Enlightened

On the outskirts of the city, under the veil of night, the figure of several people could be seen moving along an apparently abandoned road.

Each of these people had similar attire. The vast majority were covered by a brown robe, with only one of them, who was at the head, wearing a red robe.

Although the wind was blowing hard, none of those present seemed to mind in the least.

A light could then be seen in the distance on the road, indicating that despite its poor condition, it was still traveled from time to time.

Faced with this, with a wave of his hand, the one leading the group ordered them to stop. Then, with his other hand, raising his necklace, a red glow flashed once before spreading around the group.

Slightly shaking the ground, a dirty old pickup truck with mud marks then drove past the group, not once paying attention to the hooded group in the middle of the night.

"Thanks to that one for his protection." Said the leader.

""Thanks to that one for his protection."" Repeated the group of followers.

The protection they referred to had been nothing more than simple concealment, something that allowed them to move without being seen.

Although the duration of it was short, it was more than enough to hide their tracks and presences when they moved in the early morning, when the number of witnesses was minimal.

Continuing their journey, the group, after so much walking, had reached their objective.

In front of them, it could be seen that the worn road gave way to a dirt road surrounded by fields of crops. And at the end of this road, it was possible to see a farm that had long since seen better days.

Without a word, the group quietly made their way into the farm, past the fields of crops and the pens of chickens and pigs.

They went so far inland that they came to the house of the farm's owners, a small wooden house whose windows had the light on, indicating that the owners of the house, despite the late hour, were still awake.

Raising his right hand, the leader then gave an order to his followers, who were quick to move.

The group split up, with the leader and a couple of followers moving further into the empty farm and fields while another group walked towards the house.

This group was led by a particularly tall stalwart, who made them wait a minute while he knocked first on the door of the house and removed his hood.

A short conversation ensued between the follower and the owners of the house, which ended abruptly as the man called out to the others in the group before he entered the house and shouts and insults could be heard coming from inside.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group looked at what could be seen in the distance, where the crop fields ended, a three-meter high wall of thick bushes rose up.

It was the wall surrounding the most valuable property in the city, the Baughan compound, a place of importance not only economically, but also spiritually, especially for them.

When the noise coming from the house ceased and all went quiet on the farm, all his followers gathered, with the leader then giving new orders.

Raising his necklace, he spoke, "Open a door, made of the blood of liars, to send forth the seeker."

These words might seem metaphorical, but one could not be further from the truth.

Two followers then approached, each dragging the bodies of what in life was an older couple, the same that opened the door of their house to one of the followers.

Although this man and woman were the owners of the farm, they had had the horrible luck to fall into the schemes of this cult.

With the same knives they had used to end the lives of these people, the pair of followers proceeded to slit the couple's wrists.

"By the grace of that one, we gather..."

The rest of the followers did not stand still, but began to recite a mournful chant in unison. Under the words of the chant, the couple's blood began to move in a pattern.

Before it simply spilled over the ground, but as if the chanting gave it strength, it moved through the earth before forming a circle with strange symbols inside.

Slowly, the circle of blood began to give off a crimson glow, at which point the leader gave another order.

"Let the seeker break through."

One of the followers then stepped into the middle of the circle, removing his robe and revealing a male in his thirties.

With the leader lifting his necklace, the man in the circle began to change, his skin twisting and his bones breaking.

His screams alone were worthy of starring in nightmares, something the farm animals seemed to agree on, all being restless with fear.

After a time of a process that could not be described in any other way than monstrous, all that remained in the circle were ashes, the remains of the follower.

However, none of the followers, let alone the leader seemed to be concerned about this.

Bringing his gaze toward the Baughan compound, the leader then exclaimed, "Manifest yourself in that world, and take back what has been taken from us."

With those words, the entire group began to retreat, clearing only the circle of blood and the ashes of their former companion.

As for the corpses of the old couple, they didn't even look at them again.

---

"There are two ways to fulfill your diet, one is to feed on something made in the mirror world, or to feed from the mirror world directly." Explained Rose to Noah, who was sitting in the middle of the circle.

His body was still covered in dark veins, but with the exception that from now on they seemed to be more alive than before.

Alive in that they pulsed and moved slightly, making Noah wonder if his body wouldn't suffer consequences if it continued to behave that way.

"For both, you first have to be aware of your body, something I believe you already have some experience in." Rose said, surprising Noah a little as she seemed to know more than he thought, "That's good, as it means what follows will come easier to you."

