Sacrificial Dance

"The Power of Fate!"

As the Ancient Hermetic were uttered, Lumian immediately felt the light inside the Altar dim considerably. The Orange-Yellow candlelight flickered violently in the invisible wind, compressed to the size of a peppercorn.

At the same time, his chest began to heat up, his head became a little dizzy, and his ears began to ring, as if he was about to hear that terrifying sound from infinite distance yet so close to him again.

Lumian herself and suddenly remembered something:

The Corruption within him was sealed by the owner of the bluish-black symbol. Even when he entered deep Meditation and faced the Sacrificial Dance, he could only make the Thorn Symbol stand out and release a little bit of its aura, but he couldn't mobilize the corresponding power.

Can this Ritual now bypass the seal and allow one to receive the "Gift"?

Unless, That One great being who owns the dark blue symbol has already tacitly approved it!

Considering That One mysterious Lady's confident attitude, Lumian felt a little more at ease, and even suspected that the Ritual itself contained an element of requesting permission from Great Ones.

As for which part it was, his knowledge of Mysticism was insufficient to guess.

Being in the midst of the Ritual, Lumian dared not delay. After a few moments of this thought, he began to recite the remaining Incantation in Ancient Hermetic:

You are the Past, the present, and the Future;

"You are the cause, the result, and the process."

The Vocabulary Vocabulary within the sealed Altar, causing the floor and objects to visibly ripple, as if countless strange things were trying to emerge and enter this Dream Ruins.

Ugh!

A black wind appeared out of nowhere, swirling around Lumian, and the Candle Flames, compressed to the size of a peppercorn, suddenly expanded, turning a silvery-black color.

Lumian heard that voice again, the one that always brought him to the brink of death and near Loss of Control, but a faint Gray Fog had somehow appeared inside the Altar, gathering around him.

This left him feeling somewhere between deep Meditation and seeing the "Noodle Man" dance. He wasn't on the Near-Death, but it wasn't pleasant either. It was like experiencing severe tinnitus, with dizziness, nausea, and irritability to a certain extent, and his mind was also quite confused.

Barely managing to control himself, Lumian continued the Ritual:

I pray to you,

"I pray for your Gift."

"I pray that you Gift me the power of a ' Dancer '."

"Tulip, Herbs of Fate, please transfer your power to my Incantation!"

"Gray Amber, Herbs of Fate, please transfer your power to my Incantation!"

As the Ritual progressed, Lumian's tinnitus and dizziness worsened, and he felt as if countless Worms were moving beneath his skin.

Finally, he finished reciting the Incantation.

Almost simultaneously, the silvery-black candlelight instantly condensed, transforming into a beam of light that shone on his left chest.

A silvery-black illusory liquid suddenly flowed out, quickly enveloping Lumian and making him look both Evil and terrifying.

He felt as if every inch of his skin was being pricked by needles, his muscles and ligaments were being completely torn apart, and the mysterious voice became extremely clear, as if it were ringing directly in his mind.

Lumian was instantly overwhelmed by intense pain, his mind nearly blurred.

All his veins then became burning hot, as if they Burning from the inside out.

This situation is more serious than the Near-Death state he experienced during his previous deep Meditation.

He could only grit his teeth and persevere, trying his best to control his chaotic mind and prevent himself from completely losing his Rationality. As for anything else, he couldn't care less.

In the face of the Gale storm, he became completely disoriented and lost track of how much time had passed.

Finally, the terrible Pain disappeared, and Lumian felt as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted off his shoulders, or as if he had emerged from the bottom of the water, suddenly feeling relaxed.

He quickly regained his composure and looked up ahead.

The candlelight returned to its original state, though it still appeared silvery-white with a hint of black.

As soon as Lumian regained consciousness, he immediately took two steps forward and extinguished the Candle that represented him, to prevent any accidents.

Next is the one that symbolizes the Deity.

As he followed the procedure step by step to complete the Ritual and dismantle the Spirit Wall, he felt mentally exhausted and physically aching, as if he had just fought a battle with some Monster.

Not long after, the table was cleared, and Lumian began to examine his own state, discovering that a lot of knowledge had appeared out of nowhere in his mind.

This mainly consists of three parts:

Part of it is how to use the combination of dance movements, rhythms, and one's own spirituality to mobilize the surrounding natural forces and pray to unspecified beings. This is the core knowledge of a "Dancer." With it, Lumian can not only pray to That One Fate, but also design entirely new Sacrificial Dance to "please" other beings based on different situations and gains.

Parts two and three are examples of parts one.

The former is what Lumian wants most right now, which is the mysterious dance performed by the "Noodle Man." This was directly implanted into his mind, allowing him to learn it on the spot, though he wasn't very proficient at it.

With this mysterious Sacrificial Dance, Lumian can automatically activate the Black Thorn Symbol on his chest when exploring the Dream Ruins, suppressing or weakening the powerful Monster there.

