Owen's Divination

32 Weldi Street, South Bridge District.

"You're saying you've already become a Trickmaster?"

Owen looked at Cyril, who was sprawled across his sofa without a hint of restraint, and was momentarily speechless.

It had only been two weeks since the other man became a Beyonder, yet he had already completed an advancement. Meanwhile, Owen, who had become a Beyonder around the same time, had only just finished learning a portion of occult knowledge and was barely proficient in techniques like divination and Spirit Vision. As for digesting his potion, he hadn't even had the chance to start.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at Cyril on the sofa and asked with a solemn expression, "Are you sure you finished digesting the Apprentice potion before advancing?"

"Of course. Otherwise, would I be able to sit here and chat with you so leisurely?"

Cyril nodded, then recounted the general process of how he digested the potion, omitting anything related to Adam, Amon, and the Twilight Hermit Order.

After listening, Owen was silent for a long while before finally sighing, "You really are lucky!"

"Perhaps." Cyril nodded noncommittally.

"But there is a saying you might have heard: all gifts from fate have already been marked with a price in the dark."

He paused, skipping over the topic, and asked instead, "How is your study of divination going?"

"Quite well." Owen lifted his chin, but upon remembering that the other man had already advanced to Sequence 8, he lowered it again.

"I've mastered all the common methods of divination; I just lack experience in interpretation. Do you want to give it a try?"

"Sure. How about using Tarot Cards?"

Cyril nodded gently and took out the deck of Tarot Cards he carried with him, which had come from Adam.

Owen looked at the cards in his hand in surprise. "You actually carry Tarot Cards with you? Who exactly is the Seer between the two of us?"

Cyril chuckled and snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The Tarot Cards in his hand seemed to come alive, springing up one by one before landing precisely in Owen's hands.

The Trickmaster's Object Manipulation allowed for the movement and bouncing of designated objects within a five-meter radius, though it couldn't perform more delicate operations. Making the cards jump from his hand to Owen's was already the limit of his control.

Owen stared at this scene with wide eyes. "Truly amazing. This is the kind of Beyonder ability I dream of."

Cyril curled his lip in disdain. "It's amazing, sure, but the effect is too weak. It's just parlor tricks; good for scaring people, but useless in a fight."

"Uh... well, the potion is called Trickmaster, after all."

Owen opened his mouth, hesitated for a long while before offering a word of comfort, and then decisively changed the subject.

"Aren't we doing a divination? Think of the question you want to ask in your mind, then draw one."

Cyril nodded slightly and drew a card from the deck that Owen had shuffled.

As he flipped the card over, it revealed the image of a prince holding a sword in one hand and a scale in the other, his expression emotionless and radiating majesty.

Owen took one look and immediately said, "It's the Justice card, representing balance and fairness."

"It judges all things rationally but never interferes. Cause and effect, fortune and misfortune are all of one's own making; no matter the result, one must bear it themselves."

He paused and asked, "What question did you ask just now?"

Cyril studied the Justice card in his hand for a moment, then flicked his finger, tossing it back into the deck.

"I was curious about the motives of the person who arranged for two bounty hunters to break into my house this morning, giving me the chance to digest the final part of my potion."

"This..." Owen scratched the back of his head, struggling to recall the occult knowledge he had learned over the past few days, and combined it with the Justice card to provide an interpretation.

"The focus of this card is morality and balance. Since you drew it upright, it means the person hiding in the shadows has no malice, or rather, their intentions align with your upcoming plans. As long as you don't make any major changes, everything will go smoothly."

"That's all the interpretation I can offer. If you're still worried, we can try another divination."

Cyril shook his head and refused. "No need. The divination was effective; I can probably guess the reason behind some of these things now."

He paused and added, "Although the acting principles of a Seer state that one cannot rely entirely on divination and that it isn't omnipotent, as a Seer, you cannot doubt your own divinatory abilities."

"A Seer who doesn't even believe in themselves won't be able to act out and digest their potion."

Owen nodded earnestly. "Understood. This is my first time divining for someone else, so it's normal to be a bit unconfident."

After a brief pause, he decisively changed the subject. "According to the notes my father left behind, the focus of a Trickmaster lies in the words 'performance' and 'fooling'."

"Among them, 'fooling' can also be replaced by 'deception'. This comes from two sequences with similar meanings: Marauder and Magician. I don't know much more than that; I suppose I'll have to wait until I reach Sequence 7 and contact the Council of Elders to get more information."

"But I suspect that by the time I reach Sequence 7, you won't need this information anymore."

Cyril nodded noncommittally and shifted the topic to the problem he urgently needed to face.

"Can you divine a suitable gang for me to target? I need to earn some money as soon as possible to pay off my bank loan."

"Although the repayment deadline is still quite far off, I don't like the feeling of carrying debt."

"No problem." Owen agreed quickly. He was also very interested in this matter, and it would be best to wash away his previous shame; his poor performance last time had made him feel quite embarrassed.

He then took out paper and pen, wrote down the divination statement, and entered a meditative sleep while silently reciting it.

This was dream divination. Compared to the pendulum method or Tarot card divination, this method could obtain clearer and more specific information.

Under Cyril's watchful gaze, he quickly completed the divination and said with a hint of excitement, "I saw it. In the Backlund Bridge area, there is a gang that controls an underground casino. They aren't very large, only controlling the casino and a few surrounding bars and inns, but their income is quite good."

"They call themselves the Black Wolf Gang, and they support one or two Beyonders within the gang, though none are of a high sequence."

Black Wolf...

Cyril murmured the name, feeling that it sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

After recalling carefully for a moment, he finally remembered; he had heard this name at a gathering organized by the old gentleman, Eye of Wisdom, as a code name chosen by one of the members.

Is it a coincidence, or is he the Beyonder supported by the gang, or perhaps the gang leader himself?

Pausing for a moment, he reined in his thoughts and looked at Owen, asking curiously, "With such detailed information, this shouldn't just be the result of the divination you just performed, right?"

"Uh..." The latter nodded, looking a bit embarrassed:

"My divination just now only confirmed that the Black Wolf Gang is a target worth hitting, that it won't bring us too much danger, and that it offers a decent income."

"As for the other information, it's what I've collected over this period. Don't worry, I've used divination to confirm everything, so I can guarantee the authenticity of the information."

...No wonder the Intis intelligence agency has quite a few members from the Secret Order; Seers really have a huge advantage in this regard.

After sighing to himself, the two chatted for a while longer before Cyril proposed his departure:

"I need two days to familiarize myself with and adapt to the changes brought by the potion, and to make some preparations along the way. Then, we can begin the operation."

"No problem." Owen nodded gently: "I also need to perform more divinations to plan out a safe time and route for the action."

After leaving Owen's house, Cyril did not go straight home, but instead turned toward the Harvest Cathedral located on Daffodil Street to see Father Utravsky.

The priest, with a stature like a small giant, sat at his desk diligently polishing a candlestick. He only glanced up when Cyril arrived before withdrawing his gaze:

"You have advanced. What you need right now is quiet time to adapt to the changes in your body, not to be out wandering the streets."

He was not surprised that Father Utravsky could tell at a glance that he had just advanced; with the spirituality constantly radiating from him right now, any Beyonder would be able to tell.

Well, novices like Owen don't count.

He paused, then looked at the priest who was diligently polishing the candlestick in front of him and said, "I would like to purchase some Beyonder potions with healing effects. Of course, if you have poisons, that would be even better."

Father Utravsky set down the candlestick in his hand, turned to look at him, and said earnestly:

"Selling poison does not align with the doctrine that life is precious."

Cyril nodded readily... which meant that healing potions could be sold.