Chapter 44: Acolyte of Hecate

Chapter 44: Acolyte of Hecate

Emilia was ushered into a small, ceremonial chamber. It was lit solely by the soft glow of three candles placed on a rough-hewn altar. The air carried the scents of frankincense and ozone, and the stone floor was inscribed with glyphs and symbols that Emilia could not decipher but felt pulsating with ancient energy.

The Pastor offered an apology for the simple proceedings. "The ceremony is plain," he stated, "but it is the Great System and the ancient power of the Goddess that shall grant the strength." He then stepped aside, leaving her alone.

Upon the altar, crafted from raw, unworked stone, stood three objects illuminated by the flames:

A Bronze Lamp: Symbolizing the light of knowledge and magic, by which Hecate guides Her followers.

A Sacred Dagger: Representing the crossroads, choice, and the inevitability of consequence.

A Chalice of Wine: A gift to the Goddess, symbolizing the blood and life force offered in exchange for a blessing.

From somewhere, a harp melody began, barely audible. It was less music and more a hypnotic, repeated cadence that saturated the space. The voice of Hecate’s Aspect sounded in Emilia's mind again, yet this time it was clearer and richer, as if emanating from the very space around her.

"Approach the altar, Emilia," the voice whispered. "Face your choice."

Emilia’s heart hammered. She moved forward, standing before the altar and feeling the power of the ancient glyphs beneath her feet. The air slowly filled with a sacred, celestial energy.

"Reach for the lamp," the Aspect instructed. "The light is knowledge. It dispels the shadows of ignorance, but also reveals the dangers that lurk in the dark."

Emilia touched the cool bronze. The moment her fingers drew away, the flame within the lamp flared violently, casting flickering, magical shadows upon the walls.

"Now take the dagger," came the next command. "It is your choice. Every action you take forges a new path. With it, you may defend yourself or strike a blow. It is your strength and your responsibility. Consider all the roads you might take... all the sacrifices you will have to make."

Emilia grasped the dagger. She felt its weight in her hand and the chill of the metal.

"Finally, take the chalice," the voice concluded. "In it is your gift. Your will. Your blood. Pour it over the altar as a sign that you accept your choice and its consequences. To receive power, you must first give of yourself."

Emilia reached for the chalice. She took a deep breath, gathered her mana, and channeled it into the liquid. The wine began to shimmer with a gentle blue light, and whirlpools, like miniature galaxies, appeared on its surface. Emilia poured the contents onto the altar, where it evaporated into a shimmering mist, filling the chamber with the sweet scent of grapes and magic.

Then, the Aspect spoke again, its voice stronger and more solemn:

"You, Emilia, have chosen the path. From this moment, you are an Acolyte of Hecate, a bearer of My knowledge and My power. Let your first Quest begin."

At that instant, the candles on the altar extinguished one by one, and the only light remaining in the hall came from the lamp's flame, which pulsed with the might of newly acquired knowledge.

Emilia felt the Aspect withdraw from the sanctuary, but not before leaving a sliver of its power within the dagger, along with a final message: "Guard it well. You will need it in the ruins."

Emilia stood for a long time, clutching the magical dagger and pondering the Great System’s final instruction.

"Congratulations, Emilia, you have been invited as an Acolyte of Hecate. You receive access to the System of Quests and Rewards. Upon successful completion of a task, you will be awarded points and will be able to view what you can purchase with them. The more you assist the Great System, the better the rewards you will be able to acquire with your points."

“Congratulations, Emilia! Hecate has awarded you a unique skill.”

“Congratulations, Emilia! You have unlocked the skill, Dispelling Ignorance.”

“This is an Active Skill that allows you to temporarily see through illusions, hypnosis, darkness, and fog. The skill requires 10 Mana for activation and 1 Mana per second while active. Practically speaking, nothing less than the shadow of a divine power will stop your sight.”

“Congratulations, Emilia! Upon unlocking a unique skill, you receive the title – Heroic Squire. You need three unique skills to unlock the next unique title.”

After some time, the Mayor approached. He stood by her for a while without speaking, his gaze often drifting toward the remaining ritual items.

“We’ll gather in front of the armory tomorrow morning. An hour before dawn,” he said softly, then left without looking back.

Emilia remained there for a bit longer, her thoughts tumbling one over the other. Finally, she slowly raised her knife and whispered, "Dispelling Ignorance."

Immediately, her eyes filled with a strange, celestial energy, and the knife before her glowed, revealing a multitude of interwoven lines and glyphs. Emilia gasped involuntarily. "This… this is simply impossible! There are at least a thousand glyphs here. Where does the energy come from? How do they manage to stay so close together without violating Pompey’s Law of Balanced Magical Pressure? If all of this were to activate…"

A minute later, breathless from the complex patterns unfolding before her eyes, Emilia began to feel the rapidly diminishing mana in her body. She quickly deactivated the skill and, with slow steps, headed toward her grandmother’s stone house.

