Nero was in shock for a few seconds as he tried to grasp the reason for his appearance in Sefirah Castle. 'How did I end up in Sefirah Castle?!, I have no items connecting me to it. Unless, that lucky bracelet the original Nero wore!'
Nero exclaimed in his heart as he tried to hide his discomfort. But, a new thought arose in his mind. 'How will Sefirah Castle react to another unknown Sefirot close to it?. I don't think it will react warmly!'
But after a few seconds no issues had arose, puzzling Nero. 'Does Sefirah Castle not mind another Sefirot near it?' His doubts kept on growing but before he could continue thinking a deep chuckle emerged from the person seated at the head of the table.
"An Attempt" Klein answered in a deep voice but light tone as if calmly addressing a visitor's question.
Nero was appalled by the sheer shamelessness that Klein displayed. 'Within an instant, he already grasped the situation and started acting. Wow, I truly admire him, thinking back Klein's faceless talent is really promiscuous.
Right after transmigrating, he was able to act like the real Klein and even fooled his family and the Nighthawks; and now this. He really is suitable for the Fool pathway'
"Sir, is this attempt over?; might you permit our return?" a childish and melodious voice rang out in the vast chasms of the grey frog.
Klein chuckled and nodded mildly. "Of course, if you make a formal request, you can return this very moment."
Nero stared at the blonde with a slight smile. 'So this is Audrey, the novel's description didn't do her any justice; wait, that rhymes.'
Nero then turned to the other table and glanced at the blue-haired man. 'So, that's the number one glazer Alger. Wait, I think that rhymes too'
Although Nero could make out their figures, it was deeply concealed with the grey fog and the more he stared, the more the fog concealed their figures.
Audrey then breathed a sigh of relief as he then turned towards them. With an anxious and curious tone she asked: "This is such a wonderful experience... Yes, I have always been hoping that something like this would happen. I mean—I like mysteries and supernatural miracles. No, my point is—what I mean is that, Sir, what can I do to become a Beyonder?"
Audrey seemed to be so excited about the supernatural, that she was practically stumbling over her words at the end of the sentence.
The grey fog soon churned as a number of towering stone pillars manifested around them. Above them was a vast dome that encapsulated them.
This entire edifice looked magnificent, grand and lofty, just like a legendary palace for giants.
Directly under the dome where the gray fog gathered, a long, bronze table appeared with ten high-back chairs on either side in a symmetrical arrangement. The back of each chair dazzled and shone faintly with crimson red, drawing the outlines of weird constellations that differed from reality.
With a tinge of satisfaction, Nero sat at the end of the long bronze table. 'About damn time, my legs were getting tired!' Nero thought as he tried to suppress a yawn which failed miserably, attracting the other participants attention.
Audrey's attention soon shifted towards the pillars as she mumbled under her breath.
Nero tried to admire the stony texture of the table but he was immediately surprised. His body was covered in a stars speckled veil with symbols and words that he didn't recognise. These symbols and letters started giving him a headache the longer he viewed them.
'Is this the manifestation of the Ciphered Realm?, is this veil protecting me from Sefirah Castle's immune system?.' Nero soon wore a smile on his face: 'Neat!' he thought.
While admiring himself, Nero soon heard a pang of voices resounding across the castle. Looking at the seat of honour, Nero could see both Alger and Audrey in discussion.
"If you want to become a Beyonder, join the Churches of either the Evernight Goddess, the Lord of Storms, or the God of Steam and Machinery.
"The majority of us will not meet a Beyonder our entire lives. This has caused churches, and even some clergies within some of the biggest churches, to suspect the same. While this is the case, I am certain to tell you that Beyonders still exist in courts, tribunals, and execution agencies. They are still fighting against the dangers that grow in the dark, only that their numbers are much fewer as compared to before and during the early days of the Iron Age."
Nero didn't pay much attention to Alger's words as he had already learnt all this.
Audrey seemed to be disappointed in Alger's words as she sighed and said: "Mister, I know all about what you just said; I even know more than that, including the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punisher, and the Machinery Hivemind, but I don't want to lose my freedom."
Alger gave a low-sounding laugh, and said vaguely, "You can't become a Beyonder without sacrifices. If you don't consider joining churches and accepting their given challenges, you can only seek the royal families and the few nobles with family histories of more than a thousand years. If not, you can rely on your luck to search for clandestine evil organizations."
Nero nodded and decided it was time to make his presence known. "Yes, what the lackey of the Lord of Storms said is right. The Beyonder world is filled with peril and danger, one cannot become stronger without sacrifices.
Everyone needs to be ready to make sacrifices to be a Beyonder. One cannot become a Beyonder without sacrifices, it may be your family, your friends, your freedom or your self. That is the reality of the Beyonder world.
