Spell Grimoire

If Gner had learned of this thought, he would certainly have given Kronos a thorough "compliment" for being so "considerate."

But at least that afternoon, Kronos achieved his goal.

The Eye of Time's abilities had more than doubled in strength, and its classifications were no longer so finely divided. For people or objects whose Sequence was no higher than his own, he could see a year into the past, as well as fragments of the next few minutes.

For those whose Sequence was higher than his, he could only see a week into the past. If he was lucky, a few glimpses of the future might flash before him.

With more resources at his disposal, Kronos even experimented on the Beyonder items he owned and finally reached a conclusion.

Since the Vampire's Heart had been crafted from a Sequence 7 Vampire characteristic, it counted as being at the same Sequence as him. The Faceless characteristic used in the Vampire Mask, however, was Sequence 6, higher than Kronos's own.

Kronos felt somewhat guilty about tormenting Gner all afternoon to test his Eye of Time, so he left him alone over the following days.

Perhaps it was because of Kronos, or perhaps he had simply grown a little more accustomed to things, but Gner became increasingly at ease over the next few days. He even began speaking to Marquis Argyle of his own accord.

Meanwhile, Kronos spent those days poring over his family's inherited tome.

He had suspected that the actual knowledge passed down for each Sequence would not be shown to him in advance. The books he had read as a child had only provided a brief introduction to each Sequence.

The notes Marquis Argyle had given him a while ago were merely a summary of experiences with the Acting Method.

What he had received now was the family's true body of knowledge concerning the Warlock Sequence.

It contained over seven hundred pages. Calling it a book or a set of notes would have been an insult to its sheer thickness. This deserved to be called a Spell Grimoire.

Each page contained an average of one or two spells. At first, Kronos was utterly engrossed. Every spell was wondrous and ingenious. By using certain materials to communicate with one's own spirituality, one could wield all sorts of abilities belonging to different pathways.

"As expected of the Moses Ascetic Order. They really do specialize in the Mystery Pryer Pathway. This is incredibly professional." Kronos saw that these spells were ones the Argel Family's founder, Abel Argel, had learned from the Moses Ascetic Order and later recorded here.

But as he read a little further, the spells that followed began to feel derivative. Most had been developed from the spells recorded by their ancestor Abel.

For example, one original spell summoned a powerful wind, drawing on the Sailor Pathway's powers. To improve it, someone had tried turning that wind into wind blades. Although it worked, the casting time had inexplicably quadrupled. Wasn't that just a spell for getting yourself killed?

But after giving it some thought, he understood. The earlier notes had recorded just three principles for acting as a Warlock, worked out over the years.

1. Study the magical knowledge of a Warlock. The more comprehensive a Warlock's knowledge, the more qualified they are as a Warlock.

2. If circumstances permit, act as a Warlock as often as possible. The more people who believe you, the better the effect.

3. Innovate and create spells of your own.

These three principles were all reasonable enough, but they became rather difficult for members of the Argel Family.

The first was naturally the easiest. Kronos believed that as long as he diligently worked through the Spell Grimoire in his hands, he would surely become the Warlock with the greatest knowledge of spells in the world.

In this respect, even the Moses Ascetic Order could not compare to the Argel Family. After all, this was a family, and very few people would hold anything back from their own descendants.

As for the second principle, members of the Argel Family rarely put it into practice. For one thing, they found it hard to swallow their pride. A Warlock inevitably had to put on a mystical act, and being exposed would make it all the more embarrassing.

For another, the orthodox churches exercised strict oversight on the Northern Continent. Convincing others that you were a Warlock really did resemble proselytizing. If you were caught, even being a marquis would not help. You would most likely be severely punished.

The third principle, however, had eventually become the Argel Family's greatest shackle. The grimoire was simply too comprehensive, covering every conceivable aspect. Coming up with something new was harder than reaching the heavens.

The entire grimoire consisted of four sections. The first contained highly polished spells, most recorded by their ancestor Abel and the first few generations of the family.

The second section contained the derivative ones, developing other skills from a single polished spell. By the end of that section, essentially every ability possessed by commonly encountered Beyonders had already been covered.

As for the third section, their predecessors had been driven into a corner and begun developing spells for everyday life: toothbrushing spells, blanket-tucking spells... Reading this part, Kronos found it both funny and heartbreaking.

By the fourth section, he might as well not have bothered reading. At least the everyday spells earlier had some use. The spells recorded here practically broke even walking down into a hundred separate spells.

