Chapter 646: Leymano's Spellbook

Backlund, outside the steam locomotive station.

Fors wore a finely checkered black veiled hat with embedded blue flowers

and stood by the hall at the station's entrance, awaiting her teacher,

Dorian Gray.

The drizzle on the streets and the cold winds blowing underground had

made this female author tremble slightly. She felt that she had

underestimated Backlund's spring.

*I wonder what Xio is doing that makes her busy all year round. Sigh,

she said that she wouldn't even get out of bed when her father was still

alive. Apart from going to the bathroom, both food and water would be

served to her by her servants. Now, she's leaving early in the morning

every day and only returning late at night regardless of the weather.

She has completed one mission after another, capturing one fugitive

after another.* With this in mind, Fors couldn't help but admire

Xio.

Last week, this female Sheriff had already paid off her debt and had

even saved up 200 pounds!

*I have to say that, as a Beyonder job, a Sheriff is really suited to

being a bounty hunter. Of course, the choices available to her are

limited to Low-Sequence Beyonders...* Fors's thoughts wandered

as her gaze that was directed outwards had suddenly caught sight of a

familiar figure.

It was a man of medium build, and he was dressed in a black suit, the

most popular attire in Loen. He wore a half top hat, and in a rare

instance, his shoulders appeared broad. It was broad in an almost

exaggerated sense.

He was none other than Fors's teacher, one of the few remaining members

of the Abraham family, Dorian Gray Abraham.

Fors was delighted as she immediately went over with her umbrella in

hand.

With so many people on the streets, she didn't directly approach him.

However, her gaze met his and saw him raise his clenched right fist

towards the first button on his black suit.

This... means danger! Fors's expressionlessly diverted her

gaze away. She smiled as she cast her gaze to a young gentleman behind

Dorian, and as though nothing happened, she passed him and walked

forward.

An ancient family had unimaginable experience in all kinds of matters,

so Dorian Gray had long informed Fors of the signals and gestures to use

in urgent situations. The action from before was extremely simple. It

was to inform her to stay away!

The young man behind was somewhat taken aback to be stared at by the

languid, mature lady. Following that, he instinctively adjusted his

clothes and pressed down on his hat.

Just as he finished these series of actions, Fors had overtaken him and

continued heading forward.

Under the drizzle, Fors circled the area and boarded a rental carriage

and headed for Hat Trick Inn on Cherwood Borough's 22 Hope Street. This

was the place that Dorian Gray had reserved in advance.

Having spent so many years in mysticism circles, Fors, who had plenty of

experience, calmly got a neighboring room and stood before the window to

observe the guests that came to the inn.

Finally, she saw Dorian Gray get off a carriage and walk through the

door.

Fors quickly turned around and came to the bend of the stairwell. She

covertly observed her teacher being led to his room by an attendant.

After a while, she took off her hat, messed up her hair a little before

coming to Room 2016, and she knocked on it.

Her plan was very simple. If her teacher's response wasn't problematic,

she would enter the room to converse with him. If it was abnormal, she

would pretend as though she had come to the wrong room or that she was a

prostitute trying to get some business.

Creak. The door slowly opened as Dorian looked at his student

in front of him before looking both ways down the corridor.

Then, he raised his right arm and spread his fingers to press on the

second button of his suit.

This meant that he wasn't controlled and that the abnormality was over.

Fors let out a silent sigh of relief and instantly entered the room.

"Teacher, what happened just now?" she asked, feeling worried and

concerned.

Dorian closed the door and smiled wryly.

"I saw someone familiar."

He sighed and added, "An enemy."

It was his former student who had later betrayed the Abraham family with

Traveler Boulaya and nearly wiped out the upper echelons of the Abraham

family.

According to what Dorian knew, his former student had already joined the

Aurora Order and was likely one of the 22 Oracles.

"What did he do? Is he very strong?" Fors asked curiously.

Dorian fell silent for a few seconds and divulged a little.

"Lawrence, Laubero, Aulisa, and I belong to a particular organization. A

few members betrayed it and dealt a heavy blow to it.

"That was one of the traitors."

He didn't mention it as a family, nor did he mention the conflict

between bloodline members and the apprentices so as to prevent Fors from

getting her feelings involved.

"How despicable!" Fors immediately recalled the kind Mrs. Aulisa and the

friendly and amiable Mr. Lawrence.

"Alright, let's not chat about such unhappy matters." Dorian took out a

piece of paper that had been folded a few times and handed it to Fors.

"Here's the Astrologer potion formula. Your digestion of the Trickmaster

and Apprentice potions has exceeded my expectations. This is the

greatest surprise I've had in the past ten years."

"I specially joined a circus." Fors didn't hide the fact, and she even

felt that it was worth flaunting.

As she spoke, she unfolded the piece of paper to read the Astrologer's

potion formula.

At this moment, Dorian nodded in relief.

"I'm very sorry. Due to the previous losses, I'm unable to provide you

with the main ingredients of the Astrologer potion. Just treat it as a

final test.

"However, I have prepared a gift for you."

