In a dimly lit secret chamber, two core members of the Crimson Eucharist, Buck and Clifford, stood intently before a table. Illuminated by candlelight, Buck was engrossed in a divination ritual.
A meticulously drawn ritual array for ‘Lantern’ and ‘Revelation’ was laid out on the table, with a map of Igwynt placed neatly within it. Suspended above the map, a white crystal pendulum swung back and forth on its chain.
"I wish to know the current location of the one who killed Burton Veil today," Buck declared solemnly, holding the upper end of the pendulum’s chain. He fixed his gaze on the crystal’s oscillations as it traced its path above the map. Clifford, standing beside him, also stared intently, following every movement.
"So this is pendulum divination... the most practical method for divining a location. The swinging pendulum will eventually be pulled by an invisible and mysterious force, pointing to the target’s whereabouts," Clifford murmured, observing the process. As a Beyonder with some knowledge of mysticism, he was familiar with the concept of pendulum divination, though it was his first time witnessing it in practice.
Due to the rarity of ‘Revelation’ spirituality, divination rituals were exceedingly uncommon. Many lower-ranked Beyonders had only heard of such rituals and never seen them, let alone performed one themselves.
For both Buck and Clifford, this was their first time conducting such a rare and mysterious ritual. Their eyes remained glued to the pendulum, eagerly awaiting the moment it would stop and reveal the target’s location.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... Time passed slowly. However, the crystal pendulum showed no signs of stopping. As the pendulum’s swings grew smaller and smaller, the tension in the room gradually increased.
Finally, the crystal pendulum came to a complete stop, hanging vertically above the map due to gravity.
"It... stopped? Is this the location of those people?" Clifford asked, bewildered. The pendulum’s behavior seemed indistinguishable from that of an ordinary weight on a string. It appeared to be behaving naturally, without any sign of mysterious forces pulling it to a specific point. Was this the result of their divination?
"By the logic of divination, the pendulum’s current position should indicate their location," Buck said with a frown, his tone serious. Clifford, equally skeptical, ventured a hypothesis."So... their hideout is on the Ironclay River?"
"Perhaps. They might be using a boat as their base of operations. A vessel allows for easy relocation, after all. Hmph... not a bad strategy," Buck muttered, his expression grim. Clifford blinked, scrutinized the pendulum’s position on the map again, and raised another point.
"Wait a second, Buck. That part of the Ironclay River is a mudflat—there’s no water there. Boats can’t possibly dock in that area."
"Maybe they’ve built something on the mudflat, or perhaps there’s something beneath it. Either way, since the pendulum points here, we need to investigate," Buck said, his expression complicated. He, too, found the pendulum’s behavior suspiciously ordinary, resembling a simple gravitational pull. Yet, what if—just what if—the target’s location coincided with the pendulum’s natural vertical alignment? Wasn’t that a possibility?
Both Buck and Clifford found it hard to believe that such a rare and spiritual divination ritual, consuming precious "Revelation," could fail. Thus, even though the result seemed dubious, they had to treat it as credible.
After all, this result was achieved through the expenditure of valuable spiritual resources. Regardless of how implausible it appeared, they had no choice but to investigate.
"Clifford, gather enough men. We’re heading to that location now," Buck commanded, placing the pendulum on the table and striding swiftly toward the chamber’s exit. Clifford followed without hesitation.
"Got it. We’ll check it out thoroughly," he replied, quickly trailing after Buck.
…
Several hours later...
The door of the secret chamber was suddenly flung open once more, and Buck, his expression dark and brooding, walked in silently. His pants were caked with mud. Following closely behind was Clifford, storming in with a furious glare. His entire lower half was covered in mud, as though he had taken a tumble into it.
Clearly, Buck and Clifford had returned empty-handed. Their hurried footsteps brought them to the desk, with Clifford muttering bitterly under his breath as they approached.
"Pendulum... Pendulum... What a load of crap! It didn’t divine anything! All it did was get us covered in mud!"
As he spoke, an enraged Clifford grabbed the crystal pendulum from the desk and hurled it aside in frustration. The pendulum bounced off the desk and struck a glass bottle of lime powder that had been placed nearby. The bottle toppled over, spilling its contents onto the table. The fine powder filled the air, scattering over both Clifford and Buck’s faces. Clifford began coughing violently, while Buck silently wiped the dust off his face.
"We underestimated them. I never thought they would have the means to counter divination," Buck said coldly as he continued brushing the lime powder off his face. His expression was restrained, but a fire of anger burned in his eyes.
"Cough, cough… What did you just say, Buck? Counter divination? They countered our divination?" Clifford asked, his voice tinged with disbelief as he coughed. Buck nodded grimly.
"Yes. Our mentor once said… In this world, where there is divination, there is also counter-divination. As long as one gathers the appropriate spirituality and performs the necessary rituals, divination can indeed be countered. And such rituals would undoubtedly involve the rare and precious ’Revelation.’"
"Hmph... I underestimated them. They managed to obtain ‘Revelation’—a rare spirituality. Their resources run far deeper than I had anticipated," Buck remarked solemnly, his hands clasped behind his back. Clifford, still puzzled, asked another question.
"So... what do we do now? If we can’t find their location, we can’t strike back!"
Buck inhaled deeply, calming himself, before responding slowly. "I will speak with Bill again and find a way to request an audience with the Mentor. If that still fails, I will have no choice but to visit him in my dreams."
…
That night, in an apartment by Southern Sunflower Street.
"Information retrieval has been blocked..."
Lying on her sofa, Dorothy exhaled in relief as she felt her accumulated spirituality deplete, coupled with the improvement in her system. The near-miss of having her location discovered through some inexplicable means left her feeling uneasy.
"Phew... It’s finally resolved. I almost got tracked through some bizarre divination method. Living in this eerie world really calls for greater caution," Dorothy thought with a sigh. Alongside her relief, the incident sparked her curiosity.
"So this world actually has such methods to retrieve information from afar? Fascinating. Based on the system’s hints, these divination methods also rely on spirituality, specifically ’Lantern’ and ’Revelation.’ Since I am already a ’Revelation’ Beyonder, I’m not lacking in that regard. If I can acquire more of ’Lantern,’ does that mean I, too, could perform divination? With divination, I could gather intelligence far more efficiently."
"And then there’s the nature of different spirituality—some of them are quite intriguing. ’Lantern’ carries the meaning of Revelation… while ’Shadow’ can counteract ’Lantern’s Revelation. From the effects of that Concealment Ring earlier, ’Shadow’ seems to embody concealment and obscuration, the opposite of Lantern..."
"And as for ’Silence’... it can apparently delete information. But what happens when information is deleted? What exactly is the essence of ’Silence’?"
As these questions swirled in her mind, Dorothy realized just how little she truly understood about this world and its mysticism.
"Seems like I’ll need to consult Aldrich more often when I have the chance… Although…" Dorothy muttered, frowning as she pulled out her recently replenished wallet.
"Although, I wonder if I can even afford the tuition fees anymore?"