And for the past two or three hundred years, no one had added any more spells to it.

If the Warlock Sequence was like this, Kronos could more or less imagine that the next Sequence, Scroll Professor, would be much the same.

If that was the case, then even knowing the Acting Method was of little help. The road to acting had been blocked off, leaving only time to bring the potion under control.

Even if Sequence 5 Astronomer no longer involved this problem, what hope was there of progressing further if one was already over fifty upon reaching Sequence 5?

That was why the Argel Family had ended up like this. They had only one Sequence 5 Beyonder in his seventies, who had yet to finish digesting his potion. Marquis Argyle was forty-seven this year and still at Sequence 6, with virtually no hope left of becoming a demigod.

The Mystery Pryer Pathway was not actually that difficult to advance along, nor did having someone teach you necessarily make advancement harder. In the original novel, Cattleya had become a Sequence 5 Astronomer at a young age, and Bernadette had taught her. That had hardly hindered her growth.

The key lay in how one was taught. Who taught someone in a way that blocked every road at once?

Still, he had to admit that any Warlock who finished reading this grimoire could become as powerful and well-rounded as possible, though they might very well sacrifice their future in the process.

It was rather tragic to think about. They would have been better off destroying the grimoire and keeping only the spells their ancestor Abel had recorded, leaving later descendants to research their own paths.

Kronos had originally approached the grimoire with great enthusiasm, fully confident that he could advance to Sequence 6 within three or four months.

If he could keep progressing like that, he might even become a demigod by the time Klein arrived.

But with this seven-hundred-page grimoire as a stumbling block, and considering how slowly his predecessors had advanced, Kronos might still be a Warlock on the day of the grand finale if he was unlucky.

Kronos pressed a hand to his forehead and smiled bitterly. What kind of mess was this?

Looking at the hundred-odd unread pages remaining, Kronos immediately closed the grimoire and headed straight for Marquis Argyle's study.

The moment he entered, Kronos said, "Dad, this book blocks people's path forward! You just gave it to me without so much as a warning."

But Marquis Argyle replied quietly, "Amyrius of the Levett Family and Robert Davis, who came from a commoner background, both became demigods only through the Royal Family's favor. Have you ever heard of a family producing a demigod on its own?"

Those words jolted Kronos awake. He suddenly understood. "You mean the family hasn't searched for a Sequence 4 potion formula all these years, and every generation reads this grimoire, all to reassure the Royal Family?"

"Ah!" Marquis Argyle sighed heavily. "Son, I know you can't accept it. Neither could I back then. But the Royal Family is too powerful. I believe William I, the founder of the kingdom, is still alive. He is a Sequence One angel."

"They once harbored the intent to kill us because our family was on good terms with the Church of Steam and Machinery. We couldn't give the Royal Family our undivided loyalty. But you know the reason for that. We had no choice."

"Many people say that after lying low for so many years, the Argel Family has become the family the Royal Family trusts most. But I know that we are only their most trusted family as long as we stay out of politics and military affairs and never produce a demigod."

Kronos could not accept that. "Then are we supposed to squander our whole lives and stop at Sequence 5?"

Marquis Argyle smiled. "Of course not. We have merely done everything that would hinder our own progress. There are bound to be MI9 agents in this manor. They saw you receive the grimoire and know I gave you no warning. Perhaps they also saw you reading it."

"That is enough. The Royal Family knows, and they have seen our stance. Whether you can break free of these shackles afterward is a matter of your own ability. Of course I won't stop you. You are my son, and naturally I want you to do better and better. Just remember to keep it secret."

"Your grandfather said the same thing to me back then. I thought I would be the exceptional one, too, but in the end, I still squandered more than twenty years. Perhaps you can do it. You are my son. I hope your possibilities will be limitless. More than that, I hope you can become strong enough to stand against the kingdom's founder, and even resolve the Hidden Sage's curse."

Honestly, those words were drenched in inspirational sentiment, but they truly moved Kronos.

The two of them had always had a conventional father-son relationship and rarely spoken heart to heart. Marquis Argyle's sudden outpouring of emotion naturally touched Kronos.

Learning so many more of the family's secrets that day also helped Kronos understand just how difficult it had been for the family to endure until now.

As for the resentment he had felt after reading the grimoire, it had long since vanished. He had enjoyed so many advantages from his family; naturally, he had to bear the drawbacks as well.