Early the next morning, Emilia was waiting in front of the armory. She was slowly working on a combat talisman.

Fjorn approached and began to observe her small, deft hands, occasionally stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“Your master must have trained you well. Why did you make this curve so it directly feeds the second glyph?”

“Heleionoma’s Formula allows it. That way, I reduce the stress on the talisman by ten percent and increase the success rate of the inscription by a few units.”

Fjorn nodded approvingly and continued to watch. At one point, he cleared his throat. “Ahem.”

“What is it?” Emilia asked without stopping the movement of her brush.

“And have you heard of the Law of Duality for Intersecting Lines?” he decided to remind her.

Emilia almost froze but quickly resumed her movements. If she stopped now, the talisman would fail. Emilia rapidly began calculating the variables in her mind and finally cursed.

“Fjorn is right. I was about to make a mistake. I didn’t properly balance the coefficient of resistance of the intersecting lines with the energy of the ink. That results in a twenty percent chance of exceeding the recommended energy that can pass through the triple junction, and the talisman would have failed.”

She quickly reduced the strength of the mana she was channeling into her movements and, with smooth strokes, managed to get past the difficult lines. Now, she just needed to connect the final glyph.

“Thanks for the reminder, Fjorn, that’s a very good point. Do you understand talismans too?”

“Ha-ha-ha! All Formation Masters essentially draw talismans, only not on paper. For simpler talismans—the glyphs, the lines, the theory—everything is identical to simple formations. It’s only when you approach the Master level that things start to diverge. Come, let me show you.”

After Emilia finished her talisman, Fjorn began to show her a simple formation of glyphs that, once activated, emitted a pale light for a few seconds. He slowly etched with his knife onto a piece of wood, then filled the lines with a thick, black fluid. It looked like resin or tar, but Emilia could see the mana slowly flowing within it.

At that moment, Emilia recalled how jealously everyone in this world guarded their knowledge. Until now, no one had shown her a clean glyph—one without obfuscating lines—without asking for something in return.

“Thank you for this glyph… and for this formation,” she quickly thanked him, bowing slightly. Then, she rapidly began transcribing everything, including his notes and explanations, onto her wax tablet.

Fjorn did not object and even continued to point out various peculiarities.

Once Emilia was finished, he continued:

“I will also need your help in the ruins. My mana is unstable, so we’ll need to deal with different formations. Let’s hope, however, that it doesn’t come to that. Perhaps we will discover that the ruins are easy to dismantle.”

Emilia strongly doubted it would be that simple. Would the all-mighty Aspect of Hecate have come here for no reason?

Soon, the Mayor appeared, and one by one, the hunters arrived. The Mayor took out a map of the region and began discussing their route with the hunters. Meanwhile, his eldest son organized the food supplies and produced several healing elixirs from somewhere. It turned out they had been borrowed urgently from the neighboring village. At that time, the landowner also arrived, sending ten of his best crossbowmen to join the group.

Thus, the group soon gathered and set off through the forest. Some of the baggage was carried by low-slung mules, trained to walk in the woods. One of the mules was reserved for little Emilia.

She settled into a comfortably made saddle, and Fjorn walked beside her, explaining the theory of laying simple lines for formations. He often drew parallels with the lines used for talismans and asked Emilia numerous questions about her process.

Initially, she felt quite uneasy about the questions. For one Master to so freely ask about another's process was something exceptionally personal. But Emilia soon relaxed. Fjorn was also sharing a significant amount of knowledge, and she began to feel more like an apprentice.

Before long, the first magical beasts appeared. A pack of wolves came first, led by three enormous magical creatures. According to Emilia, they were at least second-level. The group spotted them from afar and halted, tightening their battle formation. The outermost hunters drew their shields and weapons, while those behind them held their bows and crossbows at the ready.

These wolves were quite bold and quickly attacked the group of bipedal creatures. They could sense the mana within the humans and were impatient to sink their teeth into the mages’ bodies.

Emilia was right in the middle of the combat formation, along with Fjorn and the mules carrying supplies. The battle was quite dynamic. The wolves attacked three times, leaving numerous bodies behind them each time. They never managed to breach the wall of shields, and when the heavy crossbows succeeded in severely wounding one of the magical monsters, the wolves retreated. They didn’t give up completely, however, but merely tracked the group until they left their territory.

Next, they were attacked by a group of magical spiders, jumping down from the tall trees. Emilia hated spiders and was terrified by their hairy bodies. Every time she looked into their eyes, she recalled their lightning-fast movements when they attacked victims caught in their webs.

The group thus passed through the territories of various predators, but these were just common monsters. Along the way, they did not encounter the intelligent races corrupted by Gaia and inhabiting the depths of the dark forest.

Gradually, at the cost of much effort and not a few wounds, they reached the ruins. This place was often checked by scouts, but this time, the ruins were glowing with mana, even to the eyes of ordinary people. The Mayor approached and began a long discussion with Fjorn.