Edward raised his hand again. "Mr. Fool, I have an idea."
Klein rested his chin on his hand and asked calmly, "Please, go ahead."
"The members of our Tarot Club will be trading regularly, but we live far apart and don't know one another's identities. Knowledge like formulas is fine, since it can be manifested directly, but private exchanges of Beyonder materials and items would be far too troublesome."
"I was wondering if there was a way to make our transactions more convenient."
Edward had brought this up mainly to accelerate the Tarot Club's progress. Getting the Fool's delivery service up and running would indeed solve many problems. It would also help Klein explore the abilities of the Fool-Sefirah Castle-ahead of time, which would greatly benefit Edward himself.
Klein fell silent for a moment, his expression hidden behind the fog. He tapped his fingers lightly on the Bronze Table a few times, then said, "Understood. That concludes our meeting."
Everyone bowed together. "Yes, Mr. Fool."
With that, Edward's first Tarot Club meeting came to a successful close.
The crimson before his eyes faded, and Edward returned to the Villa.
He let out a long breath, reviewed everything he had said and done at the Tarot Club, and sank into thought. Klein didn't question the background I made up earlier. Did he not perform divination afterward, or did he simply not care that much?
He had fabricated a nonexistent family at the Tarot Club to lend credibility to the secret knowledge he would bring out later. That knowledge could serve not only as bargaining chips but also as a way to fit into the Tarot Club. Otherwise, wouldn't joining have been a waste?
What am I going to tell Audrey?
Frankly, Audrey had placed a great deal of trust in him, yet he had kept so much hidden from her. It made him feel like a scumbag who deceived women with a mouthful of lies.
After a long while, he patted his forehead. "Let's test whether spirituality can cast magic first."
Edward took out his wand and used magic power to cast a Shield Charm on himself first.
Then he tried drawing on the spirituality inside him to cast a Levitation Charm on the table before him.
The table successfully floated into the air.
But it had still consumed magic power.
"Does it consume magic power by default?"
Edward cast more than a dozen spells in succession, but every single one consumed magic power.
"I clearly managed to mobilize my spirituality every time, but once the spell was cast, it still consumed magic power. Was my idea wrong?"
He paced around the room. "Thinking back, when I normally cast magic, I don't even notice what it consumes. I recite the incantation, wave my wand, and cast the spell. The whole process happens in one smooth motion."
"It's like... like driving. Step on the accelerator, and the car moves. There's no need to think about exactly how everything inside the car works."
"What about using a Beyonder ability?"
An Apprentice had only one Beyonder ability, Door Opening, and he had yet to use it.
"Door Opening."
Edward stepped forward, his figure turning illusory as he passed through the wall without any resistance and entered the next room. "Hmm, much more useful than the Unlocking Charm."
"It consumes spirituality by default, and I don't need to consciously 'consume' it either. It feels just like casting a spell."
"But I want to consume spirituality when casting magic now. Forcing it has already failed. What else can I do?" Suddenly, inspiration struck Edward. "Hermes!"
In the world of mysteries, most Beyonder abilities required special languages, with Hermes being among the most commonly used. What would happen if he cast spells in Hermes?
"Stupefy!"
A beam of light shot from his wand with a whoosh, blasting away the table and chairs in its path and leaving a small crater in the wall.
"It worked."
Feeling the spirituality consumed within him, Edward was overjoyed. "It's slightly more powerful than when I use magic power."
"Reparo."
Everything before him swiftly returned to its original state, as though time were flowing backward.
Edward laughed. "All I need to do is switch languages before casting each spell-like tapping my teeth to activate Spirit Vision-and leave the rest to the magic itself."
"I love magic!"
He waved his wand repeatedly, casting one spell after another with spirituality in Hermes. "The spirituality consumption isn't that high. With what I have now, I could sustain a small battle. But all my targets so far have been inanimate objects. I still don't know how effective it would be against Beyonders. Hmm, I need to find a Beyonder to test it on."
A very gentlemanly smile spread across his face:
"Hehehehe, Susie~ Here I come."
Just then, a voice came from the living room. "Damn it, I'm lost again!"
Emlyn White felt that nothing had been going his way lately. As a noble Sanguine, all he had done was sneak into a hospital to take some blood collection tubes. Yet the Church of Evernight's Nighthawks had actually laid an ambush specifically for him.
If he hadn't recently spent all his pounds on dolls, he could have paid pure maidens for their blood. It tasted far better than the mixed mess in those blood collection bottles.
"Good thing I picked up this key last time. Otherwise, I would've been in trouble."
Emlyn looked around. "Where am I? Damn it, I'm lost again!"
When Edward reached the living room, he saw a man of twenty-eight or twenty-nine standing there, cursing. He had black hair, red eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. He was handsome, but lacked masculinity.
