A remedial lesson

Lumian had only just tentatively confirmed that Michel Garigu probably had not been dragged into the affair by Guillaume Béné and the others. He had planned to visit the deputy Parish Priest late that night, only to return home and hear his sister say there was something wrong with the man.

Aurora glanced at Lumian and laughed.

"When I noticed something wrong with him, you, my idiot little brother, were standing right in front of him.

"Looks like you didn't notice..."

She seemed so delighted that she had to raise her right hand and half-cover her mouth. After all, her little brother, whom she still thought of as an illiterate in mysticism, had suddenly become a Beyonder, acquired all sorts of advanced knowledge, and discovered that Cordou Village was trapped in a time loop. Meanwhile, she, his older sister, had not only failed to play much of a role but had even been outdone in mysticism, her strongest field. Inevitably, that had left her a little unhappy.

Now, she had finally regained her authority as his older sister.

Looking at his sister's smile, Lumian nodded. "I didn't notice anything unusual in his behavior."

Aurora gave a thoughtful hum.

"His Astral Body... How should I put it? In short, it was brighter than an ordinary person's, but he isn't a Beyonder, nor has he exercised systematically over a long period."

"Maybe he was born with a strong constitution?" Lumian ventured before asking in confusion, "What's an Astral Body?"

Aurora asked in surprise, "You don't know?"

"I don't." Lumian shook his head.

Aurora smiled again and asked in a puzzled tone, "That lady taught you about the divine pathway, the Law of the Indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics, and the acting method, but didn't tell you about basic concepts like the Astral Body?"

"She was pressed for time, so she could only cover the important points." Lumian made an excuse for the mysterious lady.

Aurora's smile grew even brighter.

"Or perhaps this basic knowledge of mysticism is of little use to a self-taught Hunter. All you need to do is track, set traps, and fight."

She didn't even know how to describe her brother's current state. Call him an illiterate in mysticism, and he knew quite a lot, each piece of knowledge more staggering than the last. Say his knowledge surpassed that of most Beyonders, and he didn't even know what an Astral Body was.

Aurora exhaled and said seriously, "I'll have to handle your introduction to mysticism myself.

"Remember, in mysticism, the parts of a human beyond the physical body are divided into four layers. The innermost and most fundamental is the Spirit Body. It's almost equivalent to the concept of spirit-the spirituality in 'all things possess spirituality,' the spirituality we mean when we speak of enhancing it. You could call it the source from which the soul is formed.

"For Mystery Pryers, the potion primarily enhances the Spirit Body.

"The Astral Body lies outside the Spirit Body. It's the latter's manifestation in the real world and the Spirit World, and it's also closely connected to your will and current emotions.

"So, do you understand now? When I said the deputy Parish Priest's Astral Body was brighter than an ordinary person's, I meant there was something a little unusual about his Spirit Body-in other words, his spirit-and that was reflected in his Astral Body. It has nothing to do with whether he was born with a strong constitution. Of course, he might have been born with strong spirituality.

"Through the Astral Body, we can also discern a target's true emotions. For example, red represents passion and excitement, orange warmth and contentment, yellow happiness and extroversion, green calm and peace, blue cool-headed thought, white brightness and positivity, dark colors melancholy, sadness, and silence, while purple indicates that spirituality is dominant, with coldness and detachment...

"These colors are difficult to fake, but they're rather broad, so they don't let us distinguish subtle emotions and nuanced feelings."

Lumian listened intently, all but reaching for a fountain pen to take notes.

"Just listen for now." Growing a little tired from explaining, Aurora sat down at the dining table. "I'll give you my first volume of Witchcraft Notes later. It's full of basic knowledge like this."

"Mm-hmm." Lumian sat down as well and nodded obediently. "What's outside the Astral Body?"

Aurora picked up her engraved drinking glass and took a sip.

"The Mental Body. Starting with that layer, spirit and flesh become joined.

"The Mental Body involves the mind and is connected to reasoning, thinking, insight, and the ability to understand things. Some potions primarily enhance it, and quite a few spells target it.

"The outermost layer is the Ether Body, which reflects life energy and physical condition. That's why I could tell at a glance that your body had been greatly enhanced. Hmm, the thickness, brightness, and color of different parts of the Ether Body also let us assess a target's health. As a Sequence 7 of the Mystery Pryer pathway, I can even judge someone's lifespan from the specific condition of their Ether Body.

"Read the notes later for how to distinguish the details."

Understanding dawned on Lumian.

"The Hunter potion primarily targets the Ether Body?"

"You have it backward. It targets the physical body and life energy, while the Ether Body is a direct reflection of those two things," Aurora replied.

Lumian nodded as he reviewed her explanation, gaining a preliminary grasp of this part of mysticism.

