Mystery Pryer, it is one of the twenty two Pathways of The Divine, consuming one of these twenty two potions embarks the consumer on the path to Godhood. Many stop at Sequence 7, but those talented few who have mastered the Acting Method could break through this barrier and ascend the Sequences, in the end reaching the throne of the Divine, also known as Sequence 0.
In the present world, 11 pathways have been filled, their Gods present in the Fifth Epoch, some have been deemed as evil, only being worshipped in cults. Currently only 7 are deemed Orthodox and able to worship. Neo had decided to choose the Mystery Pryer pathway, a relatively weak one, its abilities almost outclassed and outmatched by most other Sequences.
He had no other option, it was either this or wait until the Church had found another Pathways formulas, and who knew how long that would take. The Mystery Pryer potion granted 4 powers, the first one was called Eyes of Mystery Prying, one of the core abilities of the Pathway.
It allowed them to see things that aren't normally visible, they could pry into dreams and illusions, differentiate between truth and reality. As well as discern the light of spirituality, normally this ability couldn't be deactivated and had to be sealed. But with the help of the Knowledge Moor, all of Neo's abilities received a slight boost, and he had greater control over them. Allowing him to deactivate and activate his eyes whenever he pleased.
The second ability was more akin to a trait, it was called Knowledge Pursuit. This would make them prone, to discover more knowledge, knowledge would be brought to life and chase them if they were around items for a long period of time. They would also be imbued with knowledge at random intervals. This ability was quite vague and also unpredictable, if he was imbued with knowledge during a battle, it would be disastrous.
The third ability granted him rudimentary knowledge in divination, ritualistic magic and other forms of mystical knowledge. Through the use of ritualistic magic, Neo would be able to summon Spirit World creatures and form contracts with them, allowing him to use their powers in the midst of battle. An example of this ability was how Old Conner had summoned a skeletal ghost to aid him.
Neo also had the ability to divine matters and gain revelations from the Spirit World. Though he was less effective in this matter than Seers, he was also able to perform basic spells with his knowledge over witchcraft.
The final ability was the use of Spirit vision, this allowed him to deduce a person's health and emotions and also figure out if objects and people had some sort of magical aura.
Pretty nifty
Neo had to admit, just contracting Spirit World creatures was a boon, such an ability was overkill in the lower sequences. He had spent the last few days preparing for the summoning ritual, and was going to execute it today.
The mission was also going to take place today, a happy coincidence one might say. Neo quickly set up a common altar, in the middle rested a single lit candle.
He unconsciously put his hands inside his white coat, making sure that his revolver was still present. He took a deep breath and without wasting any time started the ritual,
"I!"
"I summon in my name:
The spirit that inhabits the upper realms, a creature who can be subordinated, whose strength and power surpasses imagination."
The interior of the room Neo was in became abnormally quiet as the wind in the room grew strong, small shards of ice began dropping in the room producing eerie thumps.
Within moments Neo felt an indescribable amount of danger as he hastily turned his face, the wind tore at his face as he saw a blue razor sharp wing hovering right above him.
He leveraged his body and quickly flipped backwards, his hands rushed towards his pocket and drawing his revolver, he fired three bullets consecutively at the direction the blow came in.
Swish Swish
Neo darted around the room, his thougts scrambled, the creature that he had summoned seemed to give him no opportunity to end the summoning. Damnation!, he cursed in his mind.
His back shrinked as he felt an insurmountable danger heading towards him, with a slight push of his body, Neo fell towards the ground as he saw a blue phoenix fly above him, its gaze grew hardened as it saw him.
Neo quickly emptied the rounds in his magazine, as a slight smirk tugged his mouth, within moments he heard a sharp cry resounding from the corner of a room.
Neo inhaled fast as he ended the summoning, "I!
"I end this summoning in my name!"
Just as he said that, a sharp streak of air blasted him in his face. If he had ended the summoning a few seconds late, Neo felt his head would have been lying on the ground. He only had one thought in his mind
Dangerous!
