After walking toward the lounge, right before the entrance hall. Selina saw the two lady knight's training clothes as well as a towel, all littered over the sofa.
With her hastiness, she forgot to properly dispose them to laundry bin. Leaving her residence on a whim afterwards.
As she caresses her stomach. Selina hefted the two clothes and coiled them to form a ball.
A faint wry smile briefly appeared from her droopy face.
It's just like my routine back in my dormitory...
Selina found the task rather calming. Upon reaching upstairs, she didn't hesitate to mixed both time in showering and doing a laundry.
When she walked out of her room. A white, flowy gown hugged her waist as her hair cascade from her shoulder. A scent of lemony lavender drifts in the air.
Before she could finally take her longing rest, one visitor still have to be tended.
On the hallway. The moon's glow paints the scenery an oddly serene crimson.
At the end of it, where Selina came for a peek, she saw the black cat resting on its usual spot, right by the desk.
She closed the gap and lifted her left hand to caress the cat's fur.
"Are you hungry?" she said softly.
The cat snapped awake and looked at her with mundane eyes.
"I'll take that as a yes", Selina did not lingered on the cat's side and went downstairs to fetch a meal.
It was the exact same dish she had been cooking for the feline, a Grilled Sailorfish drizzled with lemon.
"Say..." Selina's voice was a bit lowered this time as she watched the cat eats.
"The glass bottle on my room's dresser was empty."
The cat strangely stopped eating.
"Did you... eat the mouse that I placed in it?" asked Selina, her voice was oddly intimidating despite it being gentle.
She looked at the cat who seemed to froze as its head in front of the plate.
After a thought, she sighed while standing up, "I guess it's fine. The rodent was merely for tests and since I found a much reliable way, I will eventually hand the little one for you eat."
The cat turned to her and tilted its head.
"Hm? Oh you're wondering what that test subject is? Well..." the corners of her mouth curled. "It's me!"
A look of genuine concern and shock struck the cat's adorable face. One might figured what the cat was saying, blurting "is my human going crazy now?"
"Alright alright I know... you don't have to have such a judgmental expression!" Selina felt quite embarrassed.
She sighed and explained, "Do you remember my diary? Well, I have begin to realize my body might've been severely affected as a product of their ritual. When I received a life-threatening injury caused by the vampire's claws, it only needed a day for me to recover. Do you know how bizarre it was? I was scrambling for an excuse that time for the inspection!"
The cat had stopped eating all-together and began listening. This was the first time Selina had the black feline's full attention. The dish radiating a warm aroma.
"Not only that." Selina added, "After just a day of grueling pain from Mr. Gawain's training. My body have become less susceptible afterwards, I even had enough energy to eat unlike Klein!
"So I figured if I take one step at a time for each formulas. Carefully choosing what to drink for testing, I won't be needing additional test subjects! Not to mention my potion's increased immunity to toxins. I'm sure I will be fine!"
The cat's eyelids droop, a sign of clear unconvinced person.
Selina smiled wryly, "What? You're uncertain? Please put your faith in me. I believe with my knowledge over the ingredients and medicine up to this point, I will be alright."
Uh... Wait why am I seeking permission with Falacy? A sudden absurd thought rose from her mind. Finding her situation a bit humorous.
However, seeing the cat lowered its head. Selina couldn't help but smile warmly.
I guess... after such a long time with Falacy. I have grown to see him as a family...
"Alright. I'll go to bed now." Selina stood up and rubbed her eyes.
Meow~
Huh?
The cat let out a noise just before it resumes eating. It snapped Selina into thinking what the feline meant.
"Uhm... Are you interested by the names I've mentioned?" she asked as the matter was clearly the most unusual from her past conversations with it.
It was her first time mentioning names to the black feline that was not tainted with anxiety.
"Well. Mr. Gawain was my combat instructor. He lived in the outskirts of Indus Region and Klein was my coworker at Blackthorn Security Company. A company that accepts commissions varying from finding lost items and such..."
...
The night deepened. The Grilled Sailorfish eventually gone cold but was consumed by the black cat in time before resting.
Selina managed to fought her weariness and ended up detailing the feline all of her experience in Tingen, except for the matters about the dreamworld.
For her it felt like she was pouring her confined water to a basin. It was soothing and the cat stayed by the end of her rambling.
After awhile of hearing stacked voices undaunting her ears. Selina yawned and hurriedly returned to her bedroom.
...
In a grotesque world.
The vile floor grew a field of green blades. Following this transition was the sculpture of a lady, gaining sentience.
Selina fought the relentless ravings that accompanied her. Her line of sight then revealed a calm meadow.
Stretching infinitely into the horizon was the mural-like vines spiraling from her feet, intertwined to form individual lines in each direction.
Immediately, she noticed an emerald light lingering above one of the vines.
After confirming that it was the young priest. Selina reached her hand and the group of light instantly gathered, reflecting a scene.
She saw a clear vision of a man from the ceiling. He had a sharp jawline with stubbled chin appearing to be in his twenties.
So that's the young priest? Selina watched with intent.
The man was seated over his knees as his head bowed with a clasped hands. He was prostrating right before an object.
This caught Selina's attention. She willed the emerald light to try and shift the scene's position.
