Sequence 8

Abner had no idea about the battle in Cherwood Borough. He was still immersed in the excitement of having completely digested the Reader Potion.

"Being able to digest the Potion so quickly is partly thanks to the Pure White Eye, and partly because, in my previous life, I read and studied a great deal of physics, chemistry, politics, history, and other subjects. Through that knowledge, I came to understand the world and analyzed its rules to a limited extent... This behavior clearly fits the true meaning of the Reader Potion. It could count as Acting in advance."

Abner habitually analyzed why he had been able to digest the Potion so quickly, then swiftly packed up his things and hurried back to his teacher's home.

After becoming a Reader, he had already used the Pure White Eye during his free time to analyze the auxiliary materials for "Detective" from the Sequence 8 Beyonder Characteristic. As for the main ingredient? The Beyonder Characteristic itself was the main ingredient!

At this time, the great detective Isengard Stanton was still outside investigating a recent commission and wasn't home. Thus, Abner merely greeted the servants before entering his teacher's laboratory.

Since the auxiliary materials for the Lower Sequences weren't difficult to find, he had bought and stocked them long ago.

He first washed the flask he kept on hand, then added the prepared auxiliary materials one by one. A pale green, transparent solution immediately formed inside the flask.

After completing the preliminary preparations, Abner turned his gaze toward the blue gem formed from the Beyonder Characteristic. Ever since he learned how to construct a Wall of Spirituality, he had kept it sealed with spirituality. Thus, even after two weeks, the gem hadn't lost much of its power.

After steadying himself for a few seconds, Abner picked up the blue gem and dropped it into the flask.

The moment the Sequence 8 Beyonder Characteristic touched the solution inside the flask, it immediately began to sizzle. Due to the distortion caused by rising vapor, symbols whose meanings couldn't be identified appeared in the surrounding air, only to quickly drift away:

Abner lowered his head and glanced inside. The liquid in the flask had already taken on blue and green hues. They intertwined while remaining extraordinarily clear, almost making him think it was a special cocktail.

It looks like it would taste pretty good... Abner felt his mouth water slightly more and hurriedly suppressed the ridiculous thought.

He took another deep breath. No longer hesitating, he raised the flask, tilted his head back slightly, and gulped down the Potion.

However...

It tasted terrible! Potions really didn't taste good! Its attractive appearance just now had been advertising fraud!

By then, Abner could clearly feel his face growing hot, while pain had begun stabbing through his head. But compared to the pain of having his spirituality drained whenever he used the Pure White Eye, this was far too mild. He endured it with ease.

After more than ten seconds, the stabbing pain in his head gradually weakened until it disappeared. At that moment, Abner knew clearly that his advancement had succeeded. He was now a Sequence 8 "Detective."

Once his excitement had subsided slightly, he first moved his hands and feet, wanting to adapt to the changes in his body. He then discovered that even after becoming a Sequence 8, his physical abilities hadn't improved at all. That was normal. "Detective" wasn't a combat profession to begin with.

Next, Abner picked up an astrology book that had previously been difficult to understand without activating the Pure White Eye. He soon discovered that his powers of observation and reading, as well as his logical analysis, had indeed improved greatly. The enhanced effect was only slightly inferior to what he had possessed as a Sequence 9 while the Pure White Eye was active.

"According to my teacher, improved logical analysis will allow a Detective to understand ritual magic better and even simplify or modify it independently... But that has nothing to do with me. I already experienced it through the Pure White Eye when I was a Reader. In fact, because of the Pure White Eye's overbearing analytical ability, I understand that ritual magic even more thoroughly..." Abner pondered for a moment before continuing to study another relatively practical ability he had gained after advancing to Sequence 8: Spirit Vision!

It wasn't strange for Detectives to possess Spirit Vision. After all, a Beyonder without Spirit Vision would miss many clues. How could that person still call it "deduction"?

Following the method Old Neil had taught Klein in the novel he had read, Abner smoothly entered Spirit Vision, examining the world from another perspective for the first time.

The mainstream fields of mysticism divided everyone's nonphysical aspects into four layers: Spirit Body, Astral Body, Mental Body, and Ether Body, from innermost to outermost. The Potion of the Reader Pathway primarily enhanced the Mental Body. This involved a comprehensive manifestation of the mind, reasoning ability, thinking ability, powers of observation, and ability to understand things.

"What would happen if I activated the Pure White Eye while using Spirit Vision?" Although the thought flashed through his mind, Abner didn't immediately do it. He could roughly guess the result. Before he could completely restrain and control the Pure White Eye, activating it while using Spirit Vision would have a seventy-to-eighty percent chance of causing it to autonomously analyze the entire Spirit World! After all, Spirit Vision saw the "spirit"—the Spirit World! He didn't want to court such disaster.

After closing Spirit Vision, Abner roughly understood the abilities he possessed on the surface after advancing to "Detective." He then lay down in the lounge and slept for a while to recover the spirituality he had consumed while using Spirit Vision.

