Jace walked out of the shabby building.
He looked around while adjusting his suit and chose a direction to walk in.
Currently, he had 800 pounds in his breast pocket, which he had gotten from Natalie for the Sequence 7 Psychiatrist formula.
As a Seer, he had foreseen this. He and Sarah likely advanced around the same time, so they should have digested the potion at the same time, but Sarah likely didn't digest her potion yet and was just preparing.
He also figured out the relationship between Natalie and Sarah; they were lovers.
As for the reason? Well, there were a few. First, Natalie was a strong and peculiar woman, in this age with her demeanor, it wasn't hard to figure out that she likely didn't like men.
Second, Sarah fit the description of someone who would be Natalie's lover—she was a pretty, delicate, and seemingly innocent girl who would match Natalie, who was strong and sharp.
Of course, Jace didn't believe that she was actually innocent because Spectators were anything but innocent.
'perhaps she was before becoming a Beyonder', he thought.
And third, it was a divination. Since he had met them personally, he could perform divinations about them with ease, and he had dream-divined about their relation.
In the dream, there were signs of love, companionship, and intimacy.
But all that was irrelevant information.
For now, he had to focus on himself and the potion digestion.
Jace's speed of digestion for the Clown potion was extremely fast, but that was because he had totally given in to the acting.
He shook his head and sighed; the whole process of digesting had taken a toll on his mental well-being.
But digestion for the Magician potion was going to be kind of fun for him; he had figured out a few ways for him to act as well.
He also realized that in the book, Klein never really acted literally; when he was a Magician, he only performed when hunting Beyonders and doing missions.
But Jace was going to do it differently; he was literally going to act and hunt Beyonders as well.
Right now, he had walked out of the shabby environment and was currently in the streets of the North Borough.
The North Borough was basically an upgrade of Cherwood; this was the home of people of the upper-middle class.
So, this was a really good area—a good area to act.
He looked around and asked for directions.
After walking for several minutes, he finally arrived at his destination.
It was a school.
He approached the iron gates where a grumbling watchman sat in a small booth.
Jace stopped, straightened his coat, and offered a warm, professional smile.
He played the part of an aspiring traveling entertainer perfectly, assuring the guard he had a tentative appointment with the principal to discuss a "cultural enrichment program."
The guard, perhaps softened by Jace's polite demeanor and the promise of a quiet day, nodded and buzzed him through.
He walked into the main building and made his way to the principal's office.
Jace knocked.
A voice came from inside, "Come in!"
He walked in and introduced himself.
"Hello, sir. I'm Harrison Houdini, you can call me Harry!" Of course, he gave a fake name.
"Hello, Harry, please take a seat." The principal, a pleasant man in his 50s named Mr. Henderson, looked up from his ledger.
Jace portrayed himself as a new beginner magician who had just learned some new skills and wanted to perform professionally on stage.
He claimed he had no experience whatsoever, so he wanted to start by performing for small groups—and what was better than performing for children and teenagers?
He spun a convincing tale about wanting to refine his showmanship away from the rowdy crowds of the East End.
The principal, after some persuasion, agreed and asked a teacher to escort him to a class that was having a free period.
__
After walking into the class, he introduced himself cheerfully, told them a bit about himself, and began the magic show.
The students, initially rowdy and inattentive, quieted down as Jace stepped to the front.
He started by fanning a deck of cards, making them vanish into thin air with a flick of his wrist, and then—to the gasps of the back row—pulled the entire deck out from behind a student's ear.
He followed this with a coin trick, making silver sovereigns appear to crawl over his knuckles like living things before they dissolved into his palm.
He burned a few playing cards, only to later show that they were completely intact—he was, of course, using his illusion power to mask the real ones.
That fully captured the students' attention.
He then took his hat and 'wand,' which was his cane, muttered some mundane incantations, and a white pigeon flew from his hat! That, too, was an illusion.
He continued this for several minutes, mostly using his illusion abilities and nimble hands, weaving a story about the wonders of the world through his tricks.
__
Jace stepped out of the school and looked around; it was mid-afternoon.
As it turns out, performing for people was more tiring than he realized.
Jace was an introverted and soft-spoken guy, so he never really had a habit of talking to people or having their eyes constantly on him.
But he was lacking a bit when it came to performing; it was likely his showmanship. Hopefully, it would get better with more performances.
Other than that, the result of his performance was immediate, as he felt the potion digest a little bit.
He continued walking around, looking, and contemplating things.
In the evening, when there was still light in the sky, Jace was at a plaza.
The streets here were filled with people. There was pleasant lighting everywhere; the place seemed perfect for a little performance.
Looking around, Jace found the right place on the walkway around the street, got there, and prepared himself.
He took a big breath in and shouted like a street vendor.
"Hello! Hello! Hello! Have you ever seen a real magician perform? If not, then gather around! Today, I will show you what a true magician's apprentice can do!"
He called out to people. He said "apprentice" because he looked young.
The people just turned their heads in intrigue but kept walking, so he decided to add a little flare.
He threw his one gloved hand in the air and said, "I assure you that the tricks you will see h—oh, f**k—"
His hand that was above his head burst into flames.
He panicked for a moment before stuffing the hand into his coat and trying to extinguish the fire.
He removed his hand from the coat; it was smoking a bit, but there was no fire.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he looked up, only to see that now he had caught people's attention, and some were even laughing at his fumble.
Jace smiled wryly and laughed awkwardly. "Haha—th-that was j-just a mishap. Let me show you guys a real trick—"
Yep, that was the personality he was showing—a clumsy apprentice trying to make it on his own.