"The deceased was a Transcendent from the Flesh Sequence."
In the cordoned-off Golden Nightingale Tavern, the Night Watchman organization and the Constantinople Police Department's special forces were analyzing the murder that had occurred here a few hours ago. The gunshot that had sounded at the time of the incident was so loud that many nearby residents mistook it for a gas explosion, which is why the first to arrive at the scene was actually the Imperial City fire brigade.
"According to the on-site investigation, the deceased was divided into four piles of flesh and blood, each corner of the room's contents piled on top to suppress them. Due to the absence of special ciphers and symbols, the possibility of a special ritual was ruled out, so the murderer probably did this to prevent the deceased from healing and coming back to life, which is consistent with the characteristics of Flesh II,"
said the detective from the police department.
"Through DNA analysis of the deceased, we found that the deceased was not a citizen of Constantinople, let alone a citizen of the East Solomon Empire, but an illegal immigrant. Additionally, four bullets were recovered from the wall at the scene, corresponding to the four loud sounds reported by residents. The bullets are 15.2 mm in caliber, which is very powerful and has a strong recoil, commonly known as 'elephant hunting bullets,' not something an ordinary firearms novice could use."
"15.2mm..." The Night Watchman captain muttered, "Isn't that supposed to be a sniper rifle bullet?"
"There are a rare few handgun bullets that are 15.2mm as well," the special forces officer added, "like the renowned Imperial Eagle."
"I'll ask the Orthodox Church's Bureau of Economic Affairs to check into it," said the Night Watchman captain.
After a short while, the result finally came out.
"Aske Lebious Achilles." The Night Watchman looked at the information sent by the Church and sneered, "So the victim took their revenge in person, that's conceivable."
"An Lv.0 took down an Lv.2," the special officer also said with emotion, "If this guy wasn't a criminal, I'd really want to recruit him to join the Constantinople Police Department; we are in dire need of such special talents who can use firearms to deal with Transcendents."
"Who says he's a criminal?" the Night Watchman captain shook his head, "Look at the response from Saint Sophia Cathedral, the guy filed a record with the Church in advance and reported a whole family of Vampires. The deceased who was killed this time should be the one that slipped through the net from the last incident; the Church has already issued a wanted poster for the public. In other words, it was Aske who helped the Church kill the fugitive, and the Church even has to pay him a bounty."
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Aske's ancestral home.
"Here is your bounty." The Church's Holy Knights' captain tossed him a package full of money, "Good job, kid. Did you kill a Vampire all by yourself?"
"Luck, that's all," said Aske.
"You won't always be so lucky," the Holy Knights' captain nodded, "Next time you encounter a similar situation, it's advisable to report to the Church first."
"Understood," Aske nodded.
He closed the door behind him. The Holy Knights' captain turned and walked down the steps, and from beginning to end, neither of them mentioned anything about the deceased's Extraordinary Traits.
After walking around the corner, a spy emerged from an alley.
"The Spirit Light appraisal shows he is still Lv.0," the spy reported to the Holy Knights' captain, "He's not a Vampire, but there is indeed undigested Spirituality that has seeped out. It seems he accidentally burst open an Extraordinary Trait and absorbed the Extraordinary Power within."
"That's more likely," said the Holy Knights' captain, "He doesn't possess the Extraordinary Traits of Flesh I; to directly consume the Magic Potion of Flesh II would surely result in a loss of control – not to mention his audacity in going back to his ancestral home. We'll keep surveillance on the doorway for another three days; I'll personally report to the Bishop on this."
Inside the ancestral home, Aske made his way up the staircase to the third-floor study. After entering, four women were sitting spread out on four chairs, waiting quietly for his return.
"Sorry, I had to deal with a little personal matter just now, but that's settled," Aske said.
"The Church's people?" Medea asked, "I sensed a strong Spirituality from them."
The others tensed up immediately. The East Solomon Empire's Orthodox Church's attitude towards Transcendents, though not as extremely hostile as that of the Western Solomon Church, was not particularly friendly. Peggy, in particular, was prepared to jump out the window if things went south.
"They were delivering my bounty," Aske said with a smile, "As a reward for killing a Vampire."
"You've killed a Vampire?" Eleanor said in surprise, obviously aware of how terrifying Vampires could be. Nora's gaze fixed strangely on Peggy, wondering what relation the Vampire who was killed had with Peggy.
"Let's not talk about that," Aske diverted the topic. "Since you're here, does that mean you've decided? You still plan to become Transcendents, right?"
"Yes," Nora and Eleanor said in unison.
Two ordinary people wishing to become Transcendents... Medea stared at the two of them, her thoughts racing before she suddenly chuckled coquettishly.
"If you wish to become Transcendents, I have the recipe for a Mind Sequence Magic Potion."
"Mind Sequence?" Nora asked excitedly. "What exactly does that ability entail?"
"Mind I allows a Transcendent to detect the presence of nearby Mind Bodies," Medea explained slowly while Nora pulled out pen and paper, quickly starting to take notes. "It also gives the Transcendent the ability to communicate with nearby Mind Bodies—that is, the legendary Telepathy. A Transcendent can initiate or terminate telepathy at will, without needing the consent of the other Mind Body. During telepathy, they can also subtly influence the other party."
"May I ask, what is a Mind Body?" Nora looked up, her eyes twinkling with the light of curiosity.
