"Practitioner is the most comfortable stage on the entire path of ascension."
"You possess abilities far beyond those of ordinary people. You can wield Spellcraft, perceive Aether, and drive away lesser Evil Beings.
"These abilities are enough to earn you a respectable social standing in the Surface World.
"Whether as a scholar teaching at a school, a hunter serving within the official system, or a Seeker taking private jobs among the public."
"You can live a wealthier, safer, and more influential life than the vast majority of people."
"At the same time, the light you cast behind the Veil remains very faint.
"The things in the depths will not notice you, and naturally, they will not come looking for trouble.
"Most people can live peacefully into old age and die in their own beds."
"If you ask what advice I have for a Novice just starting out, my advice is this: stop once you reach Practitioner.
"Build your life properly at that level, take care of your family, and do what you can."
"This is not cowardice. It is wisdom."
"I have seen too many Practitioners, dissatisfied with their current circumstances and desperate to go further, eventually deliver themselves into mouths that had been waiting for them all along."
"The world behind the Veil does not lack Explorers. What it lacks are Explorers who return alive."
"The odds of surviving the Practitioner stage are far higher than at any rank above Practitioner."
"Because at this stage, you do not need to perform any Ritual."
Richard noticed that the writer had mentioned Rituals again.
The earlier sections had said so much about Signatures, but a Signature was merely signing one's name on a Curio. It was not a Ritual.
From Novice to Practitioner, not a single step in the entire process