Was this the power of Spirit World creatures, how terrifying!, Neo dropped to the ground as dark red blood dripped into his eyes, his shoulder pained as a deep gash formed was present, his white trench coat was ripped to shreds as his white shirt was soaked in blood.
Neo looked down to his revolver which seemed to be empty, two bullets remained as he gave a sigh. Neo let out a slight yelp, his shoulder was really killing him. He had to get injured on the day of the mission too, he softly carried himself out of the room to get patched up.
"...."
Neo quietly entered back to the room as he let out a slight sigh, he had figured out the reason why the ritual had not worked. It was because he had not mentioned the term friendly in his incantation.
Even if a creature was unfriendly, it could still be subordinated. The problem didn't lie with the ritual but with his articulation, a rookie mistake. He was too hasty and it almost cost him his life.
This time instead of asking for a powerful creature, he decided to settle for one that was stealthy. The assignment was going to be centred around infiltration and reconnaissance, so it was perfect to tame such a creature.
Lighting up the candle once again, Neo affirmed in a deep voice, "I!
"I summon in my name,
The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, a friendly creature that can be subordinated, whose speed and covertness are boundless."
Whoosh!
The wind blew harshly as the candles turned yellowish-red, as surroundings turned cold and creepy.
Neo saw a blurry figure move around before it completely vanished before his sight, as the doors of the room burst open.
Too fast… Did it already circle the country…. Maybe it's still here but it's hiding somewhere, Neo's mouth twitched, as he decided to wait for the speedster to finish circling the planet, so that it could return.
He wasn't worried that the summoned spirit world creature would harm the innocent, as one of the descriptions was of a friendly creature.
A few seconds later, Neo inhaled after failing to see any response from him waiting. He said in Ancient Hermes, "I!
"I end this summoning in my name!"
The chilling air around him instantly vanished as the swirling cold wind died down and the candle flames returned to their normal color.
Neo stepped forward and extinguished the candle, intending to revise the last sentence and try again.
As for the two phrases "the spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly creature that can be subordinated," he had no intention of changing them. The first sentence was directed at the spirit world, and it could only be replaced with synonyms, so it didn't matter if he changed it or not. The second sentence was a prerequisite for Neo to ensure his own safety; otherwise, it would be similar to the previous horror story.
Neo was a bit depressed, if his summonings continued like this, he would have to go to the Spirit World and hold a public recruitment.
Neo took a deep breath as he started the ritual seriously, as he spoke in Ancient Hermes "I!
"I summon in my name!
"The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, a friendly creature who can be subordinated, whose strength is mighty and stealth is supreme, whose heart only desires companionship."
The wind blew fiercely in the wall of spirituality as Neo's hair rumpled, his chest felt heavy as he took a step, in front of him was a hulking saliva drooling wolf.
It looked almost adorable, with it's long black mane fluffed up giving the wolf a almost royal look. It had a short muzzled face with large build. It had a robust figure and crimson red eyes, it's height was beyond impressive with it hulking more than an entire feet above him.
Neo himself was 5'4, but he could grow! He was only 17 and had more time, he distinctly rememberd his mother saying that all the males in his family hit puberty late, so he had a chance!
Still the height of the dog was beyond impressive, it seemed to still be a kid, it's mouth drooled as it curiously looked around, like a kid being taken to his grandma's house.
Neo slowly approached it as he streched out his arms, the wolf seemed to sense his intention as it came closer and let Neo rub his hand on its head.
"You cute puppy!"
Neo cracked a hearty smile, "I've decided, you're going to be my companion!"
The wolf seemed to understand him as it happily nodded, Neo reached into his pocket and grabbed the goat skinned parchment paper and he quickly wrote down the terms in the language that could stir nature itself, Ancient Hermes.
Neo quickly wrote down the terms of the agreement with the wolf denying a few clauses such as being used as a messenger and being lent to others if the need arises. Overall the clauses were near and concise.