By the time he woke up, it was already two in the afternoon. Detective Isengard still hadn't returned, as if something had held him up.

Abner put on the glasses that concealed supernatural phenomena, took a deep breath, and activated the "Pure White Eye" through Suggestion. He still had to test what improvements the advancement had brought to his golden finger.

About a minute later, Abner removed his glasses, looking slightly tired. At the same time, he thought, "The activation limit has increased to one minute and ten seconds." This didn't surprise him. Before he had finished digesting the Reader Potion, the Pure White Eye's usage limit had already exceeded thirty seconds. Such an increase was perfectly normal.

"My observation, logical ability, and so on have received another boost while the Pure White Eye is active. They should be only slightly weaker than those of a Sequence 7 'Keeper of Knowledge.' Based on that, the speed at which I analyze items seems to have increased as well..."

"Besides that, I can use some of the Keeper of Knowledge's abilities while the Pure White Eye is active, such as Weapon Proficiency, Combat Master, and the spell-like ability 'Scene Replay'! In other words, aside from lacking the Keeper of Knowledge's physical enhancement, I'm practically equal to half a Sequence 7 in this state!"

With that thought, Abner picked up his cane and recited "Unsheathe" in Ancient Hermes. The cane immediately transformed into an exquisite Loen-style general's saber.

Gripping the longsword, Abner immediately felt a sense of familiarity. He then brandished it, thrusting out several killing moves from his memories.

Although he wasn't in the Pure White Eye state at that moment, the memories of "Weapon Proficiency" he had just received hadn't completely faded. He still remembered a small portion of them. With repeated practice, perhaps he could barely achieve "partial Weapon Proficiency" even in his normal state.

After turning the longsword back into a cane, Abner's heart was filled with excitement and exhilaration. After transmigrating for two weeks, he finally possessed fairly decent combat strength! Even if that strength could only last for a minute.

At Bravehearts Bar, Maric was playing cards with the corpse he controlled when his heart stirred. He suddenly looked to his left. Miss Sharron had already appeared there with considerable elegance.

"Sharron, how did it go?" Maric dropped the cards in his hand and asked.

"Jason called Steve and Tyr over. They've already broken through the Mandated Punishers' ambush," Miss Sharron replied succinctly.

"A Sequence 7 Werewolf, a Sequence 6 Zombie, and a Sequence 5 Wraith... We can't take them down in a short time..." Maric weighed the matter and shook his head.

"Mm... Tyr and Jason were severely wounded and have lost their combat ability. They won't be able to recover for at least a week. Steve should also have been injured by the Sacred Relic of the Mandated Punishers Squad captain, but I can't determine the extent of his injuries." Miss Sharron paused for a second, her voice ethereal.

Hearing this, a vicious glint flickered in Maric's eyes. He said, "If that's the case, we can give it a try... Do you know where they're hiding?"

"Yes. I followed Tyr when he fled... They're all hiding in the warehouse of a clothing store in Cherwood Borough." Like a doll, Sharron calmly finished speaking and nodded.

"They're still in Cherwood Borough? This must be what Emperor Roselle called 'the darkness under the lamp'!" Maric first furrowed his brow slightly, then suddenly understood. He continued, "I need a day to prepare our backup plans and escape route. We'll raid them tomorrow night!"

"I'll keep a careful eye on them..." Sharron's figure, dressed in a black court gown and wearing a small soft hat, rapidly faded before vanishing inside the card room.

Beneath Saint Wind Cathedral, at the Backlund headquarters of the Mandated Punishers Squad, the squad captain asked a "Wind-blessed" team member, "Have you found where that Werewolf finally fled with the Zombie?"

"I'm sorry, Captain. That Vengeful Spirit who confronted you seems to be very skilled at erasing clues. He should also have a Sealed Artifact capable of using multiple forms of black magic. Those black magic spells have made the few traces even more chaotic. Old Red can no longer use 'Scene Replay'..." the team member said bitterly.

"Hmph. Contact the police stations in every borough. Tell them to immediately report any missing-person or murder cases. Members of the Rose School's Indulgence Faction won't be able to suppress their instincts!" the Mandated Punishers captain snorted.

"Yes, Captain."

"Also, spread the news that these three members of the Indulgence Faction have been seriously injured to a few informants among the independent Beyonders. Have them disseminate it through their respective Hidden Gatherings! When it comes to finding these lustful rats, perhaps that so-called Abstinence Faction is even better at it!" the Mandated Punishers captain added.

In the evening, the great detective Isengard Stanton returned home with a rather pleased expression, intending to share the news of the Tyrant's subordinate squad suffering a setback with his student at the earliest opportunity.

Yet the moment he saw Abner, he widened his eyes in surprise:

"You've already become a 'Detective'?! In only two weeks?"

(End of Chapter)