How am I going to get the Magician recipe? Mrs. Hathway hasn't returned yet…
But Mrs. Hathway told me before that they performed a ritual by communicating with other entities to understand some Orders and note their potion recipes, could I perform that ritual.
Lumian thought inwardly as he walked toward the faculty.
Lamenti, Moonlight Watchers Faculty.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw the beautiful Lury behind the counter, looking straight at him.
"Ah… how fate always brings us together," Lumian said aloud this time.
Lury looked slightly confused by the statement but simply waved a hand. "Good evening, Lumian. Where have you been?"
Lumian smiled as he walked closer. "I've been busy. Just came back from home."
"That's good," she replied with a small smile. "You should head upstairs and settle in. When you come back, we'll talk, I have a very important gist~"
Lumian chuckled and walked away.
At that moment, a strange sound began to echo in his ears.
Scratch… zing… quink…
It was like a cassette being devoured, or nails scraping against glass. The pain pierced through his head, and he suddenly dropped into a squat, clutching it tightly.
What's going on? I thought I'd already completed my law…
Wait, could it be because when I finished performing my role, I got a law, and now that I've completed it… there's nothing left stabilizing me?
It's like a game error… At this rate… I might explode.
I need to advance—fast.
Concerned, Lury quickly stepped out from behind the counter. "Lumian, what happened?"
"Go call the captain," Lumian said urgently.
After a few moments, loud footsteps echoed from the stairs as Hargreaves and Derrick rushed down, Lury following behind them with a shocked expression.
Hargreaves looked at Lumian and asked urgently, "Lumian, what's wrong?"
Scratch… zing… quink…
Lumian couldn't hear anything at all. Guessing the captain was asking about his condition, he forced himself to speak. "Captain… I think I need to advance. If I don't… I might die right now."
Derrick, his brown hair neatly combed, rubbed his chin and murmured, "I've never seen a situation like this before… could this be another implication?"
Hargreaves sighed, a trace of pain in his expression, before turning to Derrick. "Call Mrs. Hathway. We need the potion formula."
"Just two months… Captain, are you sure?" Derrick asked.
"What else can I do?" Hargreaves replied. Inwardly, he let out a sigh as he looked at Lumian. Lumian… please don't turn into a curse.
Derrick nodded and stepped aside, making a brief call. When he returned, his expression was serious.
"Follow me."
Lury helped Lumian to his feet, but as she did, she noticed a trickle of blood oozing from his ears… and his eyes.
Skywalker… Hargreaves said inwardly.
Instantly, they rushed Lumian to the alchemy room.
...
The moment they entered the room, they were followed by two unofficial members dressed in suits, each holding a pistol.
Lumian was quickly seated on a chair as Derrick immediately began preparing the mixture.
Recalling the ingredients, he muttered inwardly as he worked:
100 ml of Midnight Fog… the cobweb of a blind spider… 2 grams of sun-dried flower powder… 10 ml of holy water…
Taking a steady breath, he began.
First, he poured in the holy water, allowing it to sizzle for a few moments.
Then, opening a sealed container, he added the Midnight Fog. Immediately, the surrounding objects began to shift, swaying as though part of some unseen performance.
With practiced ease, he added the cobweb.
Poof!
The white mixture churned violently. Within the swirling colors, the liquid began to move animatedly.
Wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, Derrick added the sun-dried flower powder.
Immediately, a chill spread through the room, followed by faint, eerie chuckles echoing in the space.
Then, the liquid suddenly condensed and rose upward.
Poof!
In the next moment, everything returned to normal.
The potion settled, revealing a shimmering rainbow color, an unmistakable sign of success, for a phase 8 potion.
...
Derrick cast his gaze over the potion, noticing the effervescence of colors gradually fading, revealing a deep red-and-blue liquid beneath.
Without hesitation, he scooped a portion into a tube and turned toward Lumian, who was clutching his head in pain.
"The potion is ready."
Hargreaves and Lury felt their chests tighten as the unofficial members checked their pistols before securing them again.
Even Derrick felt a trace of unease. He was usually nonchalant and indifferent toward Lumian, but he still didn't want any of his colleagues, or anyone close, to turn into a mindless and emotional beast.
Taking a steady breath, he composed himself and brought the tube to Lumian's lips, as Lumian sensing the liquid had already brought his hands down and steadied himself.
Slowly, Derrick let the liquid drip in, bit by bit.
The moment it entered Lumian's body, a surge of intense heat spread through his esophagus.
