Throughout the morning. Selina practiced her spirit vision under the monitoring of both Klein and Old Neil.
"It was easier now." she said while switching her vision on and off by tapping her glabella more than twice.
Old Neil expressed his content on how smooth Selina's practice is going. After this, Klein excused himself to continue his day's historical documents.
While Selina concentrates on regulating her spirituality, trying to prolong her spirit vision. Old Neil handed a pile of documents onto the table.
"These are the formulas and the accumulated knowledge of the Church of Earth Mother about Apothecary. You can find potions and medicines ranging from the ones able to effectively cure at a fast pace, to mitigate wounds, ease the nerves and finally heal." he listed the formulas summarized by the documents.
"I've read it beforehand and even attempted a few", he chuckled. "Needless to say, it didn't go as what I would have expected."
"How was your condition and grasp of the Spirit Vision? Can you maintain it a bit longer?"
Selina glanced at the documents from the table and retracted it to Old Neil, "I'm getting used to it."
"Great, then before you read, I assume there are many mentions in the documents that would, maybe become difficult for you to understand so I'll start with the basics." Old Neil retrieved a candle stand from the shelves and placed it over the table.
Before he proceed, he asked, "Ms. Roy, have you heard of ritualistic magic?"
She nodded slightly and replied, "Yes, I have. But I don't know how to properly attempt it."
Although she had completed The Fool's prayer ritual with success. She still believed that there were many errors in her actions during that time. With that, Selina was determined to become more familiar with it through a trusted mentor.
Old Neil smiled as if he were expecting this, he said, "You know about the Goddess's title right?"
As he spoke, he began collecting various essential oils from the shelves, preparing them onto the table.
"Yes", replied Selina firmly. With the general knowledge of the church, she recited, "The Lady of Crimson, the Mother of the Concealment, the Empress of Disaster and Horror, Mistress of Calm and Silence."
When Old Neil was done, he turned to Selina, commending her while saying, "That's right, those are some of the Goddess's title. The description of Her we use during canonical hours, which is Sunday, the day where the Gray Constellation symbolizing her authority in the astral world were at its peak."
"As you may have guessed, the prayers during those times, most specifically acted by normal people are simply just... Well, prayers", Old Neil chuckled lightly at this fact.
"Every being have spirituality within them, that is one of the key to bridge oneself to the desired deity. The irony is that even though these aren't scarce but apparently abundant, these were rarely used by normal humans directly."
"This sets the beyonder world apart from the convention."
While he explains, he pierced a bag of salt right in front of Selina. Using this, he drew a circle around the table, carefully measuring the amount of salt used.
He continued, "As beyonders. We have the ability to use our spirituality to achieve inhumane feats, such as opening one's spirit vision, just like what you are practicing right now.
"And because of this, we can also achieved a more mystical approach in communicating with the deity we desire. You can stop for now and practice your spirit vision again in your home, for now pay attention to what I'm about to do", as he said this, Old Neil's hand raised a box of match from the table.
Selina didn't continue her practice as instead watched carefully on how Old Neil attempt his ritual.
However, just before he lighted it, he grinned and set the matches aside, away from the table.
What? Why? Selina was caught off guard.
How would he light the candle if he's not going to use a match?
"You must be wondering why I didn't used the matches right?" Old Neil was satisfied by slight display of her expression.
"I do intend to use them later, you know, to brew and heat my coffee. But for now, I have a much more easier and convenient way to light the candles."
As he said this, his hand gently caped the candle wick, like he was shielding it from any sort of sudden wind that might blow the plume off.
Suddenly, the wick had sparks. It wasn't entirely visible because Old Neil was leaning closer, however it still manages to glimpsed right for Selina to see.
How? Selina baffles in awe. Like a child who had suddenly saw a comet for the first time, she was mystified.
Strangely enough, without any source of fire nearby, the candle burned brightly, right before her. The first candle was representing 'me' which Selina had learned from the documents.
"This", Old Neil pointed toward the ignited candle. "This represents the 'I'. The universal 'I', the spiritual 'I' and ultimately oneself. In simpler terms, this symbolically points toward you which allows you to relay your wish for the deity.
"The wish can be power, blessing, and bestowment. Which is what I'm about to do right now."
"Bestowment? What do you wish for specifically?" Selina said with innocence.
Old Neil coughed while hearing this and said hesitantly, "Same as what I have wish for when I first demonstrated the prayer ritual to Klein."
... You're evading my question... Selina wasn't the type to probe further unless necessary. So instead, settled for the response given to her.
After the first candle. Old Neil didn't followed his gesture of caping the candles with his hand. The remaining two ignited on their own as he uncapped the bottle he picked from the side.
No matter how I see it... It's so unbelievable... Selina was marveled by the display of abilities.
"Mr. Old Neil, how were you doing that?" she finally blurted out.
"Doing what?" he teased with a grin.
Selina creased her brow and slightly compressed her lips on their corner. That! That lighting the candles without a fire!
"How you lit the candles without any source, let alone a nearby fire."
Old Neil chuckled. He forcefully pulled a fragment of wood from the table and said, "You mean this?"
The fragment ignited again without any source of ignition.
"I was able to do it by rubbing my spirituality over the wood, producing sparks akin to how you would produce fire in the Early Era of Fire in the Second Epoch."
"Rubbing?" asked Selina in puzzlement.
"Once you've finally get the hang of your spirituality, you'll know how to rub it. For now all I can say is that it is somewhat similar to what I'm about to do right after this."
