Meeting Azik for the First Time

On a public carriage bound for the dock district, Leon and Klein sat opposite each other, each holding sweet iced tea in one hand and a Tingen pastry in the other.

Looking at the sweet treat they had bought at Leon's suggestion on the way, Klein felt as though he had fallen a little.

Just to satisfy his appetite, he had actually changed course halfway through the journey and taken a detour to Mrs. Slin's bakery, doubling a fare that would otherwise have cost only six pence.

For Klein, who described himself as frugal, such an unnecessary expense felt somewhat sinful.

In fact, though, Leon had paid for both the fare and the treats.

Leon had said he could spare the money, and that the treats were nothing as thanks for introducing him to sweet iced tea.

But as someone who had received nine years of compulsory education, Klein was subconsciously reluctant to spend a colleague's money.

Then again, Leon earned a full twenty pounds a week without paying taxes-more than three times Klein's weekly salary!

He took another hearty bite of the freshly baked Tingen pastry in his hand. Half an hour later, the rocking carriage stopped at a street corner in the dock district. They would have to walk the rest of the way.

"By the way, Leon, which Pathway are you a Beyonder of?"

As Klein drank his sweet iced tea and mentally counted up the things he needed to buy, something suddenly occurred to him. He still didn't know which Pathway Leon belonged to.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Leon took a sip of his own drink, which tasted remarkably like the iced black tea on Earth, and teased him casually.

"Forget it, then..." Klein chuckled and abandoned the thought. "What I actually wanted to ask was how you're doing with mastering your Potion."

"After all, we're the only two on the Nighthawks team who just became Beyonders."

"Mastering?" Leon was a little puzzled by yet another specialized term.

"Yes." Klein hurried a few steps ahead, then turned to look at him. "The captain said that when someone first becomes a Beyonder, their Potion has certain side effects that affect them, like hearing or sensing certain unusual things."

"Those side effects only disappear once you've completely mastered the Potion. After that, you can seek advancement."

Leon nodded. This was the first he had heard of it, but it seemed this Pathway hadn't affected him.

He realized Klein seemed to be getting at something, so he said no more and chose to be a good listener.

"You know I often work as a diviner at the Seer Club. Whenever I divine for someone and help them avoid misfortune that might befall them, I feel the Potion's influence gradually weakening."

"That feeling was strongest when I started divining what had happened to Old Neil. At that moment, the Potion's influence was almost negligible."

"But no matter how hard I tried, I always felt I was a little short." Klein's eyes went slightly out of focus, as though recalling how it had felt.

"It wasn't until the moment I confirmed that Old Neil was out of danger that I suddenly realized something very important: divination isn't all-powerful. No matter how good a divination result is, it still takes people to change things."

"The instant I understood that, I knew I had completely mastered the Seer Potion."

"That does fit the name of your Potion." Leon's eyes flickered. He realized Klein was trying to find a way to teach him what he had learned about mastering a Potion.

"So what you're saying is that the Potion's name isn't just a summary of its abilities. It's more like a way of telling you how to adapt to it."

Klein smiled and drank the last of his sweet iced tea, looking as though he wanted more.

"That's right! So I thought you could try it too. Do things according to your Potion's name, or even work out the rules. Maybe you'll be able to master it sooner."

"I understand." Leon nodded. Now he knew why he had barely been affected.

According to Klein, he had completely mastered his Sequence the moment he arrived.

To master Sequence 9, Tarnished, he had to do what a Tarnished was supposed to do. He had done more than that-he had already finished everything he was supposed to do.

There might have been Tarnished with more experience who had been around longer than him, but there certainly wasn't a Tarnished who had gone farther.

At that thought, he suddenly realized that he had never considered this world's system and had never thought about advancing.

Beyonders in this world did not grow stronger entirely by relying on themselves. The power of Potions was the mainstay.

If he wanted to regain his strength, rather than gathering supernatural materials with extremely low conversion rates, he would be better off considering advancement.

