In a warehouse that was being rebuilt in Pritz Harbor.
After a few days, Fors once again saw her teacher, Dorian Gray Abraham.
"Are you ready?" Dorian asked in a deep voice.
During their previous meeting, he had already informed Fors of the ritual requirements of the Apprentice pathway's Sequence 4 Secrets Sorcerer, allowing her to make preparations ahead of time.
"Almost … I should be able to meet the requirements …" Fors replied without much confidence.
The advancement ritual for a Secrets Sorcerer was relatively simple, but "simple" was the opposite of "complicated," and not the other end of "difficult." To Fors, she wished it was something else.
The ritual required the person to seal a demigod level creature with clear hostility. The less external forces were used, the more effective the ritual would be. As for the target's level, as long as it was not lower than a demigod, it would not affect the ritual.
Hearing the student's answer, Dorian nodded slightly and said,
That ritual is really too difficult for a Sequence 5 Beyonder who is purely relying on themselves. It's necessary to seek help appropriately, but you have to grasp the degree. You can't exceed the corresponding limits; otherwise, the ritual will definitely fail. "
The suggestion he had given Fors was to only borrow a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact. It would be best if she didn't even hire a Saint-level helper.
Fors said vaguely, "That's right.
I only plan on making a wish to Mr. Fool, a wish to increase the success rate of advancing after consuming the potion. This is closer to obtaining good luck when consuming the potion, and not the blessing when sealing that demigod creature.
"Apart from this, I can also make use of the painting you mentioned."
That painting wasn't a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, the Painting of God, but a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact belonging to the House of Abraham. It was called the Devil's Oil Painting.
In the Fourth Epoch, when many members of the House of Abraham advanced to Sequence 4 Secrets Sorcerer, they created the oil painting to seal the corresponding demigod-level creature.
However, after being attacked by the Aurora Order and losing a lot of information, Dorian Gray wasn't sure how many terrifying creatures were sealed in the Devil's Oil Painting. She was certain that there were more, and more than one.
His original plan was to release a demigod-level creature from the "Devil's Oil Painting" that had completely gone mad and acted on instinct as the target of his student's ritual. This was many times easier than dealing with a rational and intelligent saint, and it completely met the requirements of the ritual. However, he did not expect Fors to directly use the "Devil's Oil Painting".
Dorian frowned and reminded him.
"The Devil's Oil Painting itself only has the effect of imprisoning and sealing. It doesn't have the ability to actively affect the target. In other words, you have to stuff demigod-level creatures into the Devil's Oil Painting.
Fors nodded to show that she understood.
"Teacher, you said that my ability to 'record' isn't considered external help."
"Yes." Dorian Gray gave a very certain answer.
If her ability to "record" was considered external help, almost no Traveler could advance. After all, "Record" was the core ability of the Apprentice pathway before becoming a demigod. Once it was "abolished," all Fors could do was run. It would be very difficult for her to do anything to her enemies.
"In theory, that's the case, but the number of demigod-level powers you can record is at most four or five …" Dorian said worriedly.
Before he could finish his sentence, he thought of Mr. Fool and "His" Blessed, and he felt a little more at ease.
"If it's matched well, it's not impossible. It's just a crazy creature that relies on instinct." Fors was trying to convince her teacher and herself.
Dorian nodded indiscernibly and didn't say anything else. She immediately summoned her Contracted Creature, Malmouth, who loved music. She took back the main and supplementary ingredients of Secrets Sorcerer and concocted a bottle of Secrets Sorcerer potion for her student.
"If there's no way to complete the seal, there's no need to forcefully consume it. Even if the potion is mixed with the glass bottle and becomes a Sealed Artifact, you can still pray to Mr. Fool to restore it to a Beyonder characteristic," Dorian exhorted worriedly before handing the potion to Fors.
The glass bottle rippled with layers of starlight, as though the Milky Way in the sky had been sucked into the potion.
"Okay." Fors nodded heavily, indicating that she wasn't worried that the potion would be wasted.
She had already made plans ahead of time. Once the released demigod-level creature couldn't be sealed, she would immediately "Teleport" away and make a wish to Mr. Fool to get "Him" to resolve it.
Dorian then took out an oil painting from the suitcase in her hand. On it were rather abstract and incomprehensible patterns. Just looking at them for a while longer would make one feel dizzy and nauseous, as well as mentally weak.
This was the Devil's Oil Painting that sealed countless terrifying creatures.
"If you can successfully advance, I only have one request." Dorian held the Devil's Oil Painting and solemnly said to Fors, "That is, on the night of the full moon, listen to what Mr. Door is saying and ask 'Him' the reason for doing so."
