheritance. As such, he didn’t feel any pressure from answering such questions regarding the general knowledge of his profession. “The God of Nature has been split into many forms. Each faction declared that their deciphered form is the most correct. Some believed in the Spirit of the Forest. Some believed in the Spirit of Nature. Some even believed in beast spirits and the Spirit of Elements that had turned into divine existences… This indeed isn’t a secret. But after splitting up into different factions, the druid factions might have differences in philosophy, but we have never actually fought. The factions were at peace. Even before the ‘Sacred Alliance’ was implemented, all of the druid factions were at peace.”

Gawain revealed an interested expression and said, “I don’t know the exact details. Can you tell me?”

“Every faction would have to follow a rule. Druids might have different paths, but we all originated from the same source. No matter what path we are on, druids will always be brothers and sisters.” Pittman stroked his bread and said, “This isn’t just a simple rule. It is the druid’s rule. Before accepting the inheritance, one would need to swear a harsh oath on one’s soul.”

Gawain rubbed his chin and silently recorded down this information before shifting the topic back to spells and theurgy. “The druid religion’s original nature theurgy has also transformed into the current druid spells during this process, right?”

Pittman nodded and said, “That’s right. It was slowly completed over a long period of time after the White Starfall and the splitting of factions.”

Gawain: “When you were concocting medicine earlier and blessing the medicine at the final step, is it actually the remaining vestige of the original druid theurgy?”

Pittman nodded with a pretentious smile but didn’t say anything.

This was the druid spell, this world’s most special ‘magic’. They were probably the only magic that could talk clearly about their origins. But their origins were pointing towards a god. Three thousand years ago, the druids were originally a unified religion, but because of a subversive incident that was already considered a legend, the religion of the druids had been split into various factions. Furthermore, the theurgy that they possessed had actually been unimaginably changed into spells.

Even now, these spells still contained the hints of the influence of the theurgy, like the words of blessing or the specific sacred symbols. But in fact, these ‘theurgy parts’ had already lost their practical functions. They were more like a cultural and a spiritual inheritance and entrustment. The proper druids would strictly follow the inheritance to reproduce the sacred steps that were already useless. But those improper druids — like Pittman — would choose to put in some random nonsense during the process of spellcasting to use up some time.

But how did theurgy turn into magic?

Those two powers were entirely different things. Theurgy originated from the gods and required reverent prayers to make one’s spirit connect with a god’s intent, allowing them to ‘borrow’ formidable power. On the other hand, magic originated from the spellcaster’s power and knowledge of the world. The difference started from the sources.

After going through many years of evolution, the druid spells already had their established and new magics. Just like the runes that Pittman prepared or the incantations he used, these were all ‘natural miracles’ that came from individual power. So, standard theurgy did have such processes.

Thus, there were people who raised overly bold conjectures. Some scholars even believed that 3,000 years ago, the druids had used a certain forbidden ritual to steal the god’s power. The ‘natural miracles’ that could only be done by theurgy had turned into spells that humans could utilize. The so-called White Starfall was not a meteor storm recorded in the history books but actually the God of Nature losing authority and falling from the divine realm…

The druids naturally wouldn’t admit such an explanation, but Gawain had to acknowledge that… the degree of credibility was rather high.

Of course, he wouldn’t mention such conjecture in front of Pittman and had casually said, “Why do you feel that only druids are able to turn theurgy into spells successfully? Why wouldn’t clergies from other religions be able to do the same thing?”

The little old man’s face twitched. “Who am I supposed to ask? Don’t you already know of my real ability? My life had nearly ended just to learn the druid spells. How can I have the spare energy to research other—?”

“Then why do you know cooking, fortune-telling, astrology, baby-sitting, and so many other things?”

“…Those are different…”

Gawain didn’t continue to pester Pittman on this question and made it as though he was mumbling to himself instead, “It is said that a believer of the God of Holy Light had attempted to transform theurgy. He researched on the abilities of mages and attempted to activate Holy Light using the spellcasting methods… As a result, he had been engulfed by the berserk Holy Light and was turned into a pile of ashes.”

Pittman laughed and grunted. “Ke, furthermore, this is an example that the Church of Holy Light intentionally proclaimed. It is used to warn those people that aren’t respectful towards the God of Holy Light or those who attempted to steal the Holy Light.”

