Dawn light filtered through the slightly cracked glass window, spilling across that almost flawless, exquisite body. The warm sensation continually teased the girl's form, making her even more reluctant to leave her bed that morning.
But the art-like scene did not last long. At a faint sound, the sleeping girl sprang up from the bed, her watery eyes fixed sharply on the window. Only after seeing the Black Cat did she relax somewhat.
"Though the benefits you're offering are certainly pleasing to the eye, I won't be paying you any more for them." The words coming from the black cat instantly shattered its cuteness into pieces. Trissy casually grabbed a shirt from the bed and draped it over herself, saying coldly,
"I thought you weren't coming."
"How could that be? I've always been very serious about deals." The Black Cat jumped onto the girl's bed and earnestly waved a paw. It was clearly an adorable motion, yet Trissy found it exceptionally irritating.
"The goods are here. Where's the intelligence?" Trissy took two tin boxes and several packets of herbal powder from beneath the bed. The Black Cat stepped forward and inspected them one by one before nodding.
"Yegor Einhorn, admiral of the Forsaken Empire's navy, is also a Sequence IV Iron-Blooded Knight. By the way, the Hunter Pathway is controlled by the Einhorn and Sauron families. So, if you want to hunt an Iron-Blooded Knight in the future and Yegor is already dead, you can start with those two families. Personally, though, I recommend the Saurons. After all, the Einhorn family is part of the Forsaken Empire's royal house."
"And yet you gave me a demigod from the Einhorn family..." Trissy was not particularly impressed by the Black Cat's intelligence. Or rather, she was not so desperate that she needed to inquire about demigods already.
By comparison, she was more concerned about—
"What about the intelligence you said was closely related to me? Why is the Sorceress Cult so keen on training men to become Witches?"
"It's simple, because they want to draw close to the Primordial... Mm, a god's name can't be spoken carelessly. In any case, you need to understand that the true god pointed to by the Assassin Pathway ascended from male to female. As the peak of this sequence, She naturally influenced the pathway from top to bottom. As a result, if women consume Assassin potions, the difficulty of digesting them and the probability of Loss of Control are far higher than for men."
The Black Cat paced slowly as it explained. Trissy's body immediately stiffened, because beyond its literal meaning, those words seemed to contain a massive bombshell—
"True gods drink Sequence potions too?"
"They do. Don't tell me you didn't know that the rank of a true god is also called Sequence Zero? Why do pathways that have true gods usually lack Sequence One? Because the potion a true god needs consists of three Sequence One Beyonder Characteristics!"
The Black Cat casually dropped one bombshell after another. Trissy was dazed for a moment, but she quickly forced down her shock at learning such a secret and dragged her attention back—
"So what did you mean when you said I'm the Sorceress Cult's proudest creation?"
"Do you know what kind of people advance through Sequences the fastest?" Rather than directly answering Trissy's question, the Black Cat asked one in return.
"People whose professions happen to align with what the Acting Method points toward?" Trissy had no intention of beating around the bush with the Black Cat. Since she knew it would give her an answer anyway, she did not waste time thinking and simply gave a fairly plausible response.
"Close, but that only applies to a single Sequence." The Black Cat gently shook its head, one paw resting on the box containing the Extraordinary Materials as it said, "The people who find it easiest to advance are often those who resemble the being at the top of that Sequence. Every pathway is influenced from the top down by its highest existence. Just as I said before, under the Primordial's influence, men find Assassin potions easier to digest. By the same logic, the more similar you are to the true god of that pathway, the easier it is for you to digest potions."
"So you mean... I resemble the Primordial?" Trissy spoke softly, then frowned.
"Is there a problem with that?"
"That's right. It seems you still have your reason." The Black Cat wore a satisfied expression, stretching out its forelegs and extending several claws. "What is the most important principle of the Acting Method?"
"..."
Trissy did not answer, because she simply did not know.
"Looks like they never told you?" The Black Cat grinned, revealing a somewhat chilling smile. "Then let me make up for that part of your education. The core principle of the Acting Method can be summed up in one sentence—you are only acting!"
"I... am only acting?" Trissy vaguely remembered the Black Cat saying those words before when it commented on her acting as a Witch. So it had been warning her even then?
But...
"What does that have to do with anything?" Though Trissy had vaguely sensed something, she still asked.
"Because if you become too immersed in the role, it won't be you digesting the potion—it will be the potion digesting you. Your personality will grow closer and closer to the person you are acting as, and then..."
"In the end, I'll merge with the true god? So that's why you said the more similar someone is to a true god, the easier it is for them to digest potions and advance through the Sequences?" Trissy felt her scalp tingle. Though she still did not fully understand the key issue, the mere fact that her personality could be influenced was already terrifying enough.
If she had not known this principle, would she slowly become immersed while acting, be influenced by the potion, and eventually completely see herself as a woman?
"That's the idea." The Black Cat nodded and lightly waved its paws a few times. Then its expression abruptly changed, and it spoke in a far more sinister tone than before.
"But more importantly, once you become similar enough to a true god, you will become the best vessel for that god's descent into reality."
"Boom!"
Trissy felt as though her brain were about to boil.
A vessel for divine descent?
Was that the Sorceress Cult's purpose in raising her?
She did not even need to think about what would happen if a true god descended into her. Even the Mental Imprint of a Sequence Nine potion was enough to make a Beyonder completely lose control. How could there possibly be a good outcome if a true god's consciousness descended upon her?
She took two steps forward and stared fixedly at the Black Cat before her. Just as she was about to speak, the Black Cat suddenly said, utterly ruining the atmosphere,
"What? Now that the deal's done, you want to take it back by force?"
"Who wants to rob you of your things?!" Trissy took a deep breath, trying to restore the atmosphere it had ruined, but failed. Left with no choice, she could only ask directly,
"Tell me, why did you tell me all this? Every word you said today is worth far more than a Sequence Nine potion."
"I've always been very serious about deals." The Black Cat gave a solemn reply. Trissy frowned.
"I don't think selling gold for the price of stones counts as being serious."
"No, what I mean is that the value of these words is less than that of a Sequence Nine potion."