Chapter 23: The Venerable Ra and the Witch of Greed
Lumine brought a piece of meat out of the kitchen and went upstairs with it to his sister's room.
His sister was still asleep. He approached her slowly and said as he woke her up, "I met a girl and I have some important matters to attend to. I will go with Deco to visit Fiona in the hospital, and then I will go to the girl. We might get a new house."
Rahil would have jumped on Lumine if she were not feeling extreme exhaustion from sleep. Before she fully woke up, Lumine smiled at her, raised his finger to his mouth, and said as he departed, "I will explain everything after I return."
Lumine left the house and headed for the forest. The forest was not far from his house, for the house was on the northern edge of the city, and nothing separated it from the forest except the house of his old neighbor, Virgal.
As Lumine was walking to the forest, he saw his old neighbor Virgal watering the flowers.
Lumine ignored him and locked his hatred inside himself. Were it not for Deco's previous testimony, he would have been sentenced to execution by the Church of the Red Moon, for he had assaulted Virgal after hearing about his frantic dancing during the ritual of his father's sacrifice.
..
Lumine walked in the forest for a quarter of an hour before stopping and taking the Linker's stick out of his pocket while thinking, 'My maximum limit for using attraction is six times. I will try penetrating the tree once.. to know the penetrating power of attraction, and then I will conduct the transportation experiment.'
Lumine threw the stick to the ground and walked behind one of the trees that blocked out the light and the sky due to the density of their leaves—the hackberry trees.
He extended his hand and touched the tree trunk to feel its strength and roughness. As he expected, the tree was solid; it was no exaggeration to imagine it like the arm bone of an adult man.
Lumine retreated two steps back and thought, 'Come,' while imagining the axe coming to his grasp.
Puff. Immediately, Lumine felt the axe in his grasp and heard the sound of a powerful impact.
He did not raise his gaze from the tree and smiled upon seeing its trunk penetrated by the traces of the axe.
Lumine noticed the sounds of many different birds around him. He raised his head and found many birds flying away in fear.
Lumine sighed at this and understood the reason for their fear, for the sound of penetrating the hackberry tree was not minor.
The sounds of the birds stirred something within him, so he decided to wait until the place around him calmed down.
While he was looking at the birds and turning his head from branch to branch, he found a stark white owl looking at him in silence on one of the branches. With his enhanced vision, and despite the owl's distance from him, he noticed its eyes wide open, staring at him with immense depth.
Lumine was on the verge of raising the axe and throwing it at the owl, but it flapped its wings and screeched as if it realized what Lumine was going to do.
Lumine eyed the owl flying away and thought, 'That look from the owl.. why did I feel that it contained a killing intent?'
..
The birds around him calmed down and the place returned to its usual tranquility. Then, he left his spot and searched for an area that did not contain many trees, for in the north of the city, the density of the hackberry trees was great; within a space of five meters in any direction, you might find approximately seven trees.
Lumine did not favor trying transportation in this dense space, and for this reason, he searched for a wider area.
It took him ten minutes in his search, but in the end, he found an area that suited him—a vast space that contained no trees at all.
He left the axe on the ground and distanced himself from it to a distance where he could barely see it—between the trees and the open space—for he wanted to try transportation at a medium distance, and then he would try it at a greater distance.
Lumine realized that transformation without contact was possible if he thought, 'Transform into this,' and attraction was also possible if he thought, 'Come.' From the two methods, Lumine thought naturally of the transportation method and thought, 'Transport.'
Lumine noticed the place around him changing, and he felt his spirituality depleting. He felt a powerful pain in the back of his head just as he had felt when he conducted several attraction experiments. Unlike the first time, the pain was severe, making him think of suicide.
Lumine wanted to touch the back of his neck and try to soothe the pain, but he felt difficulty breathing, as if the air had become heavier.
He saw the colors around him blending: the colors of the hackberry wood with the green grass, the colors of the blue sky and the white clouds, the green leaves and the blue sky...
All the colors blended together, and it increased his pain. He collapsed to the ground and closed his eyes from the pain.
He raised his hand and held the back of his neck frantically, wanting to soothe the pain, but it was increasing with every second.
While he was suffering from the acute pain, he heard the sound of multiple whispers and hallucinations around him.
He heard quiet whispers overlapping with shouting hallucinations, he heard happy whispers overlapping with weeping hallucinations, he heard angry whispers overlapping with corrupt hallucinations.
