Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 32 Spiritual Vision

Klein stared at the dark blue, viscous liquid—it was hard to tell if it was a cup or a block—and swallowed hard.

"Should we just drink it like that?"

"Is no additional preparation required? Such as rituals, incantations, or prayers?"

Old Neil said with an "uh":

"Ready? Yes, you can start with a glass of Intis Olmere wine, then smoke a Dixie cigar, hum a melodious tune, dance a lively court dance (tap dancing is fine if you prefer), and finally play a game of Gwent..."

Seeing Klein's increasingly dazed expression, Old Neil smiled and gave a summary of the previous description:

"If you feel nervous."

"...You're quite humorous..." Klein's lips twitched twice, resisting the urge to draw his gun.

He put down his cane, stretched out his right hand, and lifted the opaque cup as if it were a heavy object. The scent of the potion was faint and ethereal.

"Young man, don't hesitate. The more you hesitate, the more nervous and afraid you become, and the more it will affect your absorption later," Old Neil said casually, his back to Klein.

He had somehow walked to the sink next to him, turned on the tap, and was washing his hands.

Klein nodded silently, took a deep breath, and just like when he was a child, he held the opaque cup to his lips, tilted his head back, and gulped it down.

A cool, smooth sensation quickly filled his mouth, then slid down his esophagus and into his stomach.

The viscous, deep blue liquid seemed to sprout thin, long tentacles, and the coldness and stimulation instantly penetrated into every cell of Klein's body.

He involuntarily convulsed, his vision blurred rapidly, and all the colors intensified—reds became redder, blues bluer, and blacks blacker. The color blocks were thick and haphazardly pieced together, like an oil painting splashed by an Impressionist master.

Klein had experienced a similar scene before; it was when the "psychic" Daly questioned him.

At this moment, his vision was blurred, and his thoughts were fleeting yet clear, like a shipwrecked person adrift at sea.

Gradually, he could see the surrounding scenery clearly. All the colors overlapped distinctly, and a hazy, ethereal mist permeated the air.

Around him were indescribable shapes, some so transparent they seemed nonexistent. Deep within them were beams of clear light of different colors, which seemed to possess life or contain endless knowledge.

This is somewhat similar to what was seen during the "transfer ritual"... Klein instinctively looked down and found that "he" was still standing in the same spot, his body twitching.

Suddenly, he had an epiphany, and his consciousness sank down, becoming one with his body.

boom!

The mist quickly dissipated, the color blocks returned to normal, and the clear radiance and seemingly non-existent objects vanished in an instant.

The scene inside the alchemy chamber returned to normal, but Klein felt his head swelling, as if it were about to burst. He saw countless double images of everything, and heard faint whispers from an unknown source:

"Honakis...Fregora...Honakis...Fregora...Honakis...Fregora..."

Klein felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and his heart was quickly filled with an urge to vent and destroy.

He frowned and shook his head repeatedly.

"Is your vision abnormal? And are you hearing sounds you couldn't hear before?" Old Neil asked with a smile.

"Yes, Mr. Neil, what should I do?" Klein asked, suppressing his intense mania.

Old Neil chuckled:

"This is because the potion's power is overflowing, and you lack the means to control it. Alright, do as I say. Imagine an object in your mind—something common, simple, and easy."

Klein focused his attention, visualizing his own half-height black silk top hat in his mind, imagining the feeling of touching it and its specific shape.

"Put all your attention on it, repeat it over and over, keep sketching it, does it feel better?" Old Neil's voice pierced through, like a soothing song.

Klein gradually shifted his attention to the imagined silk hat, feeling the whispers in his ear grow softer until they disappeared, and the double images in his eyes slowly merged and became clear.

"Much better," Klein said, letting out a sigh of relief as he calmed his chaotic emotions.

He looked down at his body and found nothing unusual.

He moved his hands again, and Klein asked, half expectantly and half suspiciously:

"I succeeded? Am I now a 'fortune teller'?"

Old Neil pulled out a mercury-plated mirror from the side and held it up to him, saying:

"Look at the eyes."

Klein stared intently at himself in the mirror and saw that he was wearing a black top hat, with a deep profile and ordinary features. Apart from the sweat on his face, he seemed no different from before.

