"This na..."
Salvatore furrowed his brow, "Could it be the true na of the tragic playwright?
"But why... why are there two nas?"
"They are both his nas."
Chiron’s gentle voice sounded, "When he entered the Thousand-Faced Phantom Tower to study the idol spells, he gave himself the alias ’Sophocles’.
"Before he beca a Transcendent, before he had any understanding of magic, he realized that ’Wizards might tamper with his na’... Of course, Wizards can indeed do such things. His judgnt was correct.
"And the na ’Dionysus’ was given to him by . I taught him ’Art almost Divine,’ allowing him to possess a power nearly divine during the ’stigmatization’ phase... to create his own myths and from there to receive the worship of mortals, gaining false Divine Power by making himself ’similar’ to deities.
"He used this na to beco the ’Wolf in the Valley.’"
"... What you’re saying," Salvatore frowned, "sounds a bit like the ’Gods among n’ from Winter’s side."
"Indeed, it’s a type of spell."
Chiron nodded his head.
"The situation is like this. Sophocles was indeed a genius Wizard, and I have read his ’Law of Resemblance and Precognitive Dreams,’ ’Law of Similarity and Drama Creation,’ and ’Law of Similarity and Fables’... The first book was written before his Sublimation, while the last two were composed after he beca the ’Tragic Playwright’.
"Even I can’t compare with him in the field of the Law of Similarity."
The Sage, suspended beyond the canvas, spoke honestly, "Of course, I actually have many students who have gone far beyond . Rather, when a teacher sees their children advancing further than themselves, they actually feel gratified."
"Gratified... huh."
Salvatore murmured.
He thought of Tower Master Hugo.
Following that, Salvatore thought of his senior, Clarence, who was in the process of ’reincarnating,’ and the nearly annihilated Black Tower School of Marshland.
At that mont, his fondness for Chiron noticeably increased.
"Based on the future I’ve seen, you ca all this way to confirm ’whether I’m Professor Grey’s alter ego,’ yet worried about the impact on His Majesty Annan."
Chiron spoke frankly, "I can tell you - I am not. Rather, you’ve actually got it backward."
"... Backward?"
"The na Professor Wolf was created to invoke the Law of Similarity and borrow power from another self nad ’Professor Grey’, right?"
"Yes, I know that."
Salvatore nodded, "I think ’Professor Grey’ changed his na to ’Bone Healer’ to avoid that ’na-stealing ritual’ as well."
Although he was not very familiar with the Idol School of magic, even Salvatore could easily recognize sothing that seed "very similar."
"Have you ever considered," Chiron said slowly, "why Professor Grey... is called Professor Grey?
"— Or rather, why he chose to teach students?"
Salvatore was stunned.
... That seed to be the case.
In the beginning... that is, before Annan had told him about Professor Wolf and Professor Grey, Salvatore had thought of Professor Grey as a "respectable elder."
Though Annan was clearly of the Gold tier, he rely nestled in a corner underground, where he nearly worked for nothing, teaching his students. Even more so, he had taught not just one Gold-tier Transcendent, but also many great figures.
However, when Salvatore learned that "Tricino Seti" was the tragic playwright and Pope, "Dream Eater,"
he felt that this kind of "unrewarded teaching" was quite understandable.
It is said that although Grey Professor’s students beca distinguished and accomplished, if viewed from the perspective of their "original intentions," they had almost all strayed from the path. In exchange for their initial dreams, they secured a prosperous future.
This indeed also aligned with the potential described by the title "Dream Eater."
A monstrous beast that lived off the dreams of others... to disguise itself as a "ntor with unmistakable clarity who asked for no returns" seed plausible.
—But only after being questioned by Chiron did
Salvatore suddenly realize...
No.
At the core of this line of thought, was the affirmation of the phenonon "Grey Professor would teach his students"—that is, assuming from the outset that "he would definitely do this," then searching for reasons why he would do so retrospectively.
But if one cleared their thoughts...
As the tragic playwright and Pope, why would the "Dream Eater," Tricino Seti, go underground and teach others rituals and spells under the na of "Grey Professor"?
If it was just to eat the dreams of others, this approach was overly convoluted.
Compared to making deals with various individuals like a devil, it was not only inefficient but also took a very long ti to "reap the benefits."
It was almost like, "because one wanted to run seminars to swindle money but felt lacking in reputation and thus lacking persuasiveness, one went to work diligently at a company, unexpectedly beca a director—then turned back to running seminars to swindle money."
This was too contrived.
"And the reason is very simple."
Chiron provided the answer directly: "Because to use the na ’Professor Wolf’ to steal ’Grey Professor’s’ power was not sothing he did only once.
"During the Second Epoch, I was the original ’Professor.’
"The centaur race, generally when wanting to learn, takes a ’sharing’ approach to teaching. During the last month of each year, when the heavy snow blocked the roads, we centaurs would raise a bonfire at the center of our village and showcase and teach each other what we had learned that year.
"Whenever there were things we didn’t understand, we would also go to learn from ’kin who knew the technique.’ But basically, it was like teaching you archery and you teaching astrology—knowledge was a part of trade for centaurs. Usually, it was barter.
"Occasionally, when we saved lost or murdered travelers who had nothing to offer in return, we either required them to perform labor for a period or to teach us so skills in exchange.
"And among the Aesirlanders, there’s a profession called ’teacher’ that imparts and popularizes knowledge to children and ordinary people. However, the knowledge they teach is quite basic... It usually involves literacy and nuracy, and such fundantal knowledge was not as widely available as with us centaurs and elves.
"More advanced knowledge was not regularly exchanged like with us centaurs... instead, it could disappear with the death of a master.
"Observing this profession, I had an idea—the centaurs could also imitate this model and create a ’staged knowledge rental.’ It wasn’t about ’buying a single piece of knowledge’ but ’buying a ti period to learn.’
"Therefore, I invented the term ’professor,’ specifically to teach mystery knowledge to others... Before this, secret knowledge was like a ’treasure.’ Because as soon as you taught it to soone else, you would lose it yourself, so it would never be disseminated extensively.
"But when I shared a mystery knowledge with many people at once, even if I forgot it, there would be more people who received it.
"In this way, mystery knowledge finally began to spread—only from this ti did the profession ’Ritualist’ officially erge.
"Quickly realizing that I could impart mystery knowledge, I also taught others specialized techniques—much like the Wizard’s Tower educates new wizards.
"I classified the sublimators who chose various paths of ascension according to their traits... warriors, rogues, hunters, naming them. And I created a new term..."
Chiron spoke slowly: "I nad it ’profession.’"
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