Backlund, outside the steam locomotive station.
Fors wore a finely checkered black veiled hat with embedded blue flowers and stood by the hall at the station's entrance, awaiting her teacher, Dorian Gray.
The drizzle on the streets and the cold winds blowing underground had made this female author tremble slightly. She felt that she had underestimated Backlund's spring.
I wonder what Xio is doing that makes her busy all year round. Sigh, she said that she wouldn't even get out of bed when her father was still alive. Apart from going to the bathroom, both food and water would be served to her by her servants. Now, she's leaving early in the morning every day and only returning late at night regardless of the weather. She has completed one mission after another, capturing one fugitive after another. With this in mind, Fors couldn't help but admire Xio.
Last week, this female Sheriff had already paid off her debt and had even saved up 200 pounds!
I have to say that, as a Beyonder job, a Sheriff is really suited to being a bounty hunter. Of course, the choices available to her are limited to Low-Sequence Beyonders... Fors's thoughts wandered as her gaze that was directed outwards had suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.
It was a man of medium build, and he was dressed in a black suit, the most popular attire in Loen. He wore a half top hat, and in a rare instance, his shoulders appeared broad. It was broad in an almost exaggerated sense.
He was none other than Fors's teacher, one of the few remaining members of the Abraham family, Dorian Gray Abraham.
Fors was delighted as she immediately went over with her umbrella in hand.
With so many people on the streets, she didn't directly approach him. However, her gaze met his and saw him raise his clenched right fist towards the first button on his black suit.
This... means danger! Fors's expressionlessly diverted her gaze away. She smiled as she cast her gaze to a young gentleman behind Dorian, and as though nothing happened, she passed him and walked forward.
An ancient family had unimaginable experience in all kinds of matters, so Dorian Gray had long informed Fors of the signals and gestures to use in urgent situations. The action from before was extremely simple. It was to inform her to stay away!
The young man behind was somewhat taken aback to be stared at by the languid, mature lady. Following that, he instinctively adjusted his clothes and pressed down on his hat.
Just as he finished these series of actions, Fors had overtaken him and continued heading forward.
Under the drizzle, Fors circled the area and boarded a rental carriage and headed for Hat Trick Inn on Cherwood Borough's 22 Hope Street. This was the place that Dorian Gray had reserved in advance.
Having spent so many years in mysticism circles, Fors, who had plenty of experience, calmly got a neighboring room and stood before the window to observe the guests that came to the inn.
Finally, she saw Dorian Gray get off a carriage and walk through the door.
Fors quickly turned around and came to the bend of the stairwell. She covertly observed her teacher being led to his room by an attendant.
After a while, she took off her hat, messed up her hair a little before coming to Room 2016, and she knocked on it.
Her plan was very simple. If her teacher's response wasn't problematic, she would enter the room to converse with him. If it was abnormal, she would pretend as though she had come to the wrong room or that she was a prostitute trying to get some business.
Creak. The door slowly opened as Dorian looked at his student in front of him before looking both ways down the corridor.
Then, he raised his right arm and spread his fingers to press on the second button of his suit.
This meant that he wasn't controlled and that the abnormality was over.
Fors let out a silent sigh of relief and instantly entered the room.
"Teacher, what happened just now?" she asked, feeling worried and concerned.
Dorian closed the door and smiled wryly.
"I saw someone familiar."
He sighed and added, "An enemy."
It was his former student who had later betrayed the Abraham family with Traveler Boulaya and nearly wiped out the upper echelons of the Abraham family.
According to what Dorian knew, his former student had already joined the Aurora Order and was likely one of the 22 Oracles.
"What did he do? Is he very strong?" Fors asked curiously.
Dorian fell silent for a few seconds and divulged a little.
"Lawrence, Laubero, Aulisa, and I belong to a particular organization. A few members betrayed it and dealt a heavy blow to it.
"That was one of the traitors."
He didn't mention it as a family, nor did he mention the conflict between bloodline members and the apprentices so as to prevent Fors from getting her feelings involved.
"How despicable!" Fors immediately recalled the kind Mrs. Aulisa and the friendly and amiable Mr. Lawrence.
"Alright, let's not chat about such unhappy matters." Dorian took out a piece of paper that had been folded a few times and handed it to Fors. "Here's the Astrologer potion formula. Your digestion of the Trickmaster and Apprentice potions has exceeded my expectations. This is the greatest surprise I've had in the past ten years."
"I specially joined a circus." Fors didn't hide the fact, and she even felt that it was worth flaunting.
As she spoke, she unfolded the piece of paper to read the Astrologer's potion formula.
At this moment, Dorian nodded in relief.
"I'm very sorry. Due to the previous losses, I'm unable to provide you with the main ingredients of the Astrologer potion. Just treat it as a final test.
"However, I have prepared a gift for you."
