"What exactly happened?"
Arthur murmured the question in a low voice, unable to recall anything he had done in recent days.
He looked around in a daze, then asked in fear, panic, and bewilderment:
"Who are you?"
"Where am I?"
"This is your home's washroom. Can't you recognize it? I'm the private detective assigned to protect you." Klein looked at the big boy across from him, who still hadn't figured out the situation, and chuckled softly.
"My home... detective protecting me... what exactly happened..." Arthur gazed around in astonishment, muttering to himself.
Suddenly, he froze, his already pale face overtaken by unconcealable terror:
"Perhaps... perhaps there really are ghosts in this world! There really are ghosts!"
His voice trembled considerably, but Klein could discern two distinctly different feelings within it—fear and excitement—which perfectly matched the emotional colors he perceived.
Excitement? Was this a boy who deliberately provoked resentful spirits just for the thrill? Truly young, bold, and fearless of death... Klein formed an initial hypothesis, but kept a puzzled expression as he asked in return:
"Ghosts?"
After becoming "The Magician," his spiritual vision had improved slightly, but only marginally. He still couldn't perceive the astral surface deep within the etheric body, and thus couldn't determine whether a target was a Beyonder through this means.
Arthur's pale face suddenly flushed red:
"Yes, ghosts!"
He waved his arms and added:
"Beyond our senses, there exists a far vaster world! Truly, death is not the end of everything!"
These lines... truly the words of a teenager... But similar words, I think I've seen them somewhere before... Klein smiled and said, "I prefer another saying: before times older than the ancient itself, even death itself shall fade."
Before Arthur could say more, he pulled out his gold-cased pocket watch, clicked it open, glanced at it and said:
"So, how exactly did you end up in that state before? You were like a patient having a mental breakdown."
"I..." Arthur tilted his head and thought for a few seconds, then said, "I joined a club—it's no ordinary club! We all believe death is not the end. Through mystic communion, we can even directly perceive death and understand that everything can be reversed. Yes, we believe the dead can be resurrected!"
Having climbed out of his own grave only a little over a month ago, Klein gave two dry laughs and said:
"You're trying to resurrect the dead?"
Death is not the end... a world beyond the senses... everything can be reversed... mystic communion... Isn't this the doctrine of the Church of Death? All of it was created for the purpose of resurrecting the God of Death... He muttered a few words to himself in sudden realization.
"Yes!" Atreus nodded, his eyes bright but unable to hide his fear.
"Where did you get the corpses from?" Klein pressed.
"We... we would... secretly dig up graves, ones that hadn't been buried long, or buy them from hospitals..." Atreus recalled, speaking haltingly.
Crimes that would land someone in prison for sure... No wonder Logan Coleman didn't want to call the police... Playing awfully bold games here... Klein maintained a gentle smile and changed the question:
"So have you had any success?"
"Not yet... At that gathering, they looked at me the way you'd look at a corpse, as if figuring out which spot to place the corresponding mystical communion... Then we performed the spirit dance, communing with the world beyond the senses, and after that... after that I have no memory..." Atreus's body trembled uncontrollably.
Spirit dance? So it really is the Mystic Order... This guy became a test subject for his companions? Klein asked with a slight frown:
"So your memory gaps go all the way to now?"
According to internal Nighthawk records, the "spirit dance" originated from ancient sacrificial rites, popular on the Southern Continent, and was a ritual method favoured by Death.
The "spirit dance" used rhythm, cadence, and movement to harmonize spirituality, enabling it to interact with the natural environment and the object of supplication. Combined with simple altar arrangements and the corresponding Honorific Name, it could achieve effects comparable to complex ritual magic.
"Yes," Atreus responded in a low voice, then suddenly looked up. "What day is it today? What time is it now?"
"Friday, 1:12 AM," Klein answered from his memory of a moment ago.
Atreus instinctively drew a breath and said:
"I missed the next gathering..."
"They hold a resurrection ritual at three o'clock every Friday morning, outside Green Cemetery."
Green Cemetery got its name from its proximity to Green Park Street.
"You still want to go? Have you forgotten everything that happened? Oh, you don't remember, of course, but you should ask your father, mother, and servants," Klein reminded the young man before him.
And I might not even be able to help you anymore... he silently added in his thoughts.
Through this incident, he had discovered another shortcoming of The Magician—the lack of ability to deal with resentful spirits and wraith-type creatures. Only flame manipulation could count, and once such entities possessed a human, exorcism and purification became even more of a headache, unless one intended to destroy both person and ghost together.
Of course, Klein wasn't entirely without options in this area. He could set up ritual magic to accomplish something similar, but it would be extremely troublesome and easily expose his identity, making it unsuitable for actual combat.
After thinking it over, he ultimately chose to lure the resentful spirit out with the Azik copper whistle, then use flame manipulation to complete the purification.
But the damage from that was limited. If he ran into a more powerful resentful spirit, he might not be able to handle it.
I'm still missing items or talismans for dealing with necromantic-type creatures. If only I had sealed artefact "3-0782," that "Mutated Sun Holy Emblem"... Klein's thoughts briefly drifted.
Atreus suddenly remembered his missing memories, his face turning pale once more as he answered with a tremor:
"No, I don't want to go anymore! I never want to go again!"
"Very good." Klein offered a smile of praise.
Atreus looked at his face, which held not a trace of fear, and found himself asking instinctively: