The door behind the counter descended into the ground to a torch-lit landing that split directions going both left and right. The wide hallway smelled of dark cold earth but the gray chiseled stone the hallway was formed from was clean and well-maintained. As were the stone stairs that were solidly laid into the ground. When the hall split the group proceed left. Seth looked over his shoulder to the other hallway to see the same dull gray stone bricks with four dark wooden doors two to each side. The hallway they walked down ended in a single door but unlike the others, the one seemed to be made of dull coppery metal. The door had strange etching that seemed to glitter in the light from the torches. When they got to the door Ithil laid his hand on it and mumbled something and the door slowly glided open soundlessly. He stepped aside and motioned for the others to go through first and Gale led the way.
Seth's apprehension rose as he walked into the large open room. Arrayed around the sides were four large stone circular tables and Seth couldn't be sure but if had to guess they seemed to line up with the four cardinal directions; North, South, East, and West. He wondered briefly if there was a reason for that. Ithil passed into the room last and the door slid shut behind him. He walked over to one of the stone tables and sat on its edge motioning for the others to do the same. Jason looked at the table nervously but then did as he asked, Seth, did as well. Gale looked at his table and leaned against it instead of sitting on it and looked back at Ithil waiting.
Ithil spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically cold and professional. “Gentlemen, this is the ritual room and before we continue I can not stress enough you are not to talk to anybody about what happens in this room is that understood?” Both Seth and Jason nodded without speaking sensing the gravity of the situation adding to their already immense anxiety. “Good, now what I told you about the ceremony is absolutely true. I did, however, purposefully not mention how the ritual is performed. I will do this now so please pay attention and hold any questions till the end. Nod if you understand.” Again both boys nodded. “The process of opening your soul to the outside world is lengthy. As I told you before it will be fairly unpleasant. Though the lingering part of that unpleasantness comes after the ritual when your spiritual body and physical form merge over the next week or so. This process will reinforce your bones, muscles, and organs with energy expelled from your soul and will force physical imperfections and toxins from your body.
At the end of the process, you will be stronger and healthier than you have been in your entire lives, you will also feel like you've been sick for months and have the worst headache of your short young lives. This is due in part to the fever you both will run as the process occurs and the strain put on your bodies from the changes. Do you both understand?” At this point, Seth and Jason had both just started to nod along as Ithil spoke.
“Part of that unpleasantness will be part of the procedure tonight. When I'm done speaking you both will be given the chance to ask any questions and then you will have to remain silent for the rest of the ritual. When we start you will both will strip off your shirts, shoes, and socks your pants can stay on this will give me access to the places I will need to draw the ritual markers. Gale and I will begin a blood draw and pull three bags of blood from each of you. They will be needed as a reagent in the pigment I will need to blend for the runes. Unfortunately, with that amount of blood loss you may feel confused and weak, I assure you it will be alright all you will need to do is lay there and be quiet.
The weakened state will actually aid in the transformation by weakening your physical form it will make it easier for your spiritual self to assert itself. After you lay down Gale will ring a chime this will help set the resonance that will allow us to connect your body and soul. It is very important you stay as quiet as possible so as to not introduce any other sounds into the room. Then I will draw runes on your chests both hands, both feet, and on your forehead, these are the five gateways with which you will be able to affect the world. The one on your chest represents the soul and connects the other five. After that, I will ring the chime again canceling the resonance and the ceremony will end. You'll stay here in this room recovering for the next week. We could technically move you after the second chime but to be honest the filth your bodies will be pushing out of themselves will be fairly nasty and this room is set up to make cleaning you and taking care of you as easy as possible. Are there any questions?”
Seth and Jason both looked nervously at each other and then back to Ithil, Seth slowly raised his hand. Ithil quirked an eyebrow and grinned softly “Now you raise your hand?”
Seth was abashed And mumbled slightly as he spoke “It just seemed appropriate” Ithil's grin broke into a smile “What do the chimes do? Do they symbolize something what about the runes?”
Ithil pondered this for a moment and then responded with slight apprehension in his voice. “I would remind all three of you again that you are not to speak about what goes on in this room before I respond” He waited for the boys to again nod their heads. “The chimes do not symbolize something as much as they are something. Seth, have you heard that sometimes glass can break when next to a forge or a blacksmith's shop for no reason?”
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Seth thought and then answered, “Yes, My dad said it had to do something with the sounds in the air creating a resonance and causing the glass to vibrate apart.”
