LOM: Lord of Mysticism

The light of the gas lamp illuminated the guard room. Old Neil finished flipping through his newspaper, took a sip of coffee, and looked at Klein.

"How do you feel now? Have you calmed down? Or do you need a glass of wine, or an advance on your salary, or a day off?"

Klein, who had completely digested the Seer potion, was attempting to change his "switch" that activated his Spirit Vision with Cogitation. He didn't want it to be too obvious.

The present him no longer needed to rely on a physical motion to activate his Spirit Vision. Therefore, he could use a more concealed approach to achieve his goal, for example, stroking the joints of his middle finger with his thumb in quick succession or clicking twice with his left molar.

Klein considered the situations in which he needed to use his Spirit Vision while holding a revolver in one hand and a cane in the other. Finally, he settled on clicking his molar. His left molar would be used to activate the Spirit Vision, and his right molar to deactivate it.

After repeatedly suggesting to himself, he completed the change and opened his eyes.

"I was merely too concerned about the Captain's operation. I don't need to calm myself down."

"Then, shall we begin our mysticism lessons for today?"

"Alright."

Although Klein had completely digested the Seer potion a week or two ahead of his prediction, considering the fact that he still had to stay with the Tingen Nighthawks for some time, he thought that secretly advancing to Clown wasn't the wisest choice.

Klein could bear the scrutiny of the Holy Cathedral and become a talent for nurturing, but he didn't want the higher-ups to suspect him. Therefore, he planned to learn from Spirit Medium Daly and then submit an application to the higher-ups. Lastly, he would use his contributions to obtain the recipe and extraordinary ingredients before officially advancing into Sequence 8.

Of course, Klein could also choose to apply after a year to avoid any risks. But the continuous coincidences and the red chimney he saw in his dream divination pushed him to improve his abilities as soon as possible.

I'll lay the foundation with the Captain three or four times over the next two weeks before formally submitting my request. At the same time, I can head over to the underground market to see if there are any of the necessary extraordinary ingredients. They will probably be very expensive…

Klein focused his attention on the mysticism lessons. Time passed quickly as lunchtime slowly approached.

Old Neil cleared the stuff on the table and said, "Your mysticism lessons will come to an end soon. From the test just now, it seems that you can create charms for yourself."

"That's my plan for the next few days."

A charm was different from a protective amulet. It needed to be carved with the help of ritualistic magic, and the spirituality it contained would decrease over time, so it had to be renewed once every two weeks.

Charms possessed certain unique abilities that could be used in battle and could be activated with specific incantations; it was impossible to use them at will. Furthermore, the charms wielded by the Nighthawks were still limited to the "domains" of the Evernight Goddess.

Klein could only make three different kinds of charms for the time being. The first was the Slumber Charm, and its effect was to put someone to sleep. The second was the Requiem Charm, which was able to soothe ghosts, souls, and zombies, and it could also deal with vengeful and evil spirits to a certain extent. The last was the Dream Charm; its abilities allowed the wielder to enter the dream of someone else.

These abilities were similar to the abilities of the Midnight Poet and Nightmare from the Sleepless Sequence, so Dunn and Leonard had no use for these charms. Corpse Collector Frye, Sleepless Royale, and Kenley would bring one or two along with them, but they hadn't needed them in a long time and frequently brought their charms back to Old Neil so he could "recharge" them.

Old Neil glanced at Klein. "I remember you saying that you practiced a lot this month and have run out of materials. Are you going to the underground market?"

"Yes." Klein nodded.

He clearly knew the prices of the ingredients and could only hope that he succeeded in making the charms on his first try instead of wasting materials...

After being presented with the mission of bringing lunch underground, Klein put on his jacket and hat before returning to the Blackthorn Security Company on the second floor.

As he walked past the entertainment room, he saw that Leonard and the rest had already returned and were enjoying their lunches.

He knocked on the Captain's door.

"Please come in."

Klein pushed the door open. "Captain, did you catch Instigator Trissy?"

"We didn't find her at Tingen Station, but according to the telegraph we received from Backlund, a passenger saw her in the first-class carriage of the earliest train. Regrettably, she got off in the middle of the journey."

"How regrettable." Klein sighed even though he had expected this.

"There's no need to be depressed. It isn't easy to capture a Sequence 7 Beyonder. At the very least, we disrupted Trissy's evil ritual and saved at least forty innocent lives. Furthermore, we understand her situation now. She can no longer commit crimes as she wishes. If she tries to do something similar, she'll be noticed, discovered, and reported at any time. Sooner or later, she'll be captured by the Nighthawks, Mandated Punishers, or the Machinery Hivemind. It's even possible that she'll be killed."

"Let's hope that is the case. May the Goddess bless us." Klein drew the crimson moon on his chest.

Following that, he paused and pondered over his words. "Captain, I haven't heard unwanted voices or seen unwanted visions for over a week now. Also, that's true even when I am in Cogitation or using my Spirit Vision."

"Really?"

Klein elaborated, "I feel that I'm not far off from achieving full control over the Seer potion. This could be due to my frequent visits to the Divination Club and helping others tell their fortune."

"... Why do you think so?"

"E-every time I head to the Divination Club, I can feel my spirituality becoming more active, and every time I help someone divine something, my heart, body, and soul become more relaxed. I've also come up with a set of, well, a set of rules for a Seer that I've been following strictly, just like how a Mystery Pryer can "do as you wish, but do no harm." I found inspiration from this maxim and tried coming up with a maxim designed for Seers.

I think that this might be an effective way to help Beyonders gain control over their potions faster and reduce the risk of losing control. Just like Madam Daly, who has always been a Spirit Medium."

Dunn thought for a moment. "A remarkable guess, and an interesting trial..."

"Perhaps I'll be the fastest Nighthawk in history to gain control of a Sequence 9 potion."

"May the Goddess watch over you," Dunn blessed him.

Klein turned around and said his goodbyes before leaving the Captain's office.

He then thought of another question. 'How in the world am I going to act as a Clown!'

Must I join a circus? There are no fixed circuses in Tingen; they're all roaming ones…

Being a Seer was still a rather respectable occupation. But if he became a Clown, there was no way his reputation would hold.

Perhaps there are other ways of acting as a Clown. There were no circuses or clowns when the Blasphemy Slate was revealed to the world... Forget it; I won't have the chance to advance for another two or three weeks, so there's no need to deliberate over this for now.