Chapter 31 - 31: Explosion

Edward suspected he had misheard. For a moment, he was at a loss. "Who?" "Viscount Glaint!" Xio confirmed firmly. "I was surprised too. Aren't you two friends?" "Uh…sort of." To be precise, Viscount Glaint was Audrey's friend. Edward was just riding on Audrey's coattails. He never expected this guy to be so two-faced—acting friendly on the surface while scheming behind his back. What deep calculations…And to think I was even considering returning the favour by getting him an Apothecary formula. "Wait, no!" Strictly speaking, he and Viscount Glaint didn't actually know each other. When they met last time, Edward had been under the effects of Polyjuice Potion, disguised as someone else. "Why would he put a bounty on me?" Xio shook her head. "I only happened to see one of Viscount Glaint's servants inquiring about the status of the bounty." Edward removed his hat and gave a slight bow. "Thank you, Miss Xio. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now." He handed her a slip of paper. "This is the incantation for summoning my messenger. If you have an urgent matter, you can set up a ritual to send me a message." After explaining the summoning method, he emphasized multiple times: "Remember, only use the messenger for urgent matters." "Got it, got it. You've repeated it like three times already," Xio replied, a little exasperated. "…Because it's expensive." Fors, still sprawled lazily on the couch, waved him off with a yawn. "Bye~" ——— Back at the inn, Edward wasted no time and immediately began brewing the Trickmaster potion. Using the same alchemical setup as before, he took a deep breath and started the process, following the standard sequence of auxiliary ingredients first, then the main ingredient. Sizzle! As steam and heat waves surged, the viscous liquid in the cauldron turned scalding hot—only to rapidly cool down in the next moment, condensing into a droplet of pale purple liquid. Once everything settled, Edward carefully poured every last drop into a prepared transparent glass bottle. After confirming that the temperature was stable, he tilted his head back and drank the potion in one gulp. Unlike last time, this felt no different from drinking water. No strange taste, no unusual sensations, no out-of-body experience, no incomprehensible whispers—only the brief flicker of that mysterious door before his eyes. It was almost too calm. Moments later, Edward sensed his total spirituality had roughly doubled. He had successfully advanced to Sequence 8: Trickmaster. Trickmaster granted Edward multiple Beyonder abilities at once: - [Burning]: Burns object(s) with a scarlet flame. - [Freezing]: Freezes the target. - [Fog]: Creates Fog. - [Wind]: Creates a light Wind. - [Flash]: Creates a Flash. - [Electric Shock]: Shocks the target. - [Bounce]: Causes the targeted object to Bounce. And [Tumble]: Makes the ground beneath the target slippery....which looked more like an oddly out-of-place Tripping Charm. "Uh… aren't these just Incendio, Glacius, Nebulus, Ventus, Lumos, Fulmen, and Leglock Jinx?" Edward felt a bit disappointed. He casually tested a few of these abilities, then tried casting some of the corresponding spells from the wizarding world—Incendio, Glacius, and so on. As expected, there wasn't much difference. If anything, magic spells were actually more powerful than these Beyonder abilities. No improvement at all… "Wait a second." The spells he just cast…seemed slightly stronger than before? He immediately cast Incendio again, carefully observing the effect. "This is…the power of the Beyonder abilities stacking onto the corresponding spell?" Edward quickly tested several other spells. As expected, all magic that aligned with the Trickmaster's abilities had increased in power to some extent. He rubbed his chin, deep in thought, a flicker of joy in his eyes. "As I advance further, these abilities will continue to grow stronger…and when combined with magic… " The future looks promising! Besides these abilities, Edward also noticed that his body had become more agile—useful for both casting spells faster and performing sleight of hand to deceive audiences. Pressing his fingers against his temples, he continued digesting the information brought by the potion. The last ability: [Unfettered]—By consuming spirituality, he could break free from control effects. The closer the Sequence levels between him and the opponent, the higher the success rate. As expected! Advancing to Sequence 8 had granted him a completely new ability. Though not as absurd as [Dullness], it was still a god-tier skill in actual combat. First [Dullness], now [Unfettered]—would advancing to Sequence 7 bring another new ability as well? But where were these extra abilities coming from? And ultimately, where would they lead him? For now, there were no answers. ——— This concluded all the abilities granted by Trickmaster. Some were expected delights, some were unexpected surprises, but the real, undeniable gain was the doubling of his spirituality. "Huh? I've already digested half of the Trickmaster potion?" It didn't take him long to understand why. Trickmaster's Beyonder abilities overlapped significantly with magic. Every time he had cast a spell before, he had been unknowingly acting in accordance with Trickmaster's nature, preemptively digesting the potion. The reason he had only digested half was probably due to a key difference: Wizards in the Harry Potter world were supposed to hide themselves as much as possible, avoiding exposure to the non-magical world. Trickmasters, on the other hand, needed to perform in front of an audience and use their abilities to fool people. In other words, Trickmaster requires a crowd. In the original story, Fors had gone to circuses and theatres to act as a Trickmaster. And for Edward…? Should he follow the same path? ——— [Empress Borough—the Luxurious Manor of Earl Hall] "You're already Sequence 8?" Audrey's tone was sour with envy. "It's only been a week! Even though I knew your potion was fully digested upon drinking it, I still can't help but feel jealous. I became a Beyonder so many weeks before you…" "I just got lucky," Edward said, smiling. "You shouldn't be far from advancing either, right?" She sighed. "I still need the pituitary gland of a Rainbow Salamander. I've already written to my brother about it, but I have no idea when I'll get it." Edward consoled her briefly before revealing what he had learned—Viscount Glaint had placed a bounty on