The Key to Digesting Potions

Luther searched through the Nighthawks' files and found some notes said to have been left behind by Emperor Roselle. They were stored in a box, and when he opened it, Luther was stunned to see—Chinese.

Looking at those familiar yet jarringly out-of-place words, he was shocked beyond measure.

Emperor Roselle... as expected, he really had been a transmigrator from an earlier era, and he had even come from the same civilization as Luther.

Although he had already guessed at that possibility, when Luther truly discovered the truth, his feelings became indescribable.

No wonder no one could understand it. This had come from another world altogether! But if that was the case, what hidden things would Roselle record in a script only he could understand?

Luther reached into the box and took out three manuscripts. The words on them had been enlarged, and their strokes were somewhat strange. Clearly, they had been copied by later generations who did not understand Chinese characters.

With a sense of nostalgia, he began to read.

"November 18th. What a miraculous thing. A wild experiment and an accidental mistake allowed me to discover a poor fellow trapped within a storm and lost in the depths of darkness. He could only approach the real world slightly during every Full Moon, yet he still could not send his cries through. He was lucky. He met me, the protagonist of this age."

"January 1st, 1184. A grand New Year's banquet. Madam Flonal truly was a knockout."

"January 3rd. My choice back then was still too rash. Looking at it now, whether it was 'Apprentice,' 'Seer,' or 'Marauder,' any of them would have been better. Sadly, there is no way to turn back."

"September 23rd. I have lost contact with the ship searching for the 'Forsaken Land of the Gods.' I should consider inventing wireless telegraphy. Hopefully, it will not be affected by storms."

The information in the three manuscripts was disconnected, seemingly diary entries Roselle had left behind at different points in his life. Aside from certain secrets of the imperial court and national politics, Luther unsurprisingly yet unexpectedly discovered that Roselle himself seemed to have been a High Sequence Beyonder. He had even been capable of contacting mysterious figures that did not exist in the real world and seeking out the unknown region called the "Forsaken Land of the Gods."

But what excited Luther the most was this passage from the diary—

"January 4th. Why are my children so stupid? I've said it ten thousand times: don't let those charlatans fool you. No, perhaps those charlatans have been fooled themselves. The key to potions is not mastery, but digestion! Not excavation, but acting! And a potion's name is not merely its core symbol—it is a concrete image, and even more so, the 'key' to digesting it!"

Digest?

Potions needed to be digested?

And the key to digestion was the potion's name?

Digesting it... using the potion's name to digest it!

Thought after thought surged forth, exploding in his mind like thunderclaps.

Luther was so excited that even the hand holding the diary trembled.

Roselle had obviously been a High Sequence powerhouse. The chances that he had maliciously written lies in a script only he could understand were extremely low—in other words, this method was very likely genuine, and it would be tremendously useful for Luther's Beyonder path!

But at that moment, his smile abruptly froze, as though he had remembered something.

That's not right. I can't advance to Sequence 8!

He recalled Dunn's warning: a Secrets Suppliant absolutely could not seek advancement, or it would be courting death. In that case, even if the method provided in Roselle's diary was real, Luther could not use it to quickly improve himself and become a high-ranking powerhouse...

Luther gradually calmed down. He sat back in his chair and returned the diary to the box.

Looking on the bright side, he could at least use this method to "digest" the potion, reduce its influence on his body, and avoid losing control.

Thinking of that, his heart felt somewhat more balanced.

But how was he supposed to digest it?

A potion's name was its core symbol, its concrete image, its key...

The literal meaning of Secrets Suppliant was someone who prayed to hidden existences and sought their aid. In other words, as long as I do things that match that name, I can digest the potion?

Luther lowered his head and thought back. He seemed to have done something similar before. He had prayed to the True Creator twice—once to deal with the mad Hanass, and once to save Old Neil.

Then after those two prayers, had the potion's influence lessened?

Hiss, it really seemed to have.

When he had first consumed the potion, his mind had been extremely unstable, and he would see strange things lurking in corners. But after those two prayers, his spirituality had become increasingly stable. Besides that, learning rituals and practicing Hermes Script also seemed to have provided a certain degree of digestion.

Luther's expression turned a little strange.

What kind of bad joke was this? To reduce the True Creator's influence, he needed to digest the potion—but the key to digesting the potion was actually praying to the True Creator?

The logic had come full circle!

Wait, the potion's name referred to hidden existences, not specifically the True Creator. Could praying to other hidden existences also help digest it? It seemed worth trying.

Luther let out a long breath and closed the box.

Roselle's diaries seemed to have been scattered across various places. If he had the chance in the future, he could look for them. They were genuinely useful, after all.

He suppressed the countless thoughts churning in his mind and tried to continue teaching himself mysticism, but he could not calm down at all. In the end, he simply set everything aside and closed his eyes to rest. He did not open them again until Leonard, who had come to replace him, walked down.

"So relaxed? Didn't the captain tell you to study mysticism on your own?"

He asked with a somewhat frivolous smile.

"I got tired of studying."

Luther was exhausted right then and did not particularly want to deal with him.

"I see."

Leonard smiled and stared at him with his dark green eyes. Just as Luther was about to leave the Armory, he suddenly spoke. "Hey, Luther, I always feel like you have a unique sort of aura."

"Really? I haven't noticed. What kind of aura?"

"The aura of a story's protagonist. Look, not only did you miraculously survive the hands of cultists, you even became a Beyonder, joined us, and displayed your abilities..."

Luther did not want to listen to his rambling. He turned to look at him.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I only have one question."

Leonard smiled, his eyes carrying an unreadable meaning. "Why is the Aurora Order so obsessed with you? And why did Sirius, who was guarding you, suddenly go mad? There seems to be some unusual secret about you, isn't there?"

Luther silently studied him for a few moments before speaking.

"I don't know. I was insane back then. What would an insane person know?"

Leonard's smile stiffened.

Insane... insane...

After tossing out those words, Luther did not say anything further. He left and went up to the hall. Bathed in the sunlight outside, he suddenly thought of Klein, who had just gone out... That Seer had happened to go to the Divination Club to perform divinations for others, which was precisely an action that matched his potion's name. Could it be that he also knew the key to digesting potions?

Then, thinking of Leonard's probing just now, Old Neil praying to an evil god, and himself, a Secrets Suppliant under the True Creator's gaze... this Nighthawks team truly was a dazzling collection of characters.