The third part is another eerie dance, which doesn't resemble a ritual but is more like a mixture of ritual and summoning.

Using it, Lumian can attract certain things in the surrounding area, and then, at the cost of blood, have one of them attach itself to him, thereby utilizing one of its abilities or traits.

Of course, this is all predicated on Lumian being able to withstand the possession. Some things, once possessed by humans, can bring considerable negative effects, and some are even unwilling to leave, which would be a huge problem.

Therefore, Lumian felt that it was best not to try anything before having a sufficient understanding of what was "summoned" and what problems might arise; it was too dangerous.

The importance of Mysticism knowledge is highlighted at this time. Lumian desperately needs things like the "Illustrated Compendium of Mystic Creatures" and the "Illustrated Compendium of Spirit World Creature," but unfortunately, even a "Warlock" known for his comprehensive knowledge cannot possibly know so much.

Immediately afterwards, Lumian stretched his body and found that his flexibility had indeed improved significantly.

While not quite reaching the level of the "Noodle Man," a mutated Monster with recombined organs, it surpasses almost all normal humans and can perform that mysterious Sacrificial Dance.

Thud, Lumian kicked backward, easily hitting the back of his own head.

He nodded with satisfaction and muttered to himself:

"That's right, many moves that were impossible before can now be done, and the ' Hunter's' fighting ability has improved considerably as a result."

Lumian attempted to perform the mysterious dance to adapt to his current body and become familiar with the movements, hoping to shorten the time it took to complete a section.

His voice was sometimes forceful and powerful, as if he were in battle, and sometimes gentle and soothing, as if he were expressing something, but it was always very rhythmic.

As Lumian danced, his spirituality began to spread outward, merging with certain natural forces around him.

Gradually, his thoughts became focused, his mind became calm, and he entered a kind of ethereal and wonderful state.

This allowed him to sense all sorts of subtle things around him, as if he had opened his Spirit Vision.

At the same time, he also seemed to have connected with an invisible force within himself.

His chest burned again, and the terrifying sound faintly echoed in his ears, but it wasn't quite clear.

Huff... Lumian stopped dancing, unbuttoned her clothes, and looked at her chest.

The black Thorn Symbol reappeared, and the bluish-black one also gradually became more prominent.

Lumian's mind became slightly confused for a moment, but not seriously, which perfectly achieved the effect he wanted.

Next, he began to calculate the exact time from the appearance of the Black Thorn Symbol to its disappearance.

This takes about a minute.

After buttoning up her clothes, Lumian began to try out the other, eerie dance.

The dance was sometimes frenzied, like Madman performing, and sometimes Distortion, defying description.

During the dance, Lumian's spirituality once again emanated, combining with certain natural forces in the surrounding area to "spread" further afield.

In the last third of the dance, he suddenly sensed something strange approaching.

Three figures were reflected in the glass of the first-floor window.

They were Skinless Monster, Shotgun Monster, and Mouthpart Monster with Black Mark, but their figures were all very blurry and transparent, clearly only possessing some spirituality and Lingering Obsession.

"Is this a victim's complaint rally?" Lumian muttered to himself with amusement after discovering what he had been "summoned" to.

At this moment, all he needs to do is take out the Ritual Silver Dagger from the dance, cut a gash in his body, and let out a little blood. This will allow one of the three figures to attach themselves to him, thus enabling him to borrow some of their abilities or traits.

Although Lumian coveted the Mouthpart Monster's "Invisibility," he didn't know what problems would arise if the Monster he had killed possessed him. He could only force himself to suppress his impulse and insist on finishing the eerie dance.

As he jumped to the last few moves, he inexplicably heard faint, delicate sounds.

It was as if he could hear many people talking somewhere through a wall—unreal and unclear.

As Lumian listened more closely, he discovered that these sounds seemed to originate from within his own body, from the sealed-off Corruption!

After the final movement, Lumian stood there, muttering to himself in confusion:

"What did you hear?"

He's now practically illiterate in the field of Mysticism, completely unable to figure out the source, so he has no choice but to give up, since it's no more terrifying than the Corruption itself anyway.

Once the faint sounds had completely subsided, Lumian, having practiced the two mysterious dances, confirmed that the "Dancer" had also brought about a spiritual enhancement.

While he may not yet be as spiritually advanced as those Sequence 9, he has broken free from the constraints of being a "Hunter."

He felt that they should be at an upper-middle level.

"The shortcomings have been addressed." Lumian was very pleased with this.

He didn't think about what kind of Mutation his body would gradually undergo after bearing the power of the "Dancer" and encountering the corresponding Corruption, since he couldn't stop it anyway, so it was better not to think about it.

Rubbing his tired head, Lumian decided to rest tonight and go back to the real world to wait for that Owl!