The two eyeballs of Butis had darkened to a deep black; they were frozen in an indescribable terror, so that merely the sight of them set Klein's heart beating uneasily, as if he could feel the violent shifts of emotion the other had endured before death.
After examining them, and supplementing his examination with «Divination», Klein confirmed that the two eyes did not contain any extraordinary characteristic, but they harboured a strong contamination and a power of origin unknown — they could serve as a medium for curses and could likewise affect a target directly. They were a category of spiritual material whose «term of effect» was particularly long, and which was quite dangerous.
«They cannot be carried for long, lest my own mind grow enfeebled — daily nightmares, distortion of the body…» Klein summoned a square iron box and placed Butis's two eyeballs within.
He did not attempt purification: once the object was destroyed and the contamination dispelled, nothing would remain — too great a waste.
Since the «Star
The result of his «Divination» came as something of a pleasant surprise: it was what is called a «spatial» object.
The pouch, by its outward appearance, could admit no more than the hand of a grown man, but in actuality it could hold a space about the size of the two-room flat in which the Moretti family had first lodged in Tingen — a great deal could be stowed within.
It was made by Butis using the abilities of a «Mystery Magician»; in essence, the pouch was not the object itself but a point of ingress and egress.
«…First, by means of the 'Spatial Hiding' ability, one twists out and isolates a stretch of region within the Spiritual World; then, taking advantage of the fact that the Spiritual World and reality are overlaid and chaotic, so that with the correct coordinates one can reach a destination directly, one opens the 'door' of that hidden region within this pouch…
«This is very like the method by which the 'Box of Yesterdays' is sealed, save that one 'door' is in the Spiritual World and the other in reality. Hence the negative effects of any sealed artefact or wondrous item within the 'spatial pouch' may equally affect the carrier…
«By this account, its utility is not great; it cannot remove the negative effects… Moreover, in the God-Forsaken Land I cannot link to the Spiritual World, so this pouch is useless to me here…
«Furthermore, the strength of the 'Spatial Hiding' must be reinforced at intervals, or it will gradually fail… It suits only a demigod of the 'Apprentice' pathway, or an organisation supported by such a demigod or by sealed artefacts on that pathway…
«'Spatial pouch' is too crude a name; I do not know how Butis originally called this object… let us call it 'the Traveller's Pouch'…» Having determined its degree of danger, Klein conjured forth a false hand and dipped it into the black pouch.
With a clatter, a heap of gemstones of every variety poured forth as the false hand withdrew, falling upon the mottled long table; in an instant, the bright fire-red, deep blue, jade green, pale white, deep black and crystal-clear filled Klein's eyes.
«…I ought to have foreseen as much… The materials corresponding to the 'Apprentice' pathway are gemstones — all manner of gemstones…» Klein's expression grew at once livelier; he chuckled, sighing a couple of times, then with his other hand picked up several stones and felt their weight and substance.
Besides these, the «Traveller's Pouch» also held no small quantity of spiritual materials — some of the common sort, some rather rare.
«'Box of Yesterdays', the extraordinary characteristic of a 'Mystery Magician', nine 'Star Worms', Butis's eyeballs, the 'Traveller's Pouch', a great deal of gemstones and materials… this operation may be reckoned a good harvest, enough for all to share…
«A pity that Butis was able to 'record' extraordinary abilities and certain states, so he had no need to carry too many sealed artefacts or wondrous items on his person — the more he carried, the more the negative effects would touch him… As a demigod he must have had a few fine sealed artefacts; one cannot say whether they lie hidden somewhere in the Spiritual World or in the headquarters of the
Klein shook his head and at once returned to the real world, found a screened spot, set the hurricane lamp down and laid out a rite of beseeching and bestowal.
He wished to try whether he could fetch «0—61» — that is, the «Box of Yesterdays» — into the God-Forsaken Land.
If he could, he could «toy-ify» the whole of Silver City, place it within the first stratum of that sealed artefact, and dispatch it to the outside through the «Sacrifice and Bestowal» rite directly; that would amount to bypassing the «
After much bustling, his preparations completed, Klein thrust out his right hand and drew, from the air, another self; his true body leapt into the mists of history and hid all the way back into the chinks before the First Epoch.
He did so out of concern that, when the «Box of Yesterdays» passed through the «Door of Sacrifice and Bestowal», the self standing beside it might die at random.
Within a shard of light in the depths of the grey-white mist, Klein took four steps backward, returning Above the Grey Fog, and himself answered his own prayer.
When the mysterious, ancient «Door of Sacrifice and Bestowal» had taken shape and had slowly opened, Klein beckoned and drew over the «Box of Yesterdays», wrapped in layer upon layer of power; he tossed it into the crack of the illusory door, into the deep, boundless darkness behind it.
Just then, that void darkness suddenly took on substance, as though forming an invisible barrier; it blocked the «Box of Yesterdays» just where it had passed through the great two-leafed door, so that it hung there, unable to go on.
Klein, brow knit, looked upon the scene and tried to pry at the power of «Origin Fortress», pushing with the strength of an angel; yet he could not make the «Box of Yesterdays» break that barrier.
«…As I suspected — there is a seal upon 'the God-Forsaken Land'. It is only that I, being closely bound with 'Origin Fortress', can use it to make some response; but that cannot exceed a certain limit.» Klein nodded by the smallest of margins, drew the «Box of Yesterdays» back, and tossed it onto the heap of sundries.
Then he made manifest «World» Gehrman Sparrow, and had this false figure relate the full intelligence about the «Box of Yesterdays» to Lady «Hermit» and Lady «Justice».
This was to remind them that they must, within twenty-four hours, retrieve the «Box of Yesterdays» into reality and release «Magician» Forsi.
Among other things, Klein bid Lady «Justice», before petitioning for the bestowal of the «Box of Yesterdays», to remember to sacrifice top-grade ice cream to the bonded of a certain «Snake of Destiny». As for «Hermit»
……