Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 40 Mysticism Course

"Interesting techniques?"

Klein asked with great curiosity.

Old Neil chuckled and said:

"I'll go inspect the weapons, materials, and document archives. You make two cups of coffee using the two cups on the table. Put something unpleasant in one of them—you can decide what it is yourself, use your imagination. The only requirement is that you don't waste too much coffee grounds; I ground them myself using coffee beans that are a specialty of the highlands!"

"Okay." Klein didn't quite understand what Old Neil wanted to do, but he still happily agreed.

Watching the other person take out a brass key and open the iron door of the armory, and hearing the long, echoing footsteps inside, he slowly arranged the cups and confirmed that there was hot water in the kettle.

Klein removed the lid from the silver-inlaid tin can, then used a small, metallic spoon to scoop a spoonful of fragrant coffee powder into each of the two cups, before pouring in hot water and stirring expertly.

As a time traveler from an era of abundant resources, he was not unfamiliar with coffee, but only with instant coffee.

After doing all this, Klein thought for a moment, sat down, crossed his right leg, picked up some mud from the sole of his leather boots, and put it into the cup on the left.

Then, he carefully stirred it again until the two cups of coffee were almost indistinguishable in appearance and aroma.

A few minutes later, Old Neil swung his keychain, walked out of the armory, and slammed the iron door shut.

"It's done." His slightly cloudy, dark red eyes turned to look at Klein across the table.

"Alright," Klein nodded in reply.

Old Neil chuckled, untied the silver chain from his wrist, and sat down.

His expression quickly turned calm. He extended his left hand, holding the chain, and let the silver chain hang vertically above the coffee cup on his right side, the pure white crystal almost touching the liquid.

In a moment of relaxing tranquility, the white crystal inexplicably swayed slightly, causing the silver chain to rotate counterclockwise in a small manner.

"This cup is for letting bad things go," old Neil said with certainty.

Before Klein could confirm, he put away the silver chain, picked up the cup of coffee next to him, and took a sip:

Do you like bitter coffee? I usually have one spoonful of sugar and one spoonful of milk.

Klein didn't answer, but asked with great interest:

"Your divination results were very accurate. Was it because of that clear quartz crystal? Was it the clear quartz crystal?"

"This is the pendulum method in divination, also called the spirit pendulum method. It relies on the connection between one's own astral body and the spirit world and the starry sky, and uses natural materials and spiritual communication, such as crystals, gemstones and special metals, to divine whether things are good or bad... Let's go back to those two cups of coffee. Counterclockwise swinging is bad, clockwise is good, and no movement is neither good nor bad. You can also write the event on paper. Note that it's the event, not the problem." Old Neil put down his coffee cup and explained in detail.

Klein seemed to be thinking as he said:

"So, we shouldn't use interrogative sentences?"

"Yes, you can't use 'Does so-and-so want to be my fiancée?' You have to use 'So-and-so wants to be my fiancée.' Write it on a piece of paper, lay it flat on the table, and then hold the pendulum chain with your non-dominant hand. Note, it's your non-dominant hand." Old Neil chuckled. "At this point, straighten your arm, adjust the length of the pendulum chain so that the crystal hangs just above the paper, almost touching the event we wrote. Then close your eyes and silently recite the words seven times in your mind. After reciting them, open your eyes and see if the pendulum is spinning. If not, close your eyes again and repeat the process until it starts to swing."

Klein nodded slightly and said:

"Counterclockwise: 'No', Clockwise: 'Yes'?"

"It can also be interpreted as both unsuccessful and successful," Old Neil corrected, teaching Klein other uses and details of pendulum divination.

Klein pondered it several times and found it to be a very practical divination technique. For example, when in an unfamiliar environment, it could be used to quickly determine whether food was poisonous, without needing to acquire additional skills such as "wildlife biology".

Of course, this form of divination is too simple, and the answers obtained are only two or three, making it impossible to conduct in-depth exploration and interpretation. For example, some things may be harmful to themselves, but after certain processing, they can become very beneficial. For example, some foods may indeed be harmful to the human body, but not seriously. If you are starving, eating them is not a big problem. These cannot be judged by pendulum divination.

"I need to save up money as soon as possible to buy crystal or sterling silver to make a pendulum..." Klein sighed.

Old Neil looked at him with surprise:

"You can apply directly. This is standard equipment for Extraordinary Beings, especially for support-oriented Extraordinary Beings like us. There's also a citrine and a pure silver pendulum in the armory."

"But I'm not a full member of the team yet..." Klein's heart pounded, but he hesitated slightly.

Old Neil chuckled:

"For those who are exceptional, whether they are formal members or not, since their salaries are not being increased, they must be given certain benefits in other ways."

"Using 'benefits' might be more appropriate. I'll apply to the captain right away!" Klein clenched his fist and made his decision.

How can we know if the captain agrees if we don't try?

