Chapter 84: Extra Please

While Serena was dealing with her excess of spirituality, elsewhere...

Closing the flame that represented Serena, Adryan sighed as he scratched his forehead.

"Maybe I have to speed up Jerry's promotion a little... While I can deal with the problems on her path and avoid the mental problems that come with them, I can't do anything about the problems she already had..."

It was as clear as day that the woman had several mental problems. The clearest for him was undoubtedly her contempt for her own life—something that, although many people joked about, he doubted that Serena was lying.

Honestly, this was something he was seeing coming.

With the life the woman had led, it was normal that she had problems that had not only never been treated, much less diagnosed.

"Even if I can avoid the madness brought on by the potion, it seems that all beyonders on the Hanged Man pathway are destined to have the odd screw loose..." mumbling a little, the redhead scratched his neck with a sigh.

In the coming weeks, he will have to start collecting the ingredients for Jerry's Telepathist potion and the Listener and Shadow Sceptic potion for Serena.

The first was obvious why. The faster Jerry reached sequence 7 Psychiatrist to deal with Serena's problems, the better. Not only would the little girl have a perfect opportunity to act, but Serena's condition would improve enormously.

The older woman issue was a bit more complicated and dangerous. With Serena, the faster she progressed from Listener to Shadow Ascetic, the better.

Once someone became a Listener, they could directly hear the whispers of secret entities; thus, they frequently encountered information from powerful, distorted, and unique entities.

This was a passive ability that they could not control, only by advancing to Shadow Ascetic could they 'turn it off'.

This meant that while they were in Sequence 8, they would be constantly assailed with murmurs from hidden existences. So if they didn't advance soon, it was inevitable they would die in 5 years.

Adryan wasn't worried about this, but in part, that peculiarity was just what he wanted.

Although Secret Supplicant would help Serena learn extremely quickly. It would be in Listener where she would really shine, and everything would accelerate.

With his mantle of the Scarlet Monarch, the potion would undoubtedly be digested extremely quickly, just as the knowledge it could give her would be much more significant. Since in that sequence, he wouldn't have to wait for Serena to pray, but could directly 'whisper' what he wanted to teach.

So, it was better to just have the ingredients for the next potion once she had digested it completely.

Bored, he called on his familiar beach chair and sat down.

Tap Tap Tap

His finger moved up and down the armrest in a slow rhythm, his scarlet eyes staring at nothing in particular as he thought about what he had to do now.

"I already have the characteristics of Listener. I'm just missing the secondary ingredients to have everything I need ready for her promotion, I can get those at Miss L's party so it won't be difficult - not to mention that I already have my soldiers back, they'll get the ingredients for me...

"All I need to do is prepare the ingredients for Shadow Ascetic...

"Let's see... Sequence 7 - Shadow Ascetic, the main ingredients were the shadow remnants of a Forsaken while the supplementary ingredients were 10 milliliters of holy water, 3 drops of the blood of a Believing Shepherd, 5 drops of one's own blood..."

"According to the blasphemy card, the blood of the Believing Shepherd refers to Sequence 5 of the path, Shepherd. So if I want Serena to advance, I need to get the blood of one…"

Well, he doubted that it would be difficult or troublesome to get it. Miss L herself had said that if he needed anything, he could ask her, and she would not hesitate to give it to him.

Of course, although her attitude towards him was 'friendly', it was very likely that she would ask for something in return. But the redhead wasn't worried about that either.

"The shadow remains of a Forsaken..." Adryan murmured softly.

He had already had that ingredient for a long time.

Remembering the monster he once faced when he was still a Provoker. That monster that looked like a cheap copy of a Resident Evil boss and moved in the shadows, Adryan couldn't help but sigh a little.

"The Burnt Band is an artifact born of a Forsaken. So it should serve as the main ingredient for the potion..." His lips tightened a little.

If there was an artifact that he had grown fond of, it was undoubtedly that armband. Not only was it the artifact that had been with him the longest, but it was also much more helpful.

After being exposed to the Hanged Man's Card of Blasphemy, the armband underwent a change that, while not increasing its power, made it extremely convenient.

He could now store objects 'inside' the Burnt Band, just as the bandana itself could hide in his shadow if he so wished. This made it practically undetectable as it would hide in any part of his body that cast a shadow.

Although hiding in its shadow meant that he would always hear the ravings of the True Creator, the level of these was so low from what Adryan had already suffered that he didn't even notice. They never increased in volume, unlike when placed on his forearm, so it was just a matter of ignoring them.

By far, the Burnt Band was his most useful artifact. Followed by Hangover Time.

If possible, he didn't want to be separated from it.

Of course, that was without counting on the fact that the artifact had been 'touched' by the True Creator. So Adryan didn't feel comfortable with Serena 'eating' it.

Ruling out using his beloved bandana, the redhead soon found a solution to the ingredient.

