Chapter 374: Artificial Sleepwalking

Lawrence sat in the coffee shop booth, unable to stop himself from

thinking about the hardships of the Abraham family over the years.

Ever since they had split up into smaller families and settled in other

places, the Elder Council's control over the family members hit

rock-bottom. A great number of Abrahams refused to advance, in order to

avoid the effects of the curse; hence, many of them remained at Sequence

8 or 9. Some didn't even attempt to become Beyonders, wishing to be

ordinary people with a certain amount of knowledge so as to live a calm

and peaceful life.

The Elder Council believed that this was an act of forgetting the

family's honor, but it couldn't be harsh on such actions since it was

tantamount to self-destruction.

In such a situation, the upper echelons of the Abraham family began to

think of introducing changes. They imitated the master-apprentice

inheritance system of the Life School of Thought, and they trained

non-family members, hoping that once they advanced to become

High-Sequence Beyonders, then they would, in turn, be able to help the

Abraham family deal with the curse that had existed for about 1,500

years and find their ancestor, Bethel Abraham, who had vanished in the

War of the Four Emperors.

The plan started off smoothly, and the apprentices who didn't have to

worry about the curse quickly became stronger and stronger under the

Abraham family's meticulous nurturing. Within a short period of ten

years, there were several strong Sequence 5 individuals among them,

while not a single person among the direct descendants of the Abraham

family was Sequence 6.

The trunk was too weak, but the branches were too strong; hence, the

seeds of tragedy were planted, and the ambitious apprentices began

casting their sights on the powerful Sealed Artifacts that the Abraham

family possessed.

Their plot failed, but it also resulted in serious repercussions. All

the non-family members at Sequences 6 and 5 were of the opinion that

their positions within the Abraham family didn't match their own

strength and that they couldn't be trusted, preventing them from being

in possession of certain Sealed Artifacts.

In the process of going back and forth, with difficult negotiations

occurring and compromises between the two parties, an accident happened.

One of them, Traveler Botis, was lured by the True Creator into joining

the Aurora Order, which led to a terrible disaster.

In this disaster, the upper echelons of the Abraham family were almost

completely destroyed. More than half of the few powerful Sealed

Artifacts were lost, and only three were left. As a result, Lawrence's

brother, who he shared the same mother with, Richard, died.

Not only did Botis benefit greatly from it, but he also gathered all the

Beyonder ingredients he needed, and with the help of the True Creator,

he successfully overcame the dangers and became a demigod, becoming one

of the five Saints of the Aurora Order, the Saint of Secrets.

After the disaster, the rebuilt Abraham family's Elder Council reflected

over the actions of the past few years, but they couldn't find a

solution to the problem. Emotions such as negativity, dejection, and

hopelessness shrouded the hearts of the few remaining family members.

Lawrence didn't wish to be placed in such an environment or face sighing

and repressed emotions every day. He found a reason to leave the Elder

Council and came to Backlund to look for his other brothers, Laubero,

who he shared the same mother, and Sam, who he didn't share the same

mother.

But now, he suddenly realized that he was the only one remaining from

his father's line.

He was already nearly eighty-years-old, and all his children had died in

the disaster brought about by Botis.

Just recalling the past made him feel sorrow from the bottom of his

heart.

The most painful thing was that he couldn't see the hope for revenge,

and he couldn't see the dawn of his clan's glory appearing once more.

*I'm already very old, and I was also injured before. Unless it's

absolutely necessary, I wouldn't dare to use my Beyonder powers anymore,

which would cause me to lose control or even cause the curse to

descend... What is the future of the Abraham family?* Lawrence

took a sip of the Fermo coffee and fell into a long silence.

Upon returning to her rented house, Fors immediately entered the bedroom

and locked the wooden door behind her.

She sat on the edge of the bed, calmed her mind, and whispered the

honorific name that represented hope and the future.

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era,

"You are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog;

"You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

"I wish to inform you of what I have encountered today.

"I met the elder brother of the husband of the old lady who made me

become an Apprentice. He seems to be a member of a certain family...

"I didn't mention anything related to mysticism, but I'm worried that he

has extremely powerful divination abilities and will be able to find out

the complete truth..."

At this moment, Klein happened to be above the gray fog.

He saw the crimson star that represented The Magician expanding outward,

rippling as he heard the stacked layers of prayers.

After figuring out the details, Klein tapped the edge of the ancient

table and said to himself silently, *How cautious for her to know to

seek help from The Fool.*

*Besides, your guess isn't wrong. The corresponding Sequence 7 for

Apprentice is Astrologer...*

Having recently read the Book of Secrets thoroughly, he had quickly come

up with a plan that would help him interfere with divination through

rituals.

*I have to say, with the Book of Secrets and my advancement to Sequence

7, I'm becoming more and more godlike when above the gray fog. Of

course, for the time being, I'm still just an empty shell...*

*Speaking of which, I've been acting in front of Miss Justice and Mr.