The members of the House of Abraham still couldn't completely accept that the curse they had suffered originated from their family's ancestor. They felt that Mr. Door might not know the consequences of "His" request for help.
They yearned to fully understand the truth of the entire matter.
"Alright." Faced with her teacher's pleading, Fors agreed without any hesitation.
Following that, she took the Devil's Oil Painting and "Teleported" out of Pritz Harbor, arriving at the vast desert that had no human inhabitants.
This way, even if an accident happened during the ritual, she would have plenty of time to resolve it without affecting ordinary people.
After checking the surroundings and her own preparations, Fors inserted the Devil's Oil Painting into the ground.
She then clasped her hands and lowered her head to pray to Mr. Fool, making a wish that the success rate of her advancement would increase after consuming the potion.
Almost without any pause, she saw the illusory grayish-white fog and knew that Mr. Fool had already responded.
After stalling for a few seconds, Fors finally defeated herself. She took out the herbal powder that she had prepared beforehand and scattered it on the Devil's Oil Painting.
Then, she recited the unsealing incantation in Jotun.
This was an incantation that only released one creature at a time.
Without a sound, all the floating herbal powder landed on the oil painting, and with a point as the center, it quickly spun.
As it spun, the surface of the oil painting became illusory, as though a deep vortex was being produced.
Suddenly, a greenish-black hand with signs of decay reached out from the vortex.
It reached out from the oil painting to the outside world!
Fors's body suddenly turned cold, as though she had fallen into a frozen lake that had cracked open.
This made her mind clear, but at the same time, she seemed to lose her sense of her body. No matter how hard she tried to move her limbs, she couldn't succeed.
At that instant, Fors seemed to return to her past state of writing books at night and sleeping during the day. At that time, she often felt that she had woken up, but she couldn't move at all, as though she was being pressed down by an invisible creature.
Although the terrifying creature in the Devil's Oil Painting hadn't completely escaped, just the influence of godhood on the outside world was enough to make Fors lose most of her ability to resist. When it completely left the oil painting, Fors might even lose control from looking at it directly.
The difference between the two was unimaginably huge.
Gradually, Fors's consciousness blurred a little. She kept feeling that she was already awake. She raised her arms and took a step forward, but on second thought, she realized that it was just her imagination. Her body turned colder and colder, and the feeling of being pressed down by an invisible creature became more and more obvious.
Thankfully, she had a bunch of demigods to provide her with information, allowing her to close her eyes in time. She didn't look at the Devil's Oil Painting again; otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Using Cogitation techniques to maintain a certain level of lucidity, Fors began counting down inwardly.
According to the hint given by Mr. World, she knew that the terrifying creature would need five seconds to completely escape the Devil's Oil Painting.
4 … 3 … 2 … With one second left, an illusory book appeared in Fors's eyes. It quickly flipped through the pages and stopped at one of the pages.
1！ Just as Fors finished counting, she suddenly opened her arms.
Around her, peach blossoms instantly floated down in a colorful display.
The bluish-black palm that was about to grab her neck suddenly distanced itself from her. It was blocked by a peach forest with lush vegetation and blooming flowers. It was isolated by the mountain at the end of the forest's water source. All it could do was attempt to reach out from a small cave.
This was a fairy tale magic that Fors had "Recorded" from Ma 'am Hermit.
It was called: The Source of Peach Blossoms!
It could create a barrier that was isolated from the outside world, one that was very difficult to connect to.
Seizing this opportunity, Fors, who had barely regained control of her body, took out a Queen chess piece from Rosell's chess and threw it at the source of the peach blossoms, at the cave that ran through the flowing water.
This was another fairy tale magic that she had "Recorded." It was called:
"Chessboard of Time!"
Its effect was to slow down the target's movements, as though they had entered a region with a different flow of time.
Pa! As the Queen chess piece landed, the bluish-black palm that was trying its best to break through the Peach Blossom Spring's barrier went from extending outwards to squirming.
Without even looking at the effects, Fors used her invisible hand to pick up the Devil's Oil Painting that was stabbed into the sand and blocked it at the cave.
In just a second or two, the bluish-black palm returned to normal. Its movements became extremely fast as it rushed out of the Peach Blossom Spring and slammed into the oil painting.
As the oil painting shook, the terrifying creature penetrated the surface and landed inside.
Fors was delighted. Without any hesitation, she recited the incantation again and closed the outer seal of the Devil's Oil Painting.
Thankfully, the demigod creature has already lost control from being locked up. All that's left is madness and no intelligence … I wonder if I'll hear Mr. Door's shouts after consuming the potion … Fors remained tense as she took out the Secrets Sorcerer potion and poured it into her mouth.
PS: Seeking monthly recommendation votes for Monday ~
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