Trickmaster

In an empty hotel room in the Backlund Bridge district, two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from nothingness in a somewhat bedraggled state.

They did not linger. The moment the Teleport ended, they used Door Opening to pass through walls when they encountered walls and open doors when they encountered doors.

Only after running several streets away and arriving beside the nearest Evernight Church did they finally stop.

Fors cautiously looked behind her. "That Spirit World creature didn't follow us, did it?"

Xio carefully scanned the surroundings, then shook her head slightly. "No."

"That's good." Fors raised a hand to pat her chest and let out a long breath.

"Seriously, what terrible luck. I've traveled through the Spirit World so many times, yet this is the first time I've been chased by a Spirit World creature."

"Generally speaking, weak Spirit World creatures stay away from humans capable of traveling through the Spirit World, while powerful ones should disdain to bother with weak Beyonders like us."

Xio frowned. After removing the disguise from her face, she looked at the Evernight Church before her and said,

"Let's go into the church and pray. It might not help, but it'll put us more at ease."

Fors looked at Xio in surprise. "You think this wasn't a coincidence?"

After thinking for a moment, she agreed with Xio's suggestion. In the rules of survival in the mysterious world, caution always came first.

In the room, Cyril gently rubbed his forehead as he considered what had just happened.

Although he had no idea why Xio and Fors had suddenly barged into his home, entering the Mirror World earlier had helped him digest the last bit of his Apprentice potion.

But...

"Would simply entering the Mirror World really have such a good acting effect?"

"And... setting aside why they broke into my home, Xio was a mature Bounty Hunter. For her to barge in so openly in broad daylight without sufficient intelligence was far beneath a Bounty Hunter's standards."

"Especially since Fors, following behind her, hadn't even bothered with a disguise. She looked like she'd suddenly decided to attend a gathering among friends."

"A contrived, shoddy third-rate script. It shouldn't have been Adam's handiwork; that would be far too beneath his standards. That lousy third-rate author, 0-08, shouldn't have arrived in Backlund yet either. So who did this?"

"Forget it. At least digesting the potion is a good thing for me."

Thinking of the string of events and people he had encountered recently, Cyril's desire for power became even more urgent.

If he did not have to pay a price, he only hoped there would be more of these third-rate scripts. There was nothing shameful about making easy money.

In this dangerous world, one had to at least become an Angel to have any sense of security. And the quickest way to become an Angel...

He shook his head and cut off his thoughts. "I can't keep thinking about it. It'd be bad if Amon showed up and helped grant my wish."

After sitting quietly for a while longer, he rose, picked up his coat, and prepared to head out.

Since the Apprentice potion had been digested and he already had the main ingredient for Trickmaster, he could begin preparing for his advancement.

The supplementary ingredients for this Sequence were relatively common anyway. He could gather them all from any herbal shop.

After Cyril left, inside an unnoticed carriage parked at a fork in the street, a meticulously groomed gentleman repeatedly swept his gaze over Cyril's retreating figure before muttering to himself,

"Was my arrangement really that terrible?"

"To know about Amon and 0-08, this newcomer really isn't as simple as he appears."

"Still, judging from his reaction, I suppose my gesture of goodwill succeeded. What do you think, Mr. Hermes?"

No one answered his monologue in the empty carriage.

He smiled indifferently. Though he had received no answer, he knew the other party had definitely heard his voice.

When he spoke earlier, he had deliberately left traces of his voice in the nearby Collective Unconscious Sea. As soon as his words ended, those traces naturally dissipated.

If Cyril had turned around and been able to see this place, he would have immediately recognized the gentleman talking to himself in the carriage. It was none other than Baros Hopkins, the King of the Black Throne who had previously helped him collect potion ingredients.

Unfortunately, Cyril would not see this scene. Even high-Sequence Beyonders would find it difficult to notice a high-level Spectator deliberately concealing himself.