An incomparable pain tore through his body.
Looking inward, Lumian felt as though everything within him was being dismantled and remade. The flow of his blood turned chaotic—currents colliding, merging, and tearing through him as if the potion was rewriting his very existence.
His bones trembled under the strain, as though they were no longer needed, while strange, condensed masses of energy formed within him—only to burst apart and spread through his system in streaks of deep blue.
In the next instant, his body absorbed it all. Amidst the overwhelming pain, Lumian suddenly realized something, he could actually control the liquids and everything in his body. It was not like the pressure control, it was more like he could control the movements of his heart, blood and various other organs.
After a moment, he tilted his head back, drawing the attention of the unofficial members.
They quickly raised their guns, aiming for his head, but suddenly, Lumian eyes which had lost its luster in the process of drinking the potion, suddenly became brown once more.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, it was as if the Magician's act had been completed, and a new phase had begun.
Lumian had finally reached phase 8.
...
They stared at Lumian in shock.
But almost immediately, Lury, her eyes slightly reddened, stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
Derrick, who had been visibly tense, finally relaxed, though a slight frown remained on his face. "Lumian… what happened to you back there? Is this another implication of a potion?"
Lumian gave a faint smile, then his expression turned serious as he explained everything he knew about the concept of laws.
Hargreaves, who had remained silent all this while, suddenly spoke. "Laws… where did you hear that from?"
"A close friend," Lumian replied, deliberately leaving out the name.
Derrick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've actually seen something like that in the Book of Revelation. Mrs. Hathway and I came across it once… If this is true, we need to report this to the main branch."
"No," Hargreaves cut in immediately. "We're not reporting anything. If we do, Lumian might be taken for questioning… or worse."
Derrick paused, then nodded. He signaled for the unofficial members to leave.
They let out quiet sighs before exiting the room.
Perform your role… obtain a law… it may vary… complete the law and advance quickly… Derrick noted inwardly.
Hargreaves glanced at Lumian, still being held by Lury, and smiled. "Lumian… why don't you try out your new abilities?"
...
Hearing that, Lumian felt somewhat excited, as he stood up, carefully moving away from Lury.
But I wonder… what could be the side effects of a Magician? Lumian thought inwardly as he stepped back slightly and threw a punch.
Kacha!
Lumian's fist exerted much force on the surrounding environment. He smiled and continued swinging his fists. At the same time, his mind seemed to fall into a strange calm, as he instinctively understood all his new attributes.
One of them was misdirection.
He realized he could subtly shift people's attention away from himself. His footsteps could become as light as a feather, making him strangely difficult to notice.
The second was a spiritual sleight of hand. In simple terms, he could make a card vanish, make it appear elsewhere, or even switch places with objects he had recently touched.
Lumian smiled, clearly pleased with his abilities as he continued punching.
Hargreaves looked at the newly advanced Magician trying various things and smiled faintly.
Lumian also realized he could create flames and even water to some extent. Although the quantity was very small, he could still ignite flames onto objects.
He suddenly stopped and looked at his hand thoughtfully.
I'm also quite flexible… I feel like I can stretch my hand a short distance. Reminds me of Lacey… sigh.
At the same time, he noticed he could also create short illusions.
...
Hargreaves wanted to ask about the close friend Lumian had mentioned earlier, but after a brief moment of thought, he chose not to press further.
At that same moment, he heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs.
Turning toward Lury, he said, "Lury, it seems someone has arrived. Go and check."
Lury nodded with a smile and quickly headed downstairs.
Lumian, meanwhile, nodded to himself before asking,
"Captain, what do you think I can do to act as a Magician?"
"Go on stage," Hargreaves replied immediately with a chuckle.
Hearing that, Derrick couldn't help but laugh lightly as well before rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
But thinking about it carefully," Derrick added, "I think acting as a Magician means one has to adapt, understand fate, deceive perception and so on."
Lumian nodded slowly.
"So it's basically in the sense of a role of a real Magician."
As he spoke, Lumian activated his Mystic Eyes.
Almost instantly, he noticed something different.
People were no longer glowing in various colors like before. Instead, what appeared before him were organized profiles layered over their figures.
Previously, profile reading and color reading had been separate abilities.
But now… it seemed both had fused into one.
He wanted to inspect Hargreaves and Derrick's profiles further, but before he could, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairs.
Lury returned, breathing heavily."Captain…" she said urgently. "Reverend Celeste is here."