Completing the Secondary Path

After a round of pleasantries in Altair's room, Vivian left on her own, agreeing to be picked up in the afternoon.

Altair went downstairs by himself to eat breakfast.

Because he'd taken a potion earlier that morning, by the time he came down to eat, it was already close to nine.

Hahn had gone out to the Servant Association to hire a housekeeper and some maids.

The reason was "Madame Anna." Ever since she became Altair's teacher, she'd needed to discuss everything with Hahn.

So she'd spotted the flaw: no housekeeper, too few maids, not even a personal maid—the Count had been dressing himself all along.

As a strict etiquette teacher, "Madame Anna" held "rules" as the highest standard in daily life. This discovery made her snap completely. She tore into "Hahn" without mercy, and Old Clayton got an earful too.

Old Clayton's face hit the floor. He never thought that at nearly seventy, he'd face the biggest Waterloo of his life—someone denying his work, and an "outsider" at that.

After that afternoon, Altair didn't see his steward for three days. When they met again, the man stood before him, admitting it was his own fault...

Altair, who knew the truth, explained things to Old Clayton and Madame Anna, taking all the blame himself.

Poor Hahn. He never imagined that at over forty, he'd still get "beaten up" by his own father. He'd wanted to hire a housekeeper and maids in Tingen City, but Altair refused, saying they'd just have to find new ones when they returned to Bexland later.

So the first thing he did when he got back was head to the Servant Association. He went for interviews this morning, and only those who passed Hahn's screening would be presented to Altair for the final pick.

He didn't come back until nearly noon, saying they'd have to wait—none of the candidates the Association introduced that morning were suitable.

After lunch, Hahn led the way into the Sheffield Family Treasury.

Altair knew where the family vault was, of course, but he needed to enter the "True Treasury."

Old Sheffield had left in such a hurry back then that he never got a chance to tell Altair, so Hahn had to guide him.

Looking at the layers of Spirit Walls around him, Altair asked, "Is this the Sheffield family's Extraordinary Material Treasury?"

Hahn replied, "Not all of it. These are just low-sequence materials—the highest known is Sequence 6. Some unknown materials are sorted by spirit level; low-spirit ones go here, high-spirit ones go into the Core Treasury."

"The innermost area is the Sheffield family's 'Core Treasury,' but I don't know what's in there either."

"The first Main Door we entered requires a special key to open. The innermost door has a special formation that only you can open. The method is that you must genuinely want to open it."

Following Hahn's gesture, Altair looked at the door and casually said, "Why is the Goddess of the Night's Crimson Moon carved on it?"

Hearing this, Hahn smiled. "Because the 'Crimson Moon' has an advantage in sealing and suppression. Though few family heads have ever worshipped the 'Goddess of the Night,' and the Church has no reason to help, we can pay."

"We have to maintain it every year and donate a lot of Gold Pounds to the Church of the Goddess of the Night, but it's worth every penny."

Hearing Hahn's answer, Altair thought to himself, "Could this be a 'Chanis Gate'? No, it shouldn't be. That door needs people's faith as energy to suppress."

And his family clearly didn't worship her—there was no energy source for suppression. It was probably something similar.

Dropping the thought, Altair asked directly, "Hahn, do you have an inventory list? I need to take out some materials."

Hahn opened a cabinet nearby, pulled out a thick book, and handed it to Altair. "I compiled this two months ago. Take a look. If you find materials you need, I can help you open the Spirit Wall."

After flipping through a couple of pages, Altair spotted some materials he needed and said, "No need. I just need to grab some simple materials to start preparing for my mysticism lessons."

"Oh, and Hahn, go arrange a carriage now. I need to go out this afternoon."

Watching Hahn leave, Altair began searching for the materials he needed.

The Spectator, the Pharmacist, the Omniscient—none of them had ready-made Extraordinary Traits. These three pathways were all quite special. Basically, there were no wild Beyonders on these paths.

The Spectator Pathway: Main materials: A pair of adult Manhal Fish eyes, 35 ml of Horned Blackfish blood. Auxiliary materials: 80 ml Pure Water + 5 drops of Autumn Water Lily essence, 13 g of Ox-tooth Peony powder, 7 petals of Elf Flower.

The Pharmacist Pathway: Main materials: An adult Unicorn Pegasus horn, 3 g of Crown Jellyfish venom crystals. Auxiliary materials: 100 ml of adult Unicorn Pegasus blood, 7 Crown Jellyfish tentacles, 10 g of arsenic powder, Black Henbane root...

Using the inventory numbers, Altair found the materials he needed, then opened the Spirit Wall with a silver dagger.

He took the materials, packed them up, and returned to his bedroom to brew his potions.

Strictly following the recipes, he finished the potions. Looking at the three cups before him—each matching the appearance described in the formulas—he picked one at random and downed it.

Good. The Spectator pathway potion tasted like strawberries.

The Omniscient pathway potion was like sparkling water.

Ugh! The Pharmacist pathway potion was all bitter!

"The Spectator Pathway" granted him observation skills and micro-expression analysis.

"The Omniscient Pathway" gave him the ability to make aqua regia and mechanical skills.

The two pathways partially merged, enhancing Altair's memory and learning ability.

"The Pharmacist Pathway" brought him potion-mixing skills and a special healthy "Spirit Vision."

Looks like he wouldn't have to worry about all those lessons ahead. With this memory ability, as Rochelle once said, even if he went back in time, he'd still be a top provincial scholar with this skill.

He could now be considered well-rounded—observant, skilled in crafting machines and potions, and capable of high attack power.

But he wouldn't be advancing anytime soon. That Potion would take at least four months to fully digest following the "Assassin" persona, especially since he knew nothing about being an assassin yet.

Surely no one had just downed a potion and instantly become a true assassin.

Tap tap tap

Altair opened the Room Door and saw Hahn standing at the entrance. "What's wrong, Hahn?"

"I just received a batch of letters, all from your various specialized Teachers—painting, piano, dance, etiquette, fashion, jewelry, history, and so on. They all require your review and reply."

Looking at the stack of letters in Hahn's hands, Altair sucked in a sharp breath, marveling at just how many Teachers he had.

Taking the letters, Altair said directly, "I'll read through them first, then write my replies. Aren't you going out later?"

"I need to go to the Servant Association for an interview at three this afternoon."

While Hahn was still speaking, Altair, out of curiosity, used his Spirit Vision and noticed the "purple" in Hahn's head had faded. So he said, "Hahn, don't rush too much. Remember to rest well."