I loaded the Mysticism panel.

"Tradition is the face of the curtain."

The curtain itself is a unified whole, but human cognition is limited, and it is impossible to understand everything behind the curtain at the same time.

Tradition is the perspective found by our predecessors—a specific way of observing, understanding, and utilizing the world behind the veil.

The document lists five traditions.

Richard read through the passages one by one, translating them line by line in his notebook with a pencil.

Solar tradition, Solaris.

Traditions associated with order, light, and healing can be traced back to the innate worship of the sun by various ancient civilizations.

The literature mentions that practitioners of the solar tradition can use ether to replace organ functions.

The etheric circulation is used to maintain blood flow or supply oxygen.

The tradition of hearth fires, Ignis.

The tradition associated with forging, transformation, and refining.

Practitioners of the Hearth Fire tradition do not regard ether as pure power; they regard it as raw material.

Alchemists and some scholars specializing in the secret arts belong to this tradition.

The document specifically points out that the making and modification of firework is the core knowledge of the firework tradition.

"Silver base engravings for sealing, holy water for exorcising evil spirits, crystal balls for divination... these things don't fall from the sky; they need to be made by someone."

The Abyss Tradition, Abyssi.

The writing style changed again when I wrote this line.

The first two traditions use neutral academic terminology, but the author's tone becomes somber when it comes to the Abyss tradition.

"Deep within the veil lies knowledge, truth, and countless things that existed before the birth of human civilization."

The practitioners of the Abyss tradition attempt to grasp those principles, using human thought to comprehend non-human logic.

"This is the most dangerous tradition, and also the most tempting tradition."

"The Abyss tradition has an extremely low entry barrier; anyone can look into its depths."

But the threshold for returning from the depths is extremely high; when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

The tradition of hunting the moon, Lunae Venatricis.

The true lineage of the Witcher is directly related to hunting, purifying, and banishing.

Most hunters of the Blood Burning Path belong to the Moon Hunting tradition.

The document is concise and to the point, consistent with the spirit of the Moon Hunting tradition itself—less talk, more action.

The Moon Hunting tradition doesn't care what's behind the veil, nor does it care about the nature of ether.

It only cares about one thing: what's behind the curtain has come over here, how to send it back, or completely eliminate it.

The more direct and efficient the method, the better.

During the conversation, the grandfather, Gerald, mentioned that three generations of the Ashford family had followed the path of hunters.

Based on descriptions of the Moon Hunt tradition, the Ashford family most likely belongs to this category.

Textrix, a traditional web weaving technique.

The main place of origin for the hidden direction, which is associated with traditions of sealing, divination, and destiny.

"Traditional practitioners of the web-weaving tradition understand the world behind the veil as a web."

Sealing is severing the threads, divination is tracing the threads, and weaving destiny is rearranging the threads.

"Those who weave the web do not stand in the spotlight; they manipulate everything from behind the scenes."

"By the time you realize you're caught in the net, the threads have already tightened."

Richard drew a simple diagram of the five traditions in his notebook, with five circles arranged around the illustration on the curtain.

Each tradition corresponds to one aspect of the curtain, and even when all five aspects are put together, they still do not constitute the entirety of the curtain.

He wrote his own interpretation below the diagram:

"Human cognition is limited, and tradition is an approximate cross-section of limited cognition onto an infinite veil."

The last paragraph of the document discusses the promotion criteria for top-level experts.

"To advance to the Great Mastery level, a practitioner needs to choose a tradition and complete the 'Second Signature' ritual of that tradition. This time, it's not as simple as signing a name on a magical object."

The form of second authorship varies according to tradition, and will not be discussed in this article.

It is important to emphasize that being a second signatory signifies that you have officially joined a system of inheritance.

Your signature will be recorded at the heart of this tradition, binding your actions and reputation to the entire tradition from then on.

"You no longer represent just yourself."

The qualitative change can be summed up in a single sentence, but it carries immense weight:

"The Great Master begins to be able to influence the surrounding etheric field."

Practitioners manipulate the ether within their own bodies; those with minor mastery extend their ether into physical extensions; and those with great mastery radiate their ether outward, altering the environment itself.

Richard's pencil stopped below the line of text and drew a line.

Change the environment itself.

He recalled Gerardo's move, the overwhelming etheric field, which was only directed at him and was completely undetectable to those around him.

Ether radiates outwards, changing the environment. What if we amplify it tenfold or a hundredfold?

The document contains only one brief sentence: "The truly accomplished no longer fear an army composed of ordinary people."

Richard placed the pencil on the back of the notebook and continued reading.

As I recall, the last few lines of this passage were written in a different ink color, lighter than the main text, suggesting they were added some time later.

"The five traditions listed above are the ones with the largest number of people, the most complete inheritance, and the most systematic organization."

"But the curtain has far more than five faces."

"Just as a mirror can reflect from countless angles, the world behind the curtain is also fragmented by countless ways of understanding it."

"Besides the five major traditions, there are many smaller lineages of inheritance scattered throughout the world."

Some are so ancient that their origins are lost to history, while others are so young that their founders are still alive.

The narrative tone changed in the supplementary paragraph; the author hesitated for a long time before putting pen to paper, but ultimately decided to finish writing:

"By now, you may have already begun to envision your own path to advancement."

"I must remind you of something."

"Whether it's the five major traditions or other inheritances, the hierarchical system draws the same line at the level of mastery."

"Cultivators below the line, no matter how powerful, can still be understood by ordinary people."

"Their power is amplified human strength, and their perception is an extended human sense."

Although their lives were somewhat prolonged by the ether, aging and death remained the inevitable end.

"Existence above the line... I deliberately used 'existence' instead of 'cultivator' here, which is already starting to deviate from the human realm."

Richard's pencil paused on the paper for a moment.

He recalled the hierarchical sequence he had deciphered from the botanical book he found on the third-floor bookshelf in Greenwood.

Experts, masters, and recluses.

The three ranks above the Great Mastery were described in the text as becoming increasingly stingy with their descriptions as they rose higher.

The term "expert" is used only a few words, "master" is used only half a sentence, and "hidden seat" doesn't even provide a definition.

Now he probably knows why.

The wording in the document is extremely cautious; every word has been carefully weighed before being included.

"The ether of the Great Master has been deeply integrated with the physical body, but the extent of the integration is still within a controllable range."

They still need to eat and sleep, and they can still die from a dagger piercing their heart... even though an ordinary dagger wouldn't be able to penetrate it.

"After crossing the line of great mastery, things will begin to change, and ether will no longer be a tool or extension of the practitioner."

"It itself will begin to become part of the ether."

"The boundary between the two is dissolving, and the meaning of the physical body is diminishing."

"At this stage, the meaning of the word 'living' will be completely different from what ordinary people understand."

The literature does not elaborate further here, but only uses a concluding paragraph to summarize the entire text.

"Every power comes with a price."

"For every gift you receive, the veil will take something of equal value from you."

"At lower levels, this debt is barely noticeable."

The amount of wax consumed in a candle's burn is negligible, but the light it provides far outweighs the cost.

"But a candle can only be so long."

"The brighter you burn it, the shorter the remaining wax will be."

"Some practitioners choose to stop after climbing to a sufficient height."

Partly because they couldn't climb any further, and partly because they looked down and realized there wasn't much wax left under their feet.

"But others did not stop."

"They became something else, perhaps stronger or more enduring than humans, but ultimately they could no longer be called human."

"As for that other thing, what exactly is it...?"

"Cave!"