Vampire second advancement ritual
Time: Unlimited.
Venue: A sufficiently dark environment.
Personal Preparation: None.
Items: A living child under ten, a child under ten who has been dead for one week, a child under ten who has been dead for three days, one live bat, 10ml of purple sleep flower juice, 5ml of red moon grass juice, 200ml of normal ink, and a pen made from moon wolf hair.
Method: In a sufficiently dark environment, mix the purple sleep flower juice and red moon grass juice evenly into the ink. Use the pen made from moon wolf hair to draw the designated bat pattern on the ground. Dismember the live bat on-site and place its different parts in different areas. After activating the pattern with magic, bite the neck of the child who has been dead for a week and suck their blood. Once the blood is drained, switch to the child who has been dead for three days and continue sucking. Finally, switch to the living child and continue sucking blood, completing the advancement during this process. Failure to advance before the blood is drained results in failure.
...
This was the entirety of the vampire second advancement ritual.
Even though Olivia had prepared herself mentally, seeing the details of the ritual still made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Intense negative emotions surged like a rising tide.
Her attention focused on the words: "living child under ten," "child under ten dead for one week," and "child under ten dead for three days." Rose's words echoed in her mind.
This morning, Leila was taken to that place in her sleep.
Three days ago, a boy named Edmond was taken to that place.
A week ago, it was a girl named Jemina.
The fate of these children was clear. Jemina and Edmond had likely already left this world, and Leila's time was running out.
Olivia rubbed her brow hard, trying to calm her agitated heart, but it did little to help. She still felt exceptionally restless.
'No, now isn't the time for stray thoughts. This vampire second advancement ritual doesn't look like something that can be finished quickly. Leila might not have met her end yet. I need to figure out what to do.'
Two paths lay before her.
One was to seek help—go to the church or the monastery and report the changes at the orphanage. They would surely be able to send a transcendent more powerful than Ashley.
But there were risks. If she left suddenly, she likely wouldn't be able to hide it from the people in the orphanage. It might alert Ashley, causing her to flee early. Or, Ashley might successfully complete her second advancement during that time, becoming a Sensate and leaving at her leisure before trouble arrived.
Olivia calculated the distances in her head: the orphanage's location, the nearest church, the monastery... No, it was too far.
By the time she returned, whatever was going to happen would have already happened.
That left only one choice!
'A Pilgrim attempting advancement? Interesting, but I'm not without options.'
Olivia raised her hand and, with a series of sharp rips, tore pages out of The Goddess's Revelations.
These were all spiritual paper.
From the front seats, the children stared blankly at Olivia, having no idea what she was doing. Even as children, they felt it was extremely strange for a nun to tear up the church's copy of The Goddess's Revelations.
"Study on your own."
Olivia could no longer worry about education. She quickly laid out the spiritual paper, condensed her magic at her fingertips, and began writing Sylvan Runes on the paper.
Normally, she would need a specialized pen for Sylvan Runes—a pen that possessed its own spirituality and excellent magic conductivity, making it easier to precisely replicate the runes. But she had no way to get such a pen now, so she had to use her fingers. This increased the difficulty of carving the runes.
Fortunately, her meditation method wasn't a common Glimmer Meditation Method, but the strongest one from the monastery—the Radiant Meditation Method!
As she began carving the runes, Olivia felt herself enter a subtle state, naturally slipping into a semi-meditative trance. She could clearly sense the magic particles floating in the void around her.
She began to carve. Magic particles slowly gathered, condensing within the runes she drew.
Ancient characters full of mystery, carrying a sense of eeriness and distortion, appeared one by one on the pages of The Goddess's Revelations, overwriting the original Kelidosian words.
...
A short while later, after instructing the children once more to stay and study quietly, Olivia hurried away with her hastily made talismans.
Time was running out. She couldn't afford to study talismans with high combat power but high manufacturing difficulty. She could only choose from the five types the magic mirror had mentioned. Only then could she ensure a successful crafting rate.
She had succeeded, but she was still apprehensive. These talismans were more suited for utility than combat. Could they really help her?
Fortunately, she wasn't relying solely on these talismans.
"Mirabelle, don't let me down," Olivia whispered.
She had high expectations for this companion who seemed to have a "protagonist template." Her expectations weren't baseless.
She had a general idea of what was happening in the orphanage. She was certain the first time the Oblivion Pocket Watch took effect, it was because of her. But the second time had nothing to do with her.
So who was responsible for the second time? The answer was obvious: it had to be Mirabelle!
Mirabelle had likely noticed the strange situation in the orphanage and started investigating, forcing Ashley Hewitt to use the Oblivion Pocket Watch a second time.
At this moment, she was probably doing something somewhere in the orphanage too.
After leaving the room, Olivia took out a talisman. This talisman, made of spiritual paper, was folded into a small pentagram and covered in Sylvan Runes.
She tore a small corner of the talisman. The magic stored inside immediately took effect, sending a weightless power through her body. Her weight felt significantly reduced in an instant, allowing her to run and jump much faster.
This was a Lightness Talisman.
Low-level talismans were often very simple to use and didn't require the user to have magic themselves. This was for the convenience of the faithful. The church often granted simple utility talismans to devout believers who came to pray, using them to maintain their faith.
Feeling light as a feather, Olivia moved with quick steps. She held up the long hem of her nun's habit and ran, her blonde hair and hood fluttering behind her. Before long, she reached the entrance of the orphanage's canteen and prepared to push the door open.
But just then, a voice came from behind her: "Don't go in!"
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