A Grimoire

"Yes. An average talent." The Immemorial Owl emphasized, amused by Hugo's reply.

"Are you serious?"

"I never make jokes."

"So, what do you classify as a top-grade talent?" Hugo asked. What he feared most was being mediocre at anything he set his mind to. He would rather change profession than go on wasting time in a line of work that had no prospects for him.

"Enough with that. You know we have a very limited amount of time."

"We can't waste it on pointless arguments. First, start with trying to sense the energy around you. You will have very few opportunities as good as this one to connect with the astral plane." The Owl replied before Hugo could ask any more questions.

Hugo was taken aback.

His advancement had been entirely driven out of his mind by the Owl's comments.

He looked around and observed his surroundings.

The entire space was more expansive than before and enclosed in a mist with a dark-reddish hue.

The golden sparks in the sky were more concentrated while the previously formless ground was covered by a reddish-brown substance.

[Is this some sort of soil?] Hugo was fascinated.

He stretched out his arm to observe the substance and reeled back in shock.

"Why is my arm also reddish-brown?" Hugo muttered, contemplating his odd appearance.

[Wait: I don't actually remember ever trying to scrutinize myself during any of my previous visits here] He concluded after running all his prior stints in deep meditation through his mind. He clearly remembered observing his surroundings, but never his actualized self in the spiritual world.

He had always presumed that he appeared as his physical-self, projected like an avatar in this space.

[Why have I never attempted to look at myself before?] Hugo contemplated as he examined his reddish hued silhouette.

"Are you wondering why you have never perceived your actualized self before in deeper meditation?" Bundi asked, seeing the obvious signs of puzzlement displayed by Hugo.

Hugo looked at the Huge Owl and nodded.

"The explanation is very simple. You have never been 'totally' lucid when visiting this space. You only managed to enter here with a proper frame of mind due to a single reason."

"That is, it…" The Owl's voice reverberated through the whole space as she lifted one of her wings and pointed at the gigantic pyramid.

"You'd better start training with the Psykhe-Mental-Exercise immediately. You are wasting your time examining senseless things. This space will always be here, but the astral plane's cosmic energy won't." The Owl added nonchalantly.

Hugo turned his attention to the giant wave of energy around him. It was not in the same ground state as Gaia's mana, but a highly excited state. Yet it maintained its stability.

Hugo sighed once more after sensing this peculiarity, but he cast it to the back of his mind before resuming the exercise.

He settled down and started to meditate.

As this was his spiritual world, he could connect directly with the otherworldly energy that had yet to dissipate.

He calmed his mind, steadied his heart, and then started practicing the now-familiar visualizations and the breathing exercises.

Soon he reached the sequence of inhaling thirteen times… and exhaling eight times...

Hugo continued following the breathing patterns as instructed in the Fibonacci-Breathing-Sequence manual. He inhaled twenty-one times… exhaled thirteen times…

At the advent of the next sequence, he suddenly sensed a vortex of energy at the base of the tail-bone of his physical body.

A red whirlpool of energy spinning in a clockwise direction appeared in his mind's eye. The energy vortex mysteriously resonated with and matched the frequency of his breathing patterns.

Hugo could sense an intimate connection between his consciousness and the vortex. He felt that the energy vortex was very close yet, at the same time, so far away in a space different from that occupied by his physical body.

Hugo extended his consciousness to tap into the energy, however, his body trembled as the vortex disappeared from his perception.

Unknown to him, some of the energy from the tail-bone vortex had escaped and flowed upwards through the mana channels of his body. The Owl noticed the energy flow, but remained silent, only curiously observing Hugo.

[Why did the energy disappear? Was it just a hallucination?] Hugo wondered as he tried to sense the area around the base of his spine once again.

But alas, all traces of the vortex had completely vanished.

"Was it a delusion?" Hugo mumbled.

He looked up to find the Owl observing him with an amused expression.

"Do you think it's an illusion?" The feminine voice of the Owl sounded; its tone playful.

"Do you know what that was?" Hugo looked at the Owl expectantly.

[Is this the kind of energy used by mystics? If I sense it again will I be able to use mystic powers?] Hugo wondered as he awaited Bundi's reply.

"Hahaha…" The Owl laughed derisively.

"Do you remember our previous discussion about reality?"

"Yes! You mentioned that the genesis of true wakefulness is the realization that we are actually dreaming," Hugo replied. The conversation was still as clear as day in Hugo's mind.

"That was you, not me. But it changes nothing. Have you ever thought in detail about the concept of reality?"

"What is there to think about?" Hugo couldn't see where the Owl was going with this.

"If reality is merely an illusion, it is a very persistent one." The Owl replied. "So, what makes you think that something won't be real if you persist in believing that it's real?"

"The two concepts are far from being closely linked," Hugo replied as he looked at the Owl with a puzzled expression.

"Why?"

"In a dream, as long as you are lucid, you can wish for anything or even do anything. But this is impossible in reality. In my previous life, I spent countless days in labs trying to fabricate my visions, however, very few have become a success. The death ray was one of those failed visions of mine." Hugo replied dejectedly.

"You have to believe in your vision until it's proven with utmost certainty as impossible. Isn't that the essence of being a scientist?"

"You can believe in fairies, the myths, dragons, and the gods. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?"

"…You just have to make them real by your efforts." The Owl's ancient voice was solemn as she took on the tone of a teacher educating a student.

"Then you would be the God who created the world in seven days," Hugo mumbled.

"You think that is an impossibility?" The Owl countered.

"Isn't it?"

"Young fella! This is not the previous Earth of yours which was so dilapidated and at the brink of destruction. Here in this world, you can make the objects in your dreams appear in reality. And the opposite is also true."

"The evil spirit that attacked you previously mysteriously appeared in your dreams. Didn't he?" The Owl questioned as its green eyes looked at Hugo with contempt.

"He did," Hugo mumbled.

"And am I not here together with this pyramid?"

Hugo was taken aback. He had been meaning to ask the Owl about the issue of the entities in his mind. Here was his chance.

"Do you stay in my mind with this book and pyramid, or are you residing in another space connected to my mind?" Hugo looked at the Owl with unbridled curiosity.

"I stay in your spiritual world, not your mind. And that is because of it." The Owl once again pointed at the pyramid.

"What is special about this pyramid? How could a small pendant turn into such a behemoth?"

"You are not qualified to know at the moment." Bundi's tone was apathetic.

"You are sidetracking me once again. I was talking about the basis of mysticism in this world. The whole system of power here is based on one tenet; That is visualization."

"In the entire cosmos, imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality."

"You can visualize powerful spells if your imagination permits. The only knack for success is that you have to convince yourself first, and then the surrounding cosmic energy."

"So. How do I train my mystic powers?" Hugo hurriedly asked as the Owl was deviating from the topic once again.

[How could you blame me for your blabbering when you are the one always going off-topic?] Hugo wondered.

"Do you think that I am blabbering?" The Owl looked at Hugo, its tone conveying its deep amusement.

[Can this Owl read my thoughts?] Hugo's heart leaped into his throat.

"Yes! I can 'deduce' your thoughts with ease. You're an open book. This needs to change very soon or else you will have a short life." The Owl answered solemnly, ignoring Hugo's panic.

"Give me the token."

"Which token?"

"The one you have been carrying around you dimwit."

"It is under my pillow. I can't bring it in here." Hugo was confused.

[How can I bring a physical token into my dream world?] Hugo was still stuck in his scientific mindset.

The Owl gently shook its beaked head as she extended one of its golden wings towards Hugo.

A golden glow materialized and enveloped Hugo…

And instantaneously, Hugo felt a much clearer perception of the surrounding material world. His small bed, the magic lamps, the bedside table, the bookshelves, the window that was starting to let in some rays of the early morning sun...

Every object, whether hidden or under the bed appeared directly in his mind.

"Just visualize the token appearing in your spiritual world. Take your time. Relax and do it while following the breathing pattern." The Owl's voice was once again soothing.

Hugo did as he was told and pictured the token appearing in his spiritual world…

"Swash…"

The token disappeared from under his pillow and directly appeared in his spiritual world.

[A physical object can be brought in here?] Hugo's mouth was agape as he once again tried to perceive the other objects in his room.

But at that very moment, the Owl's energy disappeared and Hugo could not perceive the objects as clearly as before.

"How did I do that?" He asked looking at the Owl with puppy eyes.

"Once upon a time in the cosmos, you will know," Bundi replied as she beckoned the token over from Hugo's side.

She tapped the token a few times with her wing…

The token enlarged and began gleaming with a dark sheen. The symbols engraved on the surface started cycling around the sacred symbol of the God of Darkness at an ever-increasing speed.

In the blink of an eye, the symbol of the God of Darkness was substituted with one of the sacred symbols of the God of Death. It was a simple hooded-skull and a scythe.

"Pah… Pah… Pah"

The sound of rusty gears locking in place could be heard as the mysterious ciphers spinning around the hooded-skull and scythe increased their circular velocity. They spun so fast that Hugo could only perceive them as swirls of light around the edges of the enlarged token.

Eventually, they escaped the token and mysteriously appeared in the formless space.

The ciphers lit up the formless space with a blinding array of red lights as they descended and disappeared into the dark-brown book that perpetually hovered in Hugo's spiritual world.

Hugo strained his eyes to look at the book and what he saw greatly shocked him.

The 'five-pointed' and 'six-pointed' stars in the series of geometric-star-figures were the only ones left glittering on the cover of the huge book. The other symbols had all disappeared.

The pentagram and hexagram symbols sparkled as they cycled around the image of the infant sitting cross-legged on a flower throne in the center.

Although the child's face was blurry, Hugo could make out that he was in the age range of five to seven years.

He appeared as a profane prince seated on his flower throne in his birthday suit.

Below the child and the swirling pair of symbols, a single word was written in golden ink, in handwriting akin to that of an elementary scholar in his first school term.

"GRIMOIRE"