As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized notebook from his inner left

pocket. Its cover looked hard, and it was entirely bronze-green in

color. It looked rather ancient.

The notebook was comprised of three types of paper. The yellow-type of

parchment had the fewest pages, while another was a yellowish-brown

goatskin of about ten pages, while the rest was ordinary white paper. On

the cover there were the words written in ancient Feysac: "I came, I

saw, I record."

Fors's gaze moved away from the Astrologer potion formula and onto the

notebook. She recognized it to be the item left behind by Mr. Lawrence.

It was the item she had specially traveled all the way to Pritz Harbor

to hand to her teacher!

Dorian smiled.

"I believe you are no stranger to it."

After Fors nodded, he sighed.

"This is a rather potent mystical item. It can be ranked in the top five

among all the similar items I've seen. This doesn't mean that it's more

impressive than the ones ranked after it, but it's simply because the

negative effects are the easiest to resolve. When the two are put

together, it makes it worth a lot."

"What is its name? What negative side effects does it have?" Fors

couldn't disguise her excitement and agitation.

Dorian caressed the notebook's cover and said, "It's called 'Leymano's

Travels,' but we prefer calling it 'Leymano's Spellbook.'

While this spellbook will expose you to more kinds of Beyonder powers,

it can also allow you to record them.

"It will be materialized onto a particular page for long-term storage.

You can use it at any time, but remember, the corresponding page will

become blank again with each use, awaiting your next record."

...It sounds amazing. Fors felt as though she was dreaming.

I can record any Beyonder powers I see and use them once?

*I-isn't this another kind of Shepherd? The Shepherd mentioned by Little

Sun... Yes, it's only limited to a single prepared battle.*

*I wonder if I can record the Beyonder powers of a demigod. If it's

possible, in a prepared battle, I'll be even stronger than a

Shepherd!*

Dorian seemed to read her mind as he explained in detail.

"It can be said so. It corresponds to a Sequence 6 Scribe of the

Apprentice pathway. It's not guaranteed that a Beyonder power that is

higher than this Sequence can be recorded. There's a chance of failure;

the greater the gap, the greater the chance of failure. Furthermore, the

effects will be halved.

"According to the experience of past users, while chances of success

against a Sequence 5's Beyonder powers is considerably high, once it

reaches Sequence 4, which is the level of a demigod, it becomes

relatively difficult. There might not be a single instance of success

within ten attempts. And I believe no demigod will cast it again and

again for you. If it's an enemy, they would've killed you ten times

over.

"Do you see these? The yellow parchment is specifically used to record

Beyonder powers with godhood. There are a total of three pages, which is

to say that even if you are very lucky, all you can record is three

demigod Beyonder powers, and you can only use them each once."

*Although it appears to have many restrictions, making it impossible to

fully produce the traveling notebook's might, it isn't an obstacle for

two types of people. One of them is a lucky person, while the other is

someone with a large organization or faction backing them, the kind

which has a demigod helping...* Fors instantly thought of

seeking Mr. Fool's help to display "His" powers so that she could record

them. However, she immediately found it sacrilegious as she hurriedly

apologized inwardly.

Following that, she sincerely hoped that the supposedly strongest Ma'am

Hermit in the Tarot Club would quickly become a demigod.

Dorian noticed that Fors's thoughts were going astray as he continued,

"The pages like goatskin can record the Beyonder powers of a Sequence 5

or 6. There are a total of ten pages, and the effects would be more than

half of the original, roughly 70 to 80%.

"The remaining pages record Beyonder powers below Sequence 6. There are

a total of 25 pages, and the effects are almost equal to the original,

but they are still slightly inferior.

"Due to some developments in the past, the spellbook still has five

pages with Beyonder powers left. The rest are blank. You can test them

for yourself."

Dorian paused before saying with a solemn expression, "Before giving it

to you, I have to seriously warn you that it has negative effects. After

using it each time, it will make you get lost, and it's the kind that

causes you to encounter danger. You have to draw a bit of your blood to

smear it on the cover evenly to reduce the effects.

"Remember, don't underestimate getting lost. You must resolve it as

quickly as possible."

"Yes, Teacher," Fors replied seriously.

Dorian then handed Leymano's Travels to Fors.

"This is my gift."

Teacher is really nice... Fors pursed her lips and asked,

"What's the name of that student who betrayed you? What does he look

like?

"If there's a chance, I wish to seek vengeance on him for both you and

Mr. Lawrence."

"No, don't think about it. You are much weaker than him. Back when he

betrayed us, he was already a Scribe. Now, he might even be a Traveler,"

Dorian said solemnly. "However, you do need to remember him and avoid

him. His name is Lewis Wien. I'll draw a picture of him later."

"Alright." Fors nodded.

On the Future, in the pirates' dining hall.

Klein met Cattleya who was exiting just as he walked in.

The lady was no longer as pale as the previous night. With a pair of

thick glasses, she calmly said, "Make your preparations. We will be

arriving in those waters in a while."

That fast? How far exactly did we fly last night? Klein was

taken aback.