Truly "Illiterate"

Aurore glanced at the slightly stained white tablecloth, turned to Lumian, and smiled. "If the ritual magic is directed at yourself, a slightly dirty altar doesn't matter. But if you want to pray to a deity or a hidden entity, I suggest switching to a cleaner cloth—or just taking the cloth off altogether and wiping the tabletop down." "So praying to yourself is just an excuse to be as casual as you want, huh?" Lumian couldn't resist quipping. Aurore let out a soft chuckle. "The 'casual' part is mostly about the environment, materials, and implements. The actual procedure of the ritual and the corresponding incantations still have to strictly follow the rules of mysticism." With that, she fished an orange-yellow candle out of a hidden pocket. "This is a candle infused with citrus and lavender. What matters isn't their domains, but that I like the scent." First, she set the candle toward the upper end of the "altar" in front of her. "Remember this: the candles representing the deities go in these two spots. For now, they can stay empty." Then, she placed the candle closer to herself. "Remember, this is the position of 'me.'" After setting the candle down, Aurore went to the kitchen and returned with a glass of clean water, a dish of coarse salt, and a small steel bowl. "Next is creating a clean ritual environment free of outside disturbances. Remember, this means spiritually clean, and we have to construct it ourselves. "The specific method is to enter meditation, focus your mind, and guide your spiritual power out through auxiliary tools to erect a wall of spirituality around the altar. "For Mystery Pryers and Seers, this is very simple. Hunters, on the other hand, need the help of other items before reaching Sequence 7—for instance, incense that can bring you into an ethereal, peaceful state of mind, or a crystal ball that helps concentrate and activate your spirituality. "Uh, the meditation method I taught you before was incomplete. It was only the first step, meant only to rein in your thoughts and calm your state of mind. I'll explain the rest to you in a bit." *The previous meditation method was incomplete? Then how did I trigger the dream's peculiarity and make those two symbols stand out?* Lumian felt a flicker of surprise. Aurore pulled a silver dagger from another hidden pocket in her clothing. "Now, watch closely how I construct a wall of spirituality." Lumian watched, dumbfounded, and blurted out instinctively, "How do you have so many things on you?" First all sorts of spellcasting materials, then a collapsible spyglass, a miniature ink bottle housing the spirit world creature White Paper, candles for rituals, and now she was pulling out a dagger. Aurore let out a helpless sigh. "You think I want to? This is the nuisance of being a Sorcerer. "I have to spend ages altering every single outfit I own. Sometimes I even suspect I'm Doraemon, pulling out whatever I need on a whim." "What's a Dala-A-mon?" Lumian didn't understand the word his sister had uttered in another language in that last sentence. Aurore froze for a moment, her expression turning somewhat complex as she replied, "You don't need to know." For some reason, Lumian suddenly sensed a faint sorrow in his sister. Aurore quickly recovered her composure and extended her right hand over the orange-yellow candle that represented herself. "In ritual magic, candles cannot simply be lit with a flame. Of course, sometimes ordinary methods work too, but that's rarely a good thing," Aurore explained. "The correct way is to extend your spirituality, rub it against the wick, and ignite it." As she spoke, the candle burst to life with an orange-yellow flame. The dining table serving as the "altar" and the surrounding area were instantly illuminated, taking on a subtle, wondrous depth. Aurore's light-blue eyes had deepened at some point, and an invisible breeze began to swirl around her. She plunged the silver dagger into the coarse salt and began chanting a mysterious incantation: "XXX, XXXX! "..." Lumian listened with a look of complete bewilderment. He could only watch as his sister finished the incantation, pulled out the silver dagger, dipped it into the glass of clean water, and lifted it back out. Aurore pointed the tip of the dagger outward and walked a circle around the altar. With every step she took, Lumian could feel an invisible force surging from the silver dagger, vibrant and agile. It merged with the air, forming an invisible wall impervious to the wind. By the time Aurore finished the circle, she seemed to Lumian as though she were standing in another world entirely. "Did you catch the steps clearly?" Aurore's voice sounded somewhat "distant" compared to before. Lumian nodded honestly. "I saw them clearly, but I couldn't understand a word of what you were chanting." Aurore couldn't help laughing. "You really are illiterate in mysticism, in the most literal sense. "That was Hermes. Roughly translated, it means: "'I sanctify you, blade of pure silver! "'I cleanse and purify you, that you may serve me in ritual! "... "'In the name of the Sorcerer Aurore Lee, "'you are sanctified!'" Lumian scratched his head. "Sounds pretty ordinary." "That's how it sounds translated. The key lies in the meaning of the incantation itself and the language used." Aurore rolled her eyes slightly. "Chanting it in Intisian naturally sounds ordinary, but switch to Hermes, ancient Hermes, Elvish, Dragonese, or Giantish—languages capable of mobilizing supernatural power—and it's a completely different story." Lumian asked out of curiosity, "Are those the only languages capable of communicating with the mystical?" "Not at all. There are quite a few similar languages in mysticism, each with its own peculiarities. For example, some are intended specifically for the undead. But most Beyonders won't use them in their entire lives, unless they want to