NOVPUBWitnessing how Aiwass effortlessly sealed a Fifth Power Level Earthbound Spirit into a tiny Tarot Card was eye-opening.
Witnessing this, Sherlock was utterly astonished.
It could even be said he was dumbfounded.
"...How on earth did you do this?"
Sherlock was utterly perplexed.
Because this completely defied Sherlock’s common sense—the hierarchy on the transcendent path is clear, with higher beings significantly oppressing the lower ones.
Abilities often weaken significantly when leaping across one energy level and become ineffective over two levels. Those so-called examples of the weak overcoming the strong either circumvented the oppressed power by some means or, in reality, the weak wielded the shards or legacy of the stronger, becoming more powerful in a special domain.
But Aiwass’s ritual seemed to have nothing to do with that.
—This was clearly a "ritual" from the Path of Transcendence!
Nor did Aiwass use any power stronger than the Earthbound Spirit to suppress her... Aiwass did pray to Amber, but that couldn’t possibly mean Amber herself came to help him!
Even if the Earthbound Spirit voluntarily left, containing its power so perfectly was nearly impossible.
All its existence and power were condensed into this little card without the slightest leakage. This was a perfectly refined seal—the power of the Path of Wisdom allowed Sherlock to sharply analyze that unless Aiwass actively broke the complex seal, the Earthbound Spirit could absolutely not come out.
Given Aiwass’s proficiency, this obviously wasn’t his first time.
"How many such cards have you obtained?"
Sherlock couldn’t help but ask.
With a smile, Aiwass said, "A secret. And it’s not about obtaining, but creating."
—As long as Sherlock didn’t know he only had four cards, Aiwass appeared incredibly tall and mystifying.
"Just as I gifted you the Worshipper of Mithra’s class change ritual. You’ve said it yourself, I also have an affinity with the Path of Wisdom. But even though I’m aware of this ritual, I haven’t used it on myself... naturally, because I have a better career option."
Aiwass seriously said, "Have you not been curious about my Transcendence path career for a long time? Great Sin Scholar—this is my profession."
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After all, he only needed to advance two more times.
"...Great Sin Scholar, it sounds a lot like Demon Scholar, yet it’s different."
Sherlock murmured, "You don’t have a patron demon, but you possess the ability to create cards. That card is the Tarot’s Death; following this logic, you could probably have up to 22 such cards... Could it be summoning twenty-two Phantom Demons as minions that you personally captured? This profession’s ceiling is so powerful..."
Though he could not see the attributes of [Minion Card: Earthbound Spirit], Sherlock guessed from the previous conversation between Aiwass and the Earthbound Spirit Alice that Aiwass intended to take the Earthbound Spirit away. And seeing his triumphant demeanor now, it was clear he had succeeded.
But when Sherlock heard that Aiwass wasn’t a Demon Scholar, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He was growing increasingly appreciative of Aiwass.
When investigating Edward, Sherlock didn’t experience the thrill of slowly approaching the truth; instead, there was an inexplicable irritation as if something instinctively warned him to steer clear of this truth.
At that time, Sherlock relied solely on his stubborn belief, akin to a calf not fearing the tiger, and a rebellious attitude—’The more uncomfortable I feel, the more I have to resolve this’—to forcefully dig out Moriarty Family’s dark history and criminal evidence.
But he was not pleased.
Sherlock considered that emotion to be regret.
Now, he was unwilling to investigate Aiwass any further. However, the Queen owed him a debt of gratitude, and his family had been loyal to Avalon for generations. It was only right in both affection and reason that he ensured Aiwass would not become another Minister Drost... and now, at last, he had a conclusion to the investigation that could both appease himself and satisfy the Queen.
During the preparation of the ritual materials, Aiwass never excluded Sherlock, even inviting him to join the collection of swamp exudate.
Sherlock clearly saw that Aiwass didn’t use any human materials throughout the process.
—Compared to the evil and decadent Demon Scholars and the dangerous and mystic Curse Ritual Magicians, the Great Sin Scholar seemed like a cleaner profession on the Path of Transcendence.
In comparison, capturing Phantom Demons didn’t seem like such a daunting task.
"Next time," Sherlock adjusted the newsboy cap he was wearing and spoke softly, "I mean, in the future—if you need, you can always find me. I can help you catch the... Undead? Or I could assist you with investigating any information you want."
He wasn’t certain about the scope of Aiwass’s captures but inferred that at least he could seize the Undead.
Aiwass’s eyes lit up: "That would be excellent."
He did not demur at all but readily agreed.
On the contrary, he had shared the secret with Sherlock precisely for this reason. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Although Aiwass sometimes seemed smarter than Sherlock due to his advantage in insights and intelligence, Aiwass was well aware of his own capabilities. When it came to analyzing information based on existing intelligence, he was considerably weaker than Sherlock.
Moreover, Sherlock would continue to elevate his rank on the Path of Wisdom, and his mind would become increasingly sharp...
