Over the next two days, the other six Oracles of the Aurora Order arrived in Backlund one after another.
Mr. Z was the first to arrive. Naturally, Raphael gave him some special attention, exchanging knowledge of mysticism with him.
Mr. Z benefited greatly from this. He discovered that his previous understanding of the Acting Method had been somewhat misguided. There was actually such a thing as actively digesting a potion!
The reason Mr. Z seemed a little deranged was, in fact, that he was digesting his potion too slowly.
For other pathways, digesting a potion a little slowly was no great problem. As long as digestion continued, one's condition would not be too bad.
But the Secrets Suppliant pathway was different. If potion digestion was less than ideal and one frequently prayed to the True Creator, one's condition would inevitably suffer.
Raphael had even heard that at the Listener sequence, anyone who failed to advance within two years would lose control from hearing too many secrets they should not know.
In Raphael's opinion, this pathway was much like the Prisoner pathway, full of pitfalls. Still, a Shepherd's abilities were enough to make up for all the pitfalls that came before.
The next five Oracles to arrive were Mr. B, Miss C, Lady D, Mr. F, and Mr. H.
To Raphael's surprise, Lady D, one of the Oracles responsible for the Rorsted Islands, had come as well. After asking her about it, he learned that this Ocean Songster had happened to be sailing to Pritz Harbor on business when she received the letter. After disembarking, she had taken a steam train to Backlund.
Besides Lady D, Mr. F was also a Sequence 5, a Shepherd. However, he had been badly injured in a previous battle and was in very poor condition.