Sequences and potions

Lumian entered the old tavern and was surprised to find that the woman was already up, enjoying breakfast in her usual corner.

She had changed again. Her brown dress, with its high collar and ruffles, and the dark velvet hat set beside her made her look as though she had just returned from a high-society salon.

"So early?" Lumian collected himself and walked over.

The lady raised her head and glanced at him.

"Have you considered that I might not have slept all night?"

"Maybe." Lumian was no stranger to that. His sister Aurora often stayed up all night when a deadline approached. He was simply puzzled as to why this lady, whose origins and intentions were a mystery, had suddenly brought it up.

He glanced at her "dining table" and saw a cream soufflé sprinkled with a few nuts, an enticingly toasted muffin, a croissant, a cup of dark coffee, and a cat's tongue biscuit.

Quite an appetite... But these really don't look like things you could get in Cordu. Apart from Aurora, perhaps only the administrator's cook could make them... Lumian sat down and remarked casually, "All desserts, huh?"

For once, the lady nodded earnestly.

"Intis desserts really do taste good, and there are so many varieties that you could have some for breakfast every day without repeating any for a month."

Then she took a bite of the cat's tongue biscuit, half closed her eyes, and savored it for a moment. "This is one of the reasons to travel."

"You're not from Intis?" Lumian seized the chance to ask.

The lady smiled.

"I'm from Loen, but given the current situation, that isn't important."

That Loen whose only specialties, apart from steam machinery, factories, and vast armies, are armchairs, mint sauce, fish and potatoes, and beer brewed entirely from snakefruit? As a true native of Intis, Lumian immediately recalled the things people commonly said to mock the Kingdom of Loen.

He acknowledged her with a grunt, then changed the subject. "I dealt with the monster carrying the hunting rifle."

The lady took a sip of coffee and offered a rather flat word of praise. "Good."

For some reason, Lumian kept feeling that there was a strange emotion in her eyes.

He had sensed something similar during their previous conversations. Beyond her playful amusement, some other emotion seemed to lie hidden, but he could not tell what it meant.

He continued, "I got a lump of abnormal crimson stuff from that monster. Holding it makes me irritable and full of aggression.

"I'm sure it has something to do with supernatural powers, but it didn't follow me into reality."

The lady smiled.

"After going in and out so many times, haven't you noticed that you can't bring anything over except your own condition?"

"Didn't you say supernatural things were an exception..." Lumian stopped before finishing.

He thought of the aches in his body, the injuries he had suffered in the dream, and how his memories of them had not vanished upon returning to reality.

After pondering for a while, he asked carefully, "You mean that if I gain supernatural powers through that crimson stuff and become a Beyonder, the corresponding condition that sets me apart from normal people can be brought into reality?"

"Fairly clever." The lady did not even look up, continuing to enjoy her cream soufflé.

"But wouldn't those powers weaken as a result?" Lumian pressed with a frown. "The injuries I suffered in the dream were much less severe in reality."

"Changes in your condition brought about by a Beyonder Characteristic won't." The lady raised her head and looked at Lumian. "That's why I said supernatural things were an exception."

"Beyonder Characteristic..." Lumian mulled over the term.

He thought of the "Beyonders" his sister had mentioned.

So obtaining a Beyonder Characteristic lets you become a Beyonder? Lumian felt he was beginning to understand.

Based on the lady's explanation, he developed a further conjecture about what made the dream special.

Those ruins actually exist, or they were originally somewhere in reality before falling into the depths of some powerful figure's dream. That's why things there keep developing naturally. And my dream is essentially a special passage, created under the influence of the symbols on my chest, that connects to those ruins?

Following that theory, my home appearing there is an imprint left by my dream when the two interact, a reflection of the place my subconscious considers safest. That's why it doesn't seem to belong with the surrounding wilderness and ruins, as though it's in a different world...

The monsters don't dare come in because they genuinely can't. They're in the real ruins, while my "home" is a product of the mingling of dream and "reality." Anyone without the special imprint can't cross the corresponding barrier...

That special imprint only affects me. My own condition gets recorded and brought back to reality. When that happens, anything without supernatural factors weakens, while anything involving them stays unchanged. Death probably does too...

If that's really the case, there shouldn't be anything terrifying hiding in my dream home. But the origins of these symbols on my chest and the source of that horrible voice also represent some kind of terror...

Lumian remained silent for a long while. Across from him, the lady leisurely ate her breakfast, entirely unbothered.

