Only after the Mirror Person explained in greater detail did Angel understand the connection between "praying to herself" and "bestowing power."
Simply put, ever since she had obtained the first charm inscription method from Bansy and made Calamity charms by praying to herself for power, the source of that power had always been the blessings of the City of Calamity. Different inscription methods drew slightly different powers from this sefirah, but all were manifestations of higher-level powers of the Demoness and Hunter pathways.
As for why she had felt her spirituality rapidly draining during the process, that had merely been the cost of communicating with the sefirah.
"So when I thought I was praying to 'myself' for power, I was actually praying to you in the mirror?"
Realization dawned on Angel, and she looked at her Mirror Person with equal parts surprise and wariness.
The latter retained her girlish smile, swiftly dissolving Angel's hostility, and answered in a voice identical to hers:
"That's right. As I said earlier, when you advanced to Witch, a corresponding Mirror Person should have appeared in the Mirror World. But because of my existence, she was snuffed out at the very beginning...
"As for me, I've been in the Special Mirror World of the City of Calamity all along, waiting for you to advance to Sequence 3 so I could truly meet you. Before that, I could still draw on a sliver of the power here to offer you a little help. For instance, I could respond when you prayed to yourself, imbuing your charms with higher-level power, or use a Mirror Person to take your fate upon herself when you died, allowing you to attain ageless immortality."
*No wonder I could "resurrect" when I died at Sequence 7, leaving a mirror shard inside the