him. "Impossible." Audrey's first reaction was disbelief. "Him? He didn't even know you at the time." Edward shrugged. "I can't figure it out either. I'm considering whether I should go along with Miss Xio's plan and turn myself in. That way, I should be able to get to the bottom of this." Audrey's interest was piqued immediately. "I want in!" "Alright, but we're heading to my world tomorrow. We'll plan properly after we get back." Audrey's excitement soared. She pulled a small suitcase from under her bed and grinned. "I've already packed everything. I can just grab this and go." She unzipped the suitcase, revealing an expanded space enhanced by the Undetectable Extension Charm—about the size of a small room. Inside were some basic furnishings: a table, chairs, a cabinet, and a bed… A bed piled high with gold coins and jewellery! Her cheeks flushed slightly. "Th-that's to counteract the side effects of using my wand…" "But where did you even get so many gold coins all at once?" Edward had no doubt that Audrey could afford this amount of gold pounds, but from what he recalled in the original novel, amassing such a large quantity of coins wasn't an easy task. "I…I borrowed them from my father's private vault…" As if to make her reasoning sound more convincing, she raised her voice. "He doesn't even use them anyway! Worst case, I'll just take a little less when I inherit my share of the family estate in the future." "…" Miss Hall, you are truly a filial daughter. Your father is still in his prime, and you're already thinking about your inheritance? What a wonderful child he has! Audrey noticed his expression and immediately puffed out her cheeks. "What are you thinking? I get a generous income every year, okay? I'll pay him back when I get my next allowance!" "By the way," she quickly changed the topic, "how do you manage to retrieve exactly what you need from your extended space? I always have to climb in to search for things." Edward reached into his suitcase and pulled out a single gold coin. "This is just silent, wandless summoning—Accio. You have no idea how long I practised before I could barely manage it. That's also why I haven't expanded the space any further. If it's too large, the objects get too far away, and the spell becomes unreliable." Audrey suddenly understood. "So that's how it works." "Speaking of magic, the situation with the Son of the Evil God gave me an idea. When we go back this time, I want to ask Mr. Ollivander if it's possible to modify wands—maybe turn them into rings. That way, they'd be more convenient and safer to carry around." Audrey, however, glanced at her delicate fingers with concern. "But…what if someone casts Expelliarmus on you? Would they accidentally disarm your entire finger?" "Uh…" Edward froze, scratching his head awkwardly. "Wait, is that the real reason wands were never made into rings?" After having another meal at Audrey's place, he finally returned to the inn. As for the luxurious villa in Empress Borough, he wouldn't be staying there for the foreseeable future. Who knew when the members of the Aurora Order might come knocking? Unfortunately, the prepaid one-year rent was non-refundable. Money…he needed to find a way to make money. As his Sequence advanced, the cost of extraordinary materials would skyrocket. If he wanted to acquire any mystical artefacts, that would be even more expensive. Audrey wouldn't be able to support him forever. Lying in bed, he tossed and turned, brainstorming ways to make money. Should he act as a smuggler between the two worlds? Sell enchanted Undetectable Extension Charm suitcases? Or maybe start selling various potions? The crimson moonlight streamed through the bay window, making his restlessness worse. He even started considering pulling off a heist for a pile of Goblin gold in the Harry Potter world. It was only around two or three in the morning that he finally drifted off to sleep. ——— [Next Day—Noon] [Tingen City, Divination Club] After lunch, Klein arrived at the Divination Club as usual. He planned to take the assessment for Sequence 8, Clown, in the near future, meaning he wouldn't be coming here much longer. Just as he greeted Angelica at the front desk, Kristina hurried over from the lounge. She looked much worse than she had the last time he'd seen her. "Mr. Moretti, Megose has been missing for a week now. I brought a lock of her hair today—could you try divining again?" Klein was surprised. "That's impossible. According to my last divination, she should have made it home long ago." The last time Kristina had informed him of Megose's disappearance, Klein had performed a dream divination. In the vision, he had clearly seen Megose getting lost on the outskirts of Tingen before being picked up and brought home by a kind passerby. "But…she never came back," Kristina said, her eyes filled with confusion. However, she did not doubt Klein's abilities, despite his previous divination seemingly being incorrect. "Could someone have interfered with the divination?" Klein's expression turned serious. He had initially assumed this was just an ordinary missing person case, so he hadn't conducted the divination above the grey fog. But now, it seemed the situation wasn't as simple as he had thought. "Madam Kristina, please wait a moment. I need to…wash my face in the restroom." Klein skillfully made his way to his secret passage, locked the door, and took four steps counterclockwise, ascending above the grey fog. First, he used the pendulum method to determine whether his last divination had been affected by extraordinary interference. The yellow crystal spun rapidly in a clockwise direction—indicating that it had indeed been influenced. Next, he leaned back against the chair, took Megose's hair, and began dream divination. His vision blurred. Klein found himself in a distorted, hazy dreamscape. In the vision, Megose stood in front of a villa, repeatedly knocking on the door. The scene shattered and shifted—Megose was back in front of the same villa, still knocking on the door. The vision shifted again. Megose now stood before an abandoned warehouse, pushing open the heavy wooden doors. Inside, a shadowy figure with indistinct features turned to look at her… At that moment, the vision shattered. A massive, blood-red eye dangled upside-down behind a curtain of darkness. A chaotic, formless whisper gushed forth from the void, crashing over Klein like a tidal wave. Klein—exploded. ——— [Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.