Chapter 52 - Ritual (Patreon)

The following day, I started preparing for the ritual. In the third book on mana, I learned that it's preferable to perform rituals on power vents, as this allows the world to provide some of the necessary power. So, first thing, I went to look for a vent. For half a day, I walked around with my eyes half closed and all my attention on the mana. Because the mana wasn't uniform, it was a learning experience. There are areas with thicker mana or almost no mana, adding another layer to sensing the world. In the afternoon, I found an area with thicker mana and slowly focused on the point where the mana was coming from.

It was an area of very dense bushes, and I assumed they grew so thick because of the richer mana. I started cutting the bushes with a machete, and a jurber jumped out of one of the bushes and bit my hand. Oww! I hate those little, bitey things. I grabbed it by the neck and threw it to the ground. That was the end of the jurber, and I healed the hand. I was too annoyed and didn't even try to convert it into a crystal.

The red light started flashing, so I opened it to get rid of the annoyance.

Level 1 Jurber defeated

Yeah, yeah, I know.

I began to understand why Lis said I should take a fighting class; if those little fuckers kept biting, at least I'd gain levels from them.

I continued cutting the bushes until I cleared the entire area. I thought about it and concluded it was also on a vent the last time I found the jurbers; I felt that the mana at that spot was thicker. At the time, I assumed it was because of the jurbers I killed, but now I realize I was simply sitting on a vent. They spawn on vents, presumably because of the higher mana concentration. I didn’t see this fact in any of the books, but it was a logical conclusion. I need to remember this: if I want a vent, look for a concentration of monsters.

With the area cleared, I stood on the vent and felt the mana. It was like a pipe from the earth, releasing mana into the air. The mana had a distinct flavor of fire and stone, a sensation I could feel rising from beneath.

I removed my glamping tent and placed it on the vent. Because it still rained every other day, I refrained from performing the ritual outside to avoid its erasure. I was ready to sacrifice the tent's flooring for the ritual.

In the first step, I had to carve two large rings that overlapped by at least 20%, but no more than 30% and the rings had to be the same size. I thought about how to do it for a while, and then an idea came to me: I took an arrow, tied a rope to it, and stuck it in the floor. I took a kitchen knife and started channeling the heat spell until the knife's blade was red. Luckily, the wooden handle didn't burn. Once the knife reached a high temperature, I struck it with a stone, causing the blade to assume a convex shape suitable for carving a channel.

I tied the knife to the other end of the rope, went around at maximum tension, and created a channel that was the outer circle of the first ring. By eye, I estimated an overlap of about a little over 20%, moved the arrow to the center of that point, and created the outer circle of the second ring. After that, I wrapped the string around the arrow several times until the second circle of the ring was smaller than the first by about 20 centimeters, and again, I made a full circle with maximum tension to create the ring's inner circle. I repeated the action with the second ring.

Now, I had to mix ash, salt, and soil, saturate them with mana with the flavor of Purity (slightly different from Purify's flavor and took me three days to learn during my mana exercises), and fill the grooves with the mixture. The ashes symbolize the Spirit, the salt the Mind, and the soil the Body. I had already prepared a large amount of the mix in advance for this stage, but I was not ready for the amount of mana that this mix could absorb. When I reached mana saturation, I was almost empty. Mana: 230/7600.

I sat down to regenerate mana and continued with the practice of Absorb Mana to expand my channels (from the books, I learned that this is a good thing) and to regenerate faster. The channel in my left arm could already take twice as much mana as the other channels. I also discovered that doing it on a vent was an excellent idea; the amount of mana in the air was far greater. It was already dark by this time, so I ran back to Lis's house. It took me twenty minutes to get back, and I found Rue waiting by the house, sending me "not happy" vibes. Oops! I forgot to leave food for him.

I scratched his ears and said, "Sorry, buddy, I'll leave you food tomorrow. My mind was too busy with the ritual, and I forgot other minor details, like food."

After we both ate, I sat down to regenerate.

My mana was still not full the next day, but I returned to the ritual to continue the preparations. This time, I even remembered leaving food for Rue. It was still hard for me to get used to the new name, and I hoped that, in time, it would become less strange. I agree with Lis's advice about the name, but getting used to a new name is difficult after you're already used to the old one.

When I got to the tent, I took the mixture I made and slowly poured it into the grooves of the rings. This will be the mana filter, ensuring the ritual contains only neutral mana. The mixture I made was almost enough for both rings. I had to mix another pot, channel Purity (luckily, I had enough mana), and fill the last groove.

For the next step, I took a pencil and sketched the runes inside the rings. I didn't want to immediately prepare the runes for the ritual because I wasn't sure I could estimate the correct distances by eye; it was much more logical to do it first with a pencil. From a runic perspective, the ring part of the ritual was straightforward. Four large central runes were repeated over and over: Mind, Spirit (Emotion), Spirit (Astral), and Body, and they all had to be the same size. I took a piece of cardboard, cut out the middle so I’d have a square, and used it as a template for the size of the runes. I found it curious that the Mind rune was similar to the Air rune, the Spirit (Emotion) rune was similar to the Fire rune, the Spirit (Astral) rune was similar to the Water rune, and the Body rune was similar to the Earth rune.

