Makun considered himself lucky this time, rushing to Old Town Plaza as soon as he learned it was the right move.
Else he would not have met the lady.
He would not have got the book.
He would have lost this much information.
Right now, he had a feeling that as someone new to mysticism, he knew far more than he was meant to know. He had a feeling that even those who had spent years in mysticism did not have as much information as he had now.
And this scared him.
Instead of being ecstatic, he was scared.
The only thing he knew in his life was poor luck, bad situations, one worse than the other.
Since that day.
That day he could not forget. He was traumatized.
Now ever since he entered this world, things seemed to be going his way. Bad luck was protecting him from worse luck. Not only that, Zuri had accepted to help him. He met the veiled lady. He got the book in front of someone who had more to offer.
Now he was about to get information on how to start climbing from her.
This scared him.
Makun diverted his attention back to the veiled lady who was now addressing something he had asked.
"The last part of your third question," she thought. "It was to know how one started climbing, right?"
"Yes."
"Ok." She continued. "There were various types of initiations before."
Makun quieted, waiting for her to carry on. After this, he could formally start walking the path of a mystic.
"There were three old ways. Maybe more, but those three were the most popular." She paused. "Those three were Ritual. Trauma. Apprenticeship."
Makun waited, quiet, ready to cut in if he was confused.
This was what he needed most among every question he asked. If he did not have this, he could not start practicing.
The veiled lady continued.
"The most used initiation method out of the three I listed were rituals," she said. "It consisted of various things depending on the route you chose to walk. But generally, it had blood oaths, fasting, sacrifices of blood, and ancestral ceremonies led by a master. Controlled. Supervised."
"At that time, your soul is pulled toward the Deep, then anchored back before it tears."
"Was it an obligation to have masters?"
"Yes. If you hoped for everything to go perfectly. Else," she said, and did not finish the sentence.
"What about trauma and apprenticeship," Makun asked.
"Simple. One is forced soul separation due to near death, similar to what you experienced. While apprenticeship is someone who, after spending years under an Elite-tier practitioner, slowly gets in touch with the Veil and starts seeing the world for how it is."
"Trauma, as rare as it was, was not good for those who practiced," she continued. "I am sure you guessed by now. Someone facing a near death experience will be routeless and will not know anything about advancing, unless they stumble on other initiated practitioners through coincidence."
"While apprenticeship mostly led to ritual initiation under supervision of your master."
Makun listened and began connecting the shape of it.
This was how power stayed where it was. Not everyone had access to knowledge, power, and rituals beforehand. Which meant only a select group of people, with access to such information, could get initiated. And if by pure hazard someone experienced near death initiation and became a first grade initiate, they would not be able to succeed.
It was the same with him. If he had not met Zuri and deduced she was not normal, he would have stayed blind to the Veil and everything moving inside it.
Makun stared at the veiled lady.
"That's how they keep it," he said. "Power."
The veiled lady's silence confirmed it.
"How about today," Makun asked. "We spoke of rogues, right. How did they get initiated. Why are there so many practitioners in this market?"
"An expert," she said. "A Scholar Route practitioner against the Suppression developed something that shocked even the great families."
She spoke slowly, adding weight to her words.
Someone who could shock even the biggest families of their world, families with knowledge kept for whole cycles, connections to powerful entities of the Deep, and control over systems that touched everything.
That was a huge feat.
"What did he invent," Makun asked, unable to hide the edge in his voice.
"Formulas," she said. "Formulas to trigger initiation for those who want to follow the seven great routes."
"By formulas," Makun asked, "you mean potions, right. Or am I confused."
"Not just potions," she corrected. "Route formulas."
Makun did not speak. He waited.
"Everything you see is atoms," she said. "And atoms carry information. Not human information. Not words. Reality information. Meaning. Pattern. Memory of how things are supposed to be."
Makun had heard the idea before, but he had never placed it beside mysticism.
"When a route formula enters your body," she said, "it forces your body to become surrounded by one category of that information. Your skin becomes a boundary. Your blood becomes a signal. Your nerves become receivers."
"Receivers for what?"
"For the route," she said. "Your route is not a job title. It's a lens. A way your soul learns to read reality."
Makun swallowed. "So the potion chooses your route."
"No," she said. "You choose the route, and it activates it. Your soul still has to accept it. That is why aptitude matters."
Makun nodded, the path forming in his head.
Decide what route fits him. Find a formula that activates that route. Then use the paths of comprehension to advance.
But were things so easy. If reconnecting to the Source had such a cost, then what about initiation. Proper initiation. Was it cost free. Did it mean as long as you had a formula, you could start.
"So if someone used formulas to awaken," he said, then hesitated, "does that mean anyone can start climbing now?"
The veiled lady tilted her head.
"In theory," she said.
Makun waited.
"In reality," she continued, "formulas are controlled. Hoarded. Regulated. Poisoned. Counterfeited. Because initiation is not just power."
"It is a connection to the Deep," she said, looking into his eyes. "And that means exposure."
Makun frowned. The Deep was still a half-shape in his mind. The book mentioned it when speaking of primordial beings, but it did not go deep into what it was or how it functioned.
Now she said once connected to the Deep through initiation, one was exposed.
Exposed to what.
"Details please," he asked, curt.
"Sure." Her tone did not change. "The first ignition. The first time your soul truly connects to the Deep. Your body becomes a beacon. Your route signal leaks out. It announces you."
Makun remembered his near death initiation, which he now treated as partial initiation. He remembered the out of body experience. He remembered moving through layers of reality until he reached the Presence.
Was that the Deep.
And was the soul being out there the announcement.
"To who," he asked, already guessing part of it.
"To things that live closest to the surface of the Deep," she said. "Outer layer entities. Feeders. Scavengers. Parasites that can't enter the physical world unless someone cracks the Veil."
Makun's pulse picked up. "And the potion cracks it."
"Yes."
"So when someone initiates."
"They attract interference," she said. "What you attract depends on what route you walk."