Outside room 2016 of the Hat Trick Inn at 22 Hope Street, Cherwood Borough.
Fors directly walked through the wall to get there without attracting anyone's attention. Then, following the agreed-upon rhythm, she knocked her knuckles on the door.
Shortly after, Dorian Gray Abraham, broad-shouldered, thick-armed, and dressed in a formal black suit, unlocked the door and turned the handle.
This gentleman quickly glanced left and right, made way, and let Fors in.
"I truly didn't expect you to become a 'Record Keeper' so quickly…" After closing the door, Dorian cautiously checked the lock before turning around and sighing in admiration.
By the standards of this era, he was already considered middle-aged or elderly, yet he remained stuck at Sequence 7 "Astrologer" without any hope of advancement.
His student, Fors Wall, had gone from Sequence 9 to Sequence 6 in just about a year.
The contrast between the two inevitably stirred a feeling of lament in Dorian, filling him with quiet sorrow.
The bloodline of the Abraham family was supposed to be noble and enviable, but now it had become a heavy curse, discouraging him.
"It's all thanks to your excellent guidance, teacher," Fors said. Although Fors didn't like to go out and preferred staying at home, she was also a bestselling author who occasionally received invitations from nobles to attend high-society literary and artistic salons. She certainly knew how to speak, and she had indeed received a lot of help from her teacher, be it knowledge, money, formulas, or ingredients.
Dorian glanced at her and shook his head with a smile: "It's not like I have only taught you. In my memory, there is only one other person who can match your rate of advancement."
He paused for a moment, then continued: "Next, your goal is Sequence 5 'Traveler', and I have higher expectations for you. I hope you can obtain divinity and become Sequence 4 'Mystery Pryer'. "Of course, I also have a request. When you truly become a demigod, try praying to a certain hidden existence, listen to Its response, and figure out what It is saying. "It does carry some danger, but for a Sequence 4 demigod, they have enough ability to withstand it. Without other factors, it shouldn't cause any problems."
"Teacher, is this answer very important to you?" Fors pretended to be curious and puzzled, even though she knew very well what it was all about.
Dorian was silent for a few seconds, then let out a long sigh: "Very important. My parents, my brothers, my sisters, my children… so many people have paid with their lives in pursuit of this answer, but gained nothing… "Don't worry. The reason we paid such a heavy price is that there is an ancient curse hidden in our family's bloodline. You and I are not related by blood. "I don't expect to find a way to break the curse through that answer in my generation, but I want to know where it originated, to understand the true cause of my death…"
Having said this, Dorian took a breath and stopped talking.
For some reason, Fors intuitively felt the immense weight accumulated over a thousand years, generation after generation.
She could hardly imagine the pain of having one's ancestors, parents, brothers, sisters, and children all die directly or indirectly because of the same curse.
Thinking of how her teacher had taken care of her—having only received this kind of care and concern from an elder in recent years—Fors blinked, lowered her head slightly, and nodded firmly: "I will do my best."
Dorian withdrew his melancholy, nodded lightly, and said: "The most commendable thing about you is your kindness."
Fors felt a little embarrassed and shifted the conversation to a word her teacher had just mentioned: "Family?"
She remembered that her teacher had never told her about the Abraham family. He had falsely claimed that he, Laurence, Annisa, and the others were members of a secret organization.
— To distinguish between what her teacher had told her and what she had learned at the Tarot Club, Fors had carefully organized her thoughts before going out, lest she accidentally blurt out something she wasn't supposed to know.
Dorian simply replied: "To solve the curse problem, my family members all joined that organization."
He then swiftly changed the subject: "Why the sudden move this time?"
"I was targeted by official Beyonders." Fors first told half the truth, then complained about the postman.
Dorian said no more. Avoiding Fors, he set up a ritual and summoned the music-loving void creature Marmos, making it spit out three items.
First was a crystal that was transparent to the point of being unreal; second was an ancient piece of parchment; and third was a small hunter's backpack.
"This is a Beyonder characteristic left behind by a 'Traveler'. With this, you won't need to collect the main ingredients separately. This is the 'Traveler' potion formula. Inside this backpack are the corresponding supplementary ingredients. If you can't find a good way to preserve them, try to fully digest the 'Record Keeper' potion within half a year. Otherwise, their spirituality will be completely lost…" Dorian handed all the items to Fors.
"Thank you, teacher," Fors said sincerely.
Then, she unfolded the parchment, quickly scanned the potion formula, and focused on the ritual: "Set up special coordinates at four completely different, far-apart locations deep within the Spirit World."
"What is the purpose of this ritual?" Fors thought for a few seconds before seeking her teacher's advice.