17 – Appropriate

I took out some of the ingredients for the first ritual and began to set them on the ground, following the updated design I came up with earlier to allow me to cast even with my limited mana supplies. It was going to take a while, especially because with less mana all the ingredients needed to be weighted and placed perfectly. The lower the amount of mana available, the less room for error to adjust the ritual on the fly. Everything needed to be precise and perfect or the whole thing could blow up in my face.

The girls were back from patrolling the perimeter by the time I was done.

“Everything is clear.” Melina said. “The tunnel leads deeper in the mountain, but it looks clean for now.”

“Good.” I nodded. “The first ritual is ready.”

Melina looked at the complex assortment of things on the ground. No circle had been drawn this time, rather the ingredients were placed according to special laws of order and proportion that I came up with myself. Most of them were catalysts, necessary to reduce the variance and sway of the magic and, most importantly, the cost. The others were hides and scales from powerful monsters I killed in the past, the strongest I had that could be still used in this weak version of the ritual.

“It’s called Veitii’ri Shield, Ishrin modified revision II.” I said. “A mouthful, I know. I came up with the name on the spot. But it will grant us protection.”

I guided the girls at the edges of a triangles, with me being the other point: the focus. At my mark, Liù flew to the center of the triangle and ignited the first catalyst, after which I closed my eyes and began to gently guide the essences of the creatures into a woven net of magic, an armor that could be strong and gentle, rigid and adaptable. When I was done, three different glowing pieces floated in the air, looking each like the person they were supposed to protect.

For Lisette, focused on fast attacks and movement, the armor bore wings that increased her speed and made her light as a feather. For Melina, even faster still but in need of space and protection to cast her magic from stationary, the armor was reactive: it stored energy when she moved and released it as a magic shield when she stopped. As for me, it was plain armor that increased all my stats, temporarily bringing me close to Tier 12.

“Woah.” Lisette gasped. “I feel light.”

I looked at her and smiled. I wasn’t used to her expressing her thoughts out loud, so it felt especially nice that she did. Perhaps she didn’t expect the effects of the enchantment to be this strong and was taken by surprise. Melina too was surprised.

“You can create enchanted gear on the fly?” she asked.

“Sort of,” I said. “It’s only temporary.”

“How about your sword? Is that temporary too?”

I shook my head. “That is permanent.”

Melina exhaled loudly. “Unbelievable.” She muttered, and stormed away in disbelief.

The two adventurers went to practice against each other for a while to get used to their new abilities. Nothing dangerous, of course, they were both experienced adventurers and knew how to pull their punches. Besides, I was here in case anything happened. Meanwhile, as they fought, I had the time to prepare the second ritual. The Appropriation ritual.

“I’m ready.” I called.

“What is this?” Melina asked, seeing the large carcass of the rhino-like monster in the middle of a magic circle.

“This is the Appropriation ritual.” Said Lisette. “It steals the strength of a fallen beast and bestows it upon you. Truly a powerful ritual.”

I smiled, blushing at the praise. “Yeah, it… it is very useful. But you may not like the way it has to be done. It can get a bit disgusting.”

The look of horror on Melina’s face after I explained to her how the ritual worked was priceless. However, the fun atmosphere lasted only a short time because:

“I have to step inside that thing? And the blood flows… like the literal blood… no. No no no.”

She paced back and forth.

“You know what?” She added. “I am Tier 13, I don’t need to do it yet! Let’s bring Lisette to my level first!”

I shrugged. “This is a tier 12 monster. It’s got plenty of life essence for the both of you.”

She insisted.

“Okay.” I said. “Lisette, how do you feel about going in alone?”

“It is fine.”

“I will step in in case the energy is too much for you to handle.”

She hummed yes, and we began. Melina, despite how horrified and disgusted she was by the procedure, sat on a rock with her legs crossed and a very concentrated expression on her face. She idly stroked her tail with her fingers between the orange fur, smoothing out the knots and mats while being transfixed on the process that was unfolding before her. I was only vaguely aware of this, although I still found it very amusing. I guided the process, letting Lisette take her time in absorbing the energies. She was very brave, stepping into the blood and viscera without hesitation and controlling the flow masterfully.

