Chapter 2: Tears of God and Skeleton of God

002, God's Tears and God's Skeleton ()
According to the city-state decree, nine of the ten stones mined by each household in the town of Duke are to be turned over to the city-state, leaving one to be their own. However, the statute also stipulates that each registered miner must pay at least one stone each season in the spring, summer, autumn, and winter. This is a basic tax.
The adults in the town love to drink, including the mature women, whether it is mining ore or forging iron germs, it is extremely heavy physical labor. It is said that wine is a magical thing with some mysterious power. It seems to be able to relax the spirit and relieve the fatigue of the body, but drinking too much is not a benefit. Amon's father is addicted to alcohol, especially fragrant and expensive wine. In recent years, his hands have become more and more severe.
In addition to wine, the residents of Duque also love a variety of delicious meats, but except for the few sheep flocks nearby and the occasional prey in the mountains, most of the meat needs to be transported from outside . Amon's father's money was immediately exchanged for enjoyment, and the godstone of this season's tax has never been paid.
The mayor of Dashti, who is in charge of the tax collection and statistical power of Duke Town, is usually very kind. For the occasional arrears of the miners, they are generally not too aggressive. After all, the mining of the stone requires not only hard work and skill, but also luck. Even if you are in arrears, it is not impossible to make up for it when you are lucky. Because of this, the mayor of Dashti will be supported by the residents of the town for a long time, and the life is very comfortable.
However, the mayor ordered three days ago that all people who owe the stone must pay up within three days. All the people in the town were replenished within three days. Everyone basically had balances over the years to prepare for emergencies, except for the Amon family. The mayor's order may have something to do with the distinguished Lord Eju who came to the town three days ago. It's not clear exactly what happened to Amon. He couldn't wait for a child like him.
When Amon ’s father just arrived in the town, he replaced the last of the stones with fine wine. When the mayor ordered it, he realized that his taxation task for this season had not been completed, so he went to the town. The old lunatic Nietzsche went to borrow it, but only borrowed a mined core. The old lunatic assured Amon's father that there must be a stone in it.
There may not always be stones in the mine core, but the stones must only appear in this kind of mine core. His father's hand tremor could not control the hammer, so he asked 14-year-old Amon to try it.
The rules of Duke Town since ancient times. After the man has reached the age of 16, a priest presides over a prayer ceremony in the Temple of Mu Yun and accepts the blessing of God before he is eligible to learn the unique artisan skills passed down through the ages. Open the ore core and take out the stone. Those who do not get this qualification can only do some auxiliary work, such as finding and mining the nucleus in the mountains, logging wood to provide charcoal fuel, etc.
Amon ’s father felt that his physical exhaustion was getting faster and faster, and his hands were shaking more and more. In order to wait until that day, I was afraid that it would be too late for Amon to take over his own hammer, so in private Teach the son of local miner skills in advance. Amon's mastery after two years of practice has surprised his father. Generally speaking, the youngsters in Duke Township want to master the control method of this unique power. They started to learn from the sixteenth, and probably started teaching at the age of twenty.
My father was surprised, but Amon was even more surprised, not because of how fast he learned. Did n’t the priests and priests say that only through the blessing and grace of the patron saint can they learn the unique skills passed down from generation to generation by Duke? I did not experience that solemn and sacred ritual. How did you wake up the legendary sleeping power? He did not ask his father, but he asked the old lunatic Nietzsche, and the old lunatic sneered at it, but he also told him to pay attention to keeping secrets and not to talk rashly.
When Amon waved his sledgehammer to hit the ore core, his father's expression was very tense, his hands were shaking involuntarily, but Amon's expression was very focused and calm. My father thought he was doing this for the first time, but it wasn't clear that the same thing Amon had done many times in the old lunatic's house. It ’s not just his father who teaches Amon ’s skills in private. The old lunatics in the town also teach. The old lunatics often watch Amon help him while drinking.
The sledgehammer hits the core of the mine. It not only controls the force. At the moment of contact, it emits a penetrating shock wave and enters the of the mine. There is also a constant buzzing sound in the room. echo. Then I saw numerous fine cracks on the surface of this ore core, which is harder than pig iron. The cracks continued to stagger and become dense, and the ore core gradually changed from black to grayish white and dull.
The cracks spread to the extreme, and the ore core naturally opens or spreads out, just like the fine sand that has fallen. If you are lucky, a stone will appear in the center of the gray sand.
