The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

11; The Golden Stairs.

Among the few things that Lukas saw in a neatly sprawl, his eyes jumped at the gleaming ring amongst the mess. Curious he picked it up and his sister on cue provided the very explanation he needed.

That's the Ring of light." She said "A defensive ring in nature. Its white ranked which means it is meant for Mortal mages. It helps in moderate mana recovery but its main function is that the wearer is able to summon a Shield of Light three times before it slumbers for a period of four to five days to be useful again. It's of the lowest grade since but its shield is fairly powerful, able to defend against full blow of a late mortal mage to putting up a fight against a Peak mortal mage. It can act as a lifesaver in the right moments."

She c****d her head to the side as she added "It's useless against Earth mages though. It will almost surely break if used against them."

"It's enough…" Lukas said in a determined voice. The ring would be fairly useful in moments when he didn't have enough mana available and he needed a moment's lifesaver in a heartbeat. Who knows what type of enemies he would face in the future hence it was better to be prepared.

He then looked at the new grimore his sister brought that laid forgotten under their excitement of his new Starlight Staff. Aria seeing the grimore decisively took it back seeing as the blood-bound book on his brother's hands proved far more useful and powerful. But despite that, his sister was gracious enough on teaching him how to fully maximize the benefits of a blood bound grimore. From increasing his control over its pages and how to inscribe his thoughts on them through visualization of mana, he was purely amazed by the new sensations that for a moment he felt like a child discovering an amazing new toy.

Lukas's heart leapt as he saw the rest of it. He was still too much of a stranger in this world but even he could tell that all of the treasures brought together were precious enough in ways he hadn't yet realized. He was just about to deny them before he looked at his sister and then changed his mind. Maybe the last host would have been too embarrassed and silently prideful to deny everything but he was from earth and if one thing he needed right now was all the help he could get in order to obtain enough power to save himself from the seemingly desperate death of the host before him.

He looked at his sister and as their pale eyes locked he smiled gratefully and his sister seemingly picked up his thoughts which made her smile and her heart leapt in joy. She had thought it would have been awkward for his brother since he had denied almost all of her advances on making his life easier in the past but it looks like the experience in the forest had jaded him a bit. But then her heart chilled. What would have happened if his precious brother had fallen? What if she was left truly and utter alone in this huge place?

How could she have continued living?

Hiding her dark thoughts deep inside, they talked for a couple of more minutes about how she missed her home and their mother before Aria looked at her brother, hesitating before she decided to bring it up in the end.

"So what kind of soul altar did you form?" she curiously asked. Soul altars in the continent of Lush were a sacred subject most people never deigned to ask. It was the very manifestation of their fate, talent and their inner most secrets and Aria wouldn't be so clueless to realize that whatever had happened at the forest had changed his brother at fundamental level.

Lukas paused not sure how to answer that "I …I don't know. Ever since I came back back…my soul altar has changed."

He said all this just so he could put up a precedent and pre-explanation to all of the strange stuffs that might happen in the future in the process of him trying to appropriate his new identity.

"Different how?" she asked. its common knowledge known to all that once a mage reaches mortal rank they can form a link to their soul and actually see how much talent they possess, the possibilities of all their elemental gifts and even hints to the cosmic destiny on what path is better for them in future.

So in changing of the soul altar means that changing of one's fate, one's destiny and one's future. Although such incidents were very rare that they were nearly impossible they always leads to very powerful existences in the end though it has also been known to some who had their fate changed led very downfallen lives in turn.

So the fact that his brother's soul altar changed made Aria a little fearful, curious but most of all nervously excited. If his brother's soul altar has changed then that means there is a chance his talent has also improved and he would no longer feel the need to take all the crazy missions when his strength is still low.

Looked with expectations, Lukas sweated on how to explain it before a thought passed through his head. "Is it possible…that I can show you?" he asked tentatively. Even though he had a massive forced upload on the laws of magic here, he hadn't had a practical experience yet and so he had to tread carefully just in case he slips up.

Her sister's nervous face instantly froze and then stared at his brother with a strange gaze. "You can show me your soul altar. But" she paused "are you sure?"

Yes…was he sure? He asked himself. Maybe it was called a soul altar for a reason, it wasn't meant to be shown to others just willingly. It was after all his new found secret and was he secure in showing it to his new blood sister?

Aria then sighed "Although soul altars are just manifestation of one's spirit and soul it is one of the most inner most secret in one's path as a mage. And therefore one can learn some things about a person's soul and destiny which can inversely affect them if they use that knowledge for ill intentions.

Looking at his new sister and his body's natural disposition towards her, he decided to bet on it. He was new in this world, and somehow his soul and this body bonded in ways even he himself couldn't explain. Adding the fact that his sister is an Earth ranked mage from the inner sect then maybe she could help in giving him a heads up if the godly statue inside of him will adversely affect him in the future and on the path to his way back home.

He nodded firmly and once more his sister smiled sweetly in full trust. "As you have trusted me with this, then I swear on our bond that none of it will reach any one's ears even my masters."

Feeling her sincerity he smiled before his sister gave him instructions on how to perform it. "Entering someone's soul altar isn't as easy as it sounds, unless one obtains so much transcendental strength that they can either enter forcefully without your consent which will almost always kills you or sends you to insanity, or has enough strength to read your soul without even you realizing which means by then they must be above the heaven's mage rank to even perform that."

"Heaven's mage?" Lukas asked.

They both sat crossed legged to each other "it's another higher power rank for mages too far away from us, so for now don't fret over it."

She took a deep breath and then stared at Lukas "Are you ready?"

Lukas nodded. "Good, you have to listen to my instructions very clearly and follow them precisely. Since this isn't a forced entry there is almost no causality but we have to be careful about it."

Then something occurred to Lukas "How did you learn to do this?" he curiously asked.

She smiled "My master taught me this. She needed to see my soul altar just so she could form a more comprehensive guide for my cultivation."

Relaxing for the last time they both took a deep breath before they closed their eyes.

"Now I'm going to begin." She spoke slowly. "1st relax your body, make sure you don't tense. 2nd release your mind to lower your mental defenses and then open your soul their by entering into a soft like meditation, just deep enough for me to enter."

They held hands and as Lukas relaxed himself fully he was startled to feel a presence. It wasn't threatening and seemed oddly familiar coursing through their enjoined hands before it tentatively traveled slowly from his arms to his shoulders and then chest before it paused as it slowly entered into his mind, into his deepest recesses.

At first it felt like an alien possession which instantly made him cringe and Aria was quick to pick up.

"Don't tense brother, trust me… you can sense it for yourself. I bear no ill intention."

Sensing the familiar sensation again he visibly relaxed before Aria found herself in a large expanse of darkness. It kind of frightened her but she could tell she was near. Her mind imprint had taken the shape of her body which then called to the void for her brother.

"Lukas, are you there?"

Looking at the infinite darkness she was just about to get lost before Lukas instinctively made a way for her.

All of sudden it seemed as if the darkness vibrated before a staircase of golden steps descended from the void up to beside her. Looking at the end of it was a shining door which made her sigh.

Looks like her brother has such an intense imagination that he can form such things very easily in his mind palace, she thought. Stepping on the golden stairs which brought her nearer and nearer to the top she could feel his brother presence beckoning her to enter and now filled with curiosity she walked through the shining door in a brilliant flash of light.

*i use Grimores and book of spells interchangeably so don't let it confuse you.