Coming back to his senses, Lumian asked, "Then how should I use that crimson stuff? Is it the Beyonder Characteristic you mentioned, ma'am?"

At this crucial moment, he could not help adopting a respectful form of address.

The lady put down her coffee and glanced at him.

"I can give you a potion formula. Just follow it."

The generous gift left Lumian somewhat uneasy.

"Why are you helping me like this?"

The lady chuckled.

"If I said it was fate's arrangement, would you believe me?"

No... Lumian answered instinctively in his mind.

The abnormalities in the village, the pressure of an approaching storm, and his longing for supernatural powers made him suppress his unease. He said in a low voice, "I believe you."

Once an opportunity appears, I have to act decisively and do everything I can to seize it. I can't hesitate or overthink it!

The lady smiled. The emotion in her eyes that Lumian could neither describe nor explain seemed to grow a little stronger.

She took a stack of notepaper and a silver-barreled fountain pen with a rounded body from her black handbag and began writing briskly.

Soon, she stopped, tore off the top sheet, and handed it to Lumian.

Lumian hastily accepted it and scanned it.

"Hunter potion formula:

"Main ingredient: one Hunter Beyonder Characteristic;

"Supplementary ingredients: 80 milliliters of red wine, one red chestnut flower (a preserved specimen will do, or substitute 10 drops of the corresponding essential oil), 5 grams of powdered poplar leaves, 10 grams of basil;

"Instructions: drink directly."

Lumian committed the contents firmly to memory, then folded the note and put it in the inner pocket of his brown jacket.

Only after finishing all this did he ask curiously, "What does 'Hunter' mean?"

A hunter in the supernatural sense?

"It's the name of the corresponding Sequence." The lady took another sip of coffee. "I know you don't understand much about mysticism, so I'll give you a brief explanation. The supernatural powers commonly found in our world are divided into twenty-two pathways. They're obtained by making potions from materials containing the corresponding Beyonder Characteristics. Each pathway has ten Sequences, from Sequence 9 to Sequence 0. The lower the number, the higher the standing and the stronger the abilities.

"The Beyonder Characteristic you obtained belongs to the Red Priest pathway. It can only be used to make the corresponding Sequence 9 Hunter potion."

Lumian listened intently and blurted out, "Then which pathway and Sequence does my sister Aurora belong to?"

"She's a Sequence 7 Warlock of the Mystery Pryer pathway," the lady answered casually.

She did not mention how she knew.

Aurora is already Sequence 7? That makes sense. She's had supernatural powers for several years... Even after drinking the potion, I'll only be Sequence 9. There's still quite a gap between us... I just hope I won't hold her back when we escape Cordu... Lumian could not help asking, "Can you drink a high-Sequence potion directly? Or drink Sequence 9 today and Sequence 8 tomorrow?"

"In theory, yes." Only after delight appeared on Lumian's face did the lady add, "But the vast majority of people who do that end up dead or turn into monsters. There might not be even one success in ten million."

"Turn into monsters?" Lumian was startled.

The lady chuckled. "Didn't your sister tell you that the path of the supernatural is dangerous?

"After drinking a potion, if you fail to control that power, you either die as your body collapses or mutate into a monster. Why do you think the one you encountered was humanoid?"

No wonder... Lumian finally understood the danger his sister had spoken of.

But he was willing to face it.

"Is there any way to reduce the danger?" he asked.

The lady looked at him for two seconds. "Yes. A firm will, a healthy body, and luck that isn't too bad. As for anything else, you don't need to know yet, since this is only your first potion."

"A healthy body..." Lumian, who had planned to go home shortly, catch up on sleep, and drink the potion, frowned.

He was still fairly badly injured in the dream.

The lady opposite him nodded slightly. "There's no hurry. Wait until tonight, when the aches in your body have mostly subsided, before entering the dream."

"Uh..." Lumian asked thoughtfully, "As long as my body in reality has more or less recovered, my injuries in the dream will heal completely?"

After all, his body in reality was only somewhat sore, nothing like his injuries in the dream!

"Yes." The lady confirmed Lumian's guess.

She continued, "There's plenty more basic knowledge about potions and the Divine Pathways. Once you've drunk the potion and become a Hunter, I'll tell you."

Divine Pathways... Lumian asked in puzzlement, "Why not tell me now?"

The lady laughed.

"If you die from drinking the potion or turn into a monster, wouldn't telling you so much now be a waste of my time?"

"..." Lumian had nothing to say.

He stood up and said goodbye.

Before stepping away, he asked one more question.

"Do you know there's something abnormal going on in the village?"