A Bridge, a Ritual

God's servant... Gais began to savor that answer carefully.

"The Lord did not say where these abilities came from, only that Beyonders are servants of the gods. Does that mean all extraordinary abilities are gifts bestowed by the gods?"

Gais felt that his analysis was correct. Taking advantage of this chance to communicate with the Lord, he prepared to ask every question he had.

"Great Lord, then what is an Aspect?"

"A classification, a bridge."

"Why can a Night Watchman use so-called God Blood, through his Order Aspect, to wield stronger abilities, like that smoke ring?"

"A ritual."

"Then, Great Lord, what exactly is God Blood?"

"Heh heh, it is what you think it is."

"What I think it is?"

Gais was startled. Back on the Southern Continent, he had heard some street rumors that ordinary people could gain bizarre abilities by consuming Magic Potions.

He had always scoffed at those rumors, but after everything he had experienced, he could not help becoming curious about whether they were true.

He vaguely had a guess. So-called God Blood might be one of the ingredients used to make Magic Potions, as well as a consumable capable of unleashing Spirituality.

The rows upon rows of "God Blood" behind Abel indicated that it was a consumable, and not an especially rare one.

Beyonders gained extraordinary abilities by consuming different Magic Potions concocted from different ingredients.

It was simply that the ingredients and formulas for Magic Potions were tightly controlled by certain organizations and would not easily spread outside.

Once this thought took shape in his mind, he could not shake it off.

Now that the great Lord had confirmed it, he became even more certain of his guess.

Watching Gais's thoughts link together into a chain, Ivan could not help clicking his tongue.

"Not bad, not bad. As expected of the man I spent faith energy to save. You have not disappointed me."

Gais sank into deep thought. Under the Lord's guidance, he seemed to understand the logic behind how extraordinary abilities operated in this world.

If an Aspect was the bridge connecting a Beyonder to mysterious power, then Spirituality was the carriage constantly traveling across that bridge.

A bridge connected two ends. One end could be a spiritually rich extraordinary material, such as God Blood. It could also be the Beyonder themself.

But one thing was the same: no matter the source, the bridge should permit only one kind of carriage to pass. In other words, the Spirituality being transported had to share the same origin as the Aspect.

The other end of the bridge was the destination.

According to Gais's analysis, the destination should be the target upon which the final extraordinary ability was expressed.

For instance, Abel's Order Aspect ultimately produced an area governed by rules. That target could be intangible space, a tangible entity, or perhaps some designated medium?

He could not yet determine the specific rules, but one thing was certain: the ultimate goal was always to unleash the Spirituality transported across the bridge.

So Abel had drawn Spirituality from God Blood, used his own Order Aspect as the bridge, treated smoke as the medium, and unleashed an extraordinary ability belonging to him.

"If my analysis is correct, then beneath our peaceful daily lives, just how many undercurrents of the extraordinary are surging?"

He felt somewhat terrified, and his desire for extraordinary abilities reached its peak at that moment.

"God Blood corresponds to the Order Aspect? If I can get hold of God Blood and a Magic Potion formula, could I also..."

"No need to worry."

The mysterious, majestic voice interrupted his musings.

Gais suddenly came back to his senses. He had been so immersed in his own world that he had actually forgotten he was communicating with the great Lord of All Spirits.

"Praise the great Lord of All Spirits. Your faithful servant Gais has been reborn under Your guidance. Please forgive my foolishness."

Gais's faith was exceedingly sincere, and Ivan could not help nodding.

He actually shared Gais's guess and felt that the latter's analysis made a great deal of sense.

The only thing that troubled him was this: if extraordinary abilities came from extraordinary materials, then what about the extraordinary ability granted through his Gift?

"Your conjecture is both right and wrong."

Ivan could not help telling him.

"Both right and wrong? What does that mean? What part is wrong? Please, great Lord of the Holy Spirit, grant me guidance once more!"

