Apprentice.
This was the sequence path chosen by Ashes.
The reason was simple.
Because the Apprentice was one of the recommended sequences, and this path had some abilities that Ashes was very interested in—
Sequence 9: "Apprentice," can walk through walls.
Sequence 5: "Traveler," can blink (teleport).
Apart from this.
Ashes had considered the Seer, Thief, and Savant paths but ultimately decided against them.
The consideration for the Scholar path was because it's Sequence 9, "Savant," had the core ability to awaken memories.
This was highly tempting for Ashes, who suffered from amnesia.
But in the end, he chose to give it up.
Because his memory loss was not due to 'forgetting,' but because they had been burned away.
He didn't believe that merely a Sequence 9 ability could restore his memories.
Moreover.
His intuition told him that restoring his memories now might not be a good thing.
As for the Thief and Seer paths, he also seriously considered them and finally chose the Apprentice after careful deliberation.
Although divination and thievery seemed good, they were not quite suitable for him.
For him, blinking was more practical.
After he selected his sequence path, Lady Arianna's figure silently disappeared.
She was replaced by the kind-hearted Anthony.
He would prepare and concoct the Apprentice sequence potion for Ashes.
As for where the potion materials came from?
For the Church of the Night, this was obviously not a difficult task.
...
Monday, July 16.
Three days had passed since Ashes returned to Backlund and became an Apprentice.
And today was the 'Tarot Meeting' that The Fool had mentioned to him.
Ashes lay on the bed in his room on the third floor of Saint Samuel's Cathedral, quietly waiting.
...
Above the gray fog, huge stone pillars supported a magnificent temple.
Two blobs of deep red suddenly appeared next to the ancient and mottled bronze long table, blurring into vague human figures.
And next to one of the deep red figures, a tiny flame flickered.
But no one noticed it.
"Tarot Meeting?"
Ashes opened his eyes and looked at the people around him.
The top seat was still occupied by 'The Fool,' and on the same side was a man with messy dark blue hair.
Opposite them was a tall girl with smooth blonde hair.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
The blonde girl spoke in a melodious voice like a cheerful nightingale. She smiled lightly and said, "It's a pity there's no fine wine here; otherwise, we could toast to your success."
"Your power far exceeds our imagination."
Alger Wilson also praised.
Klein, still shrouded in thick gray fog, pressed his right hand lightly and spoke in a steady tone.
"This is the new member, titled 'The Lovers.'"
"This is Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man."
"'The Lovers'?!"
Alger and Audrey were both startled and instinctively looked in the direction indicated by Mr. Fool.
It was not an inconspicuous corner.
The person sat not far from Alger, yet neither of them had noticed anything from beginning to end!
If not for Mr. Fool's guidance, they probably wouldn't have noticed the other party's presence until the Tarot Meeting ended!
"Even though Mr. Hanged Man didn't notice, I'm a spectator now, and I didn't notice either."
Miss Audrey thought to herself while observing Ashes. "This is Mr. Fool's Tarot Meeting, how did he do it?"
Alger felt even more shocked.
He hadn't noticed the other party's presence at such a close distance.
What if the other party had hostile intentions? Wouldn't he have died without knowing why?
Fortunately, this was Mr. Fool's Tarot Meeting, and the other party wouldn't attack him for no reason.
"…"
'The Fool' Klein glanced at the numerous rings on Ashes' fingers, his mouth twitching slightly.
Above the gray fog, he could clearly see the patterns on the rings on Ashes' left hand.
Thanks to his many clearances in the past, he remembered these rings well—
Starting from the thumb, they were the Greedy Gold Snake Ring, the Greedy Silver Snake Ring, the Slumbering Dragon Emblem Ring, the Phantom Limb Ring, and the Silver Cat Ring.
The first two increased 'drop rates,' while the latter three had 'concealment' effects.
The Slumbering Dragon Emblem Ring eliminated sound, the Phantom Limb Ring provided invisibility, and the Silver Cat Ring prevented injury when falling.
Earlier, Ashes had silently removed the Slumbering Dragon Emblem Ring and the Phantom Limb Ring.
Otherwise, even with his guidance, Justice and the Hanged Man wouldn't have noticed Ashes.
Although these were unique rings from the Dark Souls world, they clearly worked in this world too.
High sequences were hard to say.
But at mid to low sequences, any of these rings could be an absolute killer!
Additionally, there were five rings on Ashes' right hand, each with different effects.
Based on this, Klein suspected that Ashes' toes were also covered with rings!
"Damn, I want them too!"
Klein felt a pang of envy.
Others crossed over with max-level equipment, but he had nothing when he crossed over.
Everyone was a transmigrator, so why was there such a big gap between them?
"But being able to bring the rings into the gray fog, that should be the 'backpack' effect, right? Someone once joked that the 'backpack' was a soul space, and now it seems to be true since only the soul comes to the gray fog."
"This also means these rings can function at the soul level."
"And since they can be brought into the gray fog, it means Ashes physical body probably doesn't have rings now."
"No, that's wrong! His physical body can wear other rings!"
"Soul with ten rings, physical body with ten rings, plus toes—forty rings in total."
"Shit!"
The more Klein thought about it, the more envious he became, almost to the point of tears.
Damn, why did he have to see this!
Gray fog, oh gray fog!
Look at others and then look at yourself, can't you be more useful?
"Hello, Mr. Lovers."
Miss Audrey showed a sweet smile, her clear voice ringing in Ashes' ears.
But after greeting him, she suddenly felt something was strange.
Lovers, really...
"Hello."
Alger nodded slightly as a greeting but didn't mention Ashes' title.
It would make him feel awkward.
"Mmm~"
Miss Audrey's face flushed slightly, clearly realizing the problem.
To avoid further embarrassment, she quickly changed the subject, "Mr. Fool, I obtained another page of Emperor Roselle's diary. I think I still owe one page."
"This week, I was far from land and couldn't find new ones."
Hearing this, Alger also immediately stood up, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed forward, expressing his apology.
"Emperor Roselle's diary?"
Ashes frowned slightly.
Since his last conversation with 'The Fool' about Emperor Roselle, he had looked into this person a bit.
After all, it was certain that Roselle was a transmigrator, and knowing more about him couldn't hurt.
And now, another Roselle diary had appeared.
"If."
Ashes slowly spoke, "If I want to obtain these 'diaries,' what price would I have to pay?"
"Eh?"
Audrey looked at Ashes in surprise, and Alger also showed a look of astonishment.
PS: The reason for choosing the Apprentice is simple.
The protagonist is an undead, not lacking in attack methods or spells.
The only things that could be useful to him are foresight (Diviner) and blinking (Apprentice).
Additionally, as an undead, the protagonist always thinks about backstabbing, so blinking is the choice.
This is very reasonable.
PS2: Choosing the Apprentice is also a tribute to the big shot Apprentice.
Yes, that's it.
(End of chapter)