Dance of the Gods

"So let's continue! The next thing you should learn more about are rituals, most importantly the Bathing Ritual! Every ascension requires you to do it in one way or another."

The two of them had been talking for a good while, but most things Suze spoke of was just meaningless for her.

She spoke of monsters that can give materials, those materials are having ethereal property, which is important for ascension, all of it was very confusing.

"The ritual is a bit more complex, but learning it is very important since you will need to implement it when you finally ascend." Her voice was as monotone as ever, but as Veronica grew tired it turned into a lullaby for her.

Suze took a sip of her drink which at some point turned non alcoholic for both. They were started to get tipsy and that didn't correlate well with studying. While Veronica was yawning for the thousandth time, Suze continued.

"The first part is the same for every ritual, you have to cleanse the area with special ingredients. As you remember, last time you and Sofie went to the market there were a lot of weird stuff written on the paper. Those were a couple of different supplementary materials for rituals..."

Her eyes could barely be kept open, but she payed full attention to what Suze was saying.

"...They are materials that contain a small amount of ethereal property. It makes them perfect for the cleansing ritual. When you read the book there is a very long list of these kinds of materials and every was they can be implemented..."

At this point Veronica couldn't stay silent any longer since there was a topic Suze constantly ignored.

"But what is ethereal property?" She asked in a tired voice, but Suze just smiled and nodded satisfied. It was annoying to constantly get tested without her knowing.

"Good question! It means they have connection to the Ethereal Plain, that is a different world sitting right over our own. Higher level beings can exist there and even move around with ease. Proportions can be bent there to your will, which means you can travel vast distances in a few steps."

After so long the sleepiness went out of Veronica's eyes and instead it came into full focus.

'Finally! Something interesting!'

But her hopes of learning about this different reality were soon crushed by Suze.

"The Ethereal Plain is not something you will learn about now. You probably won't even come in contact with it for a very long time, if ever." Seeing Veronica's saddened expression she just laughed and continued with the rituals.

"So the cleansing ritual... The purpose of it is the same as it sounds, to cleanse and contain an area from outside interference. As I already said rituals are dangerous and have to be completed in a very specific way. But without cleansing the area first, outside forces will passively act upon you and cause disaster while doing the ritual."

Gradually her concentration began slipping, so she had done the same thing that she used for waking up from her weird dreams. Her mind cleared and focused on each word Suze spoke, but something strange happened next.

Suze was about to continue, but soon her head snapped towards Veronica and stared at her with pure shock.

"How... How did you do that?! I didn't even talk to you about Concentration yet!... Where did you learn it from?" Her demeanor changed drastically, not necessarily angry, but definitely more wary of Veronica.

The said person just stared at her with pure bewilderment, it took her a few moments to catch her meaning, but even after that she stayed confused.

"What do you mean?... I just focused my mind, it's not that hard..."

*Laughter* "Not that hard?! What you just did took weeks for me to learn!... Do you even know what you just did?"

The wariness soon turned back into shock because Suze noticed Veronica's expression. She was an excellent judge of character, and just by that face she knew that Veronica had no clue of what she had done.

"No... I don't... *sigh* There was just this small feeling that I follow and it helps me clear my mind and focus it... Is it something special?"

This time Suze broke into a mad laughing fit which caused many of the patrons to stare at her. It took her a few minutes to calm down and explain.

"Special? You could say that... What you have done is called Concentration, you already understood its purpose of gaining more control over your mind... I was just really surprised that you have accidentally learned how to use it... Strange..."

'But I learned it with ease?! Or more like I already knew how to use it... It felt like some ability I learned long ago and I finally decided to use it again... Strange indeed!'

They each took a sip of their beverage, and stayed silent absorbed in their own thoughts. Eventually Suze sighed and said, "It doesn't matter how you have done it, but it is very good you did. You should actually try to use it more often and push your limits. I for example have it turned on throughout the whole day!"

She said it with pride which meant that wasn't an easy accomplishment. Veronica smiled and nodded kindly, which Suze returned.

"So Concentration is actually part of the Bathing Ritual, but we will talk about that later. For now the second most important part of the ritual is the clothing, and most importantly the color of it."

Suze took the book with the mysticism knowledge and opened it at a specific page. On it were 15 different pictures, in specific colors, and some text next to it which she couldn't read. There was one entry that Suze pointed at.

It showed a pink picture of a person dancing. It didn't take a lot to figure out the meaning of it, but Suze explained it all the same.

"Each path has a color to it, the shades can be pretty much whatever you want, but the color has to be specific! Since you chose the dancer path, the clothing you have to were will be pink..." Suddenly as Suze looked into her eyes some realization hit her.

She stayed silent for a long time just staring into Veronica's eyes. When she was starting to get worried Suze spoke.

"Sorry, I just noticed your eye color is pink... *sigh* Before you ask what it means I will tell you... Ascended who have children can passively give some of their own ethereal property as an inheritance to their offspring. As you have probably seen already there are a wide range of eye colors, they are a clue about a person's ancestry."

"So does that mean my ancestor was a dancer?" Asked Veronica with a bit of worry and excitement. But soon another question rose in her as well... What path did the orange and rainbow color belong to?

"Yes, indeed. Probably one of your parents or grandparents if I had to judge. But that's not too special. Well, the path they had chosen is unusual, and it is a bit strange you decided to go with that as well. But there is no need to care about that, it is actually very helpful since it will make the ritual easier for you!"

She said the last part as a way to cheer Veronica up, since she had lost all her memory about her parents and family. Of course in reality Veronica wasn't sad about that, instead she felt an inexplicable longing for no reason.

The silence was about to creep back in, but this time Suze didn't let it linger. It was starting to get late, and tomorrow is Saturday which meant lot more people will have time to get drunk.

"After you wear the specific colored clothing and cleansed the room, the next step is throwing the ingredients into the bath water. The temperature of it is specified as well, but after you cleansed the room it will stay that temperature for a lot longer than it usually would."

Veronica nodded, understanding everything up to this point. Seeing that she had nothing to add Suze continued.

"The last step is the most important, because this is when you put your life on the line. While wearing your color you climb into the bath and lie down in the ethereal water. Very important! You have to wait for all the ingredients to be dissipated, and you don't put anything else even near the bath while doing this ritual!"

The implications of what she was saying was obvious. If anything outside of the ritual ingredients falls into the water the whole Bathing Ritual is contaminated, which meant the loss of material at best or the loss of life at worst.

"I understand, but what do I do after climbing in... Just wait?" She asked, Suze answered in a very strict and serious tone.

"No! After climbing inside you Concentrate, then wait for all the ethereal materials to be absorbed by you!... Do Not Lose Focus!... Losing it means corruption! Got It?"

Veronica nodded confidently. This was the last part of the ritual, but she still didn't know what ingredients are needed for the ritual itself. When she was about to ask, Suze spoke first.

"Okay, it is starting to get late. We will talk more tomorrow... *yawn* Let's go to sleep now..."

And with that she stood up and began walking away, but soon she caught herself. turning around, she pointed at the three books.

"You can take those to your room, but every time you leave hide them somewhere!"

Then she was gone leaving Veronica a bit stunned. After a while she got herself back under control and went to her room too.

On the way up the stairs she tripped and nearly dropped all the books. She hit her head and got a bit disoriented, but nothing serious happened. The whole situation felt weird though, there wasn't anything particular she tripped on... It was just unlucky.