Chapter 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.

If Aiwass relies solely on his capabilities as a Demon Scholar to confront them, then that's doubly disadvantageous—not only could it easily reveal his identity, but it would also be impossible to coordinate with his teammates.

He wouldn't even be able to blend in. Not even rest easy.

Originally, Aiwass had planned to quickly obtain the Priest profession level; he just didn't expect it to be so soon. He hadn't even told his foster father about this when Bishop Mathers had already thought of it in advance.

In the morning, the Supervisory Bureau called to make an appointment—saying they intended to visit Moriarty Manor in the evening. His foster father, however, was very happy about it, saying there was some kind of commendation for Aiwass... but Aiwass wasn't very interested in that.

What good thing could the Supervisory Bureau give? In the game, players were busy with errands but ultimately received nothing. All the benefits were taken by the Bureau itself.

Moreover, Aiwass worried that it would be Hayna, that fool again, coming hours in advance. So, he dared not go out all day today.

He originally planned to stay home and read books with his sister.

But then, at nine in the morning, he was invited to the Cathedral of Candle Master by Bishop Mathers.

However, Aiwass now felt not the slightest dissatisfaction, but was exceptionally devout and extremely earnest.

—Just kidding, this is a professional skill mentor!

And strictly speaking, he got in through the back door. Without passing an exam or completing that long and tedious list of "recognition tasks," he was directly granted the qualification to learn Sacred Arts!

The old bishop spoke leisurely, "The so-called 'Sacred Arts' are the most practical and safest mystical skills of the Path of Devotion, meticulously selected by the church based on the principles of 'safety,' 'health,' 'ease of learning,' and 'benefiting others.' After passing the corresponding qualification exam, you will be taught the respective skills by the bishop for free, until you learn them."

I understand, it's the Big Three: Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur... Pick one that's both easy to use and maintain.

Aiwass muttered to himself, feeling very anxious and impatient.

Meanwhile, Bishop Mathers continued unruffled, "Below the rank of Bishop, there are four Sacred Arts that can be mastered.

'Prayer,' 'Rite of Fire,' 'Illumination,' 'Blessing.' It is especially important to note that the essence of Mystical Skills cannot be understood simply by their literal meaning."

The elder bishop explained, "The so-called 'Rite of Fire' refers to a technique for strengthening the body and restoring oneself.

"Life is like a candle, and the soul is the flame. We who follow the Path of Devotion share our light and fire with others. But this also means that we will gradually become depleted ourselves.

"I've deliberately induced this unhealthy state in myself to demonstrate it to you."

While speaking, the old bishop pointed to the unnatural white at his temples.

Aiwass knew what he was about to say but still nodded obediently.

In short, the spells of the Path of Devotion require one to burn one's own blood.

Even healing involves using one's own blood to replenish others—since that's the case, the Path of Devotion must have a stable method for blood recovery.

This is the Rite of Fire.

"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.