Returning to his bedroom, Klein took advantage of the still-active Spiritual Wall and expertly took out a candle mixed with sandalwood, placing it in the center of his desk.
He then followed the procedure, using his spirituality to light the candle, sprinkling essential oils, hydrosols, and herbal powders symbolizing good luck and mystery, watching the flickering flame alternate between dim and bright as he smelled the peaceful, lingering fragrance.
Klein stepped back two paces, looked at the candle on the table, and murmured in Giants' language:
"I!"
Pausing for a moment, he switched to Hermes and said:
"I summon in my name:"
"The Fool who does not belong to this era, the Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good fortune."
In an instant, the flickering dim candle flame and the quiet fragrance intertwined, merging into an illusory vortex that frantically absorbed spirituality.
By the time Klein finished reciting the spell, the vortex had stabilized into a palm-sized patch of translucent gray.
After examining it for a few seconds without any doubt, Klein took four steps in reverse and returned to the gray fog above. As expected, he saw his high-backed chair rippling with rings of light patterns, making the strange symbol composed of part of the 'Eye without pupils' and part of the 'Twisted Lines' look especially eerie.
He took a breath, stabilized his mind through meditation, and reached out to touch the target.
Almost at the same time, he heard the summoning incantation he had just recited, and saw the surging spirituality and light patterns knotting and stretching into an illusory door.
Compared to the last time, this door was completely formed, covered in mysterious patterns!
And these patterns at the center formed the strange symbol from behind the high-backed chair of 'The Fool'—the same strange symbol composed of part of the 'Eye without pupils' and part of the 'Twisted Lines'!
Staring at this illusory door swaying as if to open, Klein concentrated his mind and gave it a powerful mental push.
Silently, the seemingly eternal grayish-white fog and the majestic ancient palace seemed to have a stone thrown into a lake, creating ripples that surged towards the 'Summoning Door'.
A heavy scraping sound suddenly echoed, and the illusory, eerie door suddenly cracked open a sliver. Through it, one could vaguely see an extremely dark and deep world, countless transparent shadows with hard-to-describe shapes, and rays of bright light of different colors containing endless knowledge.
At that moment, Klein felt an unimaginable, irresistible suction force from within the door, and his body involuntarily hurtled toward it.
Damn! No time to consider it! The thought had just flashed through his mind when his silhouette passed through the gap and disappeared into the vast darkness behind the door.
The extreme dizziness and the maddening roars gradually subsided. Klein finally regained his sense of self.
In front of him was a young man in an old shirt, with black hair and brown pupils, and average features. He was of average height and thin build but seemed to contain considerable strength. He carried an obvious scholarly aura without seeming gloomy at all.
...Isn't this myself? Klein was no stranger to this scene. He encountered a similar situation every day when he looked in the mirror to tidy his clothes.
He nodded slightly, looking around with understanding. He saw his bed with white sheets, the coat rack holding a silk top hat, tailcoat, and thin black trench coat, shelves filled with many books, a clean desk with nothing but a candle, and the candle flame emitting a grayish-white glow.
And he was floating right in front of that palm-sized translucent gray circle.
So, I really *summoned* myself? Some kind of soul out-of-body effect... but it feels a bit different... Klein looked at the physical body in front of him, at its empty, dazed eyes, and fell into thought.
However, he had finally confirmed one thing: what went up to the gray fog was only his soul, that is, the spiritual body in the occult, externally manifested as the astral body.
No wonder I could directly see the surface of the astral bodies of 'Justice', 'The Hanged Man', and 'The Sun' from above the gray fog, thus determining if they were Beyonders and roughly judging their Sequences... Hmm, my physical body seems to be protected, protected by the ritual's power, allowing it to stand steadily without losing balance and collapsing... Miss Justice and the others should be similar... Klein slowly adapted to the situation and began to examine the state of his body and soul.
He withdrew his gaze and tried to drive his spiritual body, which was fused with some of the power of the mysterious space.
Woo!
A slightly cold wind blew, swirling around the bedroom. Klein happily tasted the feeling of flight, circling around and around.
"Within the same city, I can also play the role of a 'Messenger'... I wonder if I can carry physical objects..." He controlled his emotions, stopped, hovering in midair, and tested other abilities.
He grabbed at the notebook on the bookshelf. His hand passed through it, then came back, finding no purchase.
"It feels a bit viscous, different from passing through air... When I become stronger, or can pry into more power from the mysterious space above the gray fog, I might be able to do it..." Klein tried a single piece of paper next, but he still couldn't grasp it.
After thinking for a dozen seconds, he flew to the coat rack, inserted his transparent, blurry hand into the pocket of the black trench coat, and touched the 'Charm of Sleep' and 'Charm of Calm' that had been replenished after a successful reimbursement.