"Since I've confirmed the True Creator's stance, I don't have to worry about clashing with the Aurora Order in the future. But I can't let my guard down either. The Ancient Sun God might have been a decent person, but the True Creator has gone mad. A lunatic's goodwill…" Evah chuckled and shook his head, then turned his thoughts to another matter.
'Alright, time to head back to Backlund!'
Tomorrow was the day Xio would introduce him to Beyonders gathering. Barring any surprises, he should be able to meet Mr. A at that event.
While a madman's goodwill warranted caution, it wasn't entirely unusable.
At the very least, the Shepherd's abilities were quite handy.
…
The next day, in Backlund.
When Evah arrived at the agreed-upon meeting point, he saw Xio already waiting there.
"Sorry, I'm late. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Evah said, approaching with a slight apology. He noticed another woman standing beside Xio, someone unfamiliar.
She wore a hooded cloak, leaning lazily against the wall, her face obscured. All he could make out was a glimpse of brown hair under the hood.
In an instant, Evah realized who she was—Fors Wall, the famous Backlund author, future Magician of the Tarot Club, and arguably the luckiest slacker in Lord of Mysteries.
If there was anyone in the future Tarot Club whose powers Evah envied—aside from Mr. Fool himself—Fors Wall was definitely on the list. No particular reason, just that the Traveler's abilities were incredibly useful.
Moreover, due to Mr. Door's influence, wild Beyonders of this pathway were almost nonexistent. If Evah wanted to access Traveler-related abilities, his options were currently limited to buying Traveler-related mystical items or borrowing power from Fors.
After all, he couldn't exactly rely on those two traitorous Abraham family members from the Aurora Order, could he?
Of course, if he got the chance to turn them into mystical items, that'd be another story… Evah's thoughts wandered for a moment before Xio briefly introduced the woman beside her. Likely due to a lack of trust, Xio didn't share Fors' real name, instead using the alias "Duck" to refer to her.
After introducing Fors, Xio handed Evah a hooded cloak and put one on herself. Lowering her voice, she said, "Follow us. When we get there, don't speak out of turn…" She gave a few more instructions before leading Evah and Fors to a waiting carriage nearby.
A few minutes later, the carriage arrived at their destination. The three disembarked and approached an unremarkable wooden door. Xio knocked rhythmically on it, and the door was opened from the inside.
Evah's gaze swept into the room. The space wasn't large, and several people were already seated inside. Most, like them, wore hoods or masks to conceal their identities, though a few—either bold or inexperienced—showed their faces openly.
The most eye-catching figure was seated on a single sofa in the room. Fully cloaked in a hood, the person sat calmly and composedly, silently observing everyone present with an air of superiority.
"This is Mr. A, a powerful Beyonder—at least mid-sequence, possibly even Sequence 6. He's the organizer of this gathering," Xio whispered, her expression slightly serious.
At that moment, Mr. A, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something.
A second later, seemingly done with his "listening," Mr. A abruptly looked up toward Evah.
"He's indeed a very powerful Beyonder," Evah said calmly, meeting Mr. A's gaze without flinching. He could sense the fervor in those eyes—clearly, Mr. A had also received an oracle from the True Creator.
More than that, Evah confirmed something else. In that brief moment of eye contact, Mr. A's favorability toward him had skyrocketed—to the point where Evah could directly borrow the full abilities of a Sequence 6 Rose Bishop.
It might seem like only one sequence higher than Azik's Sequence 7, but the difference was significant. Azik's peak was far higher, so borrowing Sequence 7-level power only required a casual friendship. For Mr. A, whose peak was lower, borrowing Sequence 6 abilities demanded at least one-sided devotion—practically a step away from a life-or-death bond.
Well, damn.
Is this what a fanatic's like?
Evah blinked, then gave Mr. A a faint smile before looking away. His attention shifted to the blackboard in the center of the room. "Is that where we register trade requests?" he asked with interest.
Having finished introducing Mr. A, Xio's focus had already turned to the blackboard. Unaware of the brief interaction between Evah and Mr. A, she scanned the board for her own targets while whispering, "Yes, members can anonymously write their requests on the blackboard—whether you're buying or selling. As a Beyonder, you should understand that many here don't want their identities exposed."
"I get it," Evah nodded, his eyes quickly scanning the blackboard. He spotted names of common spiritual materials, as well as some potion formulas and occult knowledge books up for sale.
"Anything you're looking for?" Fors, who had finished checking the blackboard and sighed in disappointment after finding no Trickmaster potion formula, asked casually.
"I want to buy some spiritual materials to practice ritual magic," Evah said without hesitation. This was, in fact, one of his reasons for attending the gathering.
Thanks to his identity as "Evah Zoroast," he didn't lack foundational occult knowledge, and his high spirituality was enough to support learning and performing various ritual magics. But theory and practice were different beasts. Evah wasn't deeply familiar with this world's ritual magic, so he'd need to invest time in practice.
Evah was well aware that while his "Shadow of Time" ability let him easily borrow others' powers, borrowed strength was still external. From the start, he'd known the flaw in "Shadow of Time"—it relied too heavily on others' favorability. If he fell out with powerful figures and lost access to their strength, he'd be in deep trouble.
And favorability? It was reliable until it wasn't. Brushing it to max was no easy feat either.
Take Mr. A, for example. His favorability could soar because of the True Creator's oracle—but it could just as easily plummet to zero for the same reason.
(End of Chapter)