Chapter 181: Different States

Chapter One Hundred Eighty-One
Different States

Returning to his bedroom, Klein took advantage of the still-existing wall of spirituality. With great familiarity, he took out a candle mixed with sandalwood and placed it at the center of his desk.

Following the procedure, he lit the candle with spirituality, sprinkled in essential oils, hydrosols, and herbal powders that symbolized good luck and mystery, watched the flickering flame repeat between dimness and brightness, and smelled the tranquil, leisurely fragrance.

Klein stepped back twice, looked at the candle on the desk, and cried out in Giant in a low voice:

“I!”

After a slight pause, he switched to Hermes.

“I summon in my name:

“The Fool that does not belong to this era;

“The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;

“The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.”

In an instant, the continuously flickering yellow candle flame and tranquil scent intertwined and fused into an illusory vortex—a vortex that madly absorbed spirituality.

By the time Klein finished reciting the incantation, the vortex had stabilized into a gray-white circle the size of a palm.

After examining it a few times, Klein, having no doubts, walked four steps counterclockwise and returned above the gray fog. As expected, he saw his own high-backed chair radiating circles upon circles of light, making the strange symbol composed of part “Pupil-less Eye” and part “Distorted Lines” look especially eerie.

He inhaled, stabilized his mind through meditation, and reached out to touch the target.

Almost at the same time, he heard the summoning incantation he had just recited and saw the surging spirituality and ripple-like light patterns mix together, stretching into an illusory door.

Compared with last time, this door had fully formed. Its surface was covered in mysterious patterns.

And at the center, those patterns linked together into the strange symbol behind the Fool’s high-backed chair—the symbol composed of part “Pupil-less Eye” and part “Distorted Lines.”

Looking at that illusory door, which swayed as though waiting to open, Klein focused his spirit and gave it an intense intention to push.

Silently, soundlessly, the seemingly eternal gray-white fog and the ancient, magnificent palace seemed like the surface of a lake struck by a thrown stone. Circle after circle of ripples spread outward, surging toward the “summoning door.”

A heavy grinding sound suddenly rang out. The illusory, bizarre door abruptly opened a crack. Through it, Klein could vaguely see a world that was unimaginably deep and dark. Within it were countless transparent shadows whose forms could not be described, and one clear radiance after another of different colors, each holding endless knowledge.

Just then, Klein felt an unimaginable, irresistible suction come from inside the door. His entire person was involuntarily thrown forward.

What the hell! It does not even give me time to think?

The startled thought had just appeared when his figure passed through the crack and vanished into that deep darkness beyond the door.

The intense dizziness inside his “head” and the nearly maddening roars gradually subsided. Klein finally recovered his sense of self.

He saw a young man before him wearing an old shirt. The young man had black hair, brown eyes, ordinary features, average height, and a lean build that seemed to conceal a fair amount of strength. He carried an obvious scholarly air, yet did not seem gloomy at all.

…Is that not myself?

Klein was hardly unfamiliar with such a scene. Every day, when he looked in the mirror to tidy his clothes, he encountered something similar.

He nodded almost imperceptibly and looked around with sudden understanding. He saw his bed covered with white sheets, the coat rack holding his half-top silk hat, tailcoat, and thin black windbreaker, the shelf with many books on it, the desk that had been tidied clean until only a single candle remained, and the candle flame radiating gray-white light.

As for him, he was currently floating before the palm-sized gray-white circle.

So I really did “summon” myself? Similar to the effect of the soul leaving the body… but also slightly different…

Klein looked at the body that belonged to him. He looked at “his” hollow, empty eyes, which were in a dazed state, and sank into thought.

Even so, he finally confirmed one thing: what went above the gray fog was only the soul itself, which in mysticism was called the Spirit Body, outwardly manifested as the Astral Body.

No wonder I can directly see the surface layer of Justice, the Hanged Man, and the Sun’s Astral Bodies above the gray fog, thereby determining whether they are Beyonders and roughly judging their Sequences… Hm, my physical body seems to be protected to a certain degree by the ritual’s power. That is why it can stand so steadily without losing balance and collapsing to the floor… Miss Justice and the others should be more or less the same…

Klein slowly adapted to his current situation and began examining the different states of his body and soul.

He withdrew his gaze and tried controlling his own Spirit Body, which had fused with a little of the mysterious space’s power.

Woo!

A slightly cold wind rose, circling and wandering through the bedroom. Klein delightedly tasted the sensation of flying, circling once and then again.

“Within the same city, I can also act as a ‘messenger’ now… I just do not know whether I can carry real objects.”

He controlled his emotions, stopped, hovered in midair, and began testing other abilities.

He reached for a notebook on the bookshelf. His palm passed through it, then passed back out, unable to apply force.

