"Observe baby boy~"

He raised his hands in front of his face, palms facing outward, and his fingers began to move rapidly.

He formed a series of positions that Kaiser recognized as Mudras, catalytic gestures mentioned in the advanced volumes of Heavenly Milf. Used by a handful of characters: the Witch of Curses, Morgane La Fay and...

’Eleanor didn’t do something like that once, when her voice appeared directly in my mind? Anyway, it doesn’t matter...’

First his index fingers joined together, then his middle fingers folded over his thumbs, and finally his pinkies rose toward the sky.

The air around Diavolo began to tremble. Kaiser saw filaments of golden light emerge from the moss on the ground, from the surrounding tree trunks and even from the stone. These filaments converged toward Diavolo’s hands, wrapped around his fingers, then dissipated into a shower of sparks.

"What you see," explained Diavolo while keeping his hands in position, "is the elemental mana responding to the call. I use Aura as the base energy, and these Mudras transform that raw energy into a frequency that nature can hear."

"A frequency?"

"Exactly." Diavolo released his hands and stood up. "Imagine that the universe is an orchestra. The Mystic Arts are about learning to play the right note at the right moment. When you knock on the door with the right frequency, the door opens by itself."

Kaiser lowered his eyes to his own hands. His fingers were still trembling slightly, a sign that his body was not completely recovered. "And you think I can do it? My magical talent has always been terrible."

Diavolo burst out laughing: "You’re really mediocre! Nyo-hoo! It has nothing to do with mana."

Then his face became serious again. "But that’s exactly why you can do it."

"I don’t follow."

The sorcerer crouched down again, this time at eye level with Kaiser. "What you call ’magical talent’ is a measure of your ability to impose your will on mana. But the Mystic Arts are not about imposing. They are about understanding... A mortal who understands the cosmos can reach the Genesis, whereas a genius who imposes stays on the surface."

"I see... The Genesis... huh."

"The ultimate stage," replied Diavolo, pointing at the sky with his hand. "The one where you no longer just use mana. You become the mana. You no longer use aura, you become it... You no longer knock on the door. You are the door."

Kaiser remained silent for a long moment, absorbing these words. Then he raised his trembling hands in front of him. "Show me the Mudras."

Diavolo displayed a wide smile, his gold grillz shining like a beacon in the darkness of the forest. "Finally some sensible words, Baby boy." He positioned himself behind Kaiser and took his wrists to guide his hands.

"First Mudra," he announced. "The one of opening. Index and middle fingers extended, ring and pinky fingers folded over the thumbs."

Kaiser tried to reproduce the gesture, but his fingers were stiff and clumsy. His index fingers trembled, his thumbs slipped on his ring fingers, and the whole thing formed a shaky position.

"It’s a disaster," commented Diavolo. "You’re really bad at this, what the hell!?"

Kaiser gritted his teeth and tried again. This time, his fingers found their place more easily. He felt a slight warmth born at the tips of his index fingers, a warmth that had nothing to do with the ambient temperature.

"Focus on your breathing," ordered Diavolo. "Inhale counting to four, hold, exhale counting to eight. The rhythm is just as important as the gesture."

Kaiser followed his instructions. He breathed in deeply, feeling the air fill his lungs, then held his breath while maintaining the position of his fingers. At the moment of exhalation, he saw something change. The golden filaments that had appeared around Diavolo manifested again, but this time they headed toward his own hands.

"You see?" murmured Diavolo. "It’s not that difficult." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Kaiser felt a little proud. "Is that the Mystic Arts?"

"It’s the beginning," replied Diavolo as he stood up. "The path is long. You will fail hundreds of times. But in the end, if you hold on, you will understand what few beings have understood about this world."

"What exactly?"

Diavolo turned his face toward the invisible sky, and his heterochromatic eyes seemed to pierce through the canopy of trees to reach the stars beyond. "That power is not measured by the amount of mana one controls. It is measured by the quality of one’s understanding of the world. A man who understands a star is worth more than a demon prince... And that’s what the Constellations fear."

Kaiser lowered his hands and looked at his palms. The golden filaments had dissipated, but he could still feel the residual warmth at the tips of his fingers.

"Why do you have Grillz with ’Fuck Them’ written on them?"

Diavolo turned toward him with an enigmatic smile. "Because I fuck them, girls and constellations!"

Then he burst out laughing, "Nyo-ho-ho!", and headed back toward the cabin, leaving Kaiser alone.

"Damn, my line had so much flow... This baby boy must be inspired..." Konstantine murmured to himself.

"This guy is fucking annoying."

Kaiser remained seated for a long moment, his hands resting on his knees, and he stared at the stone covered in symbols.

He thought about everything Diavolo had just revealed to him, about this new approach to power that was opening up to him. He thought about his previous life, about the way he had always relied on brute force, and he understood that to survive in this world, he would have to become something else.

He breathed in deeply, then raised his hands in front of him again. He formed the first Mudra, the one of opening, carefully positioning each finger. Then he began to count his breathing: four counts for the inhalation, hold, eight counts for the exhalation.

He had learned only one mudra, but he repeated it again and again.

The golden filaments returned, more numerous than the first time. They wrapped around his fingers with a surprising gentleness, and Kaiser felt for the first time since his arrival in this world that there were still unknown mysteries for him.

[Ding! Because of the arrival of the demons! Many people are believing more and more in Nostradamus’s prophecies!]

Inside the cabin, Diavolo observed through the window. His heterochromatic eyes followed every movement of Kaiser. With a nostalgic smile.

"Nyo-ho-ho," he murmured to himself. "I’m getting a little nostalgic for that time when we were all together..."