"Wasn't this the Mr. Edward who came for a divination during the day?"
So he took my advice, drank the potion, and then...
Lost control?
Holy crap!
Does that make me indirectly responsible?
Chapter 19: The Fourth Member of the Tarot Club
Klein rubbed his nose awkwardly, then dismissed the ridiculous thought. "Taking a potion is inherently full of uncertainties and dangers. I only divined that Apprentice suited him better. I never said he wouldn't lose control."
Besides, even if I wanted to help, I don't have any experience with this.
"But is he out of danger now? Or has he completely lost control? Should I still stick my nose into this?"
After considerable hesitation, Klein reached toward the halo that kept sending out ripples.
Then he let his spirituality surge outward, establishing a stable, mystical connection.
"Huh? Last time, establishing a connection with Little Sun already put a serious strain on my spirituality. This time, it hasn't even exceeded what I can handle? Well, lucky you!"
Having returned to normal, Edward's first instinct was to keep pushing hard against the door-but it wouldn't budge. Somehow, he understood that his Sequence wasn't high enough.
"In that case, how do I get back from here? Go back! Wake up!"
He tried every method he could think of, but nothing worked. Just then, the darkness rapidly receded, replaced by boundless gray fog. Edward suddenly found himself lying on an expanse of illusory ground.
He climbed to his feet in confusion and immediately saw the endless grayish-white fog. An ancient, mottled Bronze Long Table stood before him, surrounded by towering stone pillars-this was a majestic, ancient palace.
"Could this be..."
He abruptly looked toward the head of the Bronze Long Table. An immensely mysterious figure shrouded in thick gray fog sat there, seemingly looking down upon everything.
The Fool!
I only lost control for a moment. Why did Klein bring me up to Sefirah Castle?
His thoughts raced, and he quickly decided how to respond.
"You are..."
Klein propped up his chin, his blurred face revealing no expression. "You may call me Mr. Fool."
"Mr. Fool?"
Klein activated Spirit Vision and found Edward just as healthy as he had been during the day, though his emotions seemed tense and apprehensive.
"Mr. Fool, were you the one who saved me from losing control?"
Hmm, you seemed to be fine before I summoned you here. Nevertheless, Klein nodded slightly. "In a sense."
"Thank you so much, great being. I am willing to offer you my flesh and soul as an expression of my sincerest gratitude."
Why is it flesh and souls again? Little Sun did the same thing before.
"I have no interest in the flesh and souls of mortals."
He gave the same answer again. "I favor fair exchanges. You may use anything you can obtain to acquire what you desire from me. Remember, their value must be equivalent..."
Edward froze. "But I don't have anything."
No! You have pounds!
But the great Mr. Fool naturally wouldn't make such a "worldly" request. "I am very interested in secrets hidden within the long course of history. Roselle's notes, for example."
"Emperor Roselle's notes?"
Edward immediately put on a shocked expression and lowered his head even further. "You truly are a great being. You can even understand Emperor Roselle's notes, which no one has deciphered for centuries. You must be the embodiment of wisdom, an eternal and mighty existence who can make even the sun and moon pale..."
Mr. Fool coughed awkwardly. "No amount of praise holds any meaning for me."
"Honored Mr. Fool, I don't have any of Emperor Roselle's notes."
"But I have read some knowledge of mysticism in ancient books. That was also how I came to enter the mystical world."
That isn't what you said when you came to me for a divination today! Besides, your spirit's aura clearly shows that you're lying.
"Those books did record quite a few of Emperor Roselle's experiences during his rise to prominence. There was only one piece of information related to his notes: over the years, the various churches seem to have been trying to find clues in them to the Cards of Blasphemy he created in his later years."
"Cards of Blasphemy?" Mr. Fool straightened slightly, his interest piqued.
"Apparently, the emperor created them based on the contents of the Blasphemy Slate. Each Card of Blasphemy contains a complete pathway."
Klein's heart jolted. Did that mean that if he could obtain the Card of Blasphemy for the Seer Pathway, he would have all the subsequent formulas?
On the surface, however, he remained unruffled.
"Hmm. What else?"
Edward said sheepishly, "For anything more, I'll have to go back and keep looking things up (making them up)."
"Hmm."
Mr. Fool's tone remained unhurried as he debated whether to let Edward become a member of the Tarot Club and attend its weekly gatherings.
After all, he knew nothing about Edward or his character. What if...
Come to think of it, I don't really know that much about the Hanged Man, Little Sun, or Justice either.
The Tarot Club is only just getting started. I can relax the requirements a little for now. If any existing member turns out to have a serious problem, I can simply remove them. After all, I control who gets brought into each meeting.
Having thought it through, Klein felt everything fall into place.