She saw what seems to be a miniature altar. There, a wreathe was placed over a wooden crucifix standing from a mound of soil. Accompanying the altar was a piece of parchment.
Right on the heels of that, layered voices began reverberating near her ears.
"End of the extending vines...
"I beseeched your attention, your ever-loving grace...
"I pray for your acceptance, to notice the offering of sacrifice...
"I plead for you to open your divine kingdom and let its gates receive my prayer...
In next second, the emerald scenes abruptly grew violent. A vortex suddenly formed and sucked the glistening sparks, constructing an illusory door of green light.
Selina knew what this meant and willed the world to retrieve the sacrifice.
When she heard the prayer subsided. Related thoughts quickly formed in her mind.
What was that altar for? To pray to me? Mr. Fool did have such prerequisites during the task He assigned... But why didn't it hindered me from praying to myself?
She found it strange but couldn't point the matter exactly. Selina recounted her attempts and discovered that perhaps it was meant to please the god they're praying to.
Setting that matter aside. She lowered her head and read:
"To initiate a Sacrificial Ritual. The procedure wasn't unlike out of the conventional praying rituals. A ritual where three candles are lighted within a Spiritual Barrier following their three-line honorific or an emblem and an incantation which can be tailored as long as it includes these critical terms: 'pray,' 'notice,' 'offer,' 'kingdom,' 'gates,' and 'open.'"
I see... This explains why that young priest only requested my emblem at that time. Chanting a whole different incantations with these specific terms...
Emblem... Selina suddenly thought of the symbol that appeared during her contemplation.
It had a downward crescent, featuring a shaded orb inside while radiating three streaks of light.
She found it eerie that the world had bestowed her a symbol from its own. A mix of defiance struck her.
I shouldn't let the dreamworld do what it please... The symbol should tied strictly to my title...
With a faint apprehension. She watched as the scenery took countless form.
From a wide open lake isolated in a shadowy forest, a mountainous region with vertical cliffs and steep terrain to a wide valley of flowers.
Countless terraforms did the dreamworld took before settling back to a wide open and infinitely stretching horizon.
Selina sighed, "I couldn't find an appropriate place to make for a proper background... In the end I was back in the pastures."
It wasn't disheartening for her to constantly be reminded of Milo during each of her visits. In fact, it eases the nostalgia and helps her avoid forgetting anything in the past in respect for the original Selina.
However, the place could also invoke several things that could cause her to lose control over the dreamworld as it was the setting where the Goddess's ritual was held.
Selina could not help but remain hostile toward this place.
So instead of settling for a plain meadow, reminisce of Milo's pastures. The bladed grass grew wildly as they almost reached an ankle.
Since from where she stood was but an open field. Selina willed a tree to take root behind her.
It toppled the lady by its huge and majestic trunk. Its leaves drooped above, forming a canopy that almost obscured the outside meadow.
Inside this willow-like tree, she stood like a goddess tending the abundant life around her.
Selina fought the discomfort of the perception of being a guest by gazing around.
At a certain point, her line of sight reached the tree's trunk. There, a mysterious symbol was carved right on her level.
It was a circle of lines revealing a sprout at the center. The circle was enveloped with vines that ends over a full moon.
"...Was that there when I willed it?" Selina was perplexed. "Is this another emblem made by the dreamworld?"
"..." she creased her brows and opted to turn away.
Everything that is related to this world and is unnecessary are to be ignored.
After settling everything. Selina casted her eyes back to the parchment that her believer sacrificed.
She read the subsequent lines:
"However, the method of sacrificing to the Goddess was different..." amid her reading, Selina suddenly perked up.
...
After finishing the parchment and cross-referencing what the young priest had conducted in sacrificing the parchment.
Selina confirmed its authenticity. Both the sacrificial and bestowment ritual. However, there was one thing troubling her.
The ritual altar requires too much time!
I wouldn't be able to constantly use it in the future is the process is this hassle... she sighed regrettably.
The issue for her wasn't the material but the time and circumstances in finishing a bestowment and sacrifice.
Having to involve the use of a miniature altar rather than just candles would inevitably lead to a discovery of her!
"Hm..." a sudden thought sparked her.
Her hand left the note and she opened her palm as if being given. A bud bloomed from the roots of her veins.
At this moment, her body seemed like a soil. There were vines ladened with thorns coiling each and every inch of her limbs and torso.
In her mind. Selina pictured how the altar looked in the emerald light.
Just like that, the bud frenzied into an upright circle resembling a wreathe with varying flowers over it. Some are tulips, others are daisies and roses.
Overall, the wreathe, identical to the altar only without the cross, seemed complete enough to be a portal.
Since the young man clearly used it as a passage and the world adhering strictly to such prerequisite for a sacrifice and bestowment. Just a similar altar with only the wreathe as the doorway should do...
But will I be able to really bring this thing outside the dream? A doubt seeped into her heart.
After all, this is a dream. The world was a byproduct of the ritual and is most likely related to the original Goddess.
The fact that she was able to receive doesn't necessarily mean she can bestow.
Well... Bestowing money doesn't really have to be directly from me, their Goddess to bestow. Perhaps I can instruct them to receive them at banks under specific names. It will effectively preserve my safety and establish myself as my own envoy!
Bestowment ritual... Selina sighed.
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