The stone cannot be removed by brute force alone. It is very strong, and it is difficult to destroy it with ordinary power, but it is very fragile when it is still in the ore core, and it will turn into powder with the ore core by accident.
All stones are exactly the same shape and size, about the size of a cat's eye, and they are a perfect dodecahedron. It has thirty sides, twenty corners, and twelve faces, and each face is a standard regular pentagon. It is said that in the distant northwest of the Tianshu continent, there is a sage named Tai Teide who once said that there are only five kinds of regular polyhedra in the world, and the dodecahedron is the most special one.
It is the outline of God's outline of the world, contains the mysterious information of the fifth element, and is the source and symbol of mysterious power. The most common stone is colorless and transparent. Looking at it from different angles, it will show various unpredictable pentagram shapes. It is so perfect, eye-catching, charming, and amazing.
In addition to the colorless and transparent stones, Amon knew that there were four other stones, showing blue, red, black, and white. According to a distant sage Empedocle, they symbolize the world. Mysterious information of the four elements of water, fire, earth and gas. Of course, these Amon were all listening to the old lunatic, and he couldn't tell whether it was true or not, let alone whether the so-called distant sages really existed. Perhaps the old lunatics made up the story himself.
Regarding the stone, the old lunatic Nietzsche also has a kind of apostasy. They are the crystals of the bones behind the fallen gods, which can be called the skeletons of gods. Amon couldn't believe this, and once asked the old lunatic-Will the eternal gods also fall?
The old lunatic asked in return-the legendary man was created by the gods, and people will die. Then who created God, why can't they fall? In the oldest legend, the area around Duke is the place where the gods fell in the battle of the ancient gods.
The old lunatic also said that he had met monks from far east when he traveled to the mainland in his early years, and called the stone the relic of the earth. Amon didn't understand what it meant. When he said this, the old maniac's messy beard was stained with bright red wine juice, and his smile seemed very insignificant. Then he squeezed his eyes at Amon and said, "The legends of gods in many countries on the mainland are the ancient gods. Is it wrong for the stone to be the skeleton of God? "
Amon can only take these drunk words of the old lunatic, but he doesn't dare to say that this is impossible, so he no longer thinks about it, and still concentrate on doing his own things-this is his best habit .
Although Amon does not understand what the stone is, he knows the type of the stone. The number of four special stones is much less than that of the ordinary stones. The probability of being mined is only a few percent, and the specific value is not valuable. It is clear that the special stones that appeared in Duke Town were taken away by the city as an important tribute.
But tonight, after the ore nucleated into grayish-white fine sand scattered on the anvil, Amon choked, and the heavy sledgehammer was fixed in the air. The father who was watching was settled there, his eyes widened, his mouth opened and he forgot to close it, and the hand holding the glass was still shaking, but he didn't realize that the wine had spilled on his clothes.
I saw a stone lying there quietly between the gray and white fine sand. It turned out to be pale golden, translucent, and there seemed to be a mysterious flow of mysterious luster in it, as if it contained tears that were not dripping-what stone is this!
When this stone appeared, a mysterious wave rippled silently around him. Amon was keenly aware of it, but the unexpected surprise made him not care too much, and his father was completely frightened. Time is short, a polite voice outside the door makes the father and son come back to life--
"Is anyone home? I'm Fayol-Judah, the clerk next to Lord Roddick, Lord of the Promontory's Promontory, and come by Lord Dick." With the voice, the speaker had pushed open the room. The door went through the room into the backyard and came to the door of the workshop.
He was very cultivated to listen to his voice, but behaved casually. He entered without the permission of his master. Two heavily armed soldiers stood outside the gate, and the other two soldiers followed on both sides behind him. When Amon turned around and turned to look out the door, Fayol crossed the threshold with one foot, showing a look of shock and ecstasy.
Fayol is in his thirties, of medium build, with slightly brown skin, curly hair, and a clean linen robe. His lips are a bit thin and his eyes are a bit thin, always a thoughtful look. Only in the presence of noble adults such as Rod Dick can he show a very focused look. But now, there was only the stone with a pale golden sheen in his eyes.
"Thank the great goddess Isis, thank the gods for their pity, the light of God will always shine on Eju, and shelter the cape city state forever ..." Faming Amon has crossed the threshold, and stroked his forehead with one hand On the ground, he knelt down on one knee. The two fighters outside the door also kneeled with Lord Fayol on one knee, the sword in his hand smashed to the ground, and the breastplate collided to make a heavy noise.
"Who are you, just come in like this?" Amon asked hesitantly.