And in the midst of all the numerous whispers and hallucinations, he heard a clearer voice of delirium with a feminine tone. It appeared to him that it came from the Witch of Greed, the witch who destroyed the world and the blessed of the demonic god, the Ruler of Ruin.
The owner of the feminine delirium caused an unbearable, sharp pain that made Lumine lose his endurance and scream with all his voice, "Arghhhhhhhh!"
While he was screaming, he felt a dry hand touch his right arm. He felt intense horror from this, for he was in the middle of the forest and there was no one around him.
He opened his eyes and looked at his arm, and his painful scream blended with fear.
The colors were blended and he saw no trace of a person beside him.. but he felt another dry hand grabbing his left arm.
He turned his head to the arm, but he was shocked; there was no trace of his hand's colors blending with the colors around it, and he did not feel his grip on the back of his neck, as if he had lost it quite simply.
He moved his right hand and tried to grab his left arm, but he touched nothing, which confirmed to him the doubts he feared: he had lost his left arm without understanding the reason.
He lost sensation in his arm and the sound of his screaming quieted from the shock.
Not a second passed before he felt another dry hand touch him at his rib, making him close his eyes unconsciously and scream at the top of his voice, "Castle Man.. please!"
Lumine screamed, calling for help, but no one came to help him.
He felt a dry hand touch him from his left foot, and another hand grab his right foot.. Not a second passed before Lumine fell on his right side and lost his right foot..
'I don't want to die.. I must save Rahil.'
"Richard Alexander..!" Lumine screamed for a second time as he remembered the Castle Man's previous words: 'You can call me the Castle Man or Richard Alexander for the time being, but never call my name outside of this place.'
Immediately, Lumine felt himself standing on his feet, and the pain had vanished from the back of his neck, and his sensation returned to his hand and foot that had been stripped away.
The whispers and hallucinations he was hearing disappeared, and what made him happier was that the feminine delirium that appeared to belong to the Witch of Greed had also vanished.
Lumine opened his eyes, which he had closed unconsciously, expecting to see the Castle Man before him. Moments ago, he was feeling an unbearable pain and hearing the delirium of one of the most evil entities.. the Witch of Greed. Yet, in an instant after his call to Richard Alexander, he survived it and his pain disappeared.
Lumine found himself surrounded by a forest being consumed by fire, and the sky was a heavy crimson red like clouds, twisting upon itself to form massive tornadoes.
The fire was spread everywhere, until it even reached Lumine for moments and he became in the middle of it.. but it did not carry any heat; rather, it was warm and brought comfort to Lumine's mind.
Lumine extended his hand and touched the warm fire, feeling his hand as if it were regaining its vitality and his fatigue disappearing.
Lumine looked to the other side and found a rectangular table of stone decorated with gold glowing from the fire. The table was surrounded by ten stone chairs decorated with silver, and at the head of the table and its foot, there were two other chairs.. completing the scene with twelve chairs.
At the head of the table sat a person whose details were not clear, for the fire covered his body.
Lumine was able to notice some details of him. He sat on the chair in majestic silence, an inhuman aura emanating from him. He wore a royal crimson red robe flowing from his shoulder to the ground, and golden-colored patterns permeated the robe.
His chest was adorned with a royal suit, and on his shoulder rested a gold badge glowing from the fire around it. There was writing on it, but the fire obstructed Lumine and he could not read it.
Lumine was able to see his pitch-black hair falling below his ear. Lumine could not see his face and his other features, for the fire covered them more densely, as if it were a part of him.
Lumine was on the verge of asking if he was dead, for it crossed his mind that he was before the embodiment of death itself, but he remembered the pain disappearing immediately, that he did not suffer until he reached death.
'I called the name of the Castle Man, so how did I end up before this entity?' Lumine knelt on his knee, his gaze to the ground, and said after his thought, "Thank you for saving me. May I know who you are? How can I address you?"
Lumine raised his head slightly, looked at the person at the head of the table, and waited for his answer.
The person rested his back against the chair and extended his left hand to the table while remaining silent for seconds before nodding his head and speaking in a majestic voice, "You may call me the Venerable Ra."
'Ra? Isn't this the name of one of the Egyptian Oracle cards? The card that symbolizes the sun, brightness, leadership, and control.' Thoughts flowed into Lumine's mind as he remembered the card when he used it in the inn. The card depicted a bare-chested human with a falcon's face, above his head the sun, and carrying a divine scepter in his hand.
