Chapter 91: The Ritual (1/2)

An hour later a clean and refreshed Number 3 walked back to her comfy chair in front of the fireplace and plopped down into it with an audible sigh.

Granny was looking at her with a smile on her face. Refilling both of their cups, she pushed a teacup in front of her.

”Drink up and rest for a bit, we will begin in the afternoon. It's going to be quite taxing you know.” she said after a few silent sips.

Nodding her head, Number 3 took a sip from her cup before she answered.

”Yes, I know. Although I have never seen the ritual, I've read about it in the ancient texts. The Grandmaster has quite the extensive library you know.”

Sipping once again, she contently sighed and continued.

”Still, the fact that you are just like him… It's hard to wrap my head around this fact. Between him, The Reaper, and you, who is the strongest?”

”Don't be silly, I am just an old granny, nothing more!” Granny nonchalantly answered between 2 sips.

”Sure you are…” Number 3 mumbled under her breath and continued to enjoy her tea in silence.

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After an enjoyable but uneventful lunch, both of them gathered in front of the fireplace once again. This time, however, the large cauldron that Granny used for her alchemy sessions were placed on top of the steadily crackling fire.

”This power will not be enough for this brewing… Sadly, I have to change the flames…” Granny mumbled mostly to herself, while Number 3 just silently smiled.

Using both hands, Granny began to draw 2 runes in the air simultaneously. The rune she was drawing with her left hand was giving off a blue hue, while the right was shining in a bright red color.

Seconds quickly passed turning into minutes and the only sound that could be heard besides the steadily cracking fire was the faint humming noise that the floating runes gave. Number 3 was intently watching the whole event.

After about ten minutes, Granny finally added the finishing touches to both runes. As soon as she did, both runes glowed in their respective blue and red colors brightly.

Gently touching both runes with her index fingers, she whispered two words in the ancient tongue.

”Primo Ignis”

The next moment, as her fingers touched the runes, both of them flew into the fire merging with it. The fire turned blue, then scarlet, and finally purple. They no longer felt any heat radiating from it, but there was an uneasy, unsettling feeling coming from the purple flames.

”Soul fire… Never thought I would see it once again in my life. Incredible.” Number 3 said while gazing at those flames. Then, she looked at Granny who was back to her usually gently smiling self. ”So, these are the famous flames that can burn even the living souls while leaving the bodies untouched?”

Granny did not answer the question, instead, she picked up the brown bag that was already placed next to the fireplace and gave it to Number 3.

”I will need to give my total focus to this ritual, so you will have to handle the ingredients. Start preparing them, while I begin, we don't have much time.”

Grabbing the bag, she opened it up and poured the contents to the nearby table they used for their regular tea sessions. Various hard-to-find, and rare monster parts and herbs rolled out.

Hearts, huge reptilian eyes, fangs, claws, and pure black flowers were just some of the most interesting contents of the bag.

”Water.” Was the first word Granny spoke as she arrived in front of the cauldron. In response, Number 3 simply waved her left hand, and the huge barrel swiftly flew in from the kitchen and floated above the cauldron, awaiting the next order.

”Just a bit, two fingers.” Granny gave the order upon which the barrel slightly tilted, and a weak flow of clean water started pouring into the empty cauldron.

”Enough. Put it back. Give me a few minutes to prepare for the first part.”

Number 3 silently nodded and waved her left hand. In the next moment, the barrel still full of water swiftly flew back into the kitchen without spilling anything to the ground.

Once again, minutes passed in silence, as there were no more words from Granny. Instead, she was gazing at the fire and mumbling something incomprehensible even for Number 3, while keeping both of her hands above the cauldron. As she continued her monotonous chant, blue and red rays of light occasionally flew from her hands and vanished into the thin layer of clear water.

As another ten minutes passed like this, she suddenly stopped her chant, and abruptly gave her next command without pulling her gaze from the cauldron.