The greater the gains, the greater the sacrifice needed.
Each thing had its own cost and nobody could go against those rules.
There were those that had tried to do so but it ultimately led to error and complications to the overall ritual.
Even Breakers had to follow certain rules and rituals perfectly in order to do what they could.
The cost may not have been that high if a Balancer or Breaker got their hands on the book that Ash had used but she was just a normal human that was not a part of the spirit world.
In order for her to gain the sight to see spirits, she needed to make a sacrifice and perform a ritual.
In order for her to gain the use of Life Energy, she had to make an even greater sacrifice than what was needed to see spirits.
In order for her to gain an ability, there were certain procedures that had to be followed and even after making a great sacrifice, there would be a very high price involved that not many would be willing to pay.
Those that performed those types of rituals could not just sacrifice the lives of others or things close to others to gain access to those things.
The sacrifices needed to be made that were important to or were deeply connected to the person that was performing the sacrifice.
It was unlike the usual rituals where any kinds of dead animals, humans, blood or other materials could be used.
In some rituals, they would help to awaken an ability but the chances of an ability being awoken could be smaller or the ability being awoken by each person would be too unpredictable.
It was likely that someone could just as easily awaken a low grade ability rather than awakening a high grade one so it was not worth taking the risk.
Some rituals required a totem or medium to act as the main source of the ability that was connected to the person that made the sacrifice.
That totem could be anything from a necklace, a weapon or even a piece of clothing but it needed to be something that had been with the person making the sacrifice for a little time and it needed to be closely guarded and hidden.
Enough of a person's own aura or life energy should have had a long enough time to be in contact with that object.
If it was always close by and was used regularly then a month would be needed for it to be to an acceptable stage to be usable as a medium but it could be longer for others.
If stolen away or broken then they would be unable to make use of their ability even if they could still use life energy.
The ritual that Ash had picked out had a very high price but it provided a unique ability which she needed.
It was almost like it had been perfectly suited to her current circumstances but there was one part that had to be confirmed only after the ritual was completed.
It was whether or not her chosen medium would work out as it had been planned since she did not choose the regular foreign item.
The path Ash had chosen from the book was the path of a Skin Walker, a Skin Walker would be able to take on the appearance and shape of others while gaining other advantages.
In order for them to do so, they had to use animal skin, bones or other creatures body parts as their medium.
Their chosen totem would be the source of their ability to transform and they would carry it with them at all times.
Due to them being very barbaric looking and not being able to mix into normal human society, they would have been shunned away or hunted a long time ago.
Seeing a man or woman walking around with a skull mask over their face, an animal pelt or a necklace made from human teeth would make just about anyone wary of them no matter how they may have transformed themselves to try fit in.
Ash could not afford to make her own medium or totem since it would take time to do so and it would take even longer to have it close to her at all times following that but she had remembered something important.
Ancient and modern times were very different from each other, there were things that were possible that were not possible before.
What had been done to Ash in the past had possibly made her eligible for the path of a Skin Walked and that was the surgery that was performed on her face.
The face that was transplanted in the place of her own may have matched her perfectly and had no complications but it could still be considered as a foreign object that was not really her own skin.
It should have met the conditions to be used like a face mask but it still needed to be confirmed through the ritual.
Ash was willing to take the risk in order to attempt to gain the Skin Walker ability but it took some time for her to come to that decision due to the various other rituals that were available too.
Her present situation was much too important and she needed something that could be used to get around even if she was wanted by the world so the Skin Walker ritual was what she had chosen even if there were some unknown variables and a higher sacrifice needed from her.
If the chance that she had taken was proven to be successful then it was even better for Ash to be able to keep her own medium from being destroyed or lost since it was already a part of herself.
The only way for her to possibly lose her own power was to have her own face completely destroyed or removed once again, either would mean that her life would be put at risk and even if someone figured out what her medium was, they would have still chosen to aim for a killing blow before trying to destroy or remove her face when they were in a life and death battle.
If wanted to go all in on the spirit world then she needed to have the resolve to go forward without having regrets later.
The needed sacrifice that was required was her remaining family members and that was who she had sacrificed in order for her to successfully gain the Skin Walker ability along with a little Life Energy and the sight to see spirits.
Being a Skin Walker required giving up on anything related to the past identity and that included their own blood related family.
The only family that the previous Azra Dash had left were the relatives of her mother who had chosen to take the money of others so that they would ignored any requests for help from her mother.
They may have not been directly involved in the death of her mother but they played their own part in it by going along with those who had manipulated those events.
If given the chance for revenge in a normal situation, the previous Azra Dash may not have had enough reason to take action but the ritual had played a big part in pushing her to do it.
It served to help her gain what she wanted and she would be able to get her revenge in the process.
No matter how much she hesitated about it or tried to rationalise what she would do or had done was slowly put away as she became more firm in her decision as time had passed.
Once she had completed the ritual and confirmed her own abilities, it was time that she had fully abandoned and stopped using her previous name that was Azra Dash.
There were many names that could be used if the letters in her name were switched around to form a new one.
Among the different anagrams available to her, Ash was the most suited to go along with her new appearance that had ash white hair.
Even if someone tried to find out her true identity, it would still be difficult for them to make the connection to her previous identity and her new one unless they knew that she was still alive and knew her well enough.
Azra Dash was believed to be dead and the only other possible identity that was connected to her past appearances was the identity that the doctor had prepared.
There was very little that remained of the past Azra Dash since she had given up on her family connections that remained and her own name, Ash would live on in her place as the Skin Walker and she had returned back to the village where she practiced different hand seals to get a better feel for the use of her Life Energy.