As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized notebook from his inner left pocket. Its cover looked hard, and it was entirely bronze-green in color. It looked rather ancient.
The notebook was comprised of three types of paper. The yellow-type of parchment had the fewest pages, while another was a yellowish-brown goatskin of about ten pages, while the rest was ordinary white paper. On the cover there were the words written in ancient Feysac: "I came, I saw, I record."
Fors's gaze moved away from the Astrologer potion formula and onto the notebook. She recognized it to be the item left behind by Mr. Lawrence. It was the item she had specially traveled all the way to Pritz Harbor to hand to her teacher!
Dorian smiled.
"I believe you are no stranger to it."
After Fors nodded, he sighed.
"This is a rather potent mystical item. It can be ranked in the top five among all the similar items I've seen. This doesn't mean that it's more impressive than the ones ranked after it, but it's simply because the negative effects are the easiest to resolve. When the two are put together, it makes it worth a lot."
"What is its name? What negative side effects does it have?" Fors couldn't disguise her excitement and agitation.
Dorian caressed the notebook's cover and said, "It's called ‘Leymano's Travels,' but we prefer calling it ‘Leymano's Spellbook.'
While this spellbook will expose you to more kinds of Beyonder powers, it can also allow you to record them.
"It will be materialized onto a particular page for long-term storage. You can use it at any time, but remember, the corresponding page will become blank again with each use, awaiting your next record."
... It sounds amazing. Fors felt as though she was dreaming.
I can record any Beyonder powers I see and use them once?
I-isn't this another kind of Shepherd? The Shepherd mentioned by Little Sun... Yes, it's only limited to a single prepared battle.
I wonder if I can record the Beyonder powers of a demigod. If it's possible, in a prepared battle, I'll be even stronger than a Shepherd!
Dorian seemed to read her mind as he explained in detail.
"It can be said so. It corresponds to a Sequence 6 Scribe of the Apprentice pathway. It's not guaranteed that a Beyonder power that is higher than this Sequence can be recorded. There's a chance of failure; the greater the gap, the greater the chance of failure. Furthermore, the effects will be halved.
"According to the experience of past users, while chances of success against a Sequence 5's Beyonder powers is considerably high, once it reaches Sequence 4, which is the level of a demigod, it becomes relatively difficult. There might not be a single instance of success within ten attempts. And I believe no demigod will cast it again and again for you. If it's an enemy, they would've killed you ten times over.
"Do you see these? The yellow parchment is specifically used to record Beyonder powers with godhood. There are a total of three pages, which is to say that even if you are very lucky, all you can record is three demigod Beyonder powers, and you can only use them each once."
Although it appears to have many restrictions, making it impossible to fully produce the traveling notebook's might, it isn't an obstacle for two types of people. One of them is a lucky person, while the other is someone with a large organization or faction backing them, the kind which has a demigod helping... Fors instantly thought of seeking Mr. Fool's help to display "His" powers so that she could record them. However, she immediately found it sacrilegious as she hurriedly apologized inwardly.
Following that, she sincerely hoped that the supposedly strongest Ma'am Hermit in the Tarot Club would quickly become a demigod.
Dorian noticed that Fors's thoughts were going astray as he continued, "The pages like goatskin can record the Beyonder powers of a Sequence 5 or 6. There are a total of ten pages, and the effects would be more than half of the original, roughly 70 to 80%.
"The remaining pages record Beyonder powers below Sequence 6. There are a total of 25 pages, and the effects are almost equal to the original, but they are still slightly inferior.
"Due to some developments in the past, the spellbook still has five pages with Beyonder powers left. The rest are blank. You can test them for yourself."
Dorian paused before saying with a solemn expression, "Before giving it to you, I have to seriously warn you that it has negative effects. After using it each time, it will make you get lost, and it's the kind that causes you to encounter danger. You have to draw a bit of your blood to smear it on the cover evenly to reduce the effects.
"Remember, don't underestimate getting lost. You must resolve it as quickly as possible."
"Yes, Teacher," Fors replied seriously.
Dorian then handed Leymano's Travels to Fors.
"This is my gift."
Teacher is really nice... Fors pursed her lips and asked, "What's the name of that student who betrayed you? What does he look like?
"If there's a chance, I wish to seek vengeance on him for both you and Mr. Lawrence."
"No, don't think about it. You are much weaker than him. Back when he betrayed us, he was already a Scribe. Now, he might even be a Traveler," Dorian said solemnly. "However, you do need to remember him and avoid him. His name is Lewis Wien. I'll draw a picture of him later."
"Alright." Fors nodded.
...
On the Future, in the pirates' dining hall.
Klein met Cattleya who was exiting just as he walked in.
The lady was no longer as pale as the previous night. With a pair of thick glasses, she calmly said, "Make your preparations. We will be arriving in those waters in a while."
That fast? How far exactly did we fly last night? Klein was taken aback.