After murmuring a few more words, Baros Hopkins calmly turned around and reached out, tearing open a wide rift in the air large enough for a person to pass through.

Beyond the rift lay bizarre and fantastical dreams. Since it was daytime and few people were sleeping, the dreams were noticeably sparse, but that posed no challenge to a Dream Weaver.

As long as he wished it, he could make the people on the streets take a short nap at any time, creating bridges—or rather, stepping stones—for his dream travel.

He stood before the rift and tilted his head slightly, pausing as though listening to something. Then he stepped directly into one of the dreams within the rift, his figure silently vanishing from the carriage.

That evening, Cyril shut the doors and windows, drew the curtains, and sat before his cleaned desk.

On the table before him were the supplementary ingredients for the Trickmaster potion that he had spent half the afternoon collecting, along with the main ingredient he had acquired earlier through trade.

After adjusting his condition through meditation, he took the glass he had prepared beforehand and placed the ingredients before him into it one by one:

The stomach pouch of a Spirit Eater, the blood of a Deep Sea Spearfish, essential oil made from Hornbeam, Yarn Grass powder, a blooming Red Chestnut Flower, and pure water.

After gently shaking the glass, the mixed ingredients inside rapidly dissolved, eventually turning into a cup of vivid, multicolored liquid resembling poisonous mushrooms.

Looking at the completed potion in his hand, Cyril could not help but suck in a breath. This potion was looking more and more "poisonous."

"If I hadn't mixed it myself, who would have thought this thing was a Trickmaster potion..."

After quietly complaining, he brought the glass to his lips and downed the vivid, multicolored liquid in one gulp with mixed feelings.

The potion dissolved the moment it entered his mouth. He only felt a cool sensation before his body lost all feeling.

At the same time, his spirit was enveloped by every kind of sensation, as if he saw abstract, dazzling colors and glimpsed the truth of the world.

Outside the house, Backlund's orange evening sky suddenly turned dark. One star after another began to shine, asserting their presence in the sky.

The next second, the tranquil Night Veil descended. Both the orange sunset and the suddenly appearing, constantly twinkling stars were covered by the Night Veil and vanished from the heavens.

Then a violent wind suddenly swept through the sky, bringing vast swathes of dark clouds, as though a storm were about to arrive.

The pedestrians coming and going on the streets no longer found it strange that the sky had darkened so quickly today. It was normal for night to fall faster during a storm. They only wanted to get home before the rain began to fall. They were not afraid of getting wet, but catching a cold or falling ill afterward could very well drag down a family barely making ends meet.

Inside the room, Cyril, who was leaning against his chair, opened his eyes at that moment. The dense, brilliant colors filled with madness in his eyes rapidly faded, returning to calm.

This advancement had been easier than expected. During the advancement, he could sense the existence of the High-Dimensional Overseer in an infinitely lofty place, but It had not interfered with him. It had even allowed that tiny portion of authority and characteristics to flow toward him, as though It were an observer detached from the world.

"Observer..." Cyril murmured softly.

His spirituality was suddenly stirred. The fleeting Observer in his mind seemed to be something extremely important, yet he failed to grasp that flash of inspiration.

Gathering his thoughts and temporarily suppressing the idea, he began observing the changes in himself.

The Trickmaster potion brought a certain enhancement to his physical agility, along with numerous flashy but weak spells and spell-like abilities.

There was Flash, with an effect similar to a flashbang; Black Curtain, like a magician's prop; Loud Noise, which created explosive sounds; Electric Shock, which let one manually electrocute others; Freeze, enough to serve as an ice maker; as well as Gust, igniting flames, Mist Creation, Transfer Gas... a whole pile of useful and useless abilities.

There was also the seemingly most useful Escape Trick. It was an inferior form of Flash, capable of rapidly transferring his figure after drawing the target's attention.

"This is probably the Sequence that grants the most abilities out of all Pathways. Too bad every single one is pathetically weak."