“There is a slight sticky feeling, different from passing through air… When I become stronger, or when I can pry more power from the mysterious space above the gray fog, perhaps I will be able to do it.”

Klein tried an individual sheet of paper, but still could not grasp it.

After thinking for ten or so seconds, he flew toward the coat rack. He extended his transparent, blurry hand into the pocket of the black windbreaker and touched the replenished Slumber Charms and Requiem Charms whose reimbursement had succeeded.

These were objects mixed with his own spirituality. In the mystical field, they differed somewhat from ordinary material substances. Therefore, Klein wanted to try whether he could carry them.

His palm passed through again, but he clearly sensed the charms’ existence and felt the fusion of spirituality. It was only that his “strength” was not great enough to lift them. Of course, this could also be expressed another way: the charms’ spirituality was not strong enough to resonate intensely with his current state of existence.

“Not enough spirituality…”

Thoughtful, Klein turned toward another pocket. Inside it lay the Sunflame Charms, which he had made by stealing the power of divine blood and mixing it with his own spirituality.

A warm sensation swiftly spread throughout his entire body, making his form more stable and his thoughts clearer.

The thin gold sheet was lifted by him and taken out of the pocket. In the mirror newly added to the room, the charm appeared to float out on its own, just as described in many ghost stories.

“I can carry the Sunflame Charm, and I can directly speak with spirituality… Hm. In this state, I possess a certain degree of strength…”

Klein flew toward the mirror and stopped before it. He saw that inside the reflection, only the thin gold sheet appeared. Aside from that, there was only the furniture opposite the mirror and the dimness produced by the closed curtains.

After considering for several seconds, he placed the Sunflame Charm on the bed. Then he returned before the mirror, intending to try whether he could enter it.

His vision went black. Klein’s perspective suddenly changed. He saw all the images that had just been reflected in the mirror and the blurry outlines of every object in the dim room. It made him feel as if he were hiding in a concealed corner, peering at nearly half the room.

I really can enter mirrors. But this is only an ordinary item. It does not lead to any mysterious, bizarre world…

Klein nodded faintly, rushed forward, and returned to the room.

The success of carrying the Sunflame Charm gave him enormous confidence, so he tried picking up another object.

It was Azik’s copper whistle.

The moment he touched that ancient, exquisite object, Klein abruptly felt his spirituality swelling, growing cold.

With a burst, his illusory eyes transformed into burning flames—deep black flames.

“I seem to have become a little stronger. My state is closer to a wraith, but without that intense resentment…”

Klein’s settled mind reflected his current appearance.

This belonged to the Clown’s ability.

“Mr. Azik’s copper whistle really is miraculous.”

He nodded and discovered that he could now lift paper of a certain weight. The Slumber Charms and similar charms could naturally be carried as well.

Unfortunately, the ritual silver dagger can be carried, but the revolver is too heavy. I cannot lift it…

Klein ended that line of experimentation and began studying whether his current state possessed spellcasting abilities.

After serious testing, he confirmed that the “summoned” him possessed two pseudo-spell abilities. The first was an invisible roar that could directly intimidate a target’s soul. The second was creating an effect similar to freezing through physical contact.

Satisfied, Klein stopped and turned his gaze toward the outside of the oriel window, toward the sunlight and the street hidden by the curtains.

“I wonder whether the me in my current state can move under the day’s sun…”

He muttered, then floated to the window.

Immediately afterward, Klein cautiously pulled the curtain aside, creating a narrow gap and allowing a little sunlight to pierce through the wall of spirituality and enter the bedroom.

Under that brilliant sunlight, Klein discovered black mist steaming from his Spirit Body, while his power slowly faded.

He hurriedly let go, allowing the curtain to cover the light once more.

“No good…”

Klein considered briefly and looked toward the Sunflame Charm placed on the bed.

If I am strengthened by the divine blood power of the Eternal Blazing Sun, will the effect be different?

He floated to the bed and tried to pick up that thin gold sheet.

But the moment he touched it, the warm, pure sensation came into conflict with his own swollen, icy spirituality, like water and fire unable to coexist.

Sizzle!

As though burned, he dropped the gold sheet from his grasp.

Mr. Azik’s copper whistle and the Sunflame Charm cannot exist within my Spirit Body at the same time…

Klein came to an understanding and carefully put down the copper whistle, letting his own spirituality contract and allowing the black flames in his eye sockets to extinguish.

In this state, my two pseudo-spell abilities both become weaker…

After testing for a while, Klein picked up the Sunflame Charm and once again felt his Spirit Body stabilize under a warm baptism.

He returned to the window and cautiously passed through the curtain slightly.

Sunlight shone upon him. It brought only warmth, no harm.

“Not bad…”

Klein smiled sincerely. Passing through the wall of spirituality, he carefully flew outside, intending to conduct even more experiments.