"Alright," Old Neil chuckled. "We'll begin our formal 'Mysticism Course,' one of its foundations of which is called 'symbolism.' Do you know what 'symbolism' is?"

Klein recalled the fragments of information he had overheard and what he had seen and heard in the spirit world and above the gray mist, and said carefully:

"Whether it is the spirit world, the illusory starry sky, or those unknown realms, they are all outside our sensory world. They cannot be accurately described by the information obtained by our ears, nose, and eyes. What we can get are ineffable intuitive revelations and experiences, which are manifested in abstract symbols and images. These symbols represent different things and different meanings."

"Very accurate, no wonder you're a 'diviner'." Old Neil nodded seriously. "Only by mastering the ability to interpret symbols can one truly enter the door of mysticism. Hmm, the patterns on the Tarot cards, every element on the pattern, is a symbol, a man-made symbol, to help us understand and interpret the original 'revelation'."

He pulled out a piece of paper, picked up the pen next to him, and drew a short arc.

Immediately afterwards, he quickly added a few vertical lines below the arc, then looked up at Klein and said:

Do you know what this symbol represents?

Klein looked at it again and again, and after a long while he hesitated before saying:

"Eyelashes?"

"..." Old Neil sighed, "This is the symbol of the Harvest constellation, this is the Thunder constellation, this is the Frost constellation..."

He then casually drew several more symbolic symbols.

As Klein memorized the information, he couldn't help but speak up:

"The names of these constellations are so, so incredibly simple, yes, simple!"

Beautiful countryside, so pristine...

Old Neil smiled and said:

"Emperor Roselle thought so too. He had always planned to change the names of the constellations to Virgo, Cancer, Scorpio, etc. Unfortunately, he could not resist the power of tradition. At least the ancient names of these constellations and the dates they represent can guide farming and harvests."

"I must say, Emperor Roselle is a man of ideas." Klein didn't know how to retort.

Well, Emperor Roselle must have been a respectable man during his lifetime...

Old Neil couldn't understand Klein's humor and continued explaining various basic symbols, such as those of the constellations, the sun, the red moon, the brown star, the red star, and the blue star.

While explaining these things, he also taught how to draw a divination chart and the precautions, how to make a crystal ball and the materials, and how to choose incantations. Klein was almost overwhelmed by what he heard.

If he hadn't discovered that the "Diviner's Potion" slightly enhanced his memory, he would have stopped using it long ago to make it easier for him to process the effects.

"That concludes today's 'mystical lesson.' Reflect on it yourself, and feel free to come to me with any questions." Old Neil took out a gold pocket watch, snapped it open, and glanced at it. "Don't forget to read the historical materials I prepared for you. To be honest, I feel dread when I see them."

"Okay." Klein took the drafts with symbols written on them by Old Neil and quickly went through the mysterious knowledge he had learned today to avoid any obvious forgetting.

Old Neil took another sip of the freshly brewed coffee and said:

"Memorization alone is not enough; you must use it frequently to turn knowledge into instinct. Also, you must meditate every day. Only through more practice and use can you truly master the power of the potion, uncover its hidden mysteries, and eliminate its negative effects."

Mentioning this reminded Klein of role-playing and fortune-telling clubs, and he tentatively said:

"My potion-making abilities are related to divination. It's not enough to practice alone; I need to interact with a lot of people and perform divination for them individually in order to master it as quickly as possible. I plan to join the 'Divination Club'—the one on Halls Street in the North District—once I have extra money, and become a real 'diviner.'"

This matter will definitely not be kept from the night watchmen in the future, so it's better to lay the groundwork in advance.

"Your thinking is very similar to Daly's; she always said she wanted to be a real 'psychic.'" Old Neil shook his head and chuckled. "But why wait until you have extra money? You can write an application to Dunn and have him approve the expenses!"

"Organizations like the 'Divination Club' may have members infiltrated by cultists and evil organizations. As a civilian staff member of the Night Watch team, and a standard Extraordinary, joining them to facilitate monitoring is a job requirement! We used to patrol these places regularly, but due to a lack of manpower, it was difficult to follow them for long periods of time. Now it's perfect to hand it over to you."

Is this even possible? Klein was utterly stunned by Old Neil's serious expression.

This is blatantly finding excuses to reimburse personal expenses!

I know absolutely nothing about things like that...

I guess I'm just a keyboard warrior after all...

"You want to do this with your own money?" Old Neil asked with a smile.

Klein immediately shook his head and replied firmly:

"I'll report this to the captain right away!"

Old Neil nodded in satisfaction, glancing at the cup of coffee with the unpleasant contents that hadn't been poured out yet, and said:

"What exactly did you put in there?"

Klein smiled sheepishly:

"It's just a little mud on the sole of my leather boot, its color is about the same as your coffee powder, about the same."

Old Neil paused for a moment, then suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and growled in a low voice: