Tivian North Suburb, King's College, Royal Saint Crown University.
In the afternoon, inside the spacious school library, students scattered across the seats were seriously reading, each maintaining the usual basic quietness, unlike other parts of the school where discussions about the police and the suddenly missing students were everywhere.
In a corner by the window in the library, Dorothy was sitting in her familiar spot. A stack of various books was piled beside her, and an open book lay before her. The words in the book were handwritten, and clear, distinct characters appeared out of thin air in the blank spaces. This was the "wen hai hang zhi".
"Respected Scholar, please forgive my interruption. Today, I still have new questions to ask you. This time, I need to ask you about the function of an instrument. Its main body seems to be a wooden box, with a large brass horn attached to it. The box has a drawer containing a black disc with holes. Its specific appearance is like this..."
Text and words appeared on the pages of the "wen hai hang zhi", and after the text, a simple sketch appeared, outlining the shape of an instrument with a few simple strokes.
Dorothy looked at the drawing on the "wen hai hang zhi" and quickly knew what was being depicted. She immediately picked up her pen and wrote a reply in the book.
"Hello, Mr. Kapak, the machine you described is called a phonograph. It is a machine that can play recorded sound. The black disc with holes you mentioned is called a record, which is the medium for recording sound. Using a phonograph, you can play the sound recorded on the record."
After Dorothy finished writing her reply, she watched her handwriting slowly seep into the paper. After a period of patient waiting, new sentences appeared on the pages of the book-sea navigation record. Compared to the previous handwriting, this time the words were slightly crooked, as if the person was a little excited while writing.
"A machine that can play recorded sound? To be able to invent such a machine, the countries across the sea are truly too clever. Respected Scholar, can you teach me how to use this magical 'phonograph'?"
Looking at the new words that appeared on the "wen hai hang zhi" before her, Dorothy smiled slightly, then picked up her pen and continued writing in the book.
"First, you need to properly install the record..."
Afterward, Dorothy patiently wrote down the instructions for using the phonograph in the "wen hai hang zhi", slowly answering the questions that appeared on the book-sea navigation record, one after another. After a while, the young tribal youth on the other end of the book-sea navigation record finally seemed to have successfully gotten the phonograph beside him to work.
"Really! Respected Scholar, what you said is true! This phonograph can really play recorded sound! Such beautiful sound, this is truly amazing!"
On the book-sea navigation record, the responding handwriting became very messy. Just by looking at the handwriting, Dorothy could imagine the scene of the distant tribal youth's extreme excitement before the music.
'This person named Kapak is truly a curious young man. I didn't expect this book-sea navigation record to go to the New World across the sea, and it's fortunate that such a person obtained the contact text.'
Dorothy thought to herself. When she communicated with Kapak as Aka that day, Dorothy had told him that there were people like him who held similar texts. Not long after that, Dorothy contacted Kapak under a different identity.
In order to figure out his specific situation, this time, Dorothy used the alias "Scholar" and sent new information to Kapak as someone who had also received the favor of Aka. He quickly replied with surprise.
Under Dorothy's persuasion, Kapak quickly believed her new identity. Suddenly, Kapak seemed to have found a long-lost companion and chatted with Dorothy very enthusiastically.
After all, it was easier and more convenient to communicate with the Scholar, who had the same experience as him, than with Aka, a powerful spirits whose true form was unknown.
During their communication, Kapak would often ask Dorothy about the usage of industrial products. Kapak had collected a large number of industrial products, but not everything came with instructions like medicine. Dorothy would also often explain the usage of these things to Kapak, just like before.
Of course, while explaining, Dorothy was also constantly trying to subtly inquire about Kapak's own situation. After several exchanges, Dorothy had a general understanding of his situation.
First, Dorothy learned that his name was Kapak, and that he was located on the continent across the sea. He said that invaders from Prit had crossed the sea from the east to occupy their land. Based on the direction on the map, Dorothy determined that it was the New World located west of the Main Continent.
In subsequent communications, Dorothy confirmed that Kapak was a New World native, a tribal youth. Like many other natives, he hated the invaders but was not averse to their things. He was interested in the invaders' advanced industrial products, so Dorothy would often explain the uses of these industrial products to Kapak, and in exchange, he would explain the situation in the New World to Dorothy.
For example, Dorothy learned that there were many native tribes in the New World. Kapak's tribe was called the Tupa Tribe, and they had once been loyal to the same king a long time ago but later split. For example, the New World had many Wilderness Spirits that the Main Continent did not have. For example, the conflicts among the colonists, and so on...
And every time Dorothy explained something to Kapak, she could gain some intelligence about the New World. This time, Dorothy wanted to understand more deeply the mystical or religious information about these tribes.
"Kapak, I want to ask you, are there any mainstream beliefs or worship practices there? I mean, not the worship of Wilderness Spirits, but the worship of deities, like how the colonists worship the Three Saints of Light."
Dorothy wrote the words in the book-sea navigation record, and after watching the words in the book slowly disappear, she quietly waited for his reply.
Not long after, Kapak's handwriting once again appeared vividly on the paper.
"Respected Scholar, you may not know that in our culture, there is no distinction between deities and spirits. Everything is spirits, everything is deities. Although spirits vary in strength, except for evil spirits, we hold all of them in reverence.
"We worship the Wilderness Spirits, the spirits of our ancestors... These spirits are around us, many of them can communicate directly with the Shaman or even manifest, which is very different from the concept of the invaders' deities.
"If we were to say, among the spirits we worship, who is the closest existence to the God of Light that the invaders speak of, then there is only one.
"In our land, the spirits each tribe believes in are different, but no matter which tribe it is, they will offer the highest reverence to one existence, and that is the 'great soul'.
"He is the place where all souls in this world are born and ultimately return, the ancestor of souls, and the end of souls."