I loaded the Mysticism panel.

Close the door, draw the curtains, and open the window slightly.

Richard flipped to the marked section in his notebook and laid out the comparison table and etymology manual next to it.

The gargoyle squatted on the corner of the table, acting as a paperweight.

The materials collected from the remaining candidate books are not urgent; we can take our time.

This first document alone contained so much information that he needed to spend time digesting it.

Initially, the process of deciphering embedded encryption was more complex than before.

First, he needs to extract the ciphertext words one by one from the main text.

This step requires him to have an extremely accurate grasp of the Latin grammatical structure of the text.

Only by fully understanding the grammatical logic of the main text sentences can one determine which word belongs to the main text and which word is the ciphertext mixed in.

Then, the selected ciphertext words are arranged in page number order and reassembled into complete sentences.

These sentences themselves have undergone another round of replacement encryption.

This is equivalent to adding an extra step of "picking a needle from a haystack" on top of normal code deciphering.

Richard sighed inwardly.

The person who designed this encryption probably wanted to ensure that only those with a certain level of Latin proficiency and the ability to decipher coded messages could read the content.

Both abilities are indispensable.

He lowered his head, holding a pen in his right hand, and using his left index finger to trace the characters on the notebook one by one.

The added benefit of knowledge allows for almost instantaneous root word decomposition and a much faster speed for analyzing Latin syntactic structures than normal.

About half an hour later, all the ciphertext words on the first page were selected and arranged on a blank sheet of paper.

He read the words aloud in order, and his heart began to race.

After the encryption was decrypted, the first complete sentence appeared:

The title page of the document contains only one line of Latin text:

"De Ascensu Velati (On Ascending Through the Veil)"

Richard's heart began to race as he found what he wanted to see.

The article gets right to the heart of the matter right from the start:

"Everyone who steps onto the edge of the curtain will sooner or later face the same question: how to climb up."

"The essence of rank is the deepening of the relationship between the practitioner and the veil."

The higher your rank, the clearer the veil's perception of you, and the greater the power you can draw from it.

The cost is symmetrical; the shadow you cast behind the curtain grows thicker and longer.

Those beings with the ability to observe from the depths of the curtain will find it increasingly easier to discern your silhouette.

"A extinguished candle will go unnoticed by any eye in the dark;"

A lit candle is safe in the dark because the flame is too small for distant eyes to see.

A torch is different; its light is enough for eyes far away to see.

The sun, however, doesn't need to be found by the eyes, because the first thing the eyes do when they open is to find the sunlight.

These words made Richard sit up straight in his chair.

Ascending to a higher rank is not a one-way increase in strength; it is a two-way transaction.

You ask the curtain for strength, and the curtain returns your gaze.

The greater the power, the deeper the gaze.

The document then devotes considerable space to explaining the promotion process from newcomer to professional.

The wording was detailed, almost like a step-by-step instruction:

"Newcomers transitioning to the profession must complete the subscripting process."

The prerequisites for signing were listed one by one.

First, the ether microcirculation must operate stably for at least one year.

"One year is the minimum standard. Microcirculations that fall below this period have a very high probability of collapsing when it comes to signing."

The consequences of collapse vary from person to person. In mild cases, the circuit breaks and needs to be repaired from scratch. In severe cases, the circuit can never be rebuilt.

The shortest stable period recorded in the literature is two hundred days.

However, that practitioner experienced repeated cyclical fluctuations for three years after signing his name, only truly stabilizing in the fourth year. One should not be impatient.

Richard did some mental calculations.

His etheric microcirculation took shape less than two months after his trip to the basement. He still has to wait for more than half a year, which should be enough time to catch up with the summer college entrance season.

Second, choose a career path.

"Scholar, hunter, secretive—one of these three paths must be explicitly chosen when signing one's name."

The signature will imprint your choice onto the surface of the artifact, and from then on, the world behind the veil will use this as a marker to identify you. Once chosen, it cannot be changed.

This was no surprise to him, the scholar.

Third, complete an "empirical study".

"Probatio is a prerequisite for the signing ceremony."

A practitioner needs to independently complete a practical task related to their chosen direction without external assistance.

Empirical evidence from a scholarly perspective typically involves independently deciphering an encrypted text that has not been previously deciphered.

Empirical evidence for the hunter's approach typically involves independently removing a low-level entity behind a veil.

Empirical evidence of the covert approach typically involves independently setting up or repairing a valid seal.

"There is no unified evaluation standard or unified examination institution for empirical evidence."

Your mentor (Ductor) will assess your skill level and assign you empirical tasks when deemed appropriate.

The face of Mr. Hutton, the guide, came to mind.

From the very beginning, he was the one who guided the bookshelves, provided reference tables, led people to the seal site for on-site observation, and gave away silver coins and gray stamen grass.

If the mystical lineage has a "guide" role, then Mr. Hutton is most likely his guide.

Although the old gentleman never explicitly stated this relationship.

"The signature itself is not complicated; in fact, it is so simple that it almost seems unrefined."

"The practitioner selects a rare object as a vessel and imprints his own mark onto the surface of the object."

To outsiders, this process appears as someone signing their name on their property, because it is essentially a signature.

"No candlelight, no prayers, no witnesses needed; you can even do it while having breakfast."

"Signature is not a ceremony, nor does it constitute any declaration in the sense of ceremony."

It's simply establishing a connection between you and an object, like your name being written on the title page of a book, proving that the book belongs to you, and also proving that you belong to this path.

"The world behind the curtain thus knows of your existence, but that's all."

All it knows is that 'a candle has been lit,' but the flame is too small for distant eyes to discern, nor would they notice.

Richard studied this passage carefully.

Signing your name is just the beginning; it's your registration in the world behind the curtain.

Registration itself carries no risk, incurs no cost, and does not even require a specific setting.

The real ceremony is yet to come.

The document then devotes an entire paragraph to emphasizing the importance of selecting unusual items:

"When choosing a curio, the least recommended approach is to hastily select a curio and sign it before any connection has been established."

While this approach won't lead to catastrophic consequences, it will make every step forward in the future involve taking a longer and more circuitous route compared to others.

"Please note that you should not blindly pursue the amount of ether within artifacts!"

Blindly choosing artifacts with excessively high ether content could lead to consequences far more terrifying than the collapse of the etheric internal circulation!

This reminder is delivered in a very serious tone.

Richard stroked his chin, thinking of the fire god temple pillar he had seen at No. 7 Flower Moon Street, and realized that this was indeed the case.

If you find it difficult even to hold it in your hand, how can you possibly achieve a connection with and sign your name to such a wondrous object?

At the end of the author's section, the paper included a few sentences written in an almost casual tone.

"After you've completed the signature, congratulations! You've officially become a practitioner."

"You can temporarily retain the ether in the environment, no longer relying entirely on the passive, minute accumulation during breathing exercises, and the amount of ether at your disposal will increase significantly in a short period of time."

You can perform real spells.

The tricks used by newcomers are essentially just techniques for igniting external media with a very small amount of ether; they don't really qualify as magic.

"You can accept commissions to solve practical problems in the field of mysticism for your employer;"

You can use the industry's credit system to purchase goods;

You can now enter most mystical locations without being politely "asked" to leave.

In short: You now have legal status, a means of making a living, and a social circle to participate in.

At this point, the tone of the document suddenly changed.

The following paragraph is the author's personal suggestion, not an academic conclusion.

You may disagree, but please at least read it to the end.