The morning bells rang softly as Lulu entered the abandoned prayer room beneath the church. The stone chamber was cold as always, its walls etched with forgotten symbols, but it now felt familiar—almost sacred. This room had become her haven, the silent witness to her struggle, her determination, and the spell that demanded everything from her.
Today, she opened the ancient book to page four.
She inhaled deeply.
Exhaled.
And began.
---
The spell was colossal.
Not evil—just ancient, arcane, and impossibly intricate.
Its diagrams mapped the structure of worlds.
Its glyphs showed how consciousness could move beyond the boundaries of existence.
Its sentences seemed to change depending on her thoughts.
Lulu spent entire seasons deciphering a single page.
Spring faded to summer.
Leaves fell, grew again, and fell once more.
Snow blanketed the world and melted, year after year.
But Lulu remained.
Page five took nearly a year to grasp.
Page eight required her to relearn every previous page.
Page thirteen made her question whether she was capable of this at all.
Page twenty forced her into meditations that lasted days.
There were nights she collapsed from exhaustion.
Days she stared at symbols until her vision blurred.
Moments her magic sputtered and stung her fingers.
But her resolve never broke.
She was determined to master this spell—no matter how long it took.
---
The Priestess seldom appeared during Lulu's long training—but when she did, the air shifted.
Her presence was like still water: calm, deep, unshakably composed.
One evening, when Lulu struggled with page twenty-one, a soft, quiet glow filled the doorway. The Priestess stepped inside, her movements smooth and precise, her expression unreadable beneath her veil.
Lulu immediately rose and bowed.
"Your Majesty."
The Priestess surveyed the scattered notes, the ritual circle, and Lulu's strained expression.
"Your mind is unfocused," the Priestess said—not coldly, but with serene certainty. "You are forcing the spell. It must be understood, not conquered."
Lulu lifted her eyes.
"How can I improve my focus?"
The Priestess placed a hand lightly over Lulu's spellbook.
"Listen," she whispered. "Not with ears, but with spirit."
And without another word, she turned and left, robes flowing behind her.
It wasn't laziness.
It wasn't impatience.
It was her way—silent, minimal, but powerful.
And strangely… the moment she left, Lulu did understand what she needed to adjust.
It was as if the Priestess's presence alone reoriented her thoughts.
The Priestess appeared only a handful of times across a century, but each time, her quiet guidance shifted Lulu's progress forward by years.
---
During Lulu's fiftieth year of study, she felt something new.
While reading page twenty-four, she sensed it—
A faint shimmering thread.
A line of existence beyond physical perception.
A whisper of another world pressing gently against her awareness.
She reached for it.
It vanished.
But the moment marked the beginning of a new stage.
Her magical senses broadened.
Her spirit became more attuned.
She felt "currents" between realities drifting past her like thin streams of air.
She still couldn't shape an avatar.
She couldn't enter any world.
She obeyed the restrictions of the spell.
But she was finally beginning to feel the multiverse.
---
The last five pages were the most difficult of all.
Symbols rearranged themselves.
Incantations demanded exact emotional states.
Diagrams revealed new layers only after hours of meditative stillness.
But Lulu pressed forward.
Her focus sharpened.
Her spiritual endurance strengthened.
Her understanding deepened until her mind felt like a vast network of interconnected lights, each representing a concept she had once struggled to grasp.
And then—after mastering the final exercises, completing the meditations, reinforcing her spirit, and surviving the backlashes that came with mistakes—
She reached it.
The end.
Lulu closed the massive spellbook, hands trembling.
"I… I've done it."
The empty prayer room took in her whisper and returned it with silence.
---
Time flowed gently.
Seasons came and went.
Generations of priests lived and passed.
The world remained peaceful.
No Demon King had appeared just yet.
And Lulu—unchanged by age—continued refining her magic, preparing her spirit, and deepening her understanding of the spell.
A hundred years passed like a long breath.
The church grew, changed, shifted.
The kingdom evolved.
But Lulu remained constant.
When she finally opened her eyes after a long meditation, she knew:
She had reached the threshold.
She had mastered the entire spell.
Every page, every concept, every hidden layer.
There was nothing left to study.
Only one step remained—
To create her first avatar.
She steadied her breath, closed the ancient book, and lifted her head.
A century had prepared her for this moment.
Her true journey into the multiverse was about to begin.