The bright blue light of Alex's phone screen fell on his face, illuminating his pale skin like an ice block as he gently held the mobile phone, observing its smooth, scratch-free screen.
The time displayed was 7:00 PM, and the charging bar in the corner indicated the battery was at 30%.
Below the time bar, multiple notifications from different apps appeared.
Alex touched the first one, revealing unfamiliar icons that made it challenging to understand their purpose.
A new screen opened—a conversation app with a profile picture of a girl named Melissa.
______________/__
Yesterday:-
(Melissa')
—I heard your illness has been cured.
(Raser)
— Yeah, we did perform the cure. Thank you for your help.
(Melissa')
—Hey, I'd like to perform a luck enhancement ritual for you, as a token of gratitude for saving my daughter.
Would you mind providing details about your birth?
______________/__
What's a cringe way to ask about a birthday date if you have a crush on Raser? Just ask directly, and why add a ritual to it? He thought, mocking the sender of the message. But the next line sent him into shock.
"Saving! Daughter? Was Raser into mature milf ladies?"
He scrolled down the screen, eager to read previously sent messages.
______________/
1 Week ago:-
(Melissa')
—Hi, thank you for saving me. I was afraid to see that bad fish.
[Image attached of a 10-year-old girl]
(Raser )
—No problem. I was afraid too.
(Melissa')
—My mom said you were injured because of me. That bad fish bit you, and you had to go to the scary doctor uncle. Are you okay? Did they stab you with that needle? I am sorry; it is because of me.
(Raser )
—No, no, that's not your mistake. It was all because the land suddenly became blessed, and the good fish became bad fish.
(Melissa')
—Can I call you big brother?
(Raser)
—Sure.
(Call not connected....1 week ago)
______________/
5 days ago:-
(Melissa')
—Are you okay, Raser? Sorry, Melissa has been feeling bad recently, so I told her to talk to you.
(Raser)
—No problem, ma'am.
(Melissa')
—She wanted to call you, but you didn't pick up.
(Raser)
—I was in class.-
(Melissa')
—That's reassuring. Anyway, did you get the remaining ingredients?
(Raser)
—Yes, thank you for your help. We were unable to find the main ingredients.
(Melissa')
—I see. If you need any help, just leave a DM for me.
(Raser)
-Okay...
______________/__
_Okay, okay, that gives me a lot of information. Like a blessed land, bad fish, good fish—probably a sea or lake in that place. Creatures change their behaviour and start to attack._
_Wait, that's interesting. That means the supernatural does exist in this world, and the mention of ritual—does that mean rituals are things in this world? _
_Come to think of it, Anna also mentioned something about Invocar._
Alex quickly exits the app and goes to the search engine. He types, "What is an Invocar?"
Alex eagerly held the phone while scrolling through the results of his search.
Surfing through all the articles he could find on stuff related to Invocars, what he learned here is that Invocars are individuals who have supernatural powers. They get this power by awakening their spirit, invoking it from a dormant state by using and performing invocation rituals.
This ritual is only performed between the ages of 15 to 18. Somewhere in the middle, a person's most auspicious time is situated. First, they determine it, and then they perform the invocation ritual.
The average 17 meaning most people's auspicious time is situated in around their 17 birthday of age.
The process of invoking is involved in a ritual named as enlightenment. Before performing it, a lot of preparation is needed, like calculating an auspicious time when the stellar and celestial bodies like the sun and moon are in a favourable position, giving him good luck so that evil spirits have less chance to disturb the ritual.
After that, individuals need to prepare a ritual ground while carving geometric symbols on the ground.
Alex took a moment to absorb the information overload. "That's a lot to digest," he thought, as he quickly connected the concept of Invocars to individuals possessing extraordinary abilities—manipulating fire, seeing the unseen, and even controlling the undead.
He held the phone with his messy hand, his vision a little blurry, and his eyelids heavy; even opening them required a lot of self-control. The effects of the sleeping pill were manifesting in his body, casting a hazy veil over his senses.
The last thing he read was shocking for him. He wondered if he was imagining things because all the rituals in the world have one basic aspect which is known as sacrificial ingredients.
Apparently, people need to collect the necessary sacrificial ingredients with utmost care. 16 ways of divinity start with a base enlightenment, so individuals need to determine which one they seek and prepare the appropriate ingredients for the sacrifice.
______________/__
Before he could read more,
Sleep crept upon him, pulling him into its soothing embrace.
— thud! the phone he was holding up in the air slammed on his face.
His arms lost their power, landing heavily on his chest, eyes closed as he began to take heavy breaths.
It was a shame he had taken the sleeping pill in a hurry. If he hadn't, he might have acquired more information.