NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80: Preparing the ritual
Ritualism was something Ethan favored since he saw those markings on the dungeon entrance, in his old life while he was an office worker he came in contact with coding languages sometimes and while ritualism was a beast of its own it had some similarities. You had to pick the right conditions and fulfill them in an order that allows the magic to flow easily achieving the desired result.
Of course he was not a ritualist or whatever you want to call the corresponding class but he wasn't bad at it, looking around the mountaintop where the tired elves were standing vigilant over the struggling monster he knew these people could help him to lock this beast up for good. The guardian was still in its sphere but he hoped that once the ritual was beginning he would return to them as Ethan could use his power too.
Ethan walked to Lorena who was handing out rations and water to the elves that were currently resting, still her eyes wandered over to the monster constantly as she worried it might escape any second, Ethan couldn't even blame her as the constant snapping of chains could be heard that he had to regenerate again to keep the beast contained. When she finished handing out things she walked to Ethan, her hand pressing on his chest.
"You need to rest too, you're constantly using mana and the mages can only keep going for so long. We need you if this thing breaks free and attacks us…the wounded have to be tended to and I don't even know how long we need to keep watch over it."
Ethan smiled and touched her arm, she stopped talking and looked at him. "I want to lock this amalgamation up for good but I need your help for that, all of yours if possible. I plan to do a ritual, the biggest so far…will you help me?"
The worry on her face vanished and was exchanged for stoic determination as looked at him with those flames burning behind her eyes. A simple nod was all she needed. "Of course we help you, what do you need? We don't have material for rituals but I'm sure we can do something."
He nodded and grabbed some of the empty pouches they used to store food in, he held it open and over it a block of ice appeared that seemed to be flaking, small hard chips of ice fell into the bag, becoming full rapidly at the pace Ethan set. Once finished they had almost a bag filled with cold almost powder-like ice. While he filled the others he explained what he needed.
"I will fill as many bags as possible, usually there are better catalysts like iron-sand for example but this will work too because it is my mana. I need you to draw circles around the amalgamation, space them the same distance apart." He looked at Lorena, "around your height apart. I will give you some guidelines but for now we just need circles. When you finish, draw smaller circles on all four compass sides. So basically, a circle inside the circle four more in all four directions. Another circle around it and once again four smaller ones. The small ones are large enough for a person to stand inside of it comfortably."
He dropped the last bag on the ground and rotated his neck for a second. He smiled, confident this plan could actually work. Once Lorena repeated his instructions back to him he was confident she would do well, she was competent in all things so far. Ethan drew the first circle himself before handing over all the bags to Lorena and a few elves. Then came the hard part.
While the others drew the frame and the entry for the energy the ritual would need he would draw the code of the thing. Using a small sphere of ice that floated around his wrist he began to cover the ground in symbols, the language of ritualism was firmly planted in his head but to him it seemed like normal words. When he needed the runes for "banishment" he activated his skill and the symbols he needed filled his mind.
While he usually told the system to fuck off he was still mindblown how it worked, it was not flawless but only a dumbass would deny how useful it was. With the first large circle drawn he created one symbol after another on the in and outside of the large circle. Runes for "Banishment" "Prison" "Trap" "Confinement" and more runes used for energy transfer and balance were included. The thing that felt the most sinister about this ritual was the runes he drew directly on the exposed skin of the beast. Because he drew symbols for "Soul" and "Shredding" at least that would be the closest translation if he needed to explain it. These symbols he drew in his pale blue blood to make the connection especially strong.
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When he finished with the first circle he froze the ice power solid to not disturb it, then the work on the second ring started. Which was even bigger and would require more time. With the amount of elves here the entire basin would be used as a framework for this ritual
Time remaining in the tutorial: 02:07:48:22
Ethan dropped to the ground, his hands shaking, his eyes bloodshot as they felt raw and grainy like he had sand in it. He rubbed his tired face and sighed, with a wave of his hand the last bit of the ritual was locked in place by his ice. Once he started working he didn't stop, he had to go because with each symbol he drew the amalgamation became more agitated so he had to constantly re-summon chains to keep it locked up. While drawing a ritual, while balancing his mana in and output, plus create more material for the others to draw ritual lines for him and so on and so forth.
To sum it up he was fucking exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep but he had to keep going, just for a while longer. Lorena looked tired when she came over, she sat down next to him and without a care in the world let her head slump against his arm. He took the food and water she offered. He sat there in silence while he ate, then Lorena whispered.
"You will be gone soon…I can feel it, I also know that we will not see each other again…" she looked up to him, hoping for him to deny it, saying she was imagining things but Ethan knew it would only make it worse for her. He nodded. "I will be gone soon, the thing is I have no say in it. I can't deny it…sorry Lorena." She grabbed his hand, she looked so fragile, she was spent like all of them.
Ethan helped her back up and clapped into his hands. "We'll begin shortly, please eat your food, drink your water. Try to relax and when you feel ready pick a circle to stand inside in. I'll let you know once we start." He looked at Lorena before creating a pillar of ice under him, he wanted to check the ritual out once again before they started.
In front of him were ten circles spreading out over the basin. Each large circle housing the four smaller ones. Over the entire thing there were now also lines going outward, with the monster in the middle. The lines being on the other compass points north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west. Forming four outgoing lines that were covered in heavy script of ritualism. Ethan added these later, using them to funnel mana from the surroundings into the ritual, with this area being so infused with the guardian's energy it would be perfect to defeat the beast.
When he worked on it Ethan had the perfect idea, while he wanted to shred the evil spirits apart he decided to add another component which was woven into those four lines. After he checked that everything was in place he jumped from the pillar and walked into the middle of it. His soldiers were not all equipped with chains, the chains were all focused on the monster's head, hooks dug into its flesh, eyes and mouth to keep it steady. Ethan cut open his hand with a shard of ice and called out to the others.
"We will begin, relax and when you feel a pull on your energy allow it. When you feel like passing out, step out of the circle and go rest. This will require a lot of energy. I hope you trust me in this and I thank you all for your support."
Ethan turned his head, he looked at the monster. Its eyes are gorged out by meat hooks. "I hope you suffer and die painfully, all of the things inside of you. Witness how an entire race will wipe you out today…"