research a particular, rare field or conduct the corresponding rituals," Aurore explained casually. She went on to explain the incantation from earlier: "When sanctifying a ritual silver dagger, the second-to-last line is supposed to be in the name of a deity or hidden entity. But we're wild Beyonders; it's best to avoid doing so whenever possible to steer clear of unnecessary trouble. "As a Beyonder, sanctifying an ordinary item in your own name is actually sufficient. The effect isn't quite as good as the original version, but it gets the job done." Lumian nodded at first, then thought of a question. "My name was given to me by you later on. Can I use it in rituals?" "You can," Aurore answered with absolute certainty. "A newly given name wouldn't work, but you've been using this one for years now. It has a mystical connection to you." She paused, then added, "When sanctifying items in the wilderness without so many materials on hand, coarse salt or clean water alone can also get it done." With that, Aurore produced a small silver-black metal vial from a hidden pocket, not even as tall as her index finger. "This is an essential oil I blended myself called 'The Wizard of Oz.' Its main highlight is that it smells wonderful." She proceeded to drip three drops of the pale green liquid onto the candle representing herself. With a soft hiss, the candle's flame dimmed, and a faint mist drifted outward, lending Aurore and the altar before her an aura of deep mystery. "Now comes the important part." Aurore took a small piece of imitation parchment from a hidden pocket. "If you're conducting ritual magic to pray to a deity, you need to draw the symbolic representation of what you're petitioning on the parchment and burn it during the ritual. "The incantation is divided into several parts. The first part is 'I pray for the power of so-and-so.' For 'so-and-so,' you need to fill in a symbol, an honorific title, or a domain ruled by the deity. For example, 'I pray for the power of the Sun,' 'I pray for the power of Order.' Remember, there are two lines in total, corresponding one-to-one with the two candles representing the deities. "The second part is 'I pray for God's favor.' Remember, do not speak Their name directly; doing so in a ritual is blasphemy. For the Eternal Blazing Sun, you can refer to Him as God or Father. "The third part is what you wish to pray for. It must be brief—state it in a single sentence. "The fourth part gives the incantation more power, something like, 'Sun flower, herb belonging to the Sun, please channel your power into my incantation.' You can pick two or three lines based on the materials you're using. "Once the incantation is finished, add a drop of essential oil to each candle, then burn the parchment you drew the symbols on earlier. When the parchment is fully burnt, the ritual is complete. After that, offer your thanks to the deity, extinguish the candles in the order of 'me' first, then 'God,' from right to left, and dismantle the wall of spirituality. Ah, and lighting the candles is done from left to right, 'God' first, then 'me.'" Lumian gave two affirmative grunts. "What about praying to yourself?" Aurore smiled. "The incantation is even simpler. Let me use summoning a spirit world creature as an example: "The first part is just a single word: 'I.' You need to chant it in a low voice. Remember, you cannot use Hermes here; it must be ancient Hermes, Elvish, Dragonese, or Giantish. "The second part is 'I summon in my name.' From here on, you can use Hermes. "The third part is the specific description of the spirit world creature you wish to summon." "What counts as a specific description?" Lumian pressed. Aurore explained with a serious expression: "The specific description can only consist of three clauses. Its purpose is to help us lock onto the spirit world creature we want to summon. "Let me give you an example. Suppose an outlander arrives today and says, 'I'm looking for the prank king of Cordu Village, Aurore Lee's foolish brother, a regular at the Old Tavern.' Wouldn't we know exactly who he was looking for?" "I get it!" Lumian had a sudden flash of insight. "When you don't know the target's name, appearance, or address, you use their characteristics to help track them down." Aurore said solemnly, "That's the principle, but in practice, there are plenty of complications. "When we summon a spirit world creature, the first line is usually fixed: either 'The spirit that wanders about the unfounded' or 'The spirit that roams the upper realms.' Its purpose is to point toward the spirit world and make it clear that what we want to summon is a spirit. "The second line is also very generic. Think about it: we summon spirit world creatures not to get ourselves killed, so we must restrict it to friendly creatures. And sometimes, we also need to add the restriction 'weak,' because some spirit world creatures might be genuinely friendly, but their very existence poses immense danger to you. "Taking those situations into account, the descriptions become standardized: 'A friendly creature that can be commanded,' 'A friendly creature that can be consulted,' 'A weak creature that can be commanded,' and so on and so forth. "Relying on just those two clauses, the target is still far too broad. It doesn't reflect our specific need, and we have no way of determining what kind of creature will actually show up. That's why the third clause is crucial—you have to make it clear in a single sentence exactly what creature you wish to summon." "That sounds hard." Just thinking about it gave Lumian a headache. Aurore nodded. "Not only is it hard, it's dangerous. "When the targeting is vague, what comes might be a spirit you don't need, or a creature that brings danger. You have to remember: in many cases, being weak doesn't mean it can't kill you, just as being friendly doesn't mean it poses no threat to you."