Ithil brightened at this before responding enthusiastically “Just so. The chime serves a similar function. The sound it creates along with the markers I will use on you create what you might think of as spiritual sound. That sound is what we will use and focus on to open a hole and allow your soul to come flowing out. The purpose of the runes is twofold. One they act as a dam to your soul so that once it starts to flow remains in your body and in the channels we've created. Without them, you would get very sick and then die. The second purpose is to channel the energy in a specific way to regulate your growth. For this reason, you and Jason will have different runes. His will gear his growth towards physical growth giving him a beginning boost in strength and stamina which based on Jason's desired goal of sword and board is the best fit. You on the other will receive the runes for the magus giving you a boost to intelligence and dexterity. This will give you both some bonus stats in those areas after the change though how you choose to grow after that is entirely up to both of you. The second chime is referred to as closing the circle and will stop the process of breaking the containment on your soul and harden it so that type of activity will never work again.”
“Very well let us begin,” Ithil said solemnly.
It began like he had said Ithil moved to draw Seth's blood and Gale in turn moved to Jason. Ithil drew a needle and a bag and with surprisingly skilled hands began to draw blood from Seth's forearm. Seth spoke softly “Why three bags?”
Ithil looked up and grinned “In case I mess up the first two, now shhh and I'm serious after the chime no talking, no questions” then almost whispered to himself “The last thing we need is your two souls broken into millions of little pieces” regardless if Seth was supposed to have heard that last part or not the point was made. When Gale struck the chime Seth felt his body begin to tingle, first softly then harder. It became a burning and it felt as if there were a cold pool in his chest that began to leak down his limbs is was cold against the burning. The pins and needles of the flowing something were terrible against the burning of everything else. Seth struggled to stay silent he wanted to yell, wanted to scream, but he physically bit his lip to keep silent. Blood dripped down over his chin. Ithil looked into his eyes and nodded squeezing his shoulder in comfort. Seth began to writhe on the table it was too much. Tears welled up in his eyes. Ithil seemed to look at him and then frowned in confusion. He shook his head slightly signaling for Seth to stay quiet. Ithil put down the brush and then pulled out a strange-looking knife. Ithil pinned his hand against the table and began to make small shallow cuts on his hand. Seth jerk to scream but Ithil put a hand over his mouth and forced his head back against the table. His eyes looked wild as he met Seth's glare. He slowly mouthed the word No and shook his head then put his finger over his lips. Seth's head swam. The cuts created a new sharp sensation against the burning flow of his soul the pooling cold moving ever closer.
Ithil grabbed the other hand and did the same then moved to his feet each time the mark pulled the cold towards it and when it seemed like the cold would wash over the cuts and pour out of his body it stopped dammed by the tiny symbols. Finally, Ithil met Seth's eyes looking pleadingly into them and after a moment moved to Seth's forehead. He did not attempt to restrain Seth's head as he cut. Seth glared at him with accusing, hate-filled eyes stinging tears running down his face.
Ithil gave him a final look and squeezed his hand in support before running over to Jason. Ithil was trying not to panic he had never seen the process move as quickly as had in Seth. He had no clue as to why. That's why at the last minute he had grabbed the small knife and not the brush. He knew that in some extreme cases, the knife was a better choice. The cuts restrained the power flow better than just painting them on as they were more connected with the flesh. He just hoped Seth would understand. In Jason the process was moving at an ordinary pace he was breathing heavily but didn't appear to be in nearly as much pain as Seth had been. The pain Seth was in had also seemed odd but knew that the faster flow must have been excruciating.
Gale by comparison to Ithils own work had only completed one hand and one foot and was progressing slightly slower than Ithil would have liked. Ithil grabbed the brush from his workstation, the one that had been meant for Seth, and dipped it in the concoction of Jason's blood and pigments. He quickly completed the other hand and foot while Gale moved to Jason's head. He kept stealing glances back at Seth who had stopped writhing on the table. Ithil walked over to check on him. He was flushed but breathing steadily, Ithil gently checked the flows in his arms and legs. There was more power there than he expected but not more than was reasonable. He might share some higher-tier bloodline from the eastern nations. Ithil knew such things were not unheard of but if he had known earlier he would have warned the boy that Ithil would have to use the knives. Walking back to the chime to close the process Ithil thought back to the boy's father. He had done David's ceremony as well, though in all fairness that was over a century ago and time had dimmed some of the memory. From what he could remember that by comparison had been a fairly routine event. So not him them, Ithil thought to himself, must be the boy's mother. He knew it would all most likely be in the report that would come back from headquarters and without another thought about it he rang the chime and the circle was closed.