Amon's father had put down his wine glass and stood up, asking tremblingly: "Holy lord, what kind of stone is this, why have I never seen it?"
"Great God Isis, please forgive the voice of ignorance!" After hearing the words of his father and son, Fayol dropped his hand on his forehead and raised his head in exaggerated exclaim. Then he saw that Amon and his son were still standing. There, unpleasantly shouted, "You are not kneeling yet!"
Fayol has already fallen on his knees, and the civilians of this exotic town are still standing there. It looks like Fayol kneels at them. How can it not be annoying? Amon's father's lips moved and he didn't dare to say anything. I didn't know if he should kneel down on the stone on the anvil or kneel down to the honorable adult in front of the door? He thought about it, still bowing down to Fayol.
Amon gently placed the sledgehammer next to the anvil, and replied as calmly as possible: "When mining the stone, you must stand before waving the hammer, otherwise how can you see that it has been removed intact?" Learning Fayol's previous posture, kneeling on one knee in front of the stone, he has realized that the stone picked today is unusual, these people are directed at it.
By the time the father and son were on their knees, Fayol had stood up. He could see very clearly just now that it was the child who had tears from the gods. When Fayol came in, the hammer in Amon's hand had not been lowered. And the crippled old drunkard was shaking his hands all the time, obviously it was impossible to be the one who mined the stone.
"Child, you have the favor of Goddess Isis, and you are fortunate to welcome the tears of the gods to earth. What's your name?" Fayol asked looking at Amon.
Amon said secretly in his heart that this stone was called the tears of the gods. It seems that the old lunatic said that the stone is the skeleton of God and it is not completely indifferent. At the same time, he said respectfully: "My name is Amon. Call me Amon. "
Amon has a full name called Aroma-Men-Jesus-Messiah-Hwa-God-Yemen-Montemont, but this full name was given by his father, and only his father said when he was a child, Even Amon himself didn't remember too well. People in the town usually only called him Amon. The father gave him such a name. The only way is that noble lineages can have such a long list of titles and write it down, representing hereditary glory.
Amon is not a slave but not a nobleman, just an ordinary civilian in Duque. To give him such a name is just the self-consolation of the phantom glory of the alcoholic father. The long list of titles is not his family lineage either. His father was drunk and compiled, so even Amon himself would not mention it.
Fayol looked at Amon and nodded with satisfaction. His face became solemn and solemn, and said solemnly, "My name is Fayol-Judah. ​​I am from the cape city of the Eju great empire that controls the Kingdom of Hati. The chief clerk of Lord Dick of the city. Lord Dick received the great goddess of Isis in his dream, and the maiden of the temple of Isis received the pity of the gods, and was given a tear of gods, and the place where he came. "
After saying this, Fayol cleared his throat and looked at Amon, but found that the child had no response, maybe he was already stunned, and then he continued to say, "Amon, with kind eyes in Isis Now, you are fortunate to welcome the tears of the gods and thank you for your dedication. It will belong to the patron saint of Goddess Isis, and the goddess will remember your name .... These are the generous Lord Rhodes-Dick. To you. "
After speaking, Fayol took out a bag and placed it on the anvil. He reached for the tears of the gods, put it in a golden box that he had with him, and turned around. Amon's father saw him do this, his lips pursing to stop but did not dare to speak.
When Amon reacted and stood up, Fayol was gone. Two samurai followed him to protect him, and the hilt of the sword hit the armor to make a cold and majestic sound.
This voice made Amon understand that it would be useless even to chase through the door. This strange stone that had never been seen was taken away by the uninvited guest, leaving only a money bag. The man said, "Thank him for his contribution," just as Amon volunteered to offer the stone to him.
Amon was angry and unwilling, thinking that his father would pay a stone tomorrow. This strange stone could have completed the task, but it is now taken away. Then he thought that the stone was taken away by the adult Dick. If the mayor wanted to investigate, he should go to the adult Dick, and their family did not complete the tax.
A lot of thoughts flashed in his mind for a moment, but Amon didn't think of another thing at this moment-Fayol doing so would reveal that he had learned the skills of the Duke town miner without permission.

Xu Gongzi's Note: Thanks to the bookmate "Three Dreams Disciple" for making the schematic diagram of the regular dodecahedron divine stone in this chapter.
Character table in this chapter
Amon's father: The miner and blacksmith in Duque, a drunkard.
Nietzsche: a resident of Duque, an old friend of Amon, nicknamed the old lunatic.
Fayol-Judas: Clerk of Roddick