"Extraordinary abilities can also be obtained through Gifts. Just like that follower of mine."

Gais sucked in a sharp breath.

"The Lord means that He can bestow extraordinary abilities upon people at any time. This... this is such immense divine power!"

"But the Lord did not say He would bestow one upon me. Did He see that I was not devout enough before, and was angered because I treated a Jellyfish as His incarnation?"

"Or is the Lord planning some other trial for me, and if I pass it, He will grant me an extraordinary ability?"

Ivan had a headache. This Gais was thinking far too much.

He wondered what expression Gais would make when he learned that the true form of the "Lord of All Spirits" was a Jellyfish.

He sighed and interrupted Gais's self-tormenting thoughts.

"When the time is right, a Gift shall be bestowed."

"When the time is right... The Lord means He will grant me an extraordinary ability!"

Gais immediately felt as though he had become much younger, and even his body felt lighter.

Smiling, he walked out from the street corner, Ivan's promise of a Gift still echoing in his mind.

"Extra! Extra! The gates of South York Poorhouse have been destroyed by a monster, and everyone inside has vanished!"

"Extra! Extra! South York—"

"Hey, sir, make way, make way!"

"Here, today's paper. One penny a copy."

Lost in thought, Gais walked down the street without paying attention to his surroundings. An approaching newsboy crashed straight into him, and before he could react, a newspaper had already been stuffed into his hands.

"Hey, kid, I never said I wanted to buy your newspaper."

"But, honorable sir, you have already seen what is written on it, haven't you?"

Ivan nearly laughed behind him.

"Tsk, do they automatically deduct a penny just for passing through here?"

Gais smiled helplessly. Not wanting to argue with a child over such a thing, he pulled out a Copper Penny and handed it to the newsboy.

"Thank you for your generous patronage, sir!"

Having received the money, the newsboy beamed. Without stopping, he continued shouting as he ran down the street.

"Extra! Extra! South York Poorhouse..."

Gais lowered his head and read the newspaper he had just exchanged a penny for. The fresh smell of ink mingled with the scent of paper as it entered his nostrils.

In the upper-left corner was the name of the Trino Worker's Daily.

At the top center of the newspaper, several bold words stood out in striking black print:

"Shocking! All destitute residents of South York Poorhouse vanish collectively! Indestructible iron gates torn open by a monster!"

Below it was a blurry black-and-white photograph that looked like bent iron bars.

These newspapers reported eye-catching nonsense every day.

If there really had been a monster, the entire South District would have long since descended into chaos.

Most likely, the destitute residents had grown dissatisfied with the exploitation and rioted their way out of the Poorhouse.

Ivan read along with him but had no intention of telling him the truth.

"When Gais attends the Baptism Ceremony tonight and sees the one responsible, I wonder if he will get quite a fright."

Gais shook his head and continued reading the other sections.

"The East District Textile Factory strike has entered its third day. Workers' demands for higher wages have not been met, and Peace Officers have entered the factory grounds."

When had these Peace Officers ever cared whether the people at the bottom lived or died? They were probably there to suppress the workers by force.

"Wells in the slums have been contaminated by factory wastewater. Fifty people have already suffered diarrhea after drinking from them. City Hall has yet to issue a response."

"Mayor Gustav delivered a speech yesterday evening, stating that efforts would focus on cracking down on the cult forces that had recently appeared in the city and placing the protection of all Trino City residents' safety first."

The accompanying picture showed a middle-aged man with impeccably combed hair, dressed in a velvet suit and holding a patterned cane, speaking passionately from a podium.

As Ivan followed Gais's turning pages and scanned the articles one by one, his attention was eventually drawn to the religion section.

"At eight this morning, the 'Holy Blood Blessing' ritual will be held at the New Church. All participants must donate at least one Gold Pound and may receive Holy Blood personally applied by Father."

"Holy Blood Blessing? What is that?"