"Is this... a Sacred Invocation?"
Miroku gazed at the eight archaic, solemn characters on the slip of paper, silently pondering their meaning.
A Sacred Invocation was a fixed set of words specifically used to praise and petition certain deities, proclaiming their rank,
divine virtues, powers, and origins.
They were also often recited as part of invocations and spells to seek a deity's protection and response.
This was a secret art exclusive to their Miko lineage. Depending on the circumstances and enemies they faced, they recited various Sacred Invocations, asking deities with different powers to bless them with strength so they could vanquish demons and protect the world.
But from ancient times to the present, this world had never possessed any true gods. At least, as far as Miroku knew, it had not.
The only being who could even remotely qualify as a possible deity was the legendary progenitor of ninjas, the Sage of Six Paths.
Strictly speaking, the deities their Miko lineage petitioned were all "gods" they had created themselves.
That brought the discussion to their lineage's unique and ancient cultivation system. The origins of the Miko lineage were too remote to trace, supposedly predating even the appearance of ninjas.
In those days, a hundred specters roamed the night and demons ran rampant across the land. Humans frequently lived in fear and danger, and naturally began worshipping various deities.
To fight these demons, some humans devoted themselves to honing their bodies and mastering weapons, battling monsters with flesh and blood. Others traveled the world, cultivating themselves through hardship and contemplating heaven and earth in hopes of eliciting a response from the power of nature.
The founder of the Miko lineage, perhaps because she was a woman whose body was naturally less robust than a man's, and because she could never