When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 38: 21 Sacred Arts: Rite of Fire

At least in this matter, Aiwass could be sure that Bishop Mathers knew less than he did.

Although Aiwass had completely forgotten the plot, the letter he obtained at the Pelican Bar, which was sent to the Noble Red Society by "someone," mentioned some key intelligence.

The letter vaguely mentioned that the Demon Scholars sent by the Noble Red Society this time should be "a group of people," not just two. "That person" would coordinate with their actions, continuously creating incidents around Glass Island in advance to divert the attention and manpower of the Supervisory Bureau.

Similarly, the mysterious person who wrote the letter also issued a warning to the Noble Red Society with an attitude nearly equal to that of a partner—the gist was that the credit he was willing to extend to the Society was limited. If the Society failed to provide him with what he wanted this time, then he would be "heartbroken yet resolute in executing some unkind deeds that neither of us would like to see or wish to witness."

The two "pen pals" who came to meet Aiwass in person had actually split from the main group and arrived in advance.

Their motives were easy to understand.

They had been running the "Aiwass" line for a very long time. Perhaps they thought Aiwass would die in the ongoing turmoil; or maybe they feared that their superiors would take Aiwass, this resource, from them; or they felt uneasy about this operation, thus activating Aiwass as a reserve to supplement important resources in advance.

Initially, they may have been attracted by the "Moriarty" family name, but when Aiwass became a Priest and continued to trust them, he himself became of special value.

Noble blood, a pure heart, a soul striving for Transcendence, a voluntary sacrificial offering—perhaps there were other factors as well. But Aiwass, as a sacrificial offering, was of very high caliber.

Because the ritual sacrifice was not a summoning specifically for the Shadow Demon, but any superior Demon could answer the call. And indeed, as soon as the ritual began, the Shadow Demon was attracted by the scent and came forth.

Aiwass offered half of his life force as a sacrifice to sign a contract with the Shadow Demon—this was actually the correct price.

The correct price for a sacrifice is "half." No matter how much you offer, the Demon only takes half, and it is usually the regenerative half, because the essence of this ritual is "division."

Equal division of wealth, power, profit, risk—such parties can then be termed collaborators. If the summoner's quality satisfies the Demon, the summoner may symbolically take an extra 1% to signify the distinction between "master and servant"; if the summoning is barely successful, then it's typically an even split.

But in reality, this has no binding effect on the Demon's actions. It is merely a verbal distinction of being called "the master" or "the partner."

Demon Scholars are a legal profession in countries other than Avalon and the Eternal Theocracy. If the art of sacrifice necessarily required killing one's offering, then Demon Scholars would inevitably be murderers, and the profession would not be legal. Moreover, if Demon Scholars performed self-sacrifice, it would amount to suicide.

The sacrifices made by Demon Scholars in the Kingdom of Avalon accompanied by slaughters are actually not demands of the Demons, but rather for silencing, robbery, or preparing ritual materials.

Given the limited circulation of mystical knowledge, most ordinary people don't even know what the Extraordinary Professions of the Path of Transcendence are, let alone the formal title of "Demon Scholar." They use "Magician," a term that means "some lord who can cast spells," as a folk substitute.

But actually, Demon Scholars' spellcasting abilities are not strong, and the types of spells they can use are quite limited.

Compared to Mages of the Path of Wisdom, Necromancers of the Path of Dusk, and Sages of the Path of Adaptation, they are much less capable, and even less so than the Legal Mages of the Path of Authority—Demon Scholars' main strength comes from "rituals" and "Demons." Many spells rely on rituals, requiring advance preparation, and the power far exceeds that of normal spells.

For example, Veronica's "Cursed Infant" requires an infant cursed to death by the caster as ritual material. A second-level Demon Scholar-led ritual spell can threaten or even instantly kill frontline professionals of the third energy level.

If they lack appropriate materials or do not have a contract with a sufficiently powerful Demon, Demon Scholars become very weak.

However, if Demon Scholars plan covertly and prepare in advance, they can completely unleash destructive power far beyond their own level.

Now, I am in the Light while they are in the Darkness.

"First, light a new candle. Any color will do, there's no difference—when you've become proficient enough, carrying a pack of matches will suffice."

The old bishop said, extending his left hand, "I don't know how well you understand mystical knowledge, so I'll start from the beginning.

"Among your ten fingers, the thumb represents fire, the index finger represents air, the middle finger represents ether, the ring finger is earth, and the pinky is water. Each of the four basic elements has two corresponding fingers, while light and darkness are represented by the left and right hands, respectively. Therefore, we usually use the left hand to perform the Rite of Fire—since the elements of the Path of Devotion are light and fire, our most important fingers are the left thumb and middle finger.

"I don't recommend you use your right hand for any operations until you can use it skillfully and have it ingrained in your instinct."

Saying this, a white flame ignited on the old bishop's left thumb, lighting the candlestick in front of him.

There was a thick, long, white candle placed in advance. Once ignited, its light instantly illuminated the entire space.

"To facilitate guiding you in your first visualization, I specifically chose the brightest type available."

Bishop Mathers explained, gesturing Oswald to push Aiwass's wheelchair closer.

"Come, raise your left hand. Do as I do..."

His movements were slow, "Imagine that what's in front of you is not a candle flame within reach but the unattainable golden sun.

"No matter how bright the flame before you is, you must envision it shining with an extremely brilliant light—let that light fill every corner of your field of vision, filling your entire sight without a trace of shadow. Imagine that it can penetrate your palm, and even with your hands wide open, your hand should be as transparent as glass."

Aiwass did as instructed.

But just as he extended his hand,

A pop-up suddenly appeared before him:

[Samuel Mathers is teaching you the 'Rite of Fire.' Would you like to pay 1 public experience to master this Mystical Skill?]

The moment Aiwass saw the pop-up, he froze for an instant, instinctively looking towards Bishop Mathers.

In the game, if a player's Mystical Skill was acquired through a quest—that is, not through reading but after maxing out the personal affection of a certain NPC and being taught one-on-one—the experience consumed to learn the skill is directly proportional to the skill level and inversely proportional to the level of the instructor.

In other words, the easier the Mystical Skill is to learn and the higher the level of the instructor, the less experience the learner has to expend.

In the game, this setting didn't mean much; it simply served to show how powerful a person was indirectly because players didn't lack that bit of experience—there were no stamina limits in this broken game, and the experience needed to learn Mystical Skills wasn't much.

However, when discussing "who is stronger than whom" or "who can one-shot whom" on the Wargame forums online, people would bring out this factor as a basis to deduce the actual professional level corresponding to that NPC.

When players in those days learned Sacred Arts, they uniformly needed to spend seven points of experience to master them—and that NPC, whose name Aiwass couldn't remember, was at least some sort of bishop.

So, what's going on with you, old man? You have such a high level even in version 1.0, so why have I never heard your name in the game?

—Oh no, it looks like I've encountered a Sweeping Monk.