While he was thinking, he heard the voice of the Venerable Ra speaking, "You are walking in a world fraught with dangers. Were you attempting transportation?"
'Walking in a world fraught with dangers..' Lumine was amazed and lowered his head as he answered simultaneously, "Yes."
'How did he know?' Lumine murmured in his mind before continuing, "Thank you for your help, you saved me from certain death. I cannot repay my debt to you, but I can receive your orders, I will execute them without the slightest doubt in them."
The Venerable Ra nodded his head as if he agreed to this.
The Venerable remained silent for seconds while he eyed the crimson sky above him before sighing and saying, "Where did you meet the Castle Man?"
Lumine swallowed his saliva and said without lying, "I met him in the Red Mist.. One day I slept and found myself transported to a strange city that had succumbed to the invasion of the Red Mist."
The Venerable Ra nodded his head at this answer and asked, "What is the extent of your knowledge about the Red Mist?"
Lumine fell silent for seconds to search for the perfect answer before replying, "It is a volatile region. If I enter it from the forest, I might exit anywhere, and it is a haven for monsters and demonic creatures."
Lumine was on the verge of asking the Venerable about the city he transports to, but he heard his voice speaking, preventing his question, "Your answer is understandable.. That city you transport to is the remnants of a previous world that did not free itself from the Red Mist."
The Venerable Ra fell silent for a bit and the fire surrounding his body swayed before he continued, "Your answer touches the surface of the true answer. The Red Mist is the plague that devours everything.. With what did you attempt transportation previously?"
Lumine answered without hesitation and without lying, fearing the Venerable's knowledge of the truth, "I have a stick from the gentleman, the Castle Man. It is called the Linker's stick; I can change its shape, attract it, and transport with it."
The Venerable Ra smiled a mysterious smile and said, "The Linker's stick is a powerful tool for you, but your spirituality is simple. You cannot transport without possessing a bridge. Using transportation without awareness of your spirituality is like walking on lava. You must enhance your spirituality before you transport across worlds."
Lumine's curiosity increased and he was on the verge of asking about those worlds and the remnants of that world which the Venerable Ra meant, but he did not find an opportunity, and the Venerable completed his speech, "Why are you a Pathfinder? What is it that you seek?"
Lumine swallowed his saliva and spoke in a distracted tone, "I have an older sister named Rahil. Six months ago, she was exposed to an incident related to Pathfinders, and her form changed.. she turned into a white female dog. When I met with the Castle Man in the Red Mist, he told me that the path of the Link is the key to restoring her to her true form."
The Venerable Ra nodded at Lumine's answer as if he had accepted it before speaking, "You can become my blessed; you will repay your debt with this."
"I do not.." Lumine hesitated for a moment, but he knew his status before the Venerable and remembered who had saved him from death just a moment ago, repeating what he said previously, "I cannot repay my debt to you, but I can receive your orders. I am at the disposal of your orders and I will be your loyal blessed."
The Venerable Ra smiled at Lumine's answer and tapped his finger on the stone table.
Immediately, different cards appeared out of thin air, floating around Lumine.
Fifteen cards, each carrying its own drawings and different characters, and under each character, there was writing in the Vuden language.
On one of them, there was the name 'Embodiment of Invisibility: Amun,' and on another, there was 'Lady of the Cosmos Sky: Nut,' and on another card, there was 'Lord of War and Justice: Horus.'
Lumine understood the will of the Venerable Ra. He stood on his feet and decided to take a card and adopt it as a symbol of his identity instead of his real name.
He extended his hand and grabbed a card that depicted a tall, bare-chested man with a dog's face and a black body, wearing a blue cloak on his back reaching the ground, decorated with thin gold threads.
On his chest, there was a golden necklace on which was written in writing that could barely be seen, 'For Guarding and Crossing.'
At the bottom of the card, it was written in the Vuden language, 'Lord of Death and Tombs: Anubis.'
The Venerable Ra smiled, then tapped his finger on the table and said to Lumine while he was examining his card, "I have an open mission for you, Anubis."
Lumine nodded as if he did not object to this; he had become his blessed, and it was natural to receive orders from him.
In a calm tone, the Venerable Ra issued his order, "Search for everything related to the Witch of Greed."