Chapter 320: Conjecture

Reckton glanced at Klein with some surprise, not expecting that the other party had heard his murmuring just now through the connection established via the light point of faith.

Then he gave a light chuckle and said:

"I am analyzing the authority contained within the White Tower pathway."

"I've made some discoveries, and some conjectures."

Without waiting for Klein to press further, he leaned back slightly against the chair back and said in a leisurely tone:

"Regarding Beyonder pathways, between each sequence, though they clearly seem unrelated, one can still continuously advance upward."

"One theory is that each sequence of a Beyonder pathway corresponds to the authority contained within its Sequence 0."

Each sequence represents a kind of authority of that pathway's Sequence 0. If I hadn't advanced to Faceless and didn't know the names of the subsequent potions, I'd probably think the Diviner's Sequence 0 was something like Master of the Circus.

However, Trickmaster and Magician sound like they have a certain degree of overlap, and Astrologer and Diviner are the same — is this the reason why Apprentice can swap pathways with Diviner?

Klein's thoughts swirled as he made some deductions in his mind, then asked curiously:

"What authorities does the Diviner pathway contain? At my current sequence, it seems to manifest the portion of fate."

Reckton reached up to rub his chin, recalled for a moment, and then spoke:

"If I remember correctly, the Fool contains partial authorities of history, time, fate, change, and concealment, and is also the symbol of 'blind ignorance' in the mind domain."

"As for concealment, you can already see some of it from the Faceless stage — you're very skilled at hiding yourselves and fooling others."

"The Fool?"

Klein murmured thoughtfully.

"Yes, the Fool is the name of Sequence 0 of the Diviner pathway you belong to."

Reckton nodded affirmatively at Klein.

Klein frowned slightly, the fluctuations of emotion on his face very apparent. Back then, it was because I associated it with the divination given to me by that Beast Tamer who impersonated a Diviner — I was inspired to choose the title of the Fool. Was this a coincidence? Or was it a kind of influence, a kind of arrangement?

This guy... No wonder he didn't mention the information about Sequence 0 when he introduced Zaratul back then — a Diviner pathway that already had more than one Sequence 1 existing could not possibly give birth to a true Fool. So from the very beginning, when I said the phrase 'the Fool who does not belong to this era,' he already noticed the problem. Back then, when I was a Clown, this guy really did treat me as a clown. Damn it all!

After a moment, Klein gathered his emotions anew and asked with a calm expression:

"What authorities does the White Tower pathway contain?"

Above the gray fog, with the augmentation of the Sefirah Castle, Reckton could only judge Klein's true inner thoughts through changes in his expression. He frowned slightly, somewhat unaccustomed to this, then said with a hint of amusement:

"This is reflected in His honorific name — reason, wisdom, and partial knowledge, a small amount of fate, and also the symbol of omniscience."

Fate again — why does it feel like every pathway has a bit of fate mixed in. Klein sighed inwardly, then said:

"Compared to the Fool, the authority contained in the White Tower seems to be less?"

Reckton nodded gently and continued in a flat voice:

"The five omniscience-and-omnipotence pathways all have this inclination. The Hanged Man holds a greater number of authorities, but apart from Fall as the main body, the rest are only partially contained."

"Why?" Klein asked in puzzlement.

"My conjecture is — adjacent pathways!"

Reckton responded without changing his tone.

Adjacent pathways? Because there are five adjacent pathways, it causes the authority itself to be too dispersed? In that case, doesn't it mean the quantity of authority is fixed, and all adjacent pathways combined together form a complete, systematic set of authority?

Is this the secret Above the Sequence?

Klein took a deep breath, then skipped over this topic and turned to speaking about the matter of Calvetua:

"I've obtained the coordinates in the spirit world of the ruin where Calvetua is hiding."

"That fast? Red Light told you? He didn't just directly turn Calvetua into a characteristic and deliver it to your hands?"

Reckton responded with a hint of emotion, though not too surprised.

At the mention of Red Light, Klein's expression turned peculiar for an instant. He shook his head slightly:

"He mentioned it, but I refused."

Reckton nodded gently, not surprised by Klein's choice.

After a brief silence, Klein spoke with deliberation:

"Have you noticed any rather significant changes in yourself compared to before?"

"Significant changes?" Reckton frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head:

"No."

Klein closed his eyes slightly, leaned back against the chair, and seemed to fall into deep thought.

