The blond, white-robed priest smiled gently and gave Cyril a slight nod.
"Good morning, Mr. Cyril."
"Congratulations on becoming a Beyonder and seizing part of the symbolism and authority from the one in the starry sky."
Cyril glanced at Owen, who sat blankly in place as though someone had pressed pause, then looked back at Adam and asked calmly:
"Was all this your arrangement?"
To his surprise, Adam shook his head. "No."
"I merely observed from the sidelines and never interfered with your Fate."
"You really didn't do anything at all?" Cyril was somewhat doubtful.
Adam still shook his head. "The only thing I did was imagine for you a charm belonging to a Swindler."
"But that merely ensured you would not encounter too much trouble in everyday social interactions. It would not produce any special effects."
"Even without that charm, you would still have been able to take leave, persuade the Abraham Family descendant to exchange potion formulas with you, and buy the potion ingredients for an 'Apprentice.'"
You said buy them yourself. I got them for free.
What a pity. If not for Amon, I think the Error Pathway would also be a pretty good choice.
As his thoughts drifted, Adam's leisurely voice echoed out:
"You can still choose the Error Pathway. Given Amon's personality, He should be quite willing to do you this favor."
"Uh..." Cyril froze for a moment. Looking into Adam's serious eyes, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly before he righteously refused.
"Forget it. I don't want to take one sip of potion and ascend straight to King of Angels."
"Parasitism cannot affect an existence of higher status than itself. Even Amon cannot completely parasitize you. He can only parasitize you on a shallow level, becoming like the old grandpa attached to that Nighthawk."
Adam's tone remained the same, yet Cyril inexplicably felt that He was in quite a good mood right now.
Cyril expressionlessly tilted his head up slightly. He felt that Adam had probably read all his memories, but there was nothing he could do to defend his right to privacy.
He just wondered what changes Adam, after being spoiled by the future, would bring to this world.
"There will not be too many changes. Those events in your memories already form a relatively good ending. I will only do my best to advance them while ensuring that the outcome does not worsen, allowing the future to develop in a better direction."
"Of course, all that will be after I become a Visionary."
After a brief pause, Adam moved past the topic and said instead, "As compensation for peering into your memories, I would like to invite you to join an organization, a Beyonder organization founded by me."
"I do not think I need to introduce the organization's details. You already know almost everything about it."
"As it happens, its gathering is tonight. Remember to fall asleep before eight o'clock this evening."
"Alright." Cyril readily accepted. This was currently the most prestigious secret organization in the entire world, and its leader was personally inviting him.
After a pause, he asked curiously, "If I had not become a Beyonder today, would you still have invited me?"
Adam nodded lightly. "According to my observations, I would have."
"If you had not encountered the Abraham Family descendant today, I would have let you view the second Blasphemy Slate. Of course, that would require an equivalent exchange: completing certain tasks and receiving equivalent rewards."
Cyril quietly sighed. "Looks like my luck is pretty good."
Adam spoke in the tone of a researcher. "Although you are an outsider, you still follow the law of Beyonder Characteristics. Your Great Old One-level status means that even before becoming a Beyonder, you possess an extraordinary attraction to certain Pathways."
"To a certain extent, encountering an Abraham Family descendant was inevitable. And today, you encountered not only him, but also one of Amon's avatars here—an Oracle of the Aurora Order, a Traveler."
"Uh..." Cyril stood there in a daze. He had never imagined that his simple morning trip to school to ask for leave would have been so eventful—so eventful that he was a little afraid to casually go outside again.
Noticing his expression, Adam smiled gently. "The Aurora Order Oracle did not notice you. He merely happened to appear on the same street as you."
"Amon saw you when the Abraham descendant used the Paralysis charm, but He also saw me. Out of the tacit understanding between us, though He was curious, He will ignore you."
Cyril had only one thought in his mind now: This world was fucking dangerous.
And this was still on Earth, with the attraction between adjacent Pathways concealed. If it were in the cosmos, he suspected that taking a random step might make him tread on an Angel under the High-Dimensional Overseer, while one jump might make him crash into the High-Dimensional Overseer Himself.
As his thoughts wandered, he saw Adam reach into the void and take out a brand-new deck of Tarot Cards.
"I originally wanted to give you a cross, but you seem to prefer Tarot Cards."
"Carry them with you. They can weaken this attraction of Fate to a certain extent, though they cannot block it completely. Your status is too high."
After hesitating, he still reached out and accepted the deck of Tarot Cards. "What price do I need to pay for this?"
Adam said calmly, "At the appropriate time, recite the Fool's honorific name again, obtain His permission, and join the Tarot Club He founded."
"Why?"
Cyril was deeply puzzled. While he indeed had such thoughts, he did not think Adam would as well. Compared with His Twilight Hermit Order, the current Tarot Club was so insignificant it could be ignored.
Moreover, in the struggle for the position of Lord of the Mysteries, He supported Amon. He could not possibly be asking Cyril to become a traitor, could He?
Adam's golden eyes calmly glanced at him. Cyril's expression immediately stiffened, then returned to normal. In any case, he could not stop Adam from reading his mind, so he might as well give up resisting.
Adam smiled leisurely. "If not for my relationship with Amon, in the contest for the position of Lord of the Mysteries, I would be more willing to support that Fool."
"Even now, I am still willing to give Amon an opportunity, regardless of whether He succeeds or fails."
After a pause, the smile on His face suddenly became far brighter. "More than His success, what I wish to see is His growth—His truly becoming the light when the Apocalypse arrives."
Cyril stood there blankly. At this moment, Adam felt very different to him. This divine incarnation of the Ancient Sun God seemed to possess a touch more humanity—the affection of a father for his child.
Why was he suddenly a little jealous of Amon?
"Cyril, Cyril, what are you spacing out for?"
"How do you feel? Did you succeed?"
Owen's calls brought Cyril back to his senses. He looked around somewhat blankly. Adam had long since vanished, while he was still standing before the table, holding the glass that had contained the potion, as if his conversation with Adam had merely been an illusion.
He subconsciously reached into his pocket and touched the Tarot Cards that had not been there before.
He really came and went without a trace.
Perhaps the Adam I saw was merely His virtual persona. Though it seemed like I had remained in the room the entire time, perhaps I was pulled into the Mind World before I even saw Him.
But if that was the Mind World just now, how did the Tarot Cards directly appear on me? Were they imagined into existence?
Putting away his thoughts, he looked at the worried Owen before him and smiled as he nodded.
"I am now a true Apprentice. I was just adapting to the changes brought by the potion."
Owen nodded without doubt. "Really? You kept staring blankly after drinking the potion. There was no change or reaction at all. I almost thought you had failed."
"By the way, hurry and let me see what kind of Beyonder Ability you gained."
Cyril nodded lightly, walked to the wall between the living room and dining room, and pressed his hand against it.
The next second, a blurry, deep-blue door with no sense of substance abruptly appeared.
It was set into the wall, yet the traces of the bricks beneath remained visible, making it seem both illusory and real.
After the deep-blue "door" appeared, Cyril stepped forward. His body passed through it as easily as if moving through a curtain of water. Then the "door" vanished, as if it had never existed.
A few seconds later, Cyril twisted the doorknob and emerged through the dining room's door.
"An Apprentice has only one Beyonder Ability. It is called Door Opening. By using the peculiarities of the Spirit World to pass through barriers, neither walls nor doors can stop me."
"Besides that, I can open all locks that lack mystical power, as well as a small number of locks imbued with supernatural effects."
Before you continue