Policeman and the cat

23 - On Exorcists

The exorcists were divided into clans and tried to adopt people in them - the clans were international for the most part - Galord, Hue, Seimei, Patel, Railgun - it was possible to be a self-taught individual and act solo, but most ended up joining a clan, because of the support network it offered and most exorcist work was conducted in groups, so it helped to live together with others to better organize work and get better-paying jobs.

All exorcists were guild members, but they got only a quarter or less of their work through the guild. Exceptions were dungeon raiding exorcists - most of those didn't have a clan backing them. But that said there were also deviant members of clans who acted solely through the guild - examples of those include no.2 in listings Wei Hue, and no.3 and no.5 in listings - Sarah and August Galord, so those three did not count towards raising the prestige of either clan, even if the clans did, in background, defend the rights of those three regardless of what those three wanted or didn't want.

Wei Hue was a pure dungeon riding exorcist, but he was also a son of no.4 - Yue Hue, the head of Hue clan, while August and Sarah were grandchildren of Tiberius Galord, head of Galord clan (no.1). But since they weren't working with their clans they didn't count.

So the Railgun clan who had integrated no.6, 9 and 10 top rankers was the most prestigious at the moment when it came to exorcists. If you joined, you got to actually work with the top rankers. The Railgun clan also had the most Gold rankers among all clans and strong mentoring programs. Railgun clan had loose adoption policies, they were also easiest to join - they didn't even ask anyone to change their surnames, but most did anyhow.

You had to find individual backers in every other clan who did officially adopt you with an official name change. The easiest way in was through marriage. Otherwise, they each adopted based on your character and values. Galords were a mafia - you had to have a family over everything mentality, Hue had a hero complex - save the world even if I die mentality, Seimei had a harmony mentality - you had to be a complete pacifist and polite to death, and Patel clan were all about research and trying new things, they liked curious and experimental types.

"Since most of you aspire to be exorcists, I will mention right away that while requirements for aether vessel are smallest, exorcists need to study a lot for the craft to be useful. Regardless if you join a clan or play solo you'll need to study Basic barriers by August Galord first," Madison said. "Knowing those will be completely enough up till Gold rank tasks. August included application methods using all schools of exorcism."

The theory used to be harder and mushier, but August came along to combine, simplify and fill in the missing bits. Previously it took three years to learn the basic barrier theory, now an earnest student might as well get it done in a year and then spend a proper decade on training to be able to use this theory and improve and build over time from there. 

Madison elaborated that an exorcist friend of hers had said that the Galord school is best for battle exorcists and acting fast, effectiveness doesn't drop depending on the surroundings, although using it is most expensive and takes materials.

Seimei school takes time to set up and takes a good understanding of your surroundings, but you can manage by using your head alone. Hue school is something in-between the two, takes paper and ink and you can make barriers or seals stronger by using special paper and ink. Railgun school uses enchanted projectiles, cheaper than Galord methods, but takes a good marksman to use, and Patel school uses whatever is on hand to apply the basic theory.

She added that August had admitted he wrote Patel sections as a joke making up a theory of exploding exorcism as an example. Patel head (no.7, Aashi Patel) tested it out and it ended up working, even if there are rumors she lost some limbs in the process and had to regrow them. An expensive test, but that's how the Patel clan was - they didn't mind spending fortunes on things they found curious.