You might want to become a Beyonder because you think it's all sunshine and rainbows and that it's cool to have magic powers but it's not. You are severely underestimating the Beyonder world, like I've already said the Beyonder world is filled with madness, corruption and destruction. Even the God's cannot escape this, rationality is temporary in the Beyonder world but madness is eternal"
Nero then laughed and continued. "A sequence pathway might very well be a pathway destined to be crazy and filled with despair. But, this is the only path for humans to obtain extraordinary strength. How laughable and ironic it is that we strive to save ourselves only to better yet destroy ourselves."
He then looked towards Audrey's figure: "So, do you still want to be a Beyonder? It's not all fun and games you know. Every Beyonder must make a sacrifice, it might not be now or in the distant future. But, it will happen, so ask yourself this — at that time would you be willing to make the sacrifice necessary?"
Audrey gulped, clearly unsettled by Nero's words. She had been attracted to mysticism because of the gatherings her and the other nobles created to research mysticism.
So, when she had the chance to become a Beyonder she was clearly elated. But, now Nero's words broke her out of the shell, she questioned herself if she could make the sacrifices needed to become a Beyonder.
'If God's could go mad and die, what chance do I have?' Audrey tightened the grip on her dress as these thoughts resounded in her mind.
She grit her teeth and nodded. 'If even God's could go mad, I need to become a Beyonder; so that I can protect Mom, Dad and elder brother. I will sacrifice anything for them' Audrey thought
"Although, I am unsure if I can make the necessary sacrifices. I still want to be a Beyonder to protect the people I love" Audrey said in a pumped voice.
Nero waved his hand. "Suit yourself, I have three Beyonder formula's — Assassin, Hunter, Spectator
By becoming an Assassin, your physical attributes are enhanced and you can see through darkness. You can also conceal yourself within the shadows and concentrate all your strength in one blow.
By becoming a Hunter, you gain knowledge on how to create traps and how to survive in the wilderness. Your physical senses are also heightened along with your senses, you can even sense danger and ill intent.
Last but not least is the spectator, allows you to possess keen observation skills and can allow you to figure out their thoughts. Their mental attributes along with their vision is enhanced."
Nero paused and said amiably. "Which one do you want?"
Audrey was deep in thought, the Assassin potion and Hunter potion did not suit her taste. She was worried she would end up quite bulky and masculine, so the spectator pathway appealed to her more.
She wanted to be the protector of her family from the shadows. So she resolutely said: "I want the spectator potion"
She then hurriedly added: "Mister, how should I pay you for this?."
Nero smiled like a scammer and answered amiably: "Mail 300 pounds to the Mercenary Guild in Backlund, since you're clearly from Backlund and say Mysteries wants it"
Nero knew he was clearly scamming Audrey but it didn't leave a bad taste in his mouth at all. Buying the materials for the Light Supplicant potion made him poorer than Klein.
He needed to make big money, and his totally not plagiarised tarot cards — The Sibylline Tarot Cards would take a few days more to be released in the market.
The Sibylline Cards took almost 3500 pounds to manufacture and made him even more in debt. He even considered faking his death to avoid paying it, but soon dismissed the idea.
He only had around 200 pounds left to pay off. So, he didn't need to take drastic measures, but it took almost 7 months to widdle it down.
Yes, Nero had transmigrated almost a year ago and was only at sequence 8. But, it wasn't his fault; trying to buy the Assassin potion formula and materials without attracting the demoness sect was quite hard.
The Mercenary Guild was also an organisation he joined, so as to digest his Assassin potion faster. The Guild would give out tasks that people found difficult to complete, his codename in that organisation was called Mysteries.
Yes, it was completely original; it was not plagiarised at all. Audrey instantly nodded at his absurd price. "300 pounds right, that's easy for me to gather. But how can you promise me that you can give the potion's formula to me in return for the money and the authenticity of the potion"
Nero gestured to the seat of honour. "As for promises, I think that both you and I can feel rest assured under the witness of the mysterious sir."
Audrey's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Sir, the fact that you brought us here shows that you have tremendous strength unimaginable to us. Neither one of us would dare violate a promise with you as witness. So would you please be a witness to our trade?"
At that moment, she then realized that she was all too impolite, having forgotten all along to ask a particular question. She asked hurriedly, "Sir, how should we address you?"
Klein was taken aback by her question. He gently tapped the bronze table and the contents of the divination that was performed surfaced in his mind.
He leaned back, withdrew his right hand, and crossed his ten fingers, placing them below his chin. He gave the duo a faint smile.
"You can address me as..."
Upon saying this, he paused for a moment. He said amiably and calmly, "The Fool."
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A/N - So, while re-reading LOTM, I realised that Audrey's motivation to protect her family only started after witnessing Qilangos's attack. Before that she was just curious about the Beyonder world and wanted to be a Beyonder because she thought it was cute. So, I've tried to make it so that she realises about the dangers of the Beyonder world early so that she can mature fast.