At that moment, the wind began to swirl more violently around the circle, now the movement being so brutal and fast that Noah had difficulty seeing the rest of the backyard of the house.

"This is to isolate you from the outside world, which will allow you to concentrate even more on yourself and be able to better inspect your inner self."

Hearing those words, Noah said nothing more and just as Rose had said, he tried to inspect his inner self by making use of his left eye.

Although other people really wouldn't know how to even start with the instructions Rose had said, this was not the case for the young man, since he already had a head start.

Thanks to his curiosity about the system and the mirror, Noah was already aware of his body and its contents to a degree that other people could hardly reach.

Because of this, Noah, even with his eyes open, could feel the presence of his mind, his soul, and his heart, all working together with near perfect synergy.

However, sensing this was extremely difficult, first because they seemed to be hidden deep within his body, and second, because there was something that was interrupting his perception.

"...Urgh..."

At that moment, Noah had to stop abruptly, since he felt how it was that his left eye was about to reach its limit, closing it quickly.

Watching this intently, Rose merely remained an observer rather than an educator, even when she knew all what the young man was doing wrong in trying to see inside him.

The reason for this was simple, she wanted to wait a bit so she could see what it was like for the young man to deal with this on his own.

It was a little test of sorts, to be able to properly assess that aspect that seemed to stand out the most about the young man, his sensitivity to things that were not just limited to the physical.

A short time passed, with Noah resting his eyes and Rose watching him closely, until she saw that the young man in question had lowered his shoulders in defeat.

However, before Rose could begin to explain how to do it properly, Noah closed his eyes and let out a big sigh.

The next moment, he activated the vision of his left eye to the inside of his body, the totality of his trinity becoming so clear to him that it made him wonder how he had not noticed it before.

How was it that he hadn't noticed his strong heart full of vitality, his mind harboring all his most cherished memories and most recent experiences, and his soul resting peacefully within his body.

Just then, a system notification was heard in Noah's head.

__________________________

[Notice: The "Host" is now fully aware of his [Mortal Human Trinity].

As a consequence, his aspect of [Host: Soul] and [Host: Mind] have received the property of [Enlightened].

As the "Host" is now an [Enlightened], the potential of his [Mortal Human Trinity] has increased as a whole.

__________________________

"...Haa..."

Letting out another deep sigh, Noah then opened his eyes, feeling within himself a peace like never before.

Although the system had given him news that could certainly be considered beneficial, this one seemed to be devoid of emotion, being in a seemingly unbreakable calm.

"Congratulations, Noah, on reaching enlightenment." Rose then said, her voice, apart from containing a slight tone of satisfaction, carrying with it an energy that immediately awakened the young man.

"...What was that?" He asked, not quite understanding what had just happened to himself.

Although the system had explained to him what happened, it had been rather ambiguous with the term he was most interested in, that part about the [Enlightened], something Rose seemed to know.

"It means that you are now aware of everything that shapes you, and that no matter what change occurs within you, it will not go unnoticed. You have accomplished something that the vast majority of mortals are not even aware of."

Just as the woman had said, being an Enlightened was something that was available to all mortals, but that even in all their lifetimes, they did not even manage to discover that they were capable of it.

Though this had an explanation, which was that there was really no need for them to do so.

To give an example to the young man, Rose used her newly acquired knowledge of smartphones to better explain to Noah.

While a person could study or do research to find out how it was that these devices worked, the vast majority were not going to do it for one simple reason, and that was that they didn't need to.

If they could already use it and get the most out of it, then discovering its inner workings was something that could be considered interesting but not necessary information.

It was also because of the small detail that unlike knowing how a smartphone worked, where one only needed time and the relevant educational material, being enlightened implied something more.

Specifically, a keen perception and sensitivity to all that could not be seen, heard or felt, something that fortunately, the young man seemed to have.

With a smile that was only visible in the Hollow Garden, Rose looked at the young man, feeling a little closer to him thanks to the fact that he was now also part of what she had been since long ago, an Enlightened.

"I really think you're talented, Noah, this little moment will be useful to you all your life... and who knows, maybe even beyond." With those words as her last, sensing that the young man was going to flood her with questions if she didn't stop him, Rose hurried him on with the next part of his diet.

Now that the most complicated part had been taken care of, what was next was something that while not easy, was also not on the level of becoming an Enlightened.

Closing his eyes, Noah then began to look inside himself, now being able to observe everything much more clearly, or at least, that would be the case if his body was clean, which it was not.