After all, he knew someone who lived in a forsaken place.

Smiling a little to one side, Adryan laughed amusedly.

"I'll have to ask Little Sun to get me the remains of Forsaken Shadow. Given where he is, it shouldn't be difficult. Not to mention that he now has a powerful sealed artifact with him and it shouldn't take him long to advance to Light Supplicant, so it won't be a problem for Little Sun to achieve it…"

Sighing slightly, he turned to one side, and with a mental command, one of the fire soldiers approached him.

This one was of a similar size to him, only slightly shorter and slimmer.

Calmly, the redhead pointed to the floating flame representing Serena.

"Your job from now on will be to pay attention to this flame. Every time it flickers, I want you to give it exactly what it asks for.

"I'll leave a little bit of information with you so it won't be a problem, just make sure you act as I've been acting when you respond."

With the control he gained over the City, he could now share his knowledge with one of his soldiers.

Adryan was sure that this was only a small part of the skills he would have once he became a War Bishop. Sequence 3 of the Red Priest Pathway could unleash the full force of an army and facilitate communication.

Transmitting information to his soldiers could be a small glimpse of what he could do with that skill...

Although doing this left him with a decent headache, it would ensure that he wouldn't have to keep 'going up' to answer Serena's voice messages.

The soldier said nothing; he just stood at full height and saluted.

Nodding, Adryan extended his left hand and grabbed the fire soldier's head.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the information he wanted to share with Serena and what she might possibly ask.

Mystical languages, acting methods, Beyonder laws, knowledge of rituals, about her path and interchangeable and the sequence in which they could be interchanged, the odd 'secret' of considerable importance such as the War of the Four Emperors...

That information took out more than half of his spirituality. The flame that formed the soldier's head pulsed orange before slightly darkening.

Releasing the head, which was now burning a soft, escalating red, Adryan sighed a little wearily. "If it's an emergency or Serena has a question you can't answer, let me know."

The fire soldier gave another excited military salute towards him and focused all his attention on the solitary flame.

Adryan watched this and let out a soundless sigh.

While he could have given Serena another path, like the Warrior for example, that was something he couldn't afford.

Although, thanks to Little Sun, he could obtain the formulas and materials relatively easily, he doubted that Serena could realize the potential of that path.

The problem of her illiteracy would remain. Something that was much more urgent to solve than her strength - something she would acquire as she climbed the Sequences of the Secret Supplicant pathway.

If she had taken the Warrior path, some things would have been easier, but the most important and serious ones would not have been solved; they would still be a huge problem.

There was one thing she couldn't afford in this world, and that was illiteracy, even more so now that she was following him. Not knowing the most basic of basics would cost her life sooner rather than later.

Besides, having someone to spread his religion is always welcome.

"The name Shepherd already gives me an idea of how well she will be able to gather believers…" Adryan laughed softly.

However, deep down, there was a somewhat childish reason that, although it had not affected his choice at all when deciding which pathway Serena would take, he found it very funny just to think about it.

After all, the Monarch's Dark Knight has a nice ring to it~

With all his work done, the redhead closed his eyes and let himself fall back into his body, leaving the city of calamities behind him...

Opening his eyes back in his room, Adryan stretched a little before getting out of bed, putting on a simple T-shirt, and going to the kitchen.

It was now 9 o'clock in the evening, dinner time, so it was his turn to cook... As always had.

'It's been a while since I cooked gnocchi...' Shuffling through his mental recipe book, the dark-haired man rolled up his sleeves and began to stretch the fingers of his left hand.

As he passed through the living room, the man gave a short greeting to Flora, who was lying on the sofa reading a book. In front of her was a plate of strawberry snacks and a bowl of melted chocolate.

"You were already taking your time..." Jacob blabbed without looking up, popping a chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth.

Flora reached out her hand to take another one but all she felt was the cold texture of the wood.

"Dinner won't be long now. I don't want you to fill up on snacks. You can continue eating them later." Adryan replied expressionlessly, the plate of strawberries and chocolate floating to his hand through his strings.

The white-haired woman made a frustrated fist but could only sigh in exasperation. "Urghhh fine. But it better be good! Those strawberries were fresh!"

Placing the strawberries on the counter, the black-haired man raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the woman.

"When did I make a meal that didn't make you clean your plate?"

The kitchen and living room were structured in such a way that they were connected and one could easily see what the other was doing.

Flora smiled and closed her eyes, extremely pleased.

"Never. And it better stay that way. I demand to be pampered!"

Adryan could only scratch his forehead with a sigh.

Could one even spoil an old person?

Suddenly, the woman's gray eyes opened and looked at him deeply.

"You thought something about my age, didn't you?"

Bored, the dark-haired man took a pot out of a cabinet. "Do you want your gnocchi with red or pink sauce?"

"Red! Extra garlic!"