Following Old Neil's suggestion, he looked carefully at his eyes and realized that his originally brown eyes had become much darker, as dark as the night without any light, as dark as if they could absorb other people's souls.

— Normally, dark brown pupils are easily mistaken for black, and Klein himself would hardly notice it without careful observation.

"This is an outward manifestation of the potion's power. Once you learn to meditate and control it, your eyes will return to normal." Old Neil smiled and extended his right hand. "Congratulations, new extraordinary one, our diviner."

"Thank you." Klein extended his hand and shook hands with the other person. "Mr. Neil, when can I learn meditation?"

"You can start now. The initial meditation is quite simple, especially for extraordinary individuals," Old Neil said with a smile. "Just now, you were visualizing objects in your mind to distract yourself and gather your overflowing power. That was actually the first step in meditation. Do it again."

Klein closed his eyes and once again pictured the half-height black silk hat in his mind.

His attention seemed to be able to concentrate more easily than ever before. Soon, some random thoughts arose and then fell away, leaving only the outline of the top hat.

"Let your mind go blank for a moment, then replace the sketched object with an object that doesn't exist in this world, an object you imagine out of thin air."

"You must follow this rule. Only in this way can you enter meditation, gradually merge with the transcendent 'self,' the infinite 'self,' the cosmic 'self,' gain insight and revelation into the truth, and acquire knowledge that can only be experienced by yourself. In the field of mysticism, this is called 'mystical experience,'" Old Neil said in a soothing tone. "You only need to listen to the following description for now. The most important thing right now is to enter meditation."

Does something that doesn't exist in this world, something imagined out of thin air... count something on Earth? Klein tried to replace his half-height black top hat with a long, thick, earth-green intercontinental ballistic missile that he had seen on TV.

However, no matter how he sketched or imagined, he could only focus his attention more.

It didn't seem to work... Klein had to use his imagination to sketch out a ball of light, and then sketch out many similar things and put them together.

The overlapping orbs of light created an atmosphere of fantasy, and Klein's thoughts gradually drifted away, as if floating aimlessly.

His body and mind calmed down, and the illusory gray mist and mixed color blocks that were previously filled with non-existent objects and clear light reappeared, quietly floating in the sky, within reach.

The spirituality extended little by little, unfolding inch by inch. Klein quietly looked down at it, felt it, and gathered it back.

"Very good, as expected of a 'diviner,' you entered meditation very smoothly, only a little bit worse than I was back then," Old Neil chuckled. "In that case, I'll begin teaching you the most commonly used, easiest to master, and most promising ability in the mystical realm: clairvoyance!"

He turned off the gas lamps one by one, but opened the hidden door to the alchemy room, making the place where Klein was located unusually dark, but not so dark that he couldn't even see the outlines of objects.

"Okay, continue in the current position. Raise your hands and place them in front of your eyes, with your index fingers touching but not touching each other."

"Open your eyes until they adjust to the darkness."

Following Old Neil's description, Klein completed the process step by step, seeing the outlines of his own fingers and the surrounding objects.

"You should lie down and completely relax, but since your meditation is working well, let's continue." Old Neil chuckled. "Focus your gaze on the back of your hand, it must be the back, then slowly move your fingers, keeping them relative to each other without touching, and don't let them leave your sight."

Klein listened calmly, then focused his gaze on the empty space behind his palm, slowly moving his two index fingers, which were opposite each other but not touching, within his field of vision.

Once, twice, three times... Suddenly, Klein noticed a touch of fiery red between his fingers.

"Huh..." he uttered.

"You can see colors? Not bad, this is the initial stage of spiritual vision. The colors you see are your own aura." Old Neil chuckled. "Don't rush, do it a few more times to stabilize yourself, and then look at other places. I'll also take this opportunity to explain the meaning of different colors to you."

"Okay." Klein moved his fingers back and forth, intently examining the fiery red spot.

Old Neil thought for a moment and said:

"Simply put, the mainstream of mysticism divides the non-physical aspects of each person into four layers, the core of which is called the 'spiritual body,' which is the most fundamental spirituality of each person. Animism believes that all living things have spirituality and a spiritual body."