"I hold a gathering here every Monday afternoon. When the time comes, you will attend alongside others in circumstances similar to yours."
"I can permit you to join, but you must abide by certain rules." Klein smiled slightly. "You must not tell anyone about me unless you have my permission."
"I shall obey your command, Mr. Fool."
"Before that, you need to decide on a code name." Smiling, Klein pointed to the surface of the Bronze Long Table, where a deck of tarot cards had materialized. "Choose a card as your code name, excluding the Fool, Justice, the Hanged Man, and the Sun."
Edward looked at the twenty-two cards, unable to decide. He had never studied tarot before and had no idea what any of them meant.
"Forget it. I'll leave it to chance."
He turned all eighteen cards facedown, quickly shuffled them, then closed his eyes and picked one at random. I choose you!
Klein's lips twitched as he watched. This guy really does have trouble making choices-wasn't that supposed to be a poor person's problem? You're clearly rich, aren't you?
When the chosen tarot card was turned over, it revealed a precarious tower that looked ready to collapse at any moment.
"The Tower."
In tarot, the Tower was a card with powerful symbolic significance. It was usually associated with concepts such as catastrophe, destruction, and annihilation, and was notorious for being an extremely ominous card.
Hopefully, letting him join the Tarot Club wasn't a mistake.
"Remember your choice. It will accompany you for the rest of your life," Klein said in his practiced mystic's tone.
At the same time, he extended his hand and severed the connection. He watched the crimson light withdraw as Edward, sitting opposite him, became a phantom and dissolved speck by speck.
Backlund.
As a burst of crimson faded, Edward returned to the villa. A faint burning sensation came from the back of his right hand. Then the crimson light swirled inward, condensing into a strange symbol that sank into the back of his hand and vanished completely.
"Ah..."
Edward let out a long sigh. He had considered joining the Tarot Club, but only after preparing a story and making sure he was ready. Instead, this inexplicable loss of control had led to him joining without any preparation whatsoever.
"Ugh, Harry Potter's plot went off the rails before it even started. Is the same thing going to happen in Lord of Mysteries World?"
Chapter 20: The Apprentice's [Dullness]
Above the gray fog.
Klein looked at the citrine rotating counterclockwise, unsurprised.
"So he really did lie? But with this method of divination, even if he concealed something in just one of all those statements, I'd get the same result."
After some thought, he wrote "Edward joining the Tarot Club is harmful to me" on a sheet of parchment he had materialized. After he silently repeated it seven times, the pendulum slowly began to rotate counterclockwise.
"He won't harm me, and might even benefit me?"
Klein leaned back against the bronze chair, a slight smile appearing on his face.
"That's enough."
Backlund.
Edward slumped on the sofa, looking at the crimson moonlight spilling down outside the window, puzzled.
I'm clearly not a member of the Abraham Family, and there isn't a full crimson moon tonight. Yet I still heard Mr. Door's ravings and nearly lost control. Does Lord of Mysteries World simply refuse to follow any rules?
Will I hear Mr. Door's ravings again on the next full moon?
And what exactly was that door in the night sky that stopped me from losing control?
He shook his head vigorously, banishing those worries from his mind.
"Am I a Sequence 9 Apprentice now? Is this new energy inside me spirituality?"
In the original story, Old Neil had once said, "All living beings have spirituality and a spirit body." But after coming to this world, Edward hadn't sensed any spirituality within himself. Perhaps it was because he hadn't originally belonged to this world-just as chakra was exclusive to Naruto.
Edward carefully examined the spirituality inside him.
"It doesn't feel any different from magical power. No, that's not right. Spirituality comes from the residual energy of the Beyonder creatures in the potion, while magical power doesn't. In terms of Level of Existence, spirituality should be higher than magical power."
In the Harry Potter World, wizards' magical power came from the awakening of their wizarding bloodline and grew slowly with age. Most wizards experienced only three awakenings of magical power in their lives. The first occurred in early childhood, marking their transformation from ordinary people into wizards. The second occurred around age eleven, when young wizards started school and their magical power awakened again. The third came upon reaching adulthood, bringing a relatively significant awakening.
Perhaps Edward was talented, or perhaps he was simply lucky. He had already experienced three awakenings before reaching adulthood, and even possessed more magical power than many adult wizards. However, due to the difference in the worlds' levels, Beyonders in the world of mysteries had strong resistance to magic. This left Edward feeling deeply insecure here, which was why he had been so eager to drink a potion and become a Beyonder.
"Next, I need to figure out how to act as an Apprentice properly, then hurry up and... Wait."
He suddenly noticed something. "This feeling... Have I already completely digested my Apprentice potion?!"
Before you continue