"This involves hidden knowledge, and knowledge isn't free," Medea hesitated. "Fifteen pounds."
Fifteen pounds—that's the annual salary of a middle-class family. Nora didn't even blink; she immediately pulled out two banknotes from her purse and quickly handed them to Medea.
Is this woman truly wealthy, not caring about the price of fifteen pounds? Or is her nature to decisively spend money, willing to invest in extraordinary knowledge? Medea's thoughts fluctuated, and for a moment, she found she couldn't see through the other party. If only she had the Extraordinary Trait of Conspiracy I, she might have been able to understand clearly, she thought regretfully.
"Normal humans can be divided into three layers, from the outside to the inside: the Life Body, the Spiritual Body, and the Mind Body," Medea started explaining after accepting the fifteen pound notes. "The Life Body includes the physical body and the soul. The Spiritual Body, in a broader sense, refers to the soul, which encompasses the unconscious and the conscious."
"The so-called unconscious refers to information stored in parts of the brain other than the cerebral cortex. For example, breathing. People breathe all the time, but have you ever consciously maintained your breathing? The action of breathing is controlled by the cerebellum and doesn't require your maintenance. Or take the famous knee-jerk reflex: a tap to the knee causes the leg to bounce. This response is stored in the spinal nerve—that's the unconscious part of the Spiritual Body."
"As for the conscious, it is the product of cerebral cortex activity, this part is called the Mind Body, which is essentially the existence of the self that you are aware of. The mystical scholar Freud believes the Mind Body, the self, can be divided into three parts: the id, the super-ego, and the true self."
"The id refers to the influence that the physical body has on the Mind Body, such as some people who are born with a genetic defect that prevents them from secreting certain hormones, leading to a propensity for aggression and loss of control. This irritable temperament belongs to the id and is a constitutional influence brought by the physical body."
"The super-ego represents the influence of education and environment acquired later in life, for instance, if a child is repeatedly frightened and told that the world is very dangerous, they might grow up to have a timid and conservative character; this is part of the super-ego."
"If you remove the parts of the id and the super-ego from the self, what's left is the true self. The true self is the most mysterious core within the Mind Body, and no one has studied its origin to date. Freud's student Jung mentioned in 'Psychodynamic Theory' that the true self is the trait that most represents oneself. If a person dies, the id stays within the decaying body, the super-ego sinks into the sea of the collective unconscious, and the true self disappears. Freud suspects that the true self might be a projection of a higher dimension, returning to a higher dimensional plane upon death."
"I heard that some Transcendents from the Undead Sequence can resurrect the dead?" Nora asked curiously. "But the Solomon Church has said the resurrected aren't truly the original deceased, is it because they lack the true self?"
"That's correct," Medea nodded. "The simple revival ability of the Undead only brings back a body with the id, which results in an undead that is confused and witless. Some relatives might request a higher sequence Mind Ability User to retrieve the deceased's super-ego from the collective unconscious and place it into the body, allowing the deceased to have reason and memory just like before, capable of conversation and interaction."
"However, without the true self, the deceased cannot comprehend their own death and thus lack emotions and spirituality. Given enough time, they easily fall into madness or can be possessed by other malevolent Spiritual Bodies," Medea concluded. "The Fourth Epoch has seen several famous tragedies where relatives of the deceased allowed them to continue living in the home only to be eventually killed by them after they went mad."
Nora visibly shuddered, a chilling feeling creeping up her spine. Nevertheless, she overcame her fear and quickly jotted down the knowledge of the Mind Body in her notebook.
"So, if one takes the Mind I Magic Potion, they can influence someone else's Mind Body?" Nora continued to ask.
"Exactly," Medea affirmed with a nod. "However, I only have the recipe for Mind I. The recipes for the higher sequences of Mind Magic Potions and combinations of other Sequences will have to be found by yourself."
"Oh," Nora uttered, confused. Then as if remembering something, she looked at Aske and said, "Mr. Aske, do you have any suggestions on this matter?"
"Transcendents progress from level 0 to 10, each time a Magic Potion is taken, the level advances by one," Aske advised. "Magic Potions of different Sequences generally conflict with one another, leading to loss of control and mutations. Therefore, the Sequence of your first Magic Potion needs careful consideration as it determines which other Potion Sequences you can take later on, as well as what your Final Bloodline will be like at level 10. I suggest you choose your desired Final Bloodline first, then choose the corresponding Magic Potion according to that bloodline path."
"This is the ideal scenario," Medea interjected with a sneer, interrupting him. "In reality, except for the Solomon Churches of the East and West, complete bloodline paths are controlled by a few secretive extraordinary organizations. Unless you're from an ancient Extraordinary Family, how could you possibly come into contact with a complete bloodline path at level 0 as an ordinary person?"
"My advice is to choose a Magic Potion Sequence that you like most. After becoming a corresponding Transcendent, then search for a bloodline path that includes this Sequence, as well as the corresponding other Magic Potion Sequences. Keep in mind, many people don't even have the opportunity to choose their first sequence—they have to grasp the only straw they have to become a Transcendent—at least the available Magic Potion recipe isn't their favorite."
Aske smiled but said nothing. It's like that for you NPCs, but you don't know the power of the player forum.
"Mr. Aske," seeing the slight curve at the corner of his mouth, Nora seemed to understand something, and immediately asked tentatively, "do you by any chance have a complete bloodline path?"