I loaded the Mysticism panel.

After school, Richard lined up at the school bus stop.

Today he didn't go to the library to study, nor did he take the detour to the flea market.

I have important business to attend to tonight, so I need to conserve my energy.

Evelyn squeezed through the crowd to his side, a small yellow flower, picked from who-knows-where, tucked into her hair.

"It's rare to see you taking the car today."

"Um."

"Not going to the library?"

"I'm not going today."

"The sun rose in the west."

"It's not unusual for the sun to always set in the west."

Evelyn snorted and stopped arguing with him.

The car arrived, and the two squeezed in, sitting one in front of the other.

Richard leaned against the window, watching the streetscape of Briston recede into the distance outside the car.

The factory chimneys were belching smoke, and coal ash was floating in the air.

Back home, the brother and sister each went to their rooms to change out of their school uniforms.

After changing his clothes, he waited a while, took Grey's snack box out of his bag, and knocked twice on his sister's door.

The door opened a crack, and Evelyn's face peeked out from behind.

"what?"

"I'd like to invite you to afternoon tea." He handed over the tin box.

These desserts don't have a long shelf life, especially fruit tarts, which will spoil if not eaten on the same day.

Evelyn took it, opened the lid, and looked down at the layout inside.

"Who did it?"

"classmate."

Which student?

"A classmate who knows baking."

Evelyn picked up the lemon scones, flipped them over, and checked the browning on the bottom.

"I made this mold myself." She then held the cookie up to the light.

"The edge curvature is uneven; factory stamping wouldn't be like this."

Richard hadn't expected her to have such a sharp eye.

"The milk jelly base for the fruit tart uses gelatin sheets, which is much more expensive than using cornstarch for thickening."

Evelyn brought the tart to her nose and smelled it: "The flour is good flour, and the butter isn't cheap either."

She closed the lid: "Is this student who knows baking a girl?"

"...What's the basis for your judgment?"

"The mold is shaped like an owl; guys probably wouldn't cut something like that."

Evelyn placed the tin box on her desk and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"The craftsmanship is excellent, and they put a lot of care into it."

She said this in a very serious tone, without a trace of sarcasm.

"If this person were to apply to those baking schools in Beijing, he would probably get in."

"Why don't you just say you could do it too?"

"What am I supposed to use? I've never even used gelatin sheets before; my family can't afford them."

Evelyn picked a piece of fruit tart from the box and took a bite.

After chewing a few times, her expression subtly changed.

"tasty."

She took another bite, hesitated, and then said, "Brother."

"Um?"

"Your classmate, you guys..."

"We're just classmates."

"I haven't finished asking yet."

"I know what you want to ask, and the answer is the same."

Evelyn glared at him:

"Okay, okay, classmate, whatever you say is fine with us."

………………

After dinner, he returned to his room, drew the curtains, and turned on the lamp.

Richard took out his notebook and flipped to the spot where he had left it last night.

The last line of writing on the white paper was still clearly legible: "Because at this stage, you don't need to perform any rituals."

The next paragraph of the document provides the answer from the perspective of practitioners.

"Once you master something from a young age, everything starts to change."

"Mastering a small skill is the first real hurdle on the entire path to advancement."

"If signing your name is like writing it on a nameplate on a rare object, then the minor mastery ritual is like knocking on the curtain for the first time and saying to what's behind it, 'I've come.'"

"This is the first real ceremony, and the first time you'll have to pay a price."

"After the ceremony, what you gain and what you lose will be irreversible."

The document then outlines a rough progression from practitioner to junior expert:

"The practitioner stage is a long accumulation period, which can be as short as a few years, or as long as a dozen years or even longer."

During this period, practitioners need to continuously cultivate their chosen path until they reach a critical point known as the 'Limen'.

"The threshold is not a specific value; it is a state."

One day you will suddenly realize that the knowledge, skills, and ether reserves you possess have been blocked by an invisible wall.

"You know the method, but you can't do it better;"

You can see the outline of the answer, but you can't grasp it;

You have a fair amount of ether, but not enough to sustain life.

"This wall is the gateway; it doesn't appear on its own, nor does it disappear automatically. You can only sense it when you are ready."

The moment you sense it, you must make a choice: stop on this side of the wall, or crash into it.

Those who choose to stop will spend the rest of their lives in the profession.

This is not shameful; it's the ultimate destination for most practitioners, and the wisest choice.

"The person who chooses to crash into the obstacle needs to complete a minor mastery ritual."

The literature refers to the minor mastery ceremony as "Prima Juratio," deliberately distinguishing it from the signature.

A signature is a formal agreement; an oath is a formal contract.

The essential difference between the two is that signing one's name does not disturb the inner circle, while swearing an oath does.

"The core steps of the Lesser Proficiency Ritual are only one: the practitioner places the artifact in the place where the veil is most intensely permeated, and uses his own ether as a medium to send a declaration to the back of the veil through the artifact."

"The content of the declaration varies from person to person, but the core meaning is the same: 'I am ready to be under deeper scrutiny.'"

"The curtain will respond."

"The way of responding varies from person to person, from time to time, and from place to place. No two people have the same experience of mastering the ritual."

But one thing is common: the moment the veil responds to you, the etheric structure within your body undergoes a fundamental change.

"This change is irreversible."

A seemingly simple sentence encapsulates decades of spiritual practice, simplifying all the specific steps involved.

Richard knew perfectly well why the other party had written it that way.

The author believes that those who read this introductory textbook are far from being proficient.

Judging from his subjective intentions, it seems that he also hopes that those who read this book will stop at the stage of becoming practitioners.

However, the literature still provides a description of the promotion to "Minor Proficiency":

"The ether of the lesser master is no longer just a tool; it begins to become an extension of the body."

Practitioners manipulate ether like craftsmen picking up a hammer; those with minor expertise wield ether like people swinging their arms.

The difference between the two is the difference between skill and instinct.

Moving up to the next level, from basic to advanced mastery, the focus shifts from technical details to traditional concepts.

"From the 'Minor Proficiency' level upwards, cultivators are no longer isolated individuals."

"Everyone who tries to go from being proficient in a small way to being a master in a large way must access a system that is much larger than themselves."

Practitioners call it "tradition" (Traditio).