"Come in," A deep and mysterious voice prompted him to come inside.
Eshir pinched the edge of the hood pulling it down to hide his face in the shadow giving everyone an enigmatic impression of him.
He moves his hand and pushes the old door open with modest strength. A 5ft 8 inches tall silhouette comes into his view, looking at him with his lifeless gray eyes through the golden demon mask. The only distinct features of his are dark shiny brown hairs which are slowly turning white due to his old age and the dark purple robe bordered with gold.
As the figure looks at him with his gray eyes which seem to be able to see his soul straight and uncover every secret he has. Notice him alone on time earlier than usual, he inquires in a thoughtful tone. "Something urgent??"
Feel almost naked against his watchful eyes. Eshir hid his private parts. In fear of him somehow finding out he is lying Eshir answered truthfully "I want to buy a few things"
Finding nothing strange from his usual behavior of buying a lot of useless things. The figure didn't question further and gave him the mask he chose when he first arrived and made way for him to go inside.
A white color laughing mask. On the left side of the mask is the design of two drops of water, on the right side is a star, and on the middle of the forehead is a half-moon printed in blue, yellow, and gray color respectively. Eshir named it Laughing Night Mask.
Putting the mask on his face. Eshir slowly walks to the end of the hallway and enters the room where most of the transactions are held.
With the items he needs for the ritual he also buys some additional items which catch his interest. The quantity of ingredient is more than needed if some kind of error arise in the ritual and had to perform the ritual again as well as to hide the exact quantity needed to perform the ritual. After giving a total of 5 coins of 5 silver, 6 coins of 1 silver, and 2 coins of 10 iron or 785$ from his previous world for only material needed in ritual and a total of 1000$ he exited the room and went to the other room adjacent to the room he previously was in.
There is a sudden boom in the price of items in the room. After purchasing the item essential for the ritual which cost him 1 gold coin or 2,500$. He takes all the items with him in his storage ring and leaves this place. He asked a carriage driver to drop him to his private villa he bought for this kind of thing. 'It surely is nice to be rich.'
Through the window he sees the pedestrian walking. He couldn't wait to reach the villa and start the ritual. Since he knew he too could use mana like others, he couldn't wait to fulfill the dream he had since he was a child.
First, he goes to the orphanage to say goodbye to the children because after becoming a mana wielder his schedule suddenly will get busy. He doesn't think he will get time to go to the orphanage for some mere superiority complex.
Then after eating he didn't waste a second and bought all the materials necessary for the ritual and now is going to the villa to start it. He did everything in the rush. Usually, he does all those things more secretively like buying the ingredients with Anonymous name and conducting it in some forsaken place but its time consuming and he couldn't wait. Eshir fears if he waits a little longer the effects of the ritual will depleted.
'Now I just need some more helpers and... Wait!!' Suddenly, a thought hit his mind. 'Why didn't I think of it earlier?? Supporter-class jobs are rare. I couldn't find many even if I tried my hardest. But why should I find them if I can create them? Those kids in the orphanage. I can hire them. First, help them to acquire the needed traits or titles for a good support class. Then force them... Ahem, suggests them to choose pure support classes which are better the mixed support classes like mine. I'm a genius, Why didn't I think of it before?' Eshir forcefully stopped himself from telling the driver to take a U-Turn and go to the orphanage to put his plans into motion.
'Fuck it, If only I had this idea when I was in the orphanage' Eshir cursed.
Finally, he arrived at the villa. Eshir rushes to the villa after giving the driver 1 coin of 10 Iron and says "Keep the change"
Entering the main gate of the villa he ordered the servant a few things like a matchstick, wax, paintbrush, a cauldron, and a few other culinary equipment.
Take some herbs like Blood Dragon flower, purple-blue rose, and Jeevan grass which is used to make health potions from storage rings. He places them in a cauldron pours water on them and puts them on fire. While the herbs are being cooked. He put wax in the pot to melt it down while adding some essential oils then mould them into the candles.
In another pot, he pours some human blood. He added shimmering white powder made from blood slime core. He takes out the herbs from the cauldron and makes them into a paste. The water in the cauldron didn't go to waste. He added some herbs into the water and used it for bathing water to purify his body. After bathing he wears a ceremonial black robe that covers his well-toned body.
He especially chose these clothes because they match the theme perfectly. 'I always want to wear these clothes. But who could have guessed the first ritual I wear it for is the one which fixes my mana problem' Eshir thinks excitedly.
He has enough materials to make 3 sets of everything. After preparing everything needed he went to the empty room ordering everyone to not disturb him at any cost.
He locks the door and starts with the hardest step of the ritual for him. Drawing circles, and symbols with the blood and core mixture he prepared before. Normally this step can be done by using mana but as he can't use mana he had to draw all of it manually. Thankfully he had some practice drawing it and despite some mistakes, he completed it in 1 hour.
From what he learned from his mystic teacher. Rituals are the method used to manipulate the power of mysticism present in nature. Rituals are mostly practiced by witches and warlocks but others can perform rituals too, similar to how mana can be used by non-magicians.
He put candles on the part of the circle mentioned in the instructions given by the Author and lightened them. He took some organs of some humans out of his storage ring with the herbal paste he had prepared before and put them in the bonfire at the center of the circle with this he reached the last step of the ritual.
Despite the pungent smell of blood in the room which makes him feel nauseous. His strong desire for mana compelled him to continue the ritual.
Standing on the place surrounded by symbols and circles he proceeded to take out the item he bought with 1 gold coin but before that, he checked for a third time if there were any mistakes in symbols or anything missing. Finding none he took off the ceremonial robe and threw it away in the far-away corner of the room and took out the animal skull from the storage ring.
This skull is not a normal one. It's special because it contains mystic power. Despite having the option to choose from the crystal ball, wand, monocle, and many others he chose this one because it looked cool. The shape doesn't matter, the thing that matters is the item should contain mystic powers.
As he wears the skull. The color of the bonfire changes to dark crimson. The sparks from the bonfire and candles shot upward at incredible speed Making the dark room bright and mesmerizing. The burning speed of organs and herbal paste accelerated and slowly transformed into black sticky liquid. The candles rapidly burn out sending the sparks in the direction of the bonfire increasing the speed of black sticky liquid formation, Creating a bizarre scene.
The time black liquid completely forms candles are mostly burned out. The light of bonfire and candle dimes and the blood-red symbols on the ground brightened. Suddenly, the black ominous liquid jumped from the scorching fire like a predator warping Eshir in his hot and slimy grip.
Eshir screams because of the burning pain he is feeling. The liquid gradually enters his body from the ear, mouth, nose, eyes, and other holes in his body... like skin pores, burning him along the way.
"AHHhh" His screams turn into whimpering due to the burning of his throat.
Unfortunately, nobody could hear his cry due to the soundproof function of the room he activities before performing the ritual. Eshir could do nothing but cry seeing something entering his body without consent and ruining it with third-degree burns.