Remembering what his sister had said earlier, he asked curiously, "Aurora, how did you observe the deputy Parish Priest? Why didn't I notice you nearby at all?"

Aurora smiled.

"I was actually at home the whole time. I made use of something special about the Mystery Pryer pathway."

"What's special about it?" Lumian asked, prepared to accept it if his sister chose not to answer.

Aurora pointed at her eyes.

"One of the Mystery Pryer's most distinctive abilities is called the Mystery-Prying Eye.

"Although I need to reach a higher Sequence to unlock the complete Mystery-Prying Eye, allowing it not only to work on me but also to be placed on other objects to help me monitor things remotely, that doesn't mean a Mystery Pryer's eyes have nothing special about them before then.

"Starting from Sequence 9, Mystery Pryers can see more than Beyonders of the same Sequence on most other pathways. Here's a simple example: before Hunters reach the stage of qualitative change where they possess godhood, they probably can only see the Ether Body, and even then, not in much detail. I can already examine all sorts of details in an Astral Body. In addition, I can see things around me that are normally invisible."

At that point, Aurora glanced toward the kitchen.

The glance inexplicably sent a chill through Lumian.

There was clearly nothing in that direction, yet he felt that some invisible presence might be there, beyond his sight!

Aurora continued.

"Of course, that isn't necessarily a good thing. Seeing things you shouldn't see can very easily lead to trouble. That's why I've always restrained myself and avoided looking at things I shouldn't. But as your Sequence rises, not wanting to look doesn't mean you won't have to."

Lumian thought for a moment and asked in confusion, "Didn't you say you needed to reach a higher Sequence before you could send out the Mystery-Prying Eye?

"Then how could you observe the people in the church from home?"

Aurora raised her right hand and wagged her index finger.

"I keep telling you that knowledge is power, but you never believe me!

"Under normal circumstances, I really can't observe something hundreds of meters away from home. But humans can use tools, and I have two great 'assistants.'"

As she spoke, she took two objects out of different hidden pockets in her blue dress.

One was a brass-colored collapsible telescope; the other was a miniature dark ink bottle-it looked more like a child's toy.

"Look, a telescope. It helps me see people hundreds of meters away clearly. Once the 'viewing distance' is shortened, I can observe the state of the target's Astral Body, Ether Body, and Mental Body," Aurora explained with a smile. "This works in open areas without obstructions."

Lumian listened, somewhat dumbfounded.

That worked too?

They were clearly discussing mysticism, so why had his sister pulled out a telescope?

"What about this?" He then pointed at the miniature ink bottle.

Aurora didn't answer. She rubbed her temples and unscrewed the cap.

Lumian suddenly felt a little cold, as though a cool breeze had just blown through the window.

"It's a unique Spirit World creature," Aurora explained.

"It? Where is it?" Lumian looked around.

Aurora was quite surprised.

"You still don't know how to activate Spirit Vision?

"But didn't you say you saw a lot of undead in that wilderness?"

Lumian had read the term "Spirit Vision" in the magazine Spiritism and knew what it meant, but he had absolutely no idea how to activate it.

He looked at his sister and slowly shook his head.

"I don't."

Then he guessed, "Maybe after entering the so-called Otherworld, ordinary people can see ghosts and undead directly too."

Aurora thought it over seriously before asking further, "So you don't know Hermetic, Ancient Hermetic, Elvish, Draconic, or Giantish either?"

"What are those?" Lumian fully demonstrated what it meant to be an illiterate in mysticism.

Aurora couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead.

"What exactly did that lady teach you?"

"The Law of the Indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics, the Law of Convergence, the acting method, the divine pathway, Sequence 0, Sealed Artifacts..." Lumian answered honestly.

"..." Aurora felt as though he had shown off at her expense. "I think you're asking for a beating!"

She sighed for a few seconds, then collected herself. "I'll use this contracted creature of mine to explain how to activate Spirit Vision, perform ritual magic, and use those languages with supernatural power.

"This will only be a rough explanation. To truly master it all, especially those languages, would take a year or two at least. Of course, that's partly because of your Sequence pathway. Hunter probably doesn't enhance your learning ability or provide any advantages in mysticism. Back then, with diligence and knowledge being instilled into me, your big sister needed only a little under six months to learn the basics of all of them."

Her right hand gently stroked the empty air before her, as though she were petting an invisible kitten.

"For Beyonders, activating Spirit Vision is very simple. But it isn't completely dark yet, so let's cover something else first.

"I call this creature White Paper. It's a very weak Spirit World creature. As long as you know the precise description, you can perform a ritual to summon it in your own name.

"Apart from being difficult to see, like Spirit World creatures generally are, it has only one use: carrying one of its contractor's supernatural abilities. But the ability can't be too complex or too powerful."