Black hair and red eyes? If I remember correctly, those are vampire traits. A lost vampire? What a coincidence. Heh, I was just worrying about finding a Beyonder to test my magic on.
"Who's there?"
Emlyn's nostrils twitched as he looked toward Edward's position. "I can smell you. Come out!"
"Buddy, you broke into my house, and you're still acting like you're in the right?" Edward dispelled his Disillusionment Charm.
Emlyn immediately realized that the other man was a Beyonder too and promptly said, "Sorry, I just got lost. I'll leave right away."
He turned to go, intending to activate the key's power and leave through the wall.
"Accio key."
Edward waved his hand, and an antique-looking brass key flew into his grasp. Having lost the Master Key, Emlyn nearly slammed headfirst into the wall.
He glared angrily at Edward. "Give me back my key."
Emlyn took an angry step forward, his nails growing an extra segment covered in mysterious symbols and patterns.
"Tarantallegra."
Emlyn's body stiffened, and his legs began tap-dancing uncontrollably. He struggled desperately to stop, only to discover that he couldn't. Fear immediately gripped him:
"What did you do to me? Stop it!"
"Levicorpus."
Emlyn was immediately flipped upside down and suspended in midair. This time, he reacted quickly. A pair of illusory bat wings appeared behind him, and using their brief flight capability, he rapidly pulled away and flew toward the window without looking back.
"Impedimenta."
"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
Emlyn froze in midair, then dropped straight to the floor as though he had been struck hard with a brick three times in succession, losing consciousness.
After confirming that he was unconscious, Edward immediately assessed the results:
"He really is a Vampire! A natural Sequence 7 Beyonder creature, and even he drops right off to sleep after taking three Stunning Spells? This 'spirituality magic' is more powerful than I imagined!"
"Although using spells in actual combat consumes several times more spirituality than casting them at nothing, ordinary Mid-Sequence Beyonders shouldn't be too hard to deal with if I use my magic well and land enough hits. Even... no, I don't have enough samples. Better not jump to conclusions."
He casually cast a few more spells:
"Most importantly, I can strengthen the effects by putting more spirituality into a spell. The greater the consumption, the greater the power."
"Does that mean that as long as I have enough spirituality... anything is possible?"
Spirituality plus magic seemed to produce an effect far beyond one plus one being greater than two!
Sure enough,
magic was still his greatest asset in the world of mysteries!
Chapter 23: Mr. Fool Likes Men?
Five minutes later, Emlyn woke up on the sofa.
"You're awake, Mr. Emlyn the vampire."
"A noble Sanguine!"
Emlyn retorted instinctively before remembering what had just happened. He looked uneasily at Edward, who was sitting opposite him. "How... how do you know my name?"
It really was Emlyn.
Edward waved a hand and smiled. "I've simply heard much about you. All right, Mr... noble Sanguine, I've already taught you a lesson for entering my house without permission. You're free to leave whenever you like."
"Really? Goodbye!"
Emlyn stood up without hesitation and headed out. When he reached the doorway, he heard Edward's voice again. "Don't you want this key anymore?"
Without looking back, he said, "That's your key."
"..."
After some thought, Edward said, "If you want this key back, you can exchange the Apothecary potion formula for it. Or you can use the formula to hire me to help you." He was asking for the Apothecary formula on Viscount Glaint's behalf. The viscount had helped him find the Villa he was living in, after all, so this would count as repaying the favor.
Emlyn pushed the door open and left without looking back.
Only then did Edward realize his mistake and slap his forehead. "Oh, I forgot to ask where he found the Master Key. I remember you can get the Apprentice Pathway's Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 formulas there."
"Wait, without the Master Key, will Emlyn no longer wander into the Harvest Church by mistake? Then he might not meet Klein. And everything afterward... forget it. This little butterfly has already flapped his wings. The consequences will only grow from here."
"If nothing else, Klein saved my life this time. I have to find some way to do something so he and the captain don't end up dead, right?"
Edward gathered himself and stood up. "First, I'll tell Audrey the good news about 'spirituality magic.'"
Empress Borough, the Hall Earl Family's luxurious villa.
Audrey sat on the sofa with a cup of black tea, sipping it leisurely, her eyes sparkling with delighted surprise.
Susie lay in a corner, watching Audrey curiously. "Audrey, you seem very happy."
She set down her teacup, picked up the Dragon Bone Wand, and smiled faintly. "That's right. I discovered something interesting."
With a crack, space warped, and Edward appeared in the room.
Audrey asked expectantly, "How did it go?"
"It worked. Magic cast using spirituality is just as effective against Beyonders. I already tested it on an unlucky Beyonder who wandered into my house. In a sense, every spell is equivalent to a Beyonder ability."
Before you continue