After spending a month sorting through everything, Altair had gained a new understanding of the wealth "he" possessed.
He'd known he was rich, but he'd never imagined he was this rich!
If he used Gold Pounds to have Mr. World deal with Beyonders, he could honestly say, "I'll pay you to go and slay a god."
With all these Gold Pounds, he could've been perfectly happy without becoming a Beyonder. He was already starting to regret working with George III.
On the second day after returning to Bexland, Altair's mysticism teacher arrived as promised.
When the warm sunlight fell across his face, a pleasant warmth spread over him and disturbed his sleep. Half-asleep, Altair instinctively tried to pull the blanket over his head. But when his hand reached for it, he touched something soft—something like... flesh!
The sensation jolted Altair awake. His neck turned slowly, like a long-neglected gear.
A woman was watching him!
Altair's first thought was to take a deep breath and scream, "Help! Murder! There's an assassin!"
But although that was what he wanted to do, he couldn't make a sound when he tried to speak.
The girl, whose identity he didn't know, took the opportunity to press down on Altair and said, "Hello, Little Kexin. I'm your mysticism teacher. If you've calmed down, nod, and I'll undo the silence spell."
Hearing what the girl said, Altair relaxed and gave a slight nod.
She snapped her fingers, and Altair's body began to gasp violently.
His reaction made the girl's face turn red. She smiled and said,
"You can call me Vivian Laurent. I'll be guiding you on your path to becoming a Beyonder. I look forward to working with you."
Once Altair had completely calmed down, he saw that she was sitting on top of him, her hand outstretched as if to shake his.
Altair said awkwardly, "Could you get up first? This is rather inconvenient."
The girl didn't seem inclined to move. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
Altair had no choice but to extend his left hand, completing the handshake in an extremely awkward position.
Altair thought she would get up once they'd finished shaking hands. Instead, she lay down beside him and said, "Keep me company for a little longer."
Altair said helplessly, "I want to use the washroom."
"Hmm, all right."
"But come back soon."
Altair felt uneasy as he looked at the "girl" holding him.
Once she let him go, he got straight out of his warm bed.
Inside the washroom, Altair cursed to himself. What was going on? He'd imagined all sorts of ways he might meet a Demoness, but no matter how wild his imagination got, he'd never expected this! And why was the washroom inside his bedroom?!
Altair let out every complaint he could think of while he was in the washroom.
Then he had no choice but to face reality: he flushed, washed his hands, and walked out.
The moment he closed the washroom door and looked toward his bed, he saw Vivian smiling at him. She even lifted one corner of the blanket, gesturing for him to climb back in.
Why did I feel like I was the one getting the short end of the stick?
Altair could only shake his head helplessly as he walked over. "I'm not in the mood to sleep anymore. Can I stay out of bed?"
Looking at Altair's expression, Vivian knew she wouldn't be able to persuade him to lie down with her.
She stood up and walked over to him. "You're no fun, Little Kexin. Looks like I'll have to teach you a few other things, such as how to please a woman—and, most importantly, how not to turn down an invitation to bed."
Seeing the girl standing before him in her sheer, translucent veil and saying something like that made Altair's blood surge.
"Come with me." After saying that, Vivian turned and headed for the study.
As Vivian walked away, Altair got a full view of her striking figure.
Altair followed her. When she reached the desk in the study, she opened a package and took out various ingredients stored in bottles and jars.
Seeing what Vivian had taken out, Altair realized she was preparing a Potion for him and stepped forward.
Vivian sensed him standing behind her and said, "You turned down my invitation to lie down with me earlier, but now you're sneaking looks at me. You're quite something. Don't tell me you haven't even had the talk yet?"
Vivian's teasing left Altair speechless. Before I transmigrated, I'd only just graduated from university. I'd never even had a girlfriend. Now I'm only fifteen. When would I have had the chance?
He said casually, "Are you preparing a Potion?"
When Vivian heard that Altair's answer had nothing to do with the question she'd asked, she already knew. She smiled. "That's right. It's the Sequence Nine Potion of the Assassin pathway: Assassin."
"The only way for humans to gain Beyonder Abilities is by consuming Potions."
"To prepare a Potion, you need a main ingredient, supplementary ingredients, and Pure Water. The quantity of the supplementary ingredients can vary a little without much effect, but the main ingredients have to be measured precisely."
"The main ingredients for the Assassin Sequence 9 Potion are the roots of a Shadow Poison Flower and the black feathers of a Serpent Bird."
"Supplementary ingredients: 100 milliliters of strong vinegar, three Shadow Poison Flower petals, ten drops of buttercup essential oil, and one live spider."
"All right, I've finished mixing it."
"I went out of my way to gather these ingredients for you."
Altair looked at the cup before him. The liquid was dull and inconspicuous, yet it made him inexplicably thirsty.
Hearing Vivian's words reminded him of an essential fact about Beyonder Characteristics: "Another person's Beyonder Characteristic can also be used as a main ingredient."
"First, I'll explain a few things you need to keep in mind when consuming a Potion."
"After drinking a Potion, begin meditating as soon as possible to control your Spirituality and power. You should already know how to meditate: imagine something that doesn't exist in reality, then sketch and describe it."
Altair looked at the cup in Vivian's hand and thought for a moment before taking it.
No matter what, I'm going to have to drink it. Might as well do it now.
He downed the Potion in one gulp. It wasn't as unpleasant as he'd expected; it tasted almost like water, with hardly any other flavor. But it wasn't quite water either. It was thicker—if he had to compare it to something, it was like a big lump of undissolved honey.
As the Potion traveled from his mouth down his esophagus, Altair felt as if he'd just eaten some sort of powerful tonic.
Multicolored specks of light and wisps of mist began to appear before his eyes.
"Altair, start meditating. Control your Spirituality and power. Imagine something that doesn't exist in reality, then begin to sketch and describe it."
After hearing the reminder, Altair began to meditate. He entered a state of complete harmony between himself and the world, and his mind gradually grew calm.
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