The pale gray fog permeated the place as if eternally unchanging, while deep red illusory stars hung far and near. Klein sat in the magnificent palace that resembled a giant's dwelling, quietly gazing at the familiar scene before him.
After a few seconds, he withdrew his gaze, letting a piece of tan parchment materialize before him. He picked up his pen and wrote down the revised ritual:
"Light a candle to symbolize oneself;" "Use a Spirituality Wall to create a holy environment;" "Drip Full Moon Essential Oil, Chamomile Hydrosol, Deep Slumber Powder, and other materials into the candle flame. (Commentary: At this step, it doesn't need to be too precise, because you are summoning yourself);" "Chant the following incantation:" "Me! (in ancient Hermes, Giant, Dragon, Elf—must shout it in a low voice)" "I summon in my name (Hermes):" "The Fool that does not belong to this era, the Mystical Ruler above the Gray Fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
…
After triple-checking the ritual, Klein wrote the divination statement at the bottom: "Performing the above ritual in the outside world is dangerous."
Phew. He let out a breath, put down the pen, unfastened the silver chain from his sleeve, and held it in his left hand.
When the citrine pendant hung still above the parchment, just a hair's breadth from the divination statement, he concentrated his mind and entered a state of meditation.
"Performing the above ritual in the outside world is dangerous." "Performing the above ritual in the outside world is dangerous." …
After silently reciting it seven times, Klein opened his almost pitch-black eyes and saw the citrine pendulum swinging counter-clockwise.
This meant negation, it meant it wasn't dangerous!
"It's worth a try." Klein quickly dismissed the manifested items, extended his spirituality to envelop himself, and simulated the feeling of rapidly falling.
Back in his bedroom, since he had already sealed the entire room with a Spirituality Wall, Klein directly cleared his desk and stood a mint-scented candle in the center.
He held his right hand above the wick, lightly rubbing it with his spirituality to ignite it.
In the flickering dim yellow light, Klein dripped the corresponding essential oil, hydrosol, and herbal powder into the flame.
A peaceful, serene fragrance instantly spread, and the room fluctuated between brightness and dimness.
Taking two steps back, Klein looked at the candle representing himself and shouted in a low voice in Giant: "Me!"
Next, he switched to Hermes: "I summon in my name:" "The Fool that does not belong to this era, the Mystical Ruler above the Gray Fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
The moment he finished speaking, he immediately felt that the flickering dim yellow flame and the surrounding serene fragrance merged into a vortex, frantically absorbing his spirituality.
"Oh, Deep Slumber that belongs to the Crimson Moon, please transfer your power to my incantation..." Enduring the discomfort of his spirituality being drawn away, Klein chanted the remaining parts of the incantation.
At this moment, he saw the candle flame stop flickering, standing quietly, taking on a pale gray color, and stretching out to the size of a palm.
"Nothing was summoned... Ah, right, maybe I need to go above the Gray Fog to respond... Summoning oneself is really troublesome..." Klein pinched his empty, throbbing forehead and muttered to himself silently.
He rested for over ten seconds, walked up the four steps in reverse, and arrived above the Gray Fog once again. He saw ripples of light spreading out in rings at the head of the ancient long table.
These originated from the strange symbol behind the corresponding high-back chair—a strange symbol composed of the "Eye without pupils" representing secrecy and the "Twisted Lines" representing change.
As soon as Klein made the motion of reaching out to touch it, the incantations "Me! I summon in my name," "The Fool that does not belong to this era," "The Mystical Ruler above the Gray Fog" immediately echoed in his ears. He saw the surging spirituality mix with the spreading ripples of light, transforming into a single illusory, unformed gate.
The gate wobbled, as if wanting to open. Klein was immediately struck by an inspiration and gave it a strong intention to push it open.
Almost instantly, the boundless Gray Fog and the magnificent palace were suddenly pulled, producing imperceptible ripples.
These ripples, one ring after another, surged towards the illusory, unformed gate.
However, no matter how hard Klein pushed, the gate could not be opened, and all movement eventually subsided into silence.
"Because the 'Summoning Gate' wasn't fully formed?" Klein withdrew his intention, frowning slightly as he analyzed the reason for his failure.
—He had casually named the illusory gate the "Summoning Gate."
"Hmm, it's because my spirituality is insufficient to construct a complete 'Summoning Gate'... Once I advance to Sequence 8, become a 'Clown', and get through the initial dangerous stage, I can try again. Perhaps by then there won't be any problems..." Klein nodded slightly, having roughly understood what was happening.
This experiment gave him immense confidence and strong encouragement, because aside from the divination incident with the Eternal Sun, this was the first time he had made the mysterious space above the Gray Fog react differently!
"One day, I will uncover all the secrets of this place!" Klein excitedly declared in his heart, and then, enveloped by his spirituality, fell into the boundless Gray Fog.
…………