After each central rune, there was a series of eight smaller runes: connection, meld, relationship, bond, understanding, link, merge, and blend, which had to be half the size of the primary runes. Again, I did the trick with the cardboard to make a square half the size. Then, it was necessary to add connecting lines from the central runes to the small ones at specific points in each rune. The connecting lines were also different. The lines of Mind had to be completely straight, both Spirit rune lines looked like waves, and the lines of the body were zigzag.

The runes also had to be at a certain distance from each other. Luckily, the distance didn't have to be completely accurate. There was a minimum and a maximum, with some room for maneuvering. When I reached the end of the sketch in the first ring, I lacked space for the last rune and the line connecting it to the first rune. So, I had to delete several series of runes and draw them more densely to make room for the last rune and line. After the first ring, I had to repeat the same thing with the second. Now, I needed to reverse the order of the runes: Body, Spirit (Astral), Spirit (Emotion), and Mind, followed by the minor ones: blend, merge, link, understanding, bond, relationship, meld, and connection. At least the connecting lines were the same.

By the time I finished sketching the two rings, the sun had almost set, so I came home, and Stretch Rue and I had dinner together. His name was still so strange to me.

I explained to Rue the following day, "For the ritual, I now need blood from both of us, so give me your paw. I'll take some blood, and then I'll heal you."

He held out his paw without hesitation. I cut him, filled a cup with blood, and healed him. After that, I cut myself and filled the same cup again. I mixed the two cups of blood in a pot with ash, salt, and soil until it became a thick mixture. I was ready for the next step in the ritual.

I returned to the tent, and before I started painting the runes, I needed to purify the mana inside the rings. The salt, ash, and soil filtered the new mana, but the original mana in the air remained "contaminated." I had to purify it—not with a spell but mana.

Finally, the mana was pure, and I could start painting the runes. Of course, I didn't think about bringing a brush; why would I bring brushes? Again, I had to find a solution. I took a rope, separated its threads, tied them to a stick, and cut them to the same length. With my makeshift brush, I started painting the runes with the blood mixture, but as I painted each rune, I had to channel mana into it until it glowed. After a third of the first ring, I was drained. I sat down to regenerate and finished one more series of runes before it got dark.

When I got home, I found out that Lis was back. I saw him sitting on the porch, talking to Rue. When he saw me, he waved hello with a huge smile. I liked this person; he was always happy.

I asked him, "How was your trip?"

"Nice. After a world or two with low mana, they start to look the same, but it's nice to meet some people, and I like the wilderness." He said, "How are you doing with the ritual?"

"I've finished all the learning and am currently painting the runes. I did a little over a third of the first ring today. I believe I'll have it all done in three to four days, but I haven't started building the cross in the center yet." I asked, "Where did you visit, and what did you do?"

"I was in the nearest capital city; I enjoyed the bathhouse, ate interesting food, visited several taverns, met the locals, and even learned a new song about a boat on a river."

I started laughing, took out my guitar, and sang a few lines from the song "Boat on the River" in English. I asked him, "Is this the song?"

He nodded in the affirmative and asked, "How do you know the song, and in English, no less?"

"It's a song from Earth. I translated it into Shimoorian."

When he heard this, Lis burst out laughing.

He wiped tears from his eyes and said, "The universe is huge, but sometimes something happens that makes it feel tiny."

Lis and I sat and talked on the porch until he went to sleep, and I sat to regenerate.

For the next three days, I spent all day in the tent, painting the runes and filling them with mana. On the second day, I developed a technique that helped me progress faster. I created the mana with the absorb flavor in my left arm, drew the runes with my right arm, and channeled mana into them. I still needed to take breaks to regenerate, but they were less frequent. During these breaks, I repeated the absorb technique but limited it to my right arm and legs to begin balancing the width of the channels. On the third day's evening, I had already completed the first ring and 40% of the second ring.

On the morning of the fourth day, I was about to enter the tent when suddenly, something sticky wrapped around my hand. I was surprised. I jerked my hand to the side and saw a furry frog flying before me. I took out a knife, cut the tongue, and tried to peel it from my hand, but it was sticky and peeled off my skin. While I was busy with the tongue, the frog spat fire at me and burned my pants! I took out my staff and knocked on the frog's head. Now I had a crushed frog, a hand with a sticky tongue peeling off the skin, and burned pants.

Lis was right: I need fighting class; these monsters won't leave you alone.

I checked the red light.

Level 2 Hopping Fire Spitter defeated

If the level is higher, the monsters have a longer name?

I finished peeling the tongue, healed my arm and leg, changed my pants, and entered the tent. There wasn't even a point to cast Restore on the pants. The fire scorched my entire right leg. Luckily, I wore jeans; the fire hurt, but not terribly.