"I don't know about other things, but for those who seek the secrets, the purpose of meditation and the way to enhance power both point to the 'spiritual body'."

"Beyond the 'spiritual body' is the 'celestial body,' which is the former's way of communicating with the spirit world and the starry sky. It is the former's outward manifestation and is directly related to your own will and current emotions... The scene you see after taking the potion is the scene seen by the 'celestial body' wandering in the spirit world. There, the rules of the material world are not followed, and it involves a transcendent 'self,' an infinite 'self,' a cosmic 'self.' The past, present, and future may overlap, which is the root of divination."

"In the spirit world, what you see are just images, just symbols. They must be interpreted to understand their specific meaning."

"Divination and many other forms of magic are performed through 'celestial bodies'."

"You must not confuse its relationship with and the difference between it and the 'spiritual body'."

One is the essence, the other is the application... Klein continued to observe the aura emanating from his fingertips and succinctly summarized.

"Further out is the 'mental body,' from which it becomes integrated with the physical body... It involves the mind and is a comprehensive manifestation of your reasoning, thinking, insight, and understanding of things. Some potions mainly enhance this, and many spells also target it."

Old Neil explained in great detail, "The outermost layer is the 'etheric body,' which is the manifestation of your life energy and physical state."

"The color of the aura you see is the outward manifestation of the 'etheric body.' In other words, with your spiritual vision, you can not only directly see some spirits, ghosts, and vengeful spirits, but also perhaps some beings that shouldn't be seen. You can also see other people's 'etheric bodies,' or auras, and judge their health and emotional state by their different thickness, brightness, and color."

"Once your spiritual vision improves and you master more occult knowledge, you will be able to discover more detailed things and use that knowledge to judge the lifespan of others."

"Yes, I just mentioned emotional states, because 'Astral Bodies' also have some external manifestations. When your sequence increases and your spiritual vision reaches a fairly strong stage, you can even see the other person's 'Astral Bodies,' and then you can know more things. This is a level that only extraordinary individuals like 'Diviners' and 'Secret Seekers' can reach."

"Some guys even claim that the strongest form of clairvoyance can see anything anywhere, including the past and the future, but I don't really believe it."

It sounds amazing... Klein is almost starting to feel a sense of longing for it.

Old Neil coughed and continued:

"Let's go back to the color of the 'etheric body' or aura. Your hands and feet, which are involved in movement, will appear red; the head and brain surface will appear purple; the excretion and detoxification areas will appear orange; the digestive system will appear yellow; the heart and regulatory system will appear green; the throat and parts of the nervous system will appear blue; and overall balance will make the body appear white... These are the symbols of health."

"Once they become dull, thin, or change color, it indicates that there is a problem with the corresponding part, and it is in a state of fatigue or illness."

"In addition, the colors corresponding to the inner astral bodies represent current emotions: red indicates passion and excitement, orange indicates warmth and satisfaction, yellow indicates happiness and extroversion, green indicates peace and tranquility, blue indicates calmness and contemplation, white indicates light and positivity, dark indicates melancholy, sadness, and silence, and purple indicates that spirituality is dominant, leading to indifference and detachment..."

Klein silently made notes and stabilized his initial spiritual vision.

"Alright, you can look at other things now," Old Neil said, nodding without saying anything more.

Klein slowly turned his head and looked at Old Neil. Sure enough, he found that there were different colors and varying degrees of aura on him. The purple on his head was the brightest, the red on his hands and feet was relatively dull, and the white on his body was also somewhat light.

"I guess I'm getting old..." Klein muttered to himself silently.

It wasn't until he saw these things that he truly felt like he had become an "extraordinary one"!

"I am now an 'Extraordinary One'!"

He shifted his gaze, scrutinizing Old Neil, but suddenly, he saw a pair of eyes in the void behind the other man—eyelash-less, cold, and almost transparent!

Those almost ethereal eyes were silently watching Old Neil, watching him!

This… Klein shuddered, opened his mouth, and blurted out:

"There are eyes in the back of your head!"

Old Neil paused for a moment, then forced a smile and said:

"Ignore it."

PS: It's almost Monday again. I'll continue updating tonight at midnight.

(End of this chapter)