“The priest of the Church of Holy Light would be engulfed by Holy Light when they used magic to release the Holy Light miracle, but it would be fine for the druid religion’s priests to use magic and release the natural miracles.” Gawain looked at those alchemy tools and the platform that was engraved with runes and a magic circle while shaking his head slightly. “What do you feel is the greatest difference?”

“Because our god is broad-minded.” Pittman then made a serious religious gesture at his chest before saying, “While the God of Holy Light is narrow-minded.”

He was very stern and serious, but Gawain could most certainly say that this little old man didn’t have any respect for the God of Nature.

The druids’ ability might have been viewed by others as ‘half theurgy, half spell’, but the so-called theurgy was merely referring to the sacred process. Everyone who knew the insider information would know that the druids no longer had the ability to release theurgy. In this world, when people lose the support of theurgy, the so-called conviction would turn into a kind of pure spiritual entrustment. The Spirit of Nature and various other spirits that the druids believed in were simply a deception for themselves. But was Pittman the type of person that would deceive himself?

If he was, then he would at least be able to remember the words of blessing!

Hence, Gawain believed that this person was a weirdo among the druids, and he would never believe that Pittman was a devout believer. Gawain continued to look at Pittman with a smile that wasn’t a real smile until Pittman couldn’t tolerate it anymore and spread out his hand. “Of course, I still have an explanation…”

Gawain laughed. “I just want to hear the opinion of you as a druid.”

“It isn’t because humans stole the god’s authority, but the god truncated a power that should belong to humans.” Pittman used a brief statement to describe something that would be enough to scare a whole group of people to death in this era.

Of course, he would only dare to say such things to a feudal lord that didn’t believe in religion and when he was far away from any church.

After seeing that Gawain didn’t have a great reaction and had nodded pensively instead, Pittman let out a breath before saying unhurriedly, “You should know that apart from the druid theurgies that have already been transformed into spells, the theurgies of other religions are ‘strict and self-locked’. Only the corresponding religion’s priests are able to cast theurgy with the precondition of a theurgic ritual that complies with the doctrines. Furthermore, if any of the conditions do not match, even the simplest Holy Light spell would be impossible to release. Forcefully releasing it would result in the berserk and engulfment phenomenon that we mentioned earlier. Why is this so?”

“Three thousand years ago, the druids were still considered clergies, and we used the system of the Nature theurgy that is similar to the God of Holy Light and the God of War. Back then, when druids released theurgy, it was actually similar to other priests. They also had to follow strict rules. A slight deviation would cause the theurgy to lose control… It was the so-called divine punishment. But after the legendary White Starfall incident, no one was able to execute theurgies anymore. In fact, the prayers weren’t even being responded to. As a result, the druids were able to use a method to execute magic to produce the ‘natural miracles’ that should have vanished. Why do you feel it is so?”

Gawain didn’t utter a word but his heart gradually appeared with an answer:

Because the management had disconnected…

When his heart flashed with this thought, Gawain looked at Pittman with strange eyes.

Pittman felt uncomfortable and contracted his neck.

“Your understanding doesn’t seem like what a low-ranking druid, a semi-antique appraiser, a shoddy rogue, and a fake hermit should have,” Gawain said unhurriedly. “I don’t think even those scholars who are always thinking about the history of religion and magic would be able to say such things.”

Pittman was instantly frightened and put on a bitter face. “I know I shouldn’t say it. Saying it will just be a disaster…”

“I didn’t say that I am going to do anything to you.” Gawain changed the topic and said, “Everyone has their own secrets. You have, I have, even Amber has them too. It is no big deal.”

“Why did you suddenly involve Amber?” Pittman curled his lips and felt a little at ease. “But when you mentioned that scholars who are always thinking about the history of religion and magic wouldn’t be able to say such things… I disagree.”

While speaking, the little old man let out mischievous laughter and said, “The druids’ history isn’t a secret. Our theurgy and magic aren’t secrets either. Ordinary people might know less due to their status and hierarchy, but those upper echelons of the various religions are able to look up all the information, and they are all intelligent people. How could they not think the same things as me?”

“The most intelligent people knew it clearly in their hearts, but no one spoke of it publicly.”

“After all, they aren’t gods…”

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