Ritual Magic (First Update)

At three in the afternoon, inside Detective Isengard's home in Hillston District, Abner sat upright and listened with rapt attention as his teacher explained mysticism to him:

"Readers have almost no means of directly confronting enemies at the Lower Sequences, but our extensive reading and profound knowledge make nearly every Reader an expert in ritual magic. Now, I'll teach you the basic procedures and precautions for some ritual magic."

"Lower Sequence Beyonders are not powerful enough on their own. Nearly all the ritual magic they can perform involves seeking power and assistance from external sources, so you can only consider orthodox Gods. Never attempt to communicate with unknown, unpredictable beings, even if someone worships Them, even if the promises recorded about Them are full of temptation!"

"For people like you and me, the best choice is to pray to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. If you pray to the Lord of Storms or the Eternal Blazing Sun, I'm afraid it won't end well for you."

"Mm, in mysticism, the Blue Star corresponds to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. The required materials are mercury, brass, lavender, pepper, and mint...

"The Blue Star corresponds to Saturday. Blue Star hours are from midnight to one on Friday, and from eleven to twelve at noon on Saturday..."

"Today is Saturday, but unfortunately, the best time has already passed... However, for Beyonders like us, especially Readers skilled in ritual magic, those things aren't necessary. Our vigorous Spirituality and powerful Astral Bodies are the most crucial elements..."

As he watched Detective Isengard personally demonstrate ritual magic, Abner carefully recorded the key points in his notebook, secretly sighing to himself. Having a reliable teacher in mysticism really is a lucky thing! If I had to rely entirely on books and fumble my way through it myself, even with the Pure White Eye helping me with Analysis, it would definitely take a long time to master this knowledge.

After completing a basic healing ritual, Isengard checked his pocket watch and saw that it was already half past four. He stopped explaining and said to Abner, "We'll stop here for today... I see you haven't brought your luggage over yet. Go back to the East Borough and pack up first. Try to return before dinner. Afterward, I'll arrange for you to continue studying Ancient Feysac."

"Alright, Teacher!" Abner replied politely.

However, instead of immediately returning to the East Borough as Detective Isengard expected, he took a detour along the way and bought quite a few ritual-related supplies, as well as a pair of silver-inlaid copper spectacles.

He intended to strike while the iron was hot and personally conduct a ritual, granting the spectacles the ability to conceal the abnormalities caused by his Pure White Eye. Not only would this let him use his golden finger with fewer concerns, but it would also serve as his letter of introduction to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

Abner's thoughts were simple. Since that deity had most likely already noticed him and had even made a benevolent "investment" in him, he might as well take the initiative and recite Their honorific name, see if he could draw closer and fleece a little more wool...

After returning to his residence in the East Borough, Abner first used the items he had bought to prepare the ritual's symbolic objects. He then set up the Wall of Spirituality and, based on what he had learned that afternoon, rather skillfully drew the holy emblem of the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom"—an All-Seeing Eye above an open book—and prepared the corresponding altar.

Inside the Wall of Spirituality, he lit the candles, picked up the Pure Dew distilled from lavender and mint, and dripped it onto the quietly burning flames.

A fresh, pleasant fragrance spread through the room as Abner burned several more kinds of powdered herbs in succession.

Then he picked up a fountain pen and drew a special symbol on a piece of parchment in front of the spectacles he had bought.

After doing all this, he took a step back and said in Hermes:

"I pray for the power of knowledge;"

"I pray for the power of reason;"

"I pray for the favor of the God of Wisdom;"

"I pray that You grant these spectacles the ability to conceal abnormalities."

"O lavender, herb belonging to the Blue Star, please transmit power to my incantation!"

"O mint, herb belonging to the Blue Star, please transmit power to my incantation!"

Whoosh!

As the incantation echoed, the atmosphere within the altar suddenly became extremely mysterious. Aside from the three candles, the remaining brass ritual dagger, dish of refined salt, small bottle of Pure Dew, paper, and fountain pen all began trembling faintly.

Abner waited with slight nervousness. He had already seen such a scene that afternoon, so he was not surprised, merely a little anxious about the outcome.

More than ten seconds later, the flames of the three candles swayed in unison, taking on a pale, translucent green hue!

Then, a series of complex symbols suddenly flashed across the lenses of the copper spectacles. A few seconds later, those symbols abruptly vanished!

At that moment, Abner felt waves of stabbing pain between his brows. This was the aftereffect of having too much Spirituality drained. He was still too weak; even crafting a temporary Beyonder item through a ritual had taken roughly half of his Spirituality.

Once the ritual had completely ended, Abner placed the spectacles on the bridge of his nose, activated the Pure White Eye, and glanced at the half-length mirror in the room for a second. Then he nodded in satisfaction and muttered, "The changes in my pupils are almost impossible to see on the surface now. The effect is pretty good! Mm, according to the Analysis results, its ability to conceal abnormalities will remain effective for three days. That's much better than the one or two days I expected." It could save him quite a bit of money. Doing this once every day would be far too expensive.