In hindsight, I should have expected this of her. She was not a normal adventurer after all, and in her way she was much more special than even Melina or than even me. The only difference between us was that she was weaker, but both in body and mind she was proportionally much, much stronger.

Still, not strong enough for the ritual just yet, for the energy flow soon became too much for her. I had to step in. I did so, letting a good portion of the monster’s energies flow into me, while leaving as much as I could for Lisette to take. I even tried to delay the process, keeping the energies orbiting me but not flowing into me as long as I could, only taking them for myself when my mana was about to run out.

Back then, I still didn’t have a way to quantify my power. But, by a later estimate, this was my growth after the ritual:

HEALTH	1.12e11 -> 1.15e11
HEALTH REGEN You are reading story Isekai of the Ultimate Ritualist at novel35.com	1.31e11 -> 1.33e11
MANA	1.07e11
MANA REGEN	1.04e11
DEFENSE	1.02e11 -> 1.10e11
MAGIC DEFENSE	1.55e11 -> 1.58e11
STRENGTH	1.21e11
DEXTERITY	2.00e11

“Let me get this straight,” Melina said. “This ritual steals power from a slain beast and channels it into someone?”

I nodded.

“How… never mind. Lisette how do you feel?” She asked.

Lisette flexed her body, taking a couple of practice swings at the air with her blades. Then she dashed, disappearing in the blink of an eye just to reappear in front of me. Wayyyy too close. She then disappeared again and returned to her previous location, but it was too late and I was dazzled for a good moment. Despite the ritual, she smelled like roses and other flowers, I thought. No hint of blood or strange smells, another indicator of just how skilled she was at handling the energies. Not bad for a first time. Still, as the smell reached me, buried memories emerged and a sense of longing took me. I tried to return to the present.

“I feel more powerful. I estimate a growth around 10 to 30 percent in some areas. I will need to test more.”

Melina’s jaw dropped. “This is revolutionary! How can this even happen?”

“The power of rituals,” I said. “Although I would like to note that the effectiveness depends on many factors among which the person, their ability to perform the ritual, their stats, and the monster of course. Lisette, I have to say that you have been exceptionally adept at controlling the energies, bravo.”

The girl blushed before disappearing. I heard a rock explode, far off in the distance.

Now that all preparations were done, we were ready to explore the mountain. But first, a meal.

“I have some leftover mushroom stew from a few days ago.” I announced.

Horrified faces met me. “Time is frozen in my inventory. I checked. In fact, it’s still hot. I do have to warn you, though. It was a very bad attempt at cooking, but at least it isn’t toxic.”

“I would like some.” Lisette said.

Melina looked at her in disbelief. Was it so strange that she was the one who spoke first? I could tell that she was hungry and being of a lesser tier meant that she needed sustenance more often than us.

“Me too.” Melina said. “I’d eat.”

We sat down around what was left of the ritual circle. The blood was all gone, as was the dismembered body of the monster, leaving only some leftover shining crystals that we used like a small fire to sit around. I took out some wooden cups and spoons I made with wood the other day, as I walked through the forest hunting for the fire sprite, and we all ate.

The stew tasted yucky as usual.

“I’m sorry for my poor—”

“Ishrin.” Lisette’s eyes were full of little stars. “This cooking… it is phenomenal. It reminds me of a past I thought I had forgotten. Thank you.”

Looking at her, I I could see small streaks of sparkling wet tears at the corner of her eyes.

“It’s good!” Melina echoed her. “Ishrin why did you say it was bad?”

I frowned. “I thought I could do better, that’s all.” I said.

I didn’t try to be modest, I swear. I still think that the stew sucked big time, but I sure as hell was not going to ruin an emotional moment for Lisette like this. I felt that this was a small step towards thawing her cold frozen heart, and I could see that Melina thought so too, by the way she looked at the girl.

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