After Old Neil lit the following candles symbolizing the deity. His hand, holding the uncapped bottle containing translucent deep-blue liquid, poured a drop over the flame.
Sizzle!
Selina caught whiff of a scented fragrance. Soothing and serene. It drifted across the room, filling its crevices of this pleasant smell.
Mr. Fool had mentioned of using essential oils, but he didn't specified what to use it for. The documents didn't seem to have this prerequisite, so perhaps because of that her first ritual was poorly performed.
If it wasn't Mr. Fool, then maybe, the ritual wouldn't have worked.
Selina ruminated over this and became determined to know more of the following exquisites.
From the preparation of the table, there was also a blade right next to the candle stand.
This blade was double edged, it had a fine grey surface both smooth and lustrous metallic luster. From its appearance alone, Selina could tell that it was a silver dagger used in rituals.
"This is a silver dagger. The material used in forging these are silver which the name already suggests heh heh." Old Neil joked dismissively.
"The reason beyonders used these instead of the conventional daggers is that the material used have a symbolic intimacy with the domain it intends to call upon. The silver for example corresponds to the constellation active in Sundays, which you may already have guessed, it is the Goddess.
"However, this isn't entirely the case as silver daggers are both an intimate symbolism of a certain domain as well as a symbolic carver during rituals. Which is why it is recommended to use silver daggers as much as possible."
Selina stopped to ingest the information given by Old Neil. Moments later, she asked thoughtfully, "You said 'as much as possible'. Does that mean regular knives can be used when the situation is dire?"
She did used one, but she was unsure of what the knife's material during her first ritual, prompting her to suspect that it may have been just a regular knife made of ceramic metal.
"You can. However, don't expect results in doing so", Old Neil chuckled amusingly. "Remember that we are the benefactor, not the deity we pray to. They can simply refuse to respond if ever they see that the preparation is unlikable or doesn't suit their expectation. As such, we need to make multiple effort to pleased the corresponding deity, enough for them to consider responding to you.
"Heh, I remember we used to dressed very conservatively just to receive a response to the Goddess. This was when we were children and I was not apart of the Nighthawks, so naturally we couldn't get any revelation" he said as his gaze wander off from the altar.
Selina suddenly heard him mutter silently in the air, immediately he retracted his attention.
"Alright, now for the next procedure. This is the step I'm referring to when you asked how I lit the candle without a fire. Setting up a wall of spirituality."
"Wall of spirituality?" Selina asked so as to conceal her own knowledge of the topic.
"The wall of spirituality is a sort of protection barrier and a makeshift sanctuary to properly perform rituals", explained Old Neil.
"When we perform rituals, we are vulnerable to any form of malicious intent. These intents can be manifested in varied ways such as auditory murmurs, knowledge infusion, and envision amidst the flames.
"Which is why it is important to protect oneself by setting up a wall of spirituality to hinder these malicious intents. This can be achieved by simulating a feeling of pouring a waterfall, the water is your spirituality and the blade is where the fall begins.
"I see..." Selina quietly committed this new insight into memory.
"This simulation, a feeling of creating a waterfall, is a sort of utilization of spirituality. Through this, you can achieve what I've done earlier. Lighting the candles without a match.
"Okay, with all that aside. We can now begin chanting their following honorific title in the form of a prayer using mystical languages known to stir the natural forces of the world. Hermes." Old Neil clasped his hand after putting the essentials oils away.
"Ms. Roy, I assume you must already know one or two of these languages. Right?" Old Neil casted his gaze to Selina on the side.
She knew them, however, it was only in the name and not the entirety of the language and their structure.
So instead of enumerating the names mentioned by Hanged Man. Selina chose to nod simply and replied, "Yes, I know only the Hermes. However, I wouldn't say I'm adept at it."
Hermes have a much older counterpart, which is the Ancient Hermes she know only little of.
"That's fine, you can learn it more by browsing the archive of mysticism language documents. That way, you'll become more confident about your literacy."
Selina expressed her content as she assumed her natural poise.
"Now, for the honorific name..."
Old Neil continued his explanation of how the deity's title is used in during prayers and any other mysticism related activities. The rules about the names and their effect when used inappropriately. Strangely enough, the description follows the same meaning as the Ritual of the Land's first part.
He also emphasized that even if the deity had multiple lines for incantation and their title, a simple three line description from them is enough.
She now planned to attempt making a honorific title for her identity as the Reborn Child of God.
"Alright, now that I've briefed you of the details of the ritual. I'll begin praying now. Please watch closely and avoid interrupting."
Selina nodded and maintained her gaze toward him.
The candlelight flickered and Selina barely could hear anything from Old Neil as he seems to begun muttering to himself.
Softly, he said before the altar, in the language of Hermes:
"The Evernight Goddess who stands higher than the cosmos and more eternal than eternity;
"The Empress of Misfortune and Horror;
"The Lady of the Crimson and Concealment.
"I pray for the blessing of fortune...
"I pray for the blessing amounting to twenty pounds for a debt...
Beyond the wall of spirituality, Selina vaguely heard 'dept' from Old Neil's murmurs.
... She chose to remain ignorant and immediately forget the word.
"Night Vanilla, a flower belonging to the domain of Evernight, please bestow your powers to my incantation...
"Moonlight Flower, a flower belonging to the domain of Evernight, please bestow your powers to my incantation...