After a moment, he reopened his eyes, his gaze calm and clear. He opened his mouth and voiced:

"When you are above this gray fog, I can barely divine some rather indistinct things. What is certain is that changes have been continuously occurring in you — it's just impossible to determine whether they're in a good direction or a bad direction, or perhaps both?"

"..."

This ancient palace above the gray fog fell into silence once more. Reckton and Klein looked at each other wordlessly, neither speaking.

After a long while, Reckton gazed out at the boundless gray fog and said in a voice betraying no emotion:

"Thank you for the reminder. I was completely unaware of this. Perhaps it's not that I've undergone changes, but rather that this is the real me."

The real... El Moria mentioned that He also couldn't tell whether Al was a 'Follower of Knowledge' or an 'Incarnation of Knowledge.' The 'knowledge' in His mouth certainly didn't refer to the God of Knowledge, so it could only symbolize the Hidden Sage of knowledge, or the Knowledge Wilderness at an even higher level?

Had he long since been completely corrupted without realizing it? This conjecture made Klein's hair stand on end for an instant.

He was still immersed in his own conjectures when Reckton's voice echoed in his ears once more:

"Is there an upper limit to the number of items this gray fog can accept as sacrifices and bestow at one time?"

"... There shouldn't be. I haven't done any relevant verification."

Klein shook his head slightly.

Reckton nodded gently, then spoke:

"Mm — tomorrow I'll give you the grain traded with the Little Sun by way of sacrifice, and then have him receive it in Silver City through the ritual of accepting a bestowal."

"That works." Klein nodded gently and responded.

He paused for a moment, Klein slightly raised his hand and said:

"Let's stop here today."

"No problem." Reckton replied softly.

Immediately, deep red light like a tide surged from his body, his figure slightly blurred, and he vanished above this gray mist.

Klein leaned back in the high-backed chair, his gaze turning solemn, he stared fixedly at Reckton's previous position, remaining silent for a while.

Afterwards, he manifested pen and paper in his hand, and wrote a divination phrase:

"A suitable time to go to Cavituwa's hiding place."

He silently recited the divination phrase several times in his mind, then leaned against the chair back, relaxed himself, and began a dream divination.

His mind swiftly immersed into the dream, and blurry images floated in his brain.

After a moment, he reopened his eyes, his lips moved slightly, and he whispered:

"Today, at dawn!"

How fast? It seems the condition of the "Sea God" Cavituwa is much worse than I expected. Hmm, there should also be the reason that the "Sea King" of the Storm Church keeps applying pressure.

After pondering for a moment, he erased the divination phrase on the paper, and then wrote a new phrase:

"Al's condition."

Repeating the previous operation, Klein quickly entered the dream.

In the dream, he saw a completely blurry figure that he could only intuitively judge as Reckton, and an identical figure separated from his body.

The blurry dream ended here, Klein reopened his eyes, and he blinked his eyes somewhat dazedly.

Has he already separated the identity of Reckton belonging to this world? Therefore, his personality has undergone some changes, becoming closer to his former self—is that really the case?

Klein doubted his own guess, pondered for a moment, extended his spirituality to envelop himself, simulated the sensation of falling, and detached from the space above this gray mist.

In the Spirit World, Reckton's figure darted about quickly.

Following his intuition's guidance, he headed to Sevia, the largest port city in the southeast of Finneport, preparing to purchase grain for trade with Silver City.

The price of the Sequence 5 formula ranges from 4500 to 7000 pounds; considering that the people of Silver City all have strong giant bloodlines, their appetites are larger than ordinary people's, they need to mainly consume easily filling wheat-based foods, and they also need some normal meat, hoping that Reckton Soss's channel is reliable enough; otherwise, they can only buy in batches.

While thinking, Reckton's figure had already arrived at the Spirit World region corresponding to Sevia, and he immediately extended his spirituality, enveloping his body to depart from the Spirit World.

At dawn, the gloom enveloping Bayam quickly dissipated, revealing the Crimson Moon behind it.

Ethan, who was asleep in bed, suddenly woke up, and the brilliant stars in his eyes were fading.

He rubbed his somewhat dazed head, his rationality slightly returned, he quickly swung his legs out of bed, went to the window, pulled open the curtains, and the crimson moonlight streamed in instantly, dyeing the room with a layer of crimson.

He looked up at the sky; the originally low-pressure clouds had disappeared, the red moon shone brightly in the high sky, and only sparse, scattered starlight twinkled.

(End of chapter)