Chapter 161: Artificial Somnambulism

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-One
Artificial Somnambulism

Sitting inside the café booth, Lawrence could not stop himself from recalling the Abraham family’s suffering over all these years.

Ever since the family had been split into smaller households, scattered across different regions, the council of elders’ control over the family members had fallen to its lowest point. To avoid the influence of the curse, many Abrahams refused to advance. They remained at Sequence 8 or Sequence 9, and some did not even attempt to become Beyonders at all. They wished only to be ordinary people with a certain degree of knowledge and wealth, living peaceful, pleasant lives.

The council of elders considered this an act of forgetting the family’s glory, yet they had no way to handle it harshly, for doing so would be no different from self-extermination.

Under such circumstances, reformist ideas began to emerge among the Abraham family’s upper ranks. They imitated the master-apprentice inheritance system of the Life School of Thought and began cultivating non-family members, hoping that after those people advanced to the high Sequences, they could in turn help the Abrahams resolve the curse that had existed for fifteen or sixteen hundred years, and find their ancestor Bethel Abraham, who had disappeared during the Four Emperors’ War.

At the beginning, that plan progressed very smoothly. Free of any need to worry about the curse, the Apprentices, carefully nurtured by the Abraham family, grew stronger at astonishing speed and advanced one after another. In just ten short years, several Sequence 5 powerhouses had appeared among them, while among the Abraham family’s direct Beyonders, there was not even a single Sequence 6.

The trunk was too weak, the branches too strong. The seeds of tragedy were planted there. Ambitious men among the disciples fixed their sights upon the several powerful Sealed Artifacts owned by the Abraham family.

Their scheme failed, but it also brought severe consequences. Every Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 Beyonder who did not belong to the family believed that their position inside the Abraham family did not match their strength, that they were not trusted, and that they could not obtain authority over certain Sealed Artifacts.

In the drawn-out process of struggle, difficult negotiation, and mutual compromise, an accident occurred. One Sequence 5 Traveler named Botis was tempted by the True Creator, joined the Aurora Order, and brought about a terrifying disaster.

In that disaster, the Abraham family’s upper ranks were almost completely wiped out. Their already few powerful Sealed Artifacts were reduced by more than half, leaving only three. Lawrence’s full brother Richard also died because of it.

Botis, on the other hand, gained enormous benefits. Not only did he gather all the Beyonder materials he needed, but with the help of the True Creator, he successfully overcame the dangers before him, stepped into the demigod Sequence, and became one of the Aurora Order’s Five Saints—the Saint of Secrets.

After the disaster, the reconstructed Abraham family council of elders reflected on the actions of the past many years, but still failed to find any solution. Emotions such as passivity, despondency, and despair enveloped the remaining family members.

Lawrence was unwilling to remain in such an environment. He was unwilling to face sighs and a suffocating atmosphere every day. Finding an excuse, he left the council of elders’ location and came to Backlund to search for his other full brother, Laubero, and his half brother, Sam.

Now, he abruptly discovered that, of his father’s branch, he seemed to be the only one left.

And he himself was already nearly eighty. Every child he had ever had had died in the disaster Botis brought upon them.

Merely remembering all this filled him with sorrow that could not be severed.

What pained him most was that he could not see any hope of revenge, nor any dawn in which the family’s glory might be restored.

“I am already old, and I suffered injuries before. Unless necessary, I do not dare use Beyonder abilities. That could bring loss of control, or cause the curse to descend… Where exactly does the Abraham family’s future lie?”

Lawrence lifted his Fermo coffee and drank a mouthful, sinking into a long silence.

…

After returning to the rented house, Fors immediately entered her bedroom and locked the wooden door behind her.

She sat at the edge of the bed, adjusted her state slightly, and softly recited the honorific name that represented hope and the future:

“The Fool that does not belong to this era;

“You are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog;

“You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

“I wish to pray to you and recount what I encountered today.

“I met the elder brother of the husband of the old woman who led me to become an Apprentice. He is suspected to be a member of a certain family…

“I concealed matters related to the mysterious field, but I am worried he may possess extremely powerful divination abilities and be able to discover the complete truth…”

…

At that moment, Klein happened to be above the gray fog.

He saw the crimson star representing The Magician expand outward, sending ripples through the air. He heard layered prayers spreading continuously.

After understanding the specific details, Klein lightly tapped the edge of the ancient long table and said soundlessly to himself:

“Quite cautious, aren’t you. You know to ask The Fool for help.

“And your guess is correct. Sequence 7 corresponding to Apprentice is called Astrologer…”

Having recently been studying the Book of Secrets with great effort, Klein swiftly formulated a plan—a ritual through which he could help the other party interfere with divination.