The agreement went like this,
Party A - Neo Hawthorne
Party B - Harry
Party B shall help Party A whenever Party A summons Party B
Party B will not his risk his life for Party A unless Party B does it willfully
Party A will allow Party B to rest if he undergoes any injury
Party B shall provide his entire skill set for Party A when Party A calls Party B
Party B cannot attack Party A, vice versa
Party B and Party A cannot arrange someone to attack each other
Just as Neo was about to sign the contract Harry—the demonic wolf put his paws on the contract, a golden shimmer rang out as a new clause came into effect.
It specified that Harry wouldn't be summoned and instead would always be present in the material world.
A peculiar clause, Neo thought, after all the Spirit World was the home of all these creatures, so a clause specifying that he would always be present in the real world was jaw dropping.
A Demonic Wolf was also quite unexpected, he had previously thought that all of them were hunted to extinction by the Evernight Goddess's Church. The only survivors being Kotar and Antigonus, one hiding out in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and the other being kept as a pet by 'Her'.
Neo continued the contract, to ensure the effectiveness of it he had to use the honorific name of someone high up in the Undead Domain or the Underworld itself.
Death had long since perished, so invoking his honorific name would bring no answer–if Neo knew his honorific name, the only other high ranking member was Azik Eggers but currently Neo had no contact with him and since he was in a state of amnesia, there would be no response.
So Neo had to settle for the Underworld.
"The home of all death, the hell hidden deep within the spirit world, the witness of the decay of all living things, one that solely belongs to the kingdom of Death."
After quickly penning it, the brown goatskin parchment began to burn in a black flame, drowning out all light and consuming it.
After Neo was done with it, he quickly signed an alias onto the goatskin: "Jack Jones"
Neo didn't use his real name as in the future he might assume multiple identities to advance his sequence, and at times he might have to let others summon Harry.
Giving his real name out would be quite a danger, names held power in this world too, a lot of curses required a person's name to work. It was a huge security risk, if one day he died from such an oversight he would be pretty sure everyone in the afterlife would mock him.
The contract would also function if he used an alias as his aura would enter the contract.
Just as Neo finished signing, the goatskin flew up and landed next to his new companion.
Harry quickly put his paw onto the parchment, as another shimmer lit up the room as his name was imprinted onto the paper: "Nycealatoep"
Neo looked at the name that imprinted on the parchment as his mouth twitched, he was absolutely flabbergasted. What in the cosmos name was that, he quietly complained in his mind.
"I'll stick to calling you Harry" Neo voiced out painfully
The black flames quickly gathered together, wrapping the brown goatskin parchment. The small flame quickly exploded completely swallowing the paper.
A few seconds later, the goatskin was reduced to ash as Neo felt the summoning incantation in his mind.
"The spirit that wanders about the unfounded, the friendly companion that has been subordinated, the serviceman of Jack Jones." Neo hummed quietly, When I get the time, I'll make captain create something similar to Azik's copper whistle, so I don't have to waste time performing a ritual.
Neo cleared up the mess as he looked up at Harry's hulking figure stained with saliva and blood. "We'll get you cleaned up but before that, how can you hide yourself with such a huge figure?"
Harry let out a low growl, seemingly getting angry at Neo doubting his prowess. With a howl, he commanded the shadows, within moments the shadows in the room seemed to heed his commands and painstakingly wrapped itself around Harry, as he completely disappeared from Neo's view.
"That's impressive", Neo muttered.
_____
A/N - So I spent the week thinking about what kind of path I wanted to make Neo go for, was it a summoner build---something that's rarely seen, the normal magic build, or a mix of both. In the end I decided to go heavy into the summoning, and a little into the arcane build.
I've also seen plenty of authors begging for powerstones and in exchange giving chapters, so I've decided to join the shameless/begging clan.
50 Powerstones - 1 extra chapter
100 Powerstones - 2 extra chapters
500 powerstones - 3 extra chapters.