Klein looked at the dark blue viscous liquid that was hard to say whether it was a glass or a lump, and swallowed with difficulty: "Drink it like this? No other preparations needed? Like a ritual, incantation, or prayer?"
Old Neil let out an "uh" and said: "Preparations? Yes, first have a glass of Intis' Olmir wine, then smoke a Desi cigar, hum a melodious tune, dance a light court dance, you can do tap dance if you like, and finally play a round of Gwent..."
Seeing Klein's expression becoming more and more dumbfounded, Old Neil smiled and gave a summary of the previous description: "If you feel nervous."
...You sure are humorous... Klein's mouth twitched, resisting the urge to draw his gun.
He put down his cane, stretched out his right hand, and lifted the opaque cup as if holding a heavy object. The potion's smell was light and ethereal, as if nonexistent.
"Young man, don't hesitate. The more you hesitate, the more nervous and afraid you become, affecting the absorption later." Old Neil said casually with his back to Klein. He had somehow already walked to the sink beside him, turned on the tap, and was noisily washing his hands.
Klein silently nodded, took a deep breath, and like when he was a child pinching his nose to take medicine, he brought the opaque cup to his lips, tilted his head back, and gulped it down.
A cool, slippery feeling quickly filled his mouth, then slid down his esophagus into his stomach. The viscous dark blue liquid seemed to grow countless thin and long tentacles, and coldness and stimulation instantly penetrated every cell of Klein's body.
He couldn't help twitching, his vision quickly blurring. All colors intensified, reds redder, blues bluer, blacks blacker, color patches thick and chaotically assembled, like an oil painting splashed by an Impressionist master.
This scene, Klein had experienced before, when the "Spirit Medium" Daly was questioning.
At this moment, his vision was blurred, his thoughts drifting but clear, like a castaway floating on the sea.
Gradually, he saw the surrounding scenes clearly. All colors distinctly overlapped each other, gray and illusory mist diffused faintly.
Around him were things difficult to describe in form, even transparent as if nonexistent. In the depths, there were streams of pure light of different colors, seeming to have life or containing endless knowledge.
This is somewhat similar to what I saw in the "luck transfer ritual"... Klein instinctively looked down and found that "himself" was still standing there, his body twitching.
Suddenly, he had an epiphany, his consciousness sank sharply and merged with his body.
Boom! The mist quickly dissipated, the color patches normalized simultaneously, and the pure light and nonexistent-like objects disappeared instantly.
The scene in the alchemy room returned to normal, but Klein felt his head swelling, as if it might burst. He saw countless afterimages in everything, and in his ears came ethereal murmurs from unknown sources: "Honachis... Fregra... Honachis... Fregra... Honachis... Fregra..."
Klein's forehead felt a sharp pain, and his heart quickly filled with a desire to vent and destroy. He frowned and shook his head repeatedly.
"Is your vision abnormal? And do you hear sounds you couldn't before?" Old Neil beside him asked with a smile.
"Yes, Mr. Neil, what should I do?" Klein suppressed his intense mania and asked.
Old Neil chuckled and said: "This is because the potion's power is overflowing and you lack a way to control it. Alright, do as I say: imagine an object in your mind, a common, simple, easy one."
Klein focused his attention and outlined in his mind his half-height black silk top hat, thinking about the feeling of touching it, its specific shape.
"Focus all attention on it, repeat continuously, outline continuously. Do you feel a bit better?" Old Neil's voice penetrated through, like a calming song.
Klein gradually shifted his attention to the imagined silk top hat, feeling the murmurs in his ears gradually diminish until they disappeared, and the afterimages in his eyes slowly merged, no longer blurry.
"Much better." Klein calmed the chaotic emotions in his heart and exhaled.
He looked down at his body and found no abnormalities.
He moved his hands and feet, then asked with half expectation and half doubt: "Did I succeed? Am I a 'Seer' now?"
Old Neil pulled out a silvered mirror from the side and put it in front of him: "Look at your eyes."
Klein gazed and saw himself in the mirror, wearing a black top hat, with deep contours, ordinary features, covered in sweat, seemingly no different from before.
He followed Old Neil's prompt and carefully looked at his eyes, only then noticing that his originally brown irises had darkened considerably, as dark as a night without any light, as dark as if they could absorb others' souls. Normally, deep brown pupils are easily mistaken for black, and without careful observation, even Klein himself could hardly tell.
"This is the external manifestation of the potion's power. Once you learn meditation and know how to restrain it, your eyes will return to normal." Old Neil smiled and extended his right hand, "Congratulations, new extraordinary, our Seer."
"Thank you." Klein shook his hand, "Mr. Neil, when can I learn meditation?"
"You can learn now. Preliminary meditation is quite simple, especially for an extraordinary." Old Neil smiled and said, "Just now, when you outlined an object in your mind to divert attention and restrain the overflowing power, that was the first step of meditation. Do it again."
Klein closed his eyes and again depicted the half-height black silk top hat in his mind.
His attention seemed easier to concentrate than before. Soon, some stray thoughts emerged and then fell away, leaving only the outlined top hat.
"Let your mind go slightly blank, then replace the outlined object with something that doesn't exist in this world, something imagined out of thin air. You must follow this rule. Only then can you enter meditation, and gradually unite with the transcendent 'I', the infinite 'I', the cosmic 'I', gaining insight and revelation into truth, acquiring knowledge that can only be understood by oneself. In the field of mysticism, this is called 'mystical experience'." Old Neil said in a soothing tone, "For the later descriptions, you only need to listen for now. The most important thing at the moment is to enter meditation."