"An interesting trick?"
Klein asked with great curiosity.
Old Neil chuckled and said:
"I'll go inspect the weapons, materials, and archives. Use the two cups on the table to make two cups of coffee, and put something bad in one of them. You can decide what exactly. Use your imagination. The only requirement is that you don't waste too much coffee powder. I ground it myself using coffee beans native to the highlands!"
"All right." Although Klein did not quite understand what Old Neil wanted to do, he readily agreed.
Watching him take out a brass key and open the iron door to the armory, and hearing the long echoes of footsteps inside, Klein leisurely arranged the cups and checked that there was hot water in the kettle.
Removing the lid of the silver-inlaid tin, Klein used a small spoon with a metallic sheen to shake a spoonful of richly fragrant coffee powder into each cup, then poured in hot water and stirred with practiced ease.
-as a transmigrator from an age of material abundance, he was no stranger to coffee.
After doing all this, Klein thought for a moment, sat down, raised his right leg, and pinched off a little of the dirt stuck to the sole of his leather boot, placing it in the cup on the left.
Then he carefully stirred it again until there was almost no difference between the two cups of coffee in either color or aroma.
A few minutes later, Old Neil emerged from the armory, swinging his key ring, and shut the iron door with a clang.
"Done?" His slightly cloudy, dark red eyes shifted toward Klein across the table.
"Done." Klein nodded.
Old Neil chuckled and sat down while unfastening the silver chain wrapped around his wrist.
His expression soon grew tranquil. Holding the chain in his left hand, he reached out and let it hang vertically over the coffee cup on his right. The clear white crystal was just short of touching the liquid.
Amid a soothing stillness, the white crystal inexplicably began to sway slightly, drawing the silver chain into small counterclockwise circles.
"This is the cup with something bad in it," Old Neil said with certainty.
Without waiting for Klein to confirm it, he put away the silver chain, picked up the other cup of coffee, and took a sip.
"Do you like your coffee bitter? I usually have a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of milk."
Klein did not answer, instead asking with keen interest:
"Your divination result was very accurate. Was it thanks to that white crystal? It is white crystal, isn't it?"
"This is the Pendulum Method of divination, also called the Spirit Pendulum Method. It relies on your own Astral Body's connection to the Spirit World and the starry sky, using certain natural materials' communication with Spirituality, such as crystals, gemstones, and special metals, to divine whether something is good or bad... Let's return to those two cups of coffee. Counterclockwise means bad, clockwise means good, and no movement means neither good nor bad. You can also write an event on paper. Remember, an event, not a question." Old Neil set down his coffee cup and explained in detail.
As though thinking it over, Klein said:
"In other words, don't phrase it as a question?"
"Right. You can't use 'Is so-and-so willing to be my fiancée?' You have to use 'So-and-so is willing to be my fiancée.' Write it on paper, lay it flat on the table, and hold the pendulum chain with your nondominant hand. Remember, your nondominant hand." Old Neil chuckled. "Then straighten your arm and adjust the chain's length so that the crystal hangs directly above the paper, almost touching the event you wrote down. Next, close your eyes and silently repeat those words seven times. When you're done, open your eyes and see whether the pendulum is moving. If not, close them again and repeat the process until it moves."
Klein nodded slightly.
"Counterclockwise for 'no,' clockwise for 'yes'?"
"You can also interpret them as things going poorly or smoothly." Old Neil made a slight correction, then taught Klein the other uses and finer points of pendulum divination.
After going over it several times, Klein realized that this was an extremely practical divination technique. For instance, in unfamiliar surroundings, he could use it to quickly determine whether food was poisonous without having to spend extra "points" on skills such as "wilderness biology."
Of course, this form of divination was too simple, with only two or three possible answers, and could not provide deeper investigation or interpretation. Some things, for example, were harmful to him but could become highly beneficial after certain processing. Some foods did harm the human body, but not severely, and eating them was not much of a problem when one was on the verge of starvation. None of these things could be judged using the Spirit Pendulum Method.
"I'll have to save up to buy crystal or pure silver to make a pendulum as soon as possible..." Klein sighed aloud.
Old Neil gave him a surprised look.
"You can apply for one directly. It's standard equipment for Beyonders, especially support-oriented Beyonders like us. There's a citrine pendulum and a pure silver one in the armory."
"But I'm not a full member of the team yet..." Klein was greatly tempted, but hesitated a little.
Old Neil chuckled.
"For Beyonders, whether they're full members or not, if we aren't raising their salaries, we certainly have to offer them some conveniences in other areas."
"'Benefits' might be a better word. I'll apply to the captain later!" Klein secretly clenched his fist and made his decision.
How would he know whether the captain would agree unless he tried?
"All right." Old Neil smiled. "Let's begin our formal 'lesson in mysticism.' One of its foundations is called 'symbolism.' Do you know what 'symbolism' is?"
Recalling the fragments he had heard before and what he had seen and heard in the Spirit World and above the gray fog, Klein chose his words carefully.
"Whether it's the Spirit World, the illusory starry sky, or those unknown domains, they all lie beyond the world of our senses. They cannot be accurately described through information obtained by our ears, noses, and eyes. All we receive are intuitive revelations and experiences that are difficult to put into words. These manifest outwardly as abstract symbols and graphical representations, each representing different things and different meanings."
"Very accurate. Just what I'd expect of a Seer." Old Neil nodded solemnly. "Only when you've mastered the ability to interpret symbols have you truly entered the realm of mysticism. Yes, the pictures on tarot cards, and every element within those pictures, are symbols-symbols defined by people to help us understand and interpret the original 'revelations.'"
He pulled out a sheet of paper, picked up the fountain pen beside him, and drew a short arc.
Immediately afterward, he added several vertical strokes beneath the arc, then looked up at Klein.
"Do you know what this symbol represents?"
Klein looked it over repeatedly, only speaking hesitantly after quite a while.
"Eyelashes?"
"..." Old Neil exhaled. "This is the symbol for the Harvest Constellation. This is for the Thunder Constellation, and this is for the White Frost Constellation..."
He casually drew several more symbols.
While committing them to memory, Klein could not help saying:
"The names of these constellations are really, really quite rustic. Yes, rustic!"
So provincial, so primitive...
Old Neil smiled.
"Emperor Roselle thought so too back then. He kept planning to change the constellations' names to things like Virgo, Cancer, and Scorpio. Unfortunately, he still couldn't overcome the power of tradition. At least these ancient constellation names and the dates they each represent can guide planting and harvesting."
"I have to say, Emperor Roselle was a man with ideas." Klein did not know how to make a snarky remark.
Hmm, Emperor Roselle must have been a respectable man in life...
Unable to understand Klein's humor, Old Neil continued explaining the various basic symbols, such as those of the constellations, the sun, the crimson moon, the brown star, the red star, and the blue star.
As he explained these, he interspersed instructions on drawing astrological charts for divination and the precautions involved, the materials and crafting of crystal balls, and the selection of incantations. Klein almost felt overwhelmed by it all.
Had he not discovered that the Seer potion had slightly improved his memory, he would long since have asked Old Neil to stop so he could digest what he had learned.
"That's it for today's 'lesson in mysticism.' Think it over yourself, and come to me if you have any questions." Old Neil took out a gold pocket watch, clicked it open, and glanced at it. "Don't forget to read the historical materials I prepared for you. Frankly, the sight of them frightens me."
"All right." Klein took the sheets of scratch paper on which Old Neil had written the symbols and first quickly reviewed the mystical knowledge he had learned that day, lest he forget anything obvious.
Old Neil took another sip of his freshly brewed coffee.
"Memory alone isn't enough. You have to use it often to turn knowledge into instinct. Also, you must meditate every day. Only through more practice and more use can you truly master the potion's power, uncover its hidden mysteries, and eliminate its adverse effects."
At the mention of this, Klein thought of acting and the Divination Club, and said tentatively:
"My potion's abilities relate to divination. Practicing on my own won't be enough. I need to interact with a large number of people and perform divinations for each of them to master it as quickly as possible. Once I have some extra money, I plan to join the Divination Club, the one on Howes Street in the North Borough, and become a true Seer."
There was no way he could keep this from the Nighthawks in the future, so it was better to lay some groundwork in advance.
"Your thinking is very similar to Daly's. She keeps saying she wants to be a true Spirit Medium." Old Neil shook his head with a smile. "But why wait until you have extra money? You can submit an application to Dunn and have him approve the expense!"
"Organizations like the Divination Club might have cultists and members of evil organizations mixed in. As a civilian employee of the Nighthawks team and a proper Beyonder, joining them to conveniently monitor them is a work requirement! We used to inspect these places regularly, but we lacked the manpower to keep track of them for long periods. Now we can leave that to you."
You can do that? Looking at Old Neil's perfectly serious expression, Klein was simply dumbfounded.
This is openly finding a reason to reimburse personal expenses!
I know absolutely nothing about things like this...
I really am just a keyboard warrior...
"Would you prefer to spend your own money on this?" Seeing his reaction, Old Neil added with a smile.
Klein immediately shook his head and answered firmly:
"I'll submit a report to the captain later!"
Old Neil nodded in satisfaction, then glanced at the cup of coffee with something bad in it, which had yet to be poured away.
"What exactly did you put in there?"
Klein smiled sheepishly.
"Just, just a little mud from the sole of my leather boot. Its color was similar to your coffee powder. Very similar."
Old Neil froze for a moment, then suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and growled:
"Hurry up and pour it away!"