In Pritz Harbour, inside a warehouse that was being rebuilt.
After a few days, Fors once again met her teacher,
"Are you ready?" Dorian asked in a deep voice.
During their previous meeting, he had already told Fors the ritual requirements for Sequence 4 "Mystery Pryer" of the Apprentice pathway, asking her to prepare in advance.
"Almost... I should be able to meet the requirements..." Fors replied, not sounding very confident.
The advancement ritual for "Mystery Pryer" was relatively simple, but this "simple" was the opposite of "complex," not the other end of "difficult." As far as Fors was concerned, she would have preferred something else.
The ritual required the advancing Beyonder to seal a demigod-level creature with clear hostility. The less external help, the better the ritual's effect. As for the target's rank, as long as it wasn't below demigod, anything would do without materially affecting the ritual.
Hearing his student's reply, Dorian nodded slightly.
"That's enough. That ritual is really too difficult for a Sequence 5 Beyonder relying purely on themselves. Asking for some help is essential, but you must grasp the extent and not exceed the corresponding limit, otherwise the ritual will definitely fail."
The advice he had given Fors before was to only borrow one Grade 1 sealed artefact, and preferably not even ask for help from a saint.
Fors said somewhat vaguely:
"I only plan to make a wish to Mr. Fool, a wish to increase the success rate of the advancement after consuming the potion. This is closer to getting good luck when consuming the potion, rather than receiving blessing when sealing that demigod creature.
"Besides this, I will use that painting you mentioned, teacher."
That painting was not the Grade 0 sealed artefact "God's Painting Scroll," but a Grade 1 sealed artefact belonging to the Abraham family, called the "Demon Painting."
In the Fourth Epoch, when the Abraham family still had many members advancing to Sequence 4 "Mystery Pryer," they created that "oil painting" to seal the corresponding demigod-level creatures.
However, after the attack by the
His original plan was to release a completely mad demigod-level creature, acting purely on instinct, from the "Demon Painting" as the target for his student's ritual. This was incomparably easier than dealing with a rational and wise saint, and it fully met the ritual's requirements. But he hadn't expected Fors to plan on directly borrowing the "Demon Painting" itself.
Dorian frowned slightly and warned,
"The 'Demon Painting' itself only has the effect of imprisonment and sealing. It doesn't have the ability to actively influence the target. In other words, you have to stuff the demigod-level creature into the 'Demon Painting' yourself."
Fors nodded, indicating that she knew this:
"Teacher, you said that one's own 'Record' ability doesn't count as external help."
"Right." Dorian Gray gave a very definite reply.
If one's own "Record" ability counted as external help, then almost no "Traveler" could advance. After all, "Record" was the core ability of the Apprentice pathway before becoming a demigod. If it were "abolished," Fors would be left with nothing but escape-related abilities, making it very difficult for her to do anything to an enemy.
"Theoretically yes, but you can only record at most four or five demigod-level abilities..." Dorian said, not entirely at ease.
Before he finished speaking, he thought of that Mr. Fool and His Blessed, and his heart calmed down a little.
"If combined well, it's not impossible to succeed. It's just a mad creature acting on instinct." Fors was convincing both her teacher and herself.
Dorian nodded almost imperceptibly and, without saying anything more, immediately summoned his contract creature, the music-loving Marmos, took back the main and supplementary materials for "Mystery Pryer," and brewed a bottle of "Mystery Pryer" potion for his student on the spot.
"If you can't complete the sealing, don't force yourself to consume the potion. Even if the potion and the glass bottle merge and turn into a sealed artefact, you can pray to Mr. Fool and turn it back into a Beyonder characteristic." Dorian, still a little uneasy, gave this piece of advice before handing the potion to Fors.
Inside the glass bottle, layers of starlight rippled, as if the Milky Way in the sky had been collected into the potion.
"Mm." Fors nodded heavily, indicating that she definitely wouldn't worry about the potion being wasted.
She had already prepared a contingency plan in advance: if the released demigod-level creature couldn't be sealed, she would immediately "teleport" away, make a wish to Mr. Fool, and ask Him to deal with it.
Dorian then took out a painting from his suitcase, which depicted one abstract, incomprehensible pattern after another. Just looking at them for a while would make one dizzy, nauseous, and mentally weak.
This was precisely the "Demon Painting" that sealed countless terrifying creatures.
"If you succeed in your advancement, I have only one request." Holding the "Demon Painting," Dorian said solemnly to Fors. "Listen to what Mr. Door says on the night of the full moon, and ask Him why He did it."
The members of the Abraham family still couldn't fully accept that the curse they suffered originated from their family ancestor, and felt that Mr. Door might not be fully aware of the consequences of His "cries for help."
They longed to completely uncover the truth of the entire matter.
"Alright." Faced with her teacher's plea, Fors agreed without any hesitation.
Then, she took the "Demon Painting," "teleported" out of Pritz Harbour, and arrived at a vast desert devoid of human habitation.