Beyonder Scholar Odys

Bernadette, with her chestnut hair, heard Odys's question and gave him a cold glance without saying anything. The two of them were once again covered by illusory feathers.

When they reappeared, they were already on a rooftop across from Gall Herbal Shop on Henry Street.

Odys sat on the ground and spent another dozen minutes recovering before the motion-sickness-like sensation finally faded.

Bernadette, who had been standing nearby the whole time, suddenly said, "Get up and see for yourself."

Only then did Odys notice that the space around himself and Bernadette had become illusory again, as though they were about to vanish from this world.

After getting up, he saw two masked figures dressed in black rapidly approaching the herbal shop, where a little light shone through the windows.

They first made sure no one was around before shoving the door open. When they saw that no one was inside the herbal shop, they froze for a second or two before immediately turning to leave.

At that moment, two pea seeds appeared in Bernadette's hand. With a casual toss, the peas fell onto the street, instantly sprouted, and grew vines that wrapped around the two black-clad figures, who were clearly not thieves.

Bernadette did not kill them. Instead, she pointed her index finger at the ground, and a pair of red high heels immediately appeared on their feet.

Entangled by the vines, the two began dancing with terror written all over their faces.

Yet they seemed to have forgotten how to scream and could only make terrified expressions.

This reminded Odys of the fairy tale "The Red Shoes." Though he had only read it once, he vividly remembered those red dancing shoes that forced their wearer to dance without stopping.

After the two danced for more than half a minute, the terror on their faces vanished along with the red shoes. Then the vines loosened. They adjusted their hats, bowed in Bernadette's direction, and quickly departed, disappearing into the night.

Odys stared in amazement. Clearly, what had left just now were two pairs of red dancing shoes and their attendants: the two black-clad men.

He guessed that for some time afterward, wherever those two went and whoever they met, Bernadette would know everything clearly.

Only then did he think of what the two black-clad men had done earlier. "I don't remember making enemies with anyone lately."

After arriving in this world, Odys had kept a fairly low profile. When developing his gray-market business, he had even used his abilities and connections to bring a small gang under his control, using it as a shield whenever anything came up.

"You haven't made enemies with anyone." Bernadette took out the small wooden box containing the Beyonder Weapon again. "But you have something they desire."

Only one of those weapons had been made, and everyone who had seen it had already been burned to ash. Odys was silent for a while before saying, "Pete is dead."

"Yes," Bernadette said. "He died at the hands of a Beyonder who had gone mad. Even the weapon you invented could not help him escape.

"By chance, a member of a mysterious organization passed through the area, witnessed the weapon in Pete's hand, and took it away after Pete died.

"After several local members of that organization learned that the weapon had come from you, they prepared to send people to take you away and further question you about its origins."

The so-called mysterious organization was actually the Moses Ascetic Order's members in Backlund. Bernadette had long been watching the member who picked up the weapon. Just as she was preparing to close the net, she encountered the weapon Pete had carried, so she came first to take Odys away and learn the truth.

As for witnessing Klein steal the bookmark, that had been an urgent and unexpected situation, purely a coincidence.

Odys said with utter sincerity, "I really did acquire that weapon from the Church of Steam..."

Odys suddenly felt the weight in the middle of his face increase, and he watched his nose grow longer at a visible speed.

Bernadette revealed a beautiful smile. "Is deception how you treat your lifesaver?"

Remembering how the Queen Mystic had manipulated him like a marionettist before, Odys suddenly understood. "As long as I lie, my nose will grow longer?"

Bernadette did not answer directly. She merely said, "I'd like to see whether your nose can stretch all the way across the Tussock River."

Odys was somewhat helpless. "Let's talk inside the shop. I'll tell you where this weapon came from."

As soon as he finished speaking, his nose returned to its normal length.

Odys knew well that in the Lord of Mysteries World, concealing things from such an important figure would only make matters worse. Thus, he prepared to explain the weapon's origins.

The Queen Mystic nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

The two returned to Gall Herbal Shop. Odys closed the door again. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No."

So Odys poured himself a glass of wine. After taking a sip, he walked behind the counter.

Just as before, one stood behind the counter while the other remained outside.

"I think you should understand very clearly what a magic formation does." As Odys explained, he took out a sheet of paper and used a compass to draw a large circle on it. Then, centered on its middle, he drew two isosceles triangles, one upright and one inverted, before finally drawing a small circle around their center.

This was a classic Hexagram diagram. By filling the gaps in the diagram with different Occult Symbols, one could form magic formations with different effects.

For instance, increasing the success rate of some basic witchcraft, moderately enhancing or stabilizing spirituality for a short time, or simply serving decorative purposes. They were common auxiliary methods in the Beyonder world, and even some occult enthusiasts used them.

However, because their effects were limited, they were mostly used only by low-sequence Beyonders, especially those low-sequence Beyonders who were not good at direct combat.

More advanced magic formations could seal or defend, but they required power supplied by High Sequence existences or Beyonder Characteristics.

To most Beyonders, magic formations were rather useless.

As Odys skillfully filled the diagram with Occult Symbols, he continued, "Over the past few years, I discovered that the greatest use of magic formations is not the number of Beyonder effects they possess, but their ability to provide spirituality with a channel extending outward within a certain range.

"For example, if I inject spirituality at this point, the spirituality I output will enter the center of the Hexagram formation without any loss.

"If one of the Beyonder materials needed to advance to Pyromaniac, a fire salamander's gland, is placed at the center of the magic formation, a large fire will definitely ignite there, and there is even a certain chance that a Fireball will appear.

"But if fire salamander blood is used instead..."

Odys took a small glass bottle from the cabinet. It contained half a bottle of bright red blood: Fire salamander blood, a valuable Sequence 7 Spiritual Material.

He dripped several drops of blood into the center of the magic formation while continuously injecting spirituality into it.

Whoosh~

A small, steady flame ignited at the center of the magic formation.

Odys explained further, "This is a high-grade fire-attributed Spiritual Material, so it can ignite flames under the influence of spirituality."

Bernadette understood. Pointing at the wooden box, she said, "This weapon actually contains an intricate magic formation?"

"Yes."

Bernadette asked again, "Do you know what that weapon means?"

Odys was slightly stunned. "What does it mean?"

Bernadette said seriously, "Every Sequence 9 can use Fireball now."

Although it was a weaker version of Fireball, she had already seen the breakthrough research achievement contained behind it.

Thanks to [The Pope of the Tarot Club] for the reward.