“I have to say, after advancing to Sequence 7 and obtaining the Book of Secrets, I am becoming more and more like a true god above the gray fog. Of course, for now, I am still only an empty shell…

“Come to think of it, I have performed quite a few times before Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and the others, perfectly deceiving them. Why have I never received the corresponding spiritual feedback? Why has the progress of my potion never accelerated because of it? Could it be that it must happen in the real world? Mm, it might also be that the ‘applause’ from these audience members is severed by the gray fog and cannot directly influence me, just as the Eternal Blazing Sun and the True Creator find it difficult to pierce through the gray fog and locate this mysterious space…

“From this perspective, the gray fog and this mysterious space react rather mechanically. They are not lively enough. They lack intelligence… But for me, that is actually a good thing…”

While countless thoughts surged, Klein manifested the corresponding knowledge onto an ancient-looking parchment, then tossed it into the crimson star symbolizing The Magician.

Boundless gray-white fog abruptly spread before Fors’s eyes, and from the high sky, an illusory yellowish-brown parchment descended.

She saw the knowledge written upon it, and her heart instantly settled.

Since Mr. Fool has personally acted, that gentleman called Lawrence definitely will not be able to obtain accurate revelations from divination!

Fors expressed her sincere gratitude, then busied herself preparing the ritual.

She had witnessed quite a few cases of evil spirits harming people, so she did not actually trust The Fool all that much. But the full-moon curse left her no choice but to depend on Him.

At worst, I lose my life. Without Mr. Fool’s help, I would already have lost control and become a monster during the last blood moon… Every extra day I live is one more day earned. It is all a bestowment from Mr. Fool. He may take it back whenever He wishes… Uh, preferably not…

Fors inhaled and lit the two candles symbolizing The Fool.

The ritual’s early steps were no different from the rituals she had previously mastered, until the candles were lit and essential oils, hydrosol, herbal powders, and other items were thrown into the flames.

When the clear, ethereal fragrance filled the room, and thin, illusory mist covered the entire altar, Fors followed what had been recorded on the “parchment.” She swiftly adjusted her body and mind, entered meditation, and silently repeated the honorific name corresponding to The Fool, over and over.

Such monotonous repetition caused Fors, already calm and tranquil through visualization, to slowly enter a state where her mind slept while her spirituality diffused outward. Her whole person was dazed and muddled, yet maintained a peculiar wakefulness. She felt her spirit drift endlessly upward.

This had a certain resemblance to the process of a “secret pact” achieved through external objects, yet differed in many ways. It belonged to one technique within spirit channeling, used to communicate with spirits of higher levels. At its extreme, it could even allow a Beyonder, while maintaining that peculiar clarity, to mentally wander the spirit world.

Certain Beyonders skilled at influencing the mind called it “artificial somnambulism.” Through methods such as hypnosis, they could even make ordinary people enter that state.

In that state, an ordinary person would seem asleep, yet could answer questions; would seem to have eyes and mouth closed, yet could discover all kinds of spirits existing nearby and complete a certain degree of communication.

The reason Klein did not have Fors use a “secret pact ritual” was that such a ritual could only grant knowledge, purification, corrosion, or other direct effects, allowing the other party’s spirit to obtain a wondrous experience. It could not accomplish things like interfering with another person’s divination.

To put it simply, a “secret pact ritual” directly affected the target’s Spirit Body, Astral Body, Mind Body, and Ether Body, and the positive or negative states related to those would accordingly be removed. A ritual under “artificial somnambulism,” however, allowed Klein to do indirect things in response to interference from the outside world.

In her hazy daze, Fors felt herself drift back to the towering, ancient palace above the gray fog. She saw Mr. Fool seated high above, overlooking everything.

Klein looked at The Magician’s illusory figure outlined by crimson starlight and unhurriedly picked up a paper figurine he had just found among the miscellaneous items in the corner.

As a Diviner who had advanced twice, he had many ways to interfere with another person’s divination. He did not need to rely on a mystical item.

At that moment, influenced by the ritual, the mysterious space above the gray fog shook lightly, and traces of power were leveraged and began to flow.

With his left hand, Klein pressed down on the Black Emperor card atop the bronze long table, connecting it to his own Spirit Body and bringing an elevation of status. It was just like how, in the past, he had used the Solar Flame charm and Azik’s copper whistle to solidify his Spirit Body and raise its level.

Immediately afterward, he flicked his right wrist and threw out the paper figurine.

That paper figurine abruptly grew larger. From its back sprouted twelve pairs of black angel wings cut from paper, each feather vivid and lifelike.

This paper “angel” swiftly pierced through the crimson light and overlapped with The Magician’s illusory figure.

Silently, it burned and vanished completely.

As for the half-asleep, half-awake Fors, she seemed to see a majestic, solemn angel. She saw that angel wrap her, layer after layer, with many pairs of pitch-black wings.

After an unknown amount of time, Fors suddenly woke from the state of “artificial somnambulism.” Before her eyes was only the altar, where three candles burned quietly amid faint mist that filled the entire room. At her nose lingered that familiar clear, ethereal fragrance.

“An angel…”

Fors stared blankly, momentarily forgetting to end the ritual.