I continued with the runes, and in the evening, I had less than 15% left to finish the rings.

Now, I had to start planning the inside of the rings. In the middle of each ring was a large cross sign with a circle at each end, and from these circles, straight lines to all the primary runes in the rings. On the sides of the cross, I had to put two runes that represented me, one of which was my class and the other a representation of me at this moment in time. Above and below, I had to add runes representing the connection between me and Stretch Rue. Rue's circles were more straightforward: A mana beast on one side and a canine on the other. Both our crosses had to have the same top and bottom.

I chose the wizard class but was torn about the second circle. I couldn’t decide between Sapience or Self-Awareness. I felt that sapience might help Rue, but this journey, for me, was a journey of self-discovery, so I felt like the rune of Self-Awareness suited me better at this point in time.

I went to ask Rue about the other two runes.

I found him napping on the porch, scratched his ears, and asked, “For the ritual, we need to choose two things representing our connection. I'm considering choosing love and protection because we both love and want to protect each other."

I felt a negative from him.

"So, what should the symbols be?"

I felt a massive wave of love from him and a deep friendship.

"Love and friendship?"

He nodded his head and sent an agreement through the channel between us.

"No problem, buddy; I think these are excellent runes."

At dinner, I told Lis, "You're right about the fighting class. Monsters keep attacking me, so if they bite and burn me, at least I'll earn levels."

He laughed and said, "Yes, it's in their nature. You've already learned that monsters, primarily composed of tainted mana, exhibit aggression towards all entities. You can wait until you're in a world with dungeons, or you can take advantage of the opportunity in your world to get a fighting class."

"How? I fought in my world with a bow and a staff and didn't get a class."

"Did you buy the skills with ability points?"

"No, I trained and earned them 'the hard way.'"

"Ah, good, good. But with your fighting skills, you weren't defending yourself or fighting to kill, were you?"

"No."

"If you do it a few times, you'll get the class. You can go to an area with criminals, flash some money, and they'll attack you."

"If I can avoid it, I don't want to kill people. Aside from that, all criminals on Earth have guns. I don't think my bow or staff would be effective against a gun."

"Another option is to go hunting animals. I'm sure there are places in your world with a population explosion of certain animals. You can hunt some animals and take the class there."

"That's a good idea. When we get back, I'll search the internet."

"Oh, yes, I heard about it in your world, but I haven't looked into it."

"I'll teach you how to use the internet. You'll find a lot of engineering information there."

"Thank you."

I smiled and nodded.

I finished the second ring and moved on to the crosses the next day. The runes in the circles on the crosses had to be 200% larger than the primary runes in the rings, so after Rue's ring, I had to regenerate again. But finally, in the middle of the night, I finished the whole ritual.

I returned home to sleep, and the following day, I rushed back to the tent to go over the ritual and make sure everything was flawless: no mistakes, no blocked mana channels, or imbalance between the rings. I ran all the tests I saw in the mana books, and the book about familiars, and everything was perfect.

I came home to call Lis and Rue to do the ritual.

"Lis, everything's ready. Want to come with me to the ritual site?"

"You have full mana?"

"No ..."

"Sit and regenerate. Don’t do the ritual without full mana. And after you’re full, rest, eat well, and only then do it. This type of ritual is very taxing on the body and the mana channels. You want to be in top condition so that everything goes smoothly."

"Thanks. I'll do it."

It took me two days before I felt ready to perform the ritual. My mana was full; I ate well, rested, drank water, and even took vitamins and everything else possible to stay in great shape. I also made sure Rue did the same. Maybe not the vitamins.

The following day, we went to the ritual tent. Rue and I sat on our crosses, and I began to channel mana into the ritual. The runes began to glow more and more, and at one point, I felt the mana in the air being drawn into the ritual and me. I continued to channel mana until I was empty, but the mana from the air kept being drawn in more and more.

I began to feel intense pain in my head, followed by pain in the other two power centers. It hurt! I heard Rue whimper and realized I had closed my eyes. I looked at him; he sat on the cross, whimpering weakly.

After a few minutes of pain, I passed out.

When I came to, I immediately looked at Rue and saw that he, too, had opened his eyes.

He looked different! He was even larger; his fur lightened and was the same color as my hair, with some tan or light gray areas, and his eyes were a lighter purple color than mine.

The fur color made me suspicious, so I took out a mirror and looked at my eyes. Correction: His eyes were exactly my color. I don't know when my eyes became so bright purple, but that was their color.

I identified him.

______________

Rue

Bonded Familiar

Level 0

_______________

I examined the channel of the connection between us that he used to send emotions through, and it felt much more open and stable. I felt that it was two-way now.

"Are you okay, buddy?" I thought to him.

And I felt the answer, "Yes."

It wasn't an emotion, and he didn't say the word, but it was a "yes," not just an affirmative.

I walked up to him, hugged and petted him, and told him, "It's me and you against the world, buddy."

He stuck his tongue in my nose. There are things that even magic can't change.