But he still didn't know what came after Tarnished!

With a new question on their minds, the two reached their destination across the street: the Evil Dragon Bar.

The working-class bar in the dock district was wedged between a butcher's shop and a warehouse.

Its storefront was small, and its sign bore a painting of a dragon pinned to the ground by a longsword. Much of the paint had peeled away.

Leon stood at the entrance and looked up. "This place still has as much atmosphere as ever."

"You've been here before?" Klein followed him, smelling the sour stench peculiar to cheap taverns that hung in the air.

"Plenty of times." Leon pushed open the door. "When you want information on the husbands of those wealthy ladies, this place is indispensable."

The interior was dim, with several battered wooden tables scattered about. The walls were plastered with yellowing missing-person notices and handwritten trade information.

A few cloaked figures sat in a corner, their faces hidden. Only the glasses on their table and their occasional glances could be seen.

A burly old man sat behind the bar, wiping a glass. When he saw Leon enter, he greeted him.

"Well, if it isn't the young master. I haven't seen you for days. I thought some husband caught in the act had gotten so angry and humiliated that he'd done you in."

As he spoke, he glanced at Klein and looked a little surprised.

"How did you end up hanging around with a Nighthawks kid?"

"Mr. Swain." Klein gave the old man a slight nod of greeting. Old Neil had told him about him.

The old man had once been the captain of the Church of Storms' Tingen City Mandated Punishers team.

"I'm not telling you." Leon crossed the hall with practiced ease and pushed open a small door beside the bar, revealing a narrow staircase.

He turned to Klein, who had yet to react. "Come on. What are you standing there for?"

Klein paused, then followed him.

The basement was more spacious than the room above. Gas lamps lit every corner brightly, and several long tables stood in two rows, laden with all sorts of peculiar things-sealed glass bottles, rolled-up parchment, rusty badges, and blackened bones.

Some people stood behind the tables, others in front, and the faint sounds of bargaining rose and fell.

As Klein bought what he needed, he scanned the crowd but didn't see the person named Ademisaul.

"What do you want me to do?" Leon leaned against the wall with his cane planted on the floor and both hands resting on its head, looking relaxed.

Clearly, he had already guessed roughly what was going on. Klein certainly hadn't brought him here just because he was bored alone; he wasn't a primary school student who needed company even to go to the bathroom.

"I'd like you to help me take a look at someone." Klein hesitated. "Someone... not quite normal. I ran into him the last time Old Neil and I came here."

"He started muttering about the 'smell of death.' Given what's happened recently, I thought it would be better to check on him again."

"The fellow nicknamed Monster?"

"Yes," Klein said. "Old Neil said half of the start of a Sequence was fixed in him from birth. He was born suited to the 'Monster' Pathway."

Leon's eyebrows twitched slightly as he began searching through his predecessor's memories. His predecessor seemed to have considered looking for the "Monster" Pathway's Potion, but had not succeeded.

"But he doesn't seem to be here today." Leon also looked around and failed to spot the figure from his memories.

"Next time, then," Klein said regretfully, having finished buying his materials. He was just about to suggest leaving.

Then he saw Leon, who had seemed a little uninterested, suddenly move and stride quickly in one direction.

"Leon? Where are you going?"

Leon didn't answer. A moment ago, the Elden Ring inside him had suddenly been drawn by an aura and trembled.

He followed the aura until he came up behind a man and was just about to reach out and tap him on the shoulder.

"Mr. Azik? What are you doing here?"

He heard Klein's voice ring out.

The man heard the voice and turned toward it, meeting Leon's gaze.

The instant their eyes met,

The Rune of Death, one of the Runes that made up the Elden Ring-Destined Death-suddenly activated on its own!

At once, an aura of death, woven from pale white and red-black, swept into Klein's spiritual perception.

Walking forward, Klein felt a sudden sense of emptiness, then lost consciousness and collapsed.

The things in his hands scattered across the floor.