The smarter and more capable his secretary was, the less trouble Aiwass would have.
However, before leaving, Aiwass still reminded Sherlock to try not to reveal his occupation to others—Sherlock understood that "try not to" meant he could tell others, but he should not do so carelessly.
This was probably why Aiwass hadn’t avoided discussing matters in front of the Gryphon Liz.
Although Liz couldn’t speak now, she would soon be fully developed. By then, everything she knew would undoubtedly also be known to Hayna.
After capturing Alice, Aiwass directly took Sherlock and flew back to Eagle Cape Village on Liz.
He had thought he would have to retake the route into the village and that he wouldn’t be able to enter until dusk... only to discover that he could fly directly back into the village.
They didn’t dawdle at all on their way back, and it was only just past noon when they returned.
"It could be because a villager invited us to stay overnight, or simply because a villager accepted us," Sherlock analyzed softly, "so we were recognized as one of their own.
"This is more normal; otherwise, it would be difficult for messengers to deliver messages here—if they always arrived at dusk, it would attract suspicion, and they could easily encounter The Wild Hunt. The same goes for Hayna; she clearly doesn’t return home at dusk, otherwise, she wouldn’t have specifically bought a train ticket that arrives in the early morning."
"You’re right."
Aiwass agreed.
The materials required for a New Moon Ritual were much harder to gather than those for a Full Moon Ritual. Although they could be substituted, it wasn’t something to be done carelessly.
A standard New Moon Ritual requires: a live petrel, a deer’s heart that died today, a mini wax figure of a Philosopher, a snake, a handful of black salt, a horse’s phallus, a well-fed mouse, an oyster, and a mirror.
For the petrel, a pigeon or sparrow could be substituted as long as it could fly; the oyster could be replaced with a pearl shell or other shellfish. The horse’s phallus could be a dried one; the snake did not have to be alive, but it must remain flexible... thus, Aiwass had also bought several preserved in alcohol and brought them along.
Without a doubt, the deer heart was the most difficult to find.
However, there was a substitute for the deer heart, which was the heart of a lamb. Lily and Hayna had gone to Flute Town to buy sheep—incidentally catching some mice on the way, as there weren’t any in Eagle Cape Village. As it turned out, Aiwass had returned even quicker than they did.
Before their return, Aiwass and Sherlock began to outline the array needed for the advancement ritual in a room on the second floor of Hayna’s house.
This time, three people were looking to advance in the New Moon Ritual—both Aiwass and Lily were progressing from second to third rank, while Hayna from third to fourth.
Advancing from third to fourth rank meant that Hayna would change her job from Inspector to Arbitrator.
Aiwass had also advised Hayna to wait and advance together with them. After all, the wait wouldn’t be too long...
However, Hayna expressed helplessly that this was her teacher’s intention.
Ligeia required her to pass a New Moon Ritual alone to officially complete her assessment. Before this, Hayna had only undergone Full Moon Rituals; she had never experienced a New Moon Ritual.
But Ligeia believed that the challenges Hayna was going to face would be much more dangerous and abrupt than this. She must have the ability to confront sudden difficulties head-on and resolve them, as well as survive unscathed in the vicious battles of wit and brutal killings.
Back then, Hayna didn’t quite understand what future tasks she could face that would be more dangerous than a New Moon Ritual for advancing from third to fourth rank... but now she was beginning to get it.
—If Hayna was to be the successor of the Grand Arbitrator, then she certainly needed such qualities.
If she couldn’t protect herself, how could she manage to protect a nation without suffering a stomachache from stress?
In the face of such responsibility, merely progressing to the Fourth Energy Level from the New Moon Arena seemed trivial.
Hayna needed to be stronger, much stronger, on a personal level.
At first, Aiwass thought that this might be difficult.
But when Aiwass realized that Hayna was to be the future leader of the Hyena Gang, and even had a small fragment of the soul of Lancelot I within her... he began to think that Hayna could possibly achieve it. Old Meg’s insight was indeed sharp to have seen this coming.
Hayna had such talent; she just lacked the pressure to squeeze that talent out of her.
This time facing the never-experienced New Moon Ritual alone would give her that pressure—the punishment in the New Moon Ritual was usually a level higher than that of the Full Moon Ritual. Advancing from third to fourth rank could frequently lead to death as a consequence, and at the very least, soul damage that would prevent advancement to the Fifth Power Level.
—In other words, Ligeia was sending Hayna to kill.
Not for justice, the queen, Avalon, or in the name of the law and protection. Without any excuse to shirk responsibility, she was to kill others mercilessly in a partnerless New Moon Ritual—notably, as many as possible—for her own growth and benefit.
The future Grand Arbitrator mustn’t be someone tender-hearted or indecisive.
She would need to be ruthless enough, with an iron fist and cold blood, to hold her ground against the storms within and without.
Aiwass was looking forward to it.
When the sun rose tomorrow, to see how much growth Hayna would display after surviving this advancement ritual.