Of course, the most important thing was that the God of Knowledge and Wisdom had answered this prayer. To Abner, that was the best news of all! At the very least, it showed that They truly bore him no ill will for the time being...

After tidying up the room, Abner did not cancel the lease on this one-room apartment. After all, he would still need to come here later to conduct certain rituals that had to be kept from his teacher.

After returning to Hillston District, Detective Isengard did not find anything suspicious about the fact that Abner now wore spectacles. He merely smiled and teased, "You look much more scholarly and refined with glasses on. It's just that they don't quite match your worker's casual clothes. Looks like you'll have to buy yourself a formal suit."

"A full formal outfit in Backlund costs ten Gold Pounds..." Abner muttered to himself, but he had to admit that the other man was right. His spectacles alone were worth one Gold Pound and eight soli, while his entire outfit cost about the same. They really did not match, and it would easily arouse suspicion.

For the rest of the evening, Abner studied Ancient Feysac. Since the ritual had consumed too much of his Spirituality, he did not use the Pure White Eye to cheat this time. Even so, his progress was not slow, and this focused, meticulous study instead consolidated the knowledge he had already learned.

"Reviewing the old to gain new insights really is true!" Abner remarked before resting.

Late at night, at the Dill family's abandoned manor in the North Borough, a man in a white shirt and black vest, his face unusually pale, slowly walked along the stone path in the garden. The watchman who should have been standing guard, however, seemed to be sleeping exceptionally soundly, completely unaware that an uninvited guest had entered the manor.

Suddenly, the man, who appeared to be twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, seemed to notice something amiss. He stopped walking and frowned toward the shooting range.

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside him. The figure wore an elaborate black court gown and a small soft hat of the same color. She was the beautiful young lady with pale golden hair and azure eyes who had watched Abner and the other person leave through the window glass that morning.

The man was not at all surprised by this ghostlike appearance. He calmly asked, "Sharron, has someone else come here again? Do we need to relocate immediately?"

"No. Just an unrelated person secretly practicing shooting." Sharron answered succinctly.

The man nodded and did not ask further. Instead, he brought up another matter. "There's news about what happened before. Gol and Leia have already been dealt with by the Mandated Punishers. Only Jason escaped in the chaos. He should currently be hiding in Bridge South Borough or Cherwood Borough to recover from his injuries."

"Maric, we need to find him as soon as possible. Otherwise, he'll soon summon another group to hunt us down..." Sharron said simply.

"Indeed. Luring the Mandated Punishers into fighting them is something that can't be done twice. They aren't fools, and while the Mandated Punishers are hot-tempered, they aren't idiots either." The man named Maric nodded.

"You can even quote Roselle?" Miss Sharron gave him a sidelong glance.

The corner of Maric's eye twitched. In the end, he said, "I read too..."

On the morning of June 3rd, after training for an hour according to Professor Xio's knight training methods, Abner wiped the sweat from his forehead and headed directly to the small restaurant he often visited in the East Borough. He had arranged to meet Xio there yesterday.

Come to think of it, after learning about Abner's physical condition and aptitude with firearms, Xio felt there was no need for him to go to the manor in the outskirts every day. Two individual training sessions a week would be enough. Although Abner suspected this might be an excuse because Miss Xio could not afford daily practice ammunition, after all, she did not have someone reimbursing her expenses like Klein did.

In short, they had agreed to go to the manor only on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. On the other days, if either of them needed the other, they would still meet at this small restaurant.

The moment he pushed open the restaurant door, Abner saw Mr. Lian, the skilled worker he had met before, bowing respectfully to Xio. He then stuffed a paper packet into Miss Xio's hand while continuously babbling out clumsy words of praise.

Xio seemed to have seen such scenes many times before. She merely released a little of her Majesty, and the gentleman opposite her had no choice but to stop his flattery. Following Xio's instructions, he left the restaurant with awe and gratitude.

Only then did Xio quietly let out a sigh of relief. After putting away the paper packet, she walked over and sat down across from Abner.

"Looks like Mr. Lian's matter has been resolved?" Abner asked with a smile after taking a sip of coffee.

"Yes. I went to see that 'Two-Faced Man,' Rosen, last night. He cooperatively accepted my persuasion and had most of the unreasonable interest waived this morning." Xio ordered breakfast as well and spoke while eating.

Xio really didn't go to Prison over this... Abner had only just sighed inwardly when he heard Xio say:

"By the way, a friend of mine wants to meet you. Do you have time at noon today?"

"Uh, why noon?" Can't she do it now? Abner asked instinctively.

"Because she might not get up until noon... No, if it isn't necessary, she might not get up all day..." Xio thought helplessly.

(End of Chapter)