At the Tarot Club, everyone was discussing an important piece of Odys's research: using Gal Runes to "express" Beyonder Abilities.
This came as a tremendous shock to the other members. Until now, they had believed that the abilities of different Pathways came from Beyonders making use of their respective Beyonder Characteristics.
The process seemed more like a black box. Once someone became a Beyonder, they naturally knew how to use the abilities of their characteristic.
But today, the Hermit had suddenly said that Gal Runes could be calculated and arranged to "express" a Beyonder Ability.
Even the High Priestess, Cattleya, fell into thought. In the Scroll Professor Sequence, scrolls were written with Occult Symbols, a process much like using those symbols to manifest an ability.
Odys continued, "Knowing how to use Occult Symbols to express different Beyonder Abilities isn't enough. You also need a Beyonder Characteristic to release the ability.
"Take my research into Scribes, for example. Occult Symbols arranged in a certain order act as a guide, but the characteristic still has to carry out the instructions.
"It's as though the symbols provide an instruction manual for the characteristic. By following it, the characteristic can release a previously recorded ability.
"That places certain demands on the characteristic. An ordinary Beyonder Characteristic can't do it."
Only the Fool, Klein, the High Priestess, Cattleya, and the Hanged Man, Alger, could still follow Odys's reasoning.
The other members were struggling to understand the Hermit's explanation.
Odys went on, "Let me explain it another way. Sequence 7 of the Mystery Pryer Pathway is Warlock, which can use all kinds of Witchcraft.
"When I was a Warlock, I invented more than eighty forms of Witchcraft..."
Surprise showed on Cattleya's face despite herself. When she had been a Warlock, she had known only twenty-six forms