Chapter 214 - 182: The Name Above and the Name Below

"Come in."

Richard pushed the door open and went in.

The office had been rearranged and looked quite different than before.

The stack of lesson plans that had been in the middle of the desk was moved to one side. The center of the desk was now covered with waxed paper.

A complete Seal was drawn on the waxed paper, surrounded by twelve Silver Needles, all of their tips pointing outward.

Mr. Hutton sat behind the desk, adding the final stroke to the Seal’s Inscription.

"You’re just in time." He didn’t look up. "Take out your Bronze Plate."

Richard retrieved the Bronze Plate from the innermost compartment of his satchel.

Mr. Hutton put away his quill pen.

He took his Sheepskin Scroll out of a drawer.

At the end of the sealing ritual during winter break, this Sheepskin Scroll had gone to him when they divided the spoils, with the understanding that they would study it together after the term started.

He had preserved the Sheepskin Scroll exceptionally well. None of its edges were curled, and its color hadn’t faded.

Mr. Hutton reached out, pushed the Sheepskin Scroll from the left side of his desk over to Richard, and then pointed at Richard’s Bronze Plate.

"You went with the team to Whitcomb to reinforce the Boundary Stone Array."

"The Boundary Stone Array defines the ’boundary’ of this Seal."

"A boundary is a static thing. It only dictates what is inside and what is outside; it doesn’t operate on its own."

"But for a Seal to be truly stable, it can’t just have a boundary."

"A Seal must also have a ’core’."

Richard suddenly realized something.

"...The Sheepskin Scroll and the Bronze Plate, do they record the original ’core’ of this Seal?"

"Mm-hmm."

Mr. Hutton leaned back in his chair.

"The Boundary Stones are buried underground. They are the skeleton of the outer ring of the Whitcomb Seal system.

The work you did with us this time was akin to re-tightening the screws on that skeleton."

"The ones who built this entire system performed a ritual on the very first day of construction. The record of that ritual was split into two parts and kept by different people.

After so many years, the two records were scattered and passed down through many hands. Now, at the end of this field mission, they have finally returned to the same table."

Richard’s gaze shifted between the Sheepskin Scroll and the Bronze Plate.

"If we can decipher this material together over the next few days, it will provide a significant boost to your case study."

"Let’s get started right away."

The old professor placed the Sheepskin Scroll and the Bronze Plate on either side of the Seal.

"Look," he said, pointing. "The symbolic structures are similar."

Richard leaned closer.

There were two samples: one of animal hide, the other of metal.

At first glance, the style of the symbols on them seemed completely different.

The strokes on the Sheepskin Scroll were thin and flowing, while those on the Bronze Plate were thick and sharp-edged.

But the longer he looked, the more he could perceive a structural correspondence between them.

"Similar, but not identical."

"Mm-hmm. Tell me what you see," Mr. Hutton said with a nod.

Richard pointed a finger at the Sheepskin Scroll.

"This line of symbols runs from left to right. Every stroke is drawn with an upward flick."

"Go on."

"The corresponding line on the back of the Bronze Plate..."

Richard moved his finger to the Bronze Plate.

"The symbols run from right to left, and every stroke is drawn downward."

A hint of a smile appeared in Mr. Hutton’s eyes.

"This is a form of ’Duality’."

"Duality?"

"A very common structure in Ancient Celtic rituals."

Mr. Hutton took out a tightly wound roll of Hemp Rope.

He placed one end of the Hemp Rope on the Sheepskin Scroll and the other end on the Bronze Plate.

"The same set of symbols, written twice. One for ’the underworld,’ one for ’the heavens’."

He pointed at the Hemp Rope. "Opposite directions, complementary meanings."

"So this pair, the Sheepskin Scroll and the Bronze Plate, were originally two records of the same ritual. Why were they separated?"

"The separation came later. Originally, they were a pair."

Mr. Hutton retracted the Hemp Rope.

"If you keep looking, you’ll discover that the true core of this pair of symbols lies not in their direction."

Richard carefully compared the two samples again.

He used his Spiritual Vision to focus on the trio of symbols in the very center of the Sheepskin Scroll.

As he did, a leaf on the Light Tree inside his chest trembled slightly.

Richard immediately withdrew his Spiritual Vision. ’This feeling...’

"Is it the name of the entity being worshipped?"

"A True Name," Mr. Hutton corrected. "In Celtic rituals, the worshipped entity has a ’True Name.’ A True Name can only be written, never spoken."

"Why can’t it be spoken?"

"Any True Name spoken aloud is released onto the linguistic plane."

Mr. Hutton traced a line in the air above the desk.

"Language is an extremely active medium in the Ether Layer. The moment a True Name is spoken, that worshipped being is ’called’ over."

"And what about writing it down?"

"Writing it down follows a different logic."

Mr. Hutton pointed to the trio of symbols on the Sheepskin Scroll.

"When writing the ’underworld’ version of the True Name, the strokes go from bottom to top; when writing the ’heavens’ version, the strokes go from top to bottom.

Together, the two versions ’lock’ the worshipped being within its two aspects."

"One name with two aspects?"

"The worshipped entity itself possesses two aspects."

Mr. Hutton closed his eyes and thought for a moment.

"You can think of it this way: the Celts believed that any being with a divine nature exists simultaneously in the Material Realm and behind the Curtain."

Richard understood.

He was reminded of the text he had deciphered in the Imperial University Library, *On the Construction and Evolution of Ciphers*.

That book had discussed a similar concept, which it called the "Dual Naming Method."

But that book had only mentioned it in passing on a theoretical level and never provided a concrete example.

The pair before him—the Sheepskin Scroll and the Bronze Plate—was a living example of this ancient naming method.

"But this pair of symbols... they’re separated now."