Chapter 102: 101. Knowledge Curse
Dorothy put away the medicine box somewhat helplessly and began to talk about the real reason for her visit today.
"Diana, I want to learn about the deeds of the Three Kings, especially those of the Demon King. The information on the Magic Web is too cluttered, so I'm wondering if you have more reliable sources here. Of course, if there's someone who specializes in researching this knowledge, that would be even better."
The Zhai Mo Nv said with an expectant look.
"The deeds of the Three Kings?"
Upon hearing the young lady's request, Diana pondered for a moment, but soon her brows furrowed.
"Young lady, we have many books about the Three Kings' deeds here. I can have someone write a booklist for you. As for someone who specializes in this research..."
The intellectual Diana reached out and adjusted her monocle, her tone becoming a bit conflicted.
"There is someone, but it's Vannie's personality..."
Diana shook her head, changing the subject.
"Young lady, you should just read the booklist and study on your own."
Her demeanor, however, made Dorothy a little curious.
"What's wrong with that Diana? If it's just a bad personality, I think I can tolerate it."
After all, she was asking for a favor, so her attitude naturally had to be humble. Moreover, it's quite common for talented people to have some eccentricities, and the Zhai Mo Nv didn't see any problem with that.
If she really couldn't find anyone to consult, she would have to study by herself. But since there was indeed someone in the True Sight Eye Clubwho researched this, Dorothy was too lazy to waste that time.
Although learning wasn't difficult for her, people always have things they like to learn and things they don't.
Her interest in learning mainly lay in the theory and application of magic. She enjoyed the process of researching and developing new spells. As for the dry and boring history of Demonesses and celebrity biographies, she wasn't very interested. That stuff seemed tedious, easy to fall asleep to, and was truly unbearable.
In her previous life, the five thousand years of history had made her bald. And in this life, the history of the Witch World spanned over a hundred thousand years. The deeds of the Three Kings, moreover, ran through the entire history of Demonesses. Basically, behind all major events in the history of Demonesses, there were shadows of the Three Kings. Researching the deeds of the Three Kings was essentially researching the history of Demonesses. Even the deeds of the youngest Demon King had to be traced back twenty thousand years.
This was too difficult.
So, Dorothy felt that as long as Vannie's personality wasn't too outrageous, she could probably endure it.
Facing her persistent questions, Diana sighed and spoke again.
"Young lady, do you know about the Knowledge Curse?"
She didn't directly talk about that Diana, but instead asked this question.
Dorothy was stunned, then enlightened, and also somewhat speechless.
"Ah, so, Diana, you mean that Vannie has contracted the Knowledge Curse?"
She now understood why Diana would rather let her study on her own than introduce her to the Diana who specialized in the history of Demonesses.
The Knowledge Curse, though named a curse, was actually more like a psychological mental illness, a troublesome symptom that even powerful races like Demonesses found difficult to deal with.
As mentioned before, the power of Demonesses might be immense; excellent individuals among them might even surpass the limits of other races from birth. However, in the realm of the mind, Demonesses are no different from mortals.
Except for a few overpowered individuals, the lives of powerful Demonesses standing at the apex of the Witch World were mostly magnificent, blood-and-tear-filled growth stories of protagonists. They all forged their strong hearts step by step through hardship and setbacks.
And while some succeeded, others naturally failed. The glory of successful individuals was mostly unoriginal, but the reasons for failure were often varied, with the Knowledge Curse being one of the most common.
The current mainstream growth paths for Demonesses are the Omni-Path and the All-Knowing Path. Most who walk the Omni-Path are favored by heaven, with nothing much to say; they just win by default. But the majority of Demonesses who walk the All-Knowing Path, while seemingly having a low threshold at first glance, have risks and difficulties that are unspeakable to outsiders.
It's like a saying Dorothy often heard in her previous life: other things can be learned with effort, but if you don't understand mathematics, you just don't. This saying applies to magic as well.
Every year, countless Demonesses on the All-Knowing Path are driven mad by obscure and difficult magical knowledge. They cry and shout, saying, "I really don't understand this," and then, unwilling to admit defeat, they stay up all night studying desperately, only to become crazier the more they learn.
This is the most common Knowledge Curse—the Fool's Incompetent Rage.
Yes, that's right, there are many types of Knowledge Curse. This is actually a general term for psychological mental illnesses that Demonesses develop due to knowledge, and there are a bunch of subdivided symptoms, just like there are many types of cancer.
Among them, the Fool's Incompetent Rage is already the mildest. For such Demonesses who have studied themselves mad, generally, if they are sent to a hospital and treated and guided by a mental-type Demoness doctor, there is still hope. But other more severe Knowledge Curses are very troublesome.
Human self-cognition is a very mysterious and idealistic thing. The formation of self-cognition is often related to many aspects such as growth environment, knowledge level, and personality. If it's a bit more systematic, it's the so-called id, ego, and superego.
A more easily understood explanation would be the three parts of instinct, emotion, and reason. (PS: These are all settings I made up. Psychology experts, please don't take it too seriously. I'm just a novelist, I don't understand that professional knowledge.)
People often say that knowledge makes people progress, and this is indeed true. Especially after Demonesses can directly transform knowledge into power, the more knowledgeable a Demoness is, the stronger she becomes.
Some people also say that with great power comes great responsibility, but this is a bit too idealistic.
With greater power, there is actually more often stronger desire. After all, not everyone has the great consciousness of self-sacrifice for others. Most people, after suddenly becoming rich, certainly won't think about engaging in charity or repaying their country. Instead, they will immediately buy houses and cars to enjoy life.
This distinction is a contest between instinct and reason, with the self-emotional part of a person coordinating between the two.
Wealth is like this, and so is knowledge. When an All-Knowing PathDemoness's desire for knowledge exceeds the constraints of her emotion and reason, the Knowledge Curse is born, which will have a huge impact on the Demoness's mind.
To put it more bluntly, mad Scientists, fanatical believers pursuing truth, terrorists researching forbidden black magic, and so on, are born.
Most crimes in the Witch World today stem from this. There's no need to elaborate on how terrible the consequences can be once someone with power loses control, especially powerful beings like Demonesseswho are almost equivalent to deities. Once they lose control, it's the birth of an evil god.
This is the truly terrifying aspect of the Knowledge Curse. Those academic failures who go mad from not being able to learn are minor issues. The most terrifying are those academic geniuses who become possessed by their studies. This is a major problem.
Well, for example, Zhang San, who has studied law his entire life, suddenly wants to try out his research results.
Is this very scary?
Yes, it's really scary.
And now Diana actually said that there was such a Knowledge Cursepatient in the True Sight Eye Club. At this moment, Dorothy even felt like directly running out the door to escape.
The Zhai Mo Nv shivered.
Today, my laziness seems to be relapsing, but it's not a big problem. I still have 2000 words. I should be able to squeeze them out after a short break. Full attendance, hehehe, my full attendance.