Dream Ritual

After some effort, Matthew got some information out of Jack.

As he had suspected, the Old White Mutant's attack on 56 Riverside Street had been no accident. Jack had orchestrated it.

The two wizards who had attacked Matthew on the night of Lady Alsha's dinner had also been hired by Jack. His feelings for Lady Alsha were deeply twisted. Matthew had only shared the opening dance with her, yet Jack had decided he was an obstacle to his pursuit of her.

Matthew could not begin to understand his thinking.

Jack's gaze had gone vacant. To make questioning him easier, Matthew lifted the petrification from his head and fed him a little Veritaserum.

A person's memory was not a book that could be flipped through at will. Thoughts were not carved into the brain, ready to be read. Memories and thoughts were complex, layered things.

So even though Matthew had mastered Legilimency, he could not simply browse someone's memories. He needed words or Potions to stir the target's emotions and bring the relevant feelings or memories to the surface.

Blue Light flickered in Matthew's eyes as he held Jack's gaze and asked softly, "How did you turn Old White into that?"

Struggle showed on Jack's face. This concerned one of his secrets, but under the effects of Veritaserum, he could not conceal it. Slowly, he said,

"A few months ago, my friend Thor Griffin introduced me to the Mining Brotherhood.

"He taught me a Dream Ritual. Through it, I could enter God's Kingdom in my dreams, where the god would bestow Divine Grace.

"Divine Brew was the grace I received in my sleep. After I gave it to my father, he began to mutate."

"Divine Grace? A god?" A chill ran over Matthew's scalp. How had an investigation into a Missing Persons Case led him to a god?

He had been in this world for some time, and as far as he knew, it had no gods. Its religions worshipped powerful wizards from history, all of whom were long dead. There were no records of Divine Miracles.

"When you entered the dream, did you see the god who granted you Divine Grace? Are you his follower? Don't say the god's name when you answer." To be safe, Matthew did not ask for the name. If the god truly existed, speaking it might draw his attention.

"I've never seen the god, and I'm not his follower."

"You've never seen him, and you're not his follower. Then how did you receive Divine Grace?" Matthew was surprised.

Jack went on,

"That's just what the Mining Brotherhood calls it. I only joined for what I could gain. I'm no follower of the god.

"There are plenty of people like me in the Mining Brotherhood. We trade favors and each get what we need.

"The Dream Ritual for reaching God's Kingdom was passed down by the Mining Brotherhood's core members.

"After performing the ritual, you enter a kingdom shrouded in mist. Where you arrive depends on where you fell asleep.

"The 'Divine Brew' I obtained was fruit from a plant there. People in the Mining Brotherhood say everything found in God's Kingdom is a gift from the god."

Matthew rubbed his chin. This "God's Kingdom" sounded more like another world, with the Dream Ritual serving as the key to enter it.

The wizards of this world knew other worlds existed. They called them "planes."

In the distant past, this world had fought a Plane War. Historical records attested to it.

Matthew had recently read about the Plane War in a book in his study. Plundering another plane could strengthen one's own, and the Wizarding World had been plundered several thousand years ago.

That Plane War had been brutal. Although the wizards had repelled the invaders, the Wizarding World's very foundation had been damaged.

Since then, High-Rank Wizards had grown increasingly rare.

To this day, the Wizarding World had gone more than a thousand years without an archmage above Level Four.

Now Level One Wizards, also known as Formal Wizards, formed the backbone of the northern wizard factions. Level Two Wizards stood among their strongest fighters, while Level Three Wizards could rule entire regions. The councilors of the Northern Wizard Alliance were Level Three Wizards, each one the leader of a major northern wizard faction.

Matthew continued, "Have you ever seen this god perform a Divine Miracle?"

"No."

Matthew suspected someone in the Mining Brotherhood had used the Other Plane they called "God's Kingdom" as a pretext to establish a religion.

But these comparatively rational wizards would not worship some nebulous "god" without seeing him perform a Divine Miracle.

Thus, most members of the Mining Brotherhood were like Jack: not followers of that "god," but people trading favors to get what they wanted.

A question suddenly occurred to Matthew. "Why is an organization centered on wizards called the Mining Brotherhood?"

"If you perform the Dream Ritual at a mine, it's easier to reach a 'Treasure Land' in God's Kingdom. You're more likely to obtain Divine Grace there.

"That's why we founded the Mining Brotherhood: to make it easier to buy mines in different regions," Jack answered honestly.

Combined with the memories flashing through Jack's mind, this made sense to Matthew. Performing the Dream Ritual in a mining area made it easier to reach places rich in resources in the other world.

"Is the Dream Ritual dangerous?"

At the question, Jack seemed suddenly terrified. His whole body trembled, and fear spread across his face.

"Dangerous? Of course it is.

"If you don't arrive in a 'Treasure Land,' there's a good chance you'll enter a 'Forbidden Zone.'

"There, you'll encounter Divine Attendants. They kill every living thing that trespasses into the Forbidden Zone.

"Even if you don't encounter a Divine Attendant, you can easily become lost in the Forbidden Zone forever.

"I nearly did once."

In the memories flashing through Jack's mind, Matthew saw that Jack had entered a Forbidden Zone before. Perhaps because he had performed the Dream Ritual at a mine, he had been lucky enough to find a path to a Treasure Land before encountering a Divine Attendant.

Matthew regretted that Jack's memories had not shown him one of these so-called Divine Attendants.

Matthew asked one last question. "What were the things you kept in the basement, and where did you move them?"

"Besides my father, I had other experimental subjects. I also tested Divine Brew on Magic Creatures, but none responded as well as human wizards. I have another experimental subject with even greater potential. All of them have been moved to Thor Griffin's place."

Thor Griffin was the Whitestone Town Branch Master of the Mining Brotherhood.

Once Matthew was certain Jack had no more useful information to give him, he waved his wand. A Transparent Arc Wind Blade swept across Jack's neck.

Jack had come to his senses by then. His eyes were full of hatred and resentment, but he could no longer change the outcome. He could only let his head roll beneath the bed.