Hanged Man several times, fooling them completely. Why didn't I receive

any feedback from my spirituality? The speed at which I digest the

potion doesn't seem to be getting faster as a result. Does it have to

happen in the real world? Yes, it might be possible that their

"applause," as an audience, has been blocked by the gray fog, preventing

them from directly affecting me. Just like how the Eternal Blazing Sun

and the True Creator are unable to penetrate the gray fog to find this

mysterious space...*

*From the looks of it, the reaction between the gray fog and this

mysterious space is very mechanical. It's not sentient enough, and it

lacks intelligence... However, to me, this is actually a good

thing...*

In the midst of his thoughts, Klein turned his knowledge into an ancient

piece of goatskin and threw it into the crimson star that symbolized The

Magician.

A boundless grayish-white fog suddenly filled the air in front of Fors's

eyes, and an illusory yellowish-brown goatskin descended from the sky.

When she saw the information written on it, she suddenly felt at peace.

*With Mr. Fool, Mr. Lawrence certainly wouldn't be able to get the

correct revelations via divination!* Fors sincerely expressed

her gratitude and busily prepared for the ritual.

She had seen a lot of instances where evil spirits did harm to others.

In fact, she didn't trust The Fool that much, but the curse of the full

moon forced her to rely on him.

*Regardless of how bad the consequences are, I will just lose my life.

Without the help of Mr. Fool, I would've already lost control during the

last Blood Moon and become a monster... Every day I live is a day

gained. This is all given to me by Mr. Fool, and he can take it back at

any time. Well, it's best if he doesn't...* Fors took a breath

and lit the two candles that symbolized The Fool.

The initial steps of the ritual were no different from those she had

mastered before. This continued until the candles were lit and the

essential oils, extract, and herbal powder were thrown into the fire.

When the fragrance of a serene etherealness filled the room, a faint,

illusory fog covered the entire altar. According to the contents of the

goatskin, Fors quickly adjusted her body and mind, entered Cogitation

and chanted the corresponding name of The Fool over and over again.

Such monotonous, repetitive behavior allowed the originally calm and

relaxed Fors to slowly enter a state where the mind was in deep sleep

while her spirituality dispersed. Her entire being felt groggy, but she

maintained a strange sense of lucidness. She felt as if her spirit was

floating about, constantly moving upwards.

This was similar to the "secret deed" process that was formed with the

help of an external object, but it was different in many ways. This was

a technique in mediumship and was used to communicate with higher level

spirits. At an extremum, it could even allow a Beyonder to travel the

spirit world under the pretext of maintaining a special lucidness.

Some Beyonders who specialized in influencing the mind called it

"artificial sleepwalking." They could use techniques such as hypnosis to

make ordinary people enter this state as well.

In that way, an ordinary person would appear to be in a deep slumber,

yet they would be able to answer questions. Although their eyes and

mouths were closed, they could detect the presence of various Spirit

Bodies around them; thus, completing a certain degree of communication.

The reason why Klein didn't let Fors use the secret deed ritual was that

it could only give knowledge or direct effects such as purification or

corruption, letting the target's mind gain a wonderful experience. It

couldn't interfere with the divination or other matters done by another

person.

Simply put, the secret deed ritual directly affected the target's Soul

Body, Astral Projection, Body of Heart and Mind, and Ether Body. The

related positive or negative states were removed, and with the

artificial sleepwalking ritual, it allowed Klein to do something

indirect so as to deal with any outside interference.

In a daze, Fors felt herself drifting back to the majestic old palace

above the gray fog, and she saw Mr. Fool sitting high above, looking

down at everything.

Klein looked at the image of The Magician projected by the dark red

starlight. He unhurriedly picked up a paper figurine that he had found

earlier from his trash pile in the corner.

As a Seer who had advanced twice, he had many ways to interfere with the

divination of others, so he didn't need to rely on mystical items to

help him.

At this moment, due to the effects of the ritual, the mysterious space

above the gray fog started to tremble slightly, and some of the power

was flowing due to the perturbation.

Klein's left hand pressed the Black Emperor card on the surface of the

long bronze table, connecting it with his own Spirit Body and uplifting

himself to a higher level. It raised his level just like the previous

times he used the Flaring Sun Charm and Azik's copper whistle to

solidify his Spirit Body.

Then, with a flick of his right wrist, he threw the paper figurine out.

The paper figurine suddenly expanded in size, and on its back, twelve

pairs of black angel wings which were cut out of paper grew out. The

feathers were vivid and lifelike.

The paper "angel" pierced through the dark red light and overlapped with

the illusory figure of The Magician.

Without any warning, it started to burn and completely disappeared.

The half-awake Fors seemed to see a dignified and majestic angel as it

wrapped layer upon layers of pitch-black wings around her!

After an unknown period of time, Fors suddenly awoke from her artificial

sleepwalking state. In front of her were only the three candles quietly

burning on the altar and the fog that had permeated the entire room. At

the tip of her nose was the familiar fragrance of serene etherealness.

Angel... Fors was so lost in thought that she momentarily

forgot to end the ritual.