Mystic Artisan

Golden Champagne Avenue, Baron's Estate, study.

"That was the full account."

Sifa used those words to conclude his "report." After sending several inspectors to the police station, he returned home, had lunch, then came to the study with his parents to recount what he had discovered that morning.

Bison looked grave and habitually ran a hand through his increasingly thinning hair. "I never expected those bloody cases to be connected to the missing people in town."

"No wonder I kept encountering interference whenever I used that thing's blood for divination and couldn't obtain a precise location." His mother, Enilu, sighed. "So a God was involved. That Monster called Goro was probably under the attention of an evil god."

"It was protected, which is why my divination couldn't yield the result I wanted."

Sifa looked at his mother. "Then what kind of God was it?"

Enilu shook her head. "Besides the Seven Gods, there are many evil Gods in this world that wish to descend upon the mortal realm. Based on those descriptions alone, it would be difficult to determine Its identity."

Bison made a suggestion. "Couldn't you divine the God's identity through that Monster's blood?"

Enilu smiled. "That would expose me to the gaze of an evil god. I might suffer Loss of Control or go mad on the spot."

"That serious? Sorry, I hadn't realized." Bison was greatly startled.

Enilu looked at Sifa. "Remember this, child. In the future, when you delve deeper into the mysterious world, you must be especially careful whenever matters involving Gods are concerned."

"Do not easily expose yourself to Their gaze, and never look directly at Them."

"Don't look directly at Gods?" Sifa nodded. "I'll remember that."

Bison spread his hands. "In any case, our family should avoid getting involved in this as much as possible. Let those three inspectors handle it."

"Sifa, you've been busy all morning. You must be tired, so go back to your room and rest."

"All right." Sifa agreed, left the study, and returned to his temporary bedroom.

After dismissing his personal valet, Sifa drew the curtains slightly to make his room as concealed as possible. Only then did he raise both hands in succession and recite the incantation.

"Eye That Sees All."

"God who overlooks all things."

When he finished the final line of the incantation, Sifa saw the colors of everything in the room deepen, like vivid patches of color in an oil painting.

He saw the curtains stirred by the wind become motionless and the dust before his eyes cease drifting.

He subconsciously lowered his gaze. Then light outlined itself above his field of vision, and a thick, illusory tome overflowing with faint seven-colored radiance around its edges fell into his hands.

Feeling its weight, Sifa suddenly discovered that one of the seven symbols on the cover, beneath the eye, had become clear at some point.

The symbol was a cube. At its center, images of swords, shields, books, gloves, firearms, canes, and other objects appeared and vanished in sequence, repeating in a cycle.

The Book of Mysteries had unlocked a new function?

Sifa hurriedly opened the cover and saw the pages turn on their own. When they stopped, he saw a yellowed page like parchment, covered in faint grayish-white lines resembling creases.

At the top of the page appeared information he had never seen before.

Dimension Crystal: 32

Record: Your adventure biography has received a reward from a Dimension Observer. Having obtained more than 1 Dimension Crystal, you have met the requirements and lifted the usage restriction on Mystic Artisan.

Mystic Artisan? What was that?

Sifa continued reading.

"Endless Mountains and Seas thinks you have great potential and has rewarded you with 1,000 Dimension Coins, automatically converted into 10 Dimension Crystals."

"Faceless hopes you will keep up the good work and has rewarded you with 600 Dimension Coins, automatically converted into 6 Dimension Crystals."

"Number 20170818032705561 cheered you on and rewarded you with 100 Dimension Coins, automatically converted into 1 Dimension Crystal."

It could work like this? The Watchers had rewarded my adventure biography, allowing me to unlock a new function of the Book of Mysteries and obtain Dimension Crystals.

Sure enough, the attention of "readers" could influence this world. They were practically like Gods!

Sifa continued reading.

"Joker thinks Klein Moretti is amazing and has rewarded him with 100 Dimension Coins, but that has nothing to do with you."

Uh, all right. Rewards from Watchers should also benefit that fellow transmigrator, shouldn't they?

But then another message appeared.

"Joker has taken a special interest in you and rewarded you with 1,500 Dimension Coins, automatically converted into 15 Dimension Crystals."

Ah, this was truly unexpected! This Watcher had rewarded me too. What generous favor!

Suppressing his excitement, Sifa turned the page. The second page contained an explanation of Mystic Artisan.

Mystic Artisan: By consuming Dimension Crystals, it can exert influence on mystical items, mainly in four aspects: identification, dissociation, enhancement, and sealing. (Affected by Knowledge Authority, you can currently only exert influence on mystical items corresponding to Sequence 8 and below. You are temporarily unable to affect Sealed Artifacts.)

Additionally, after raising Knowledge Authority, you can lift the usage restriction on Creation.

Influence mystical items! And after raising Knowledge Authority, another new function could be used!

Sifa excitedly continued reading. Below were brief explanations of the four types of influence.

Identification: Can determine a mystical item's origin, abilities, and side effects. The higher the Knowledge Authority, the more numerous and comprehensive the information obtained.

Dissociation: Can extract a mystical item's Beyonder Characteristic. The higher the Knowledge Authority, the more complete the extracted Beyonder Characteristic will be.

Enhancement: Improves a mystical item's abilities and effects. The higher the Knowledge Authority, the greater the improvement.

Sealing: Weakens the negative effects brought by a mystical item. The higher the Knowledge Authority, the smaller the negative effects.

After reading these explanations, Sifa was eager to try it out. He immediately found the Shadow Glove. With his previous experience using the Book of Mysteries, he knew that communicating with this illusory tome only required the transmission of his thoughts.

So he formed a thought in his mind: I want to identify this mystical item!

However, nothing happened.

Why was that? Was he using it incorrectly?

Looking at the glove in his hand, Sifa placed it on the book, but it passed straight through the tome and fell to the floor.

That didn't work either.

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Sifa. He put on the Shadow Glove, then communicated with the Book of Mysteries and issued the command, "Identify."

This time, a line of information appeared on the page.

"Identifying this item requires 3 Dimension Crystals. Continue?"

Of course.

The moment that thought arose, he saw the number of Dimension Crystals on the page fluctuate before finally settling at "29."

Then Sifa felt slightly dazed. The light and shadows before him became hazy, distorted, and fragmented. Within those fragments, he saw a man standing amid a pile of corpses. His gaze was cold, and even faced with so many bodies, he showed no panic or fear.

In another fragment of light and shadow, it was still the same man. This time, he cruelly murdered a woman, as though he had lost all conscience.

Within fragment after fragment, Sifa saw the man eventually hunted down and killed. From his corpse emerged an illusory substance like a shadow. Finally, Sifa saw a glove.

This was the origin of the Shadow Glove.

When his vision returned to normal, he saw the corresponding information appear on the page.

"Shadow Glove: An item corresponding to Sequence 8 of the Abyss Pathway, made from the characteristic of an Unwinged Angel."