Mystery: Emerging From Knowledge Moor

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A sense of crisis pricked at Leyton's back, and he didn't dare fall asleep easily in the nights that followed, afraid that when he closed his eyes and opened them again, a clown would be standing by his bed. Leyton felt an unprecedented sense of urgency.

"No, I must find a way to improve my own strength. I can't completely rely on that bronze scale and the unknown protector in the dark," Leyton thought to himself, considering ways to quickly enhance his strength.

"Advancing in the sequence is the best way, but although I've grasped some of the principles of the Reader pathway, I'm still far from completely digesting the potion. As for higher sequences in the Mystery Pryer pathway, unless I've fully digested the Beyonder characteristics I already possess, rashly trying to advance could lead to a direct 'game over' due to conflicts between the characteristics within me." The more Leyton thought, the fewer ways he felt he had to improve his strength.

After thinking it over, Leyton set himself several goals for this period: weapons and equipment are the most direct way to improve strength, so I need to find a way to join a gathering of Beyonders and acquire one or two items; then, I need to collect the auxiliary Ingredients recipe for the Sequence 8 'Melee Scholar' of the Mystery Pryer pathway as soon as possible. If I want to advance to Melee Scholar, this should reduce some of the difficulty; and I need to find Mr. Kosith to learn some ritual magic and spells as soon as possible.

In fact, Leyton felt that the most direct way for him to improve his strength would be to have the Hidden Sage pour a wave of knowledge into him. Relying on the abilities of the Student of Ratiocination, he could quickly master this knowledge. However, with a big shot raven of unknown identity around him and a clown hidden in the dark, Leyton didn't dare to easily have any contact with the Hidden Sage.

The next morning, Leyton appeared at the dining table with dark circles under his eyes.

"Young master? Didn't you rest well last night?" The butler asked when he saw the dark circles on his young master's face.

"It's nothing. I accidentally stayed up too late reading. I'll take a nap during the day and be fine," Leyton made an excuse to brush it off.

After hurriedly eating breakfast, Leyton couldn't wait to go out. Now, only being in the Enforcers' team office could give him a sense of security.

"Meow!"

Leyton's action of opening the door disturbed a black cat resting by the doorway. The black cat quickly jumped up, adopting an attacking posture, and cautiously looked around. After discovering that it was just Leyton pushing the door open, it stretched lazily as if nothing had happened and licked its paw.

"What are you doing here? Has your cat army abandoned you, their boss?" Leyton knew that this cat was a mystical creature, but it shouldn't be related to that clown. Otherwise, yesterday's cat army wouldn't have scattered and fled when that clown appeared.

The black cat wore an expression of 'What are you talking about? I don't understand,' and switched to licking its other paw.

"Stop pretending! I know you can hear me! You're a mystical creature, at least. You even have a cat army under your command. Can't you have some dignity? Stop playing dumb, cat!" Leyton stared at the black cat and said.

"Meow!" The black cat looked at Leyton with its eyes full of doubt.

"Were you afraid of that clown last night?" Leyton asked, seeing that the black cat didn't speak.

When that clown appeared last night, those cats immediately scattered and fled, and this black cat also hid. Clearly, they had some understanding of that clown.

"Meow meow! Meow~" The black cat suddenly bristled, and without waiting for Leyton to continue asking, it turned and ran away.

"Such a big reaction?" Leyton was also stunned for a moment, not expecting the other party to react so strongly to that clown.

After this little interlude, Leyton went out and took a public carriage to the Enforcers' team. Before the problem of that clown was resolved, Leyton didn't dare to ride in a carriage alone. Judging from the images he divined yesterday, the other party probably had the ability to disguise himself. Leyton was worried that he would be sitting in the carriage and the coachman outside would suddenly turn into that clown from last night.

Arriving at the building where the Executors' team was located, Leyton glimpsed a crow standing on the roof across the street out of the corner of his eye as he entered the door. Its wings, legs, and head had some dark red feathers. It was the crow that had been standing on the street lamp last night.

"Is it really following me?" Leyton thought to himself as he casually walked into the building, wondering what identity this crow represented.

· · ·

"Good morning! Leyton, didn't you sleep well last night either?" Joseph, who had arrived at the office early, greeted Leyton with the same dark circles under his eyes.

"Either? You guys didn't sleep well either?" In Leyton's sight, Jessica was currently sleeping on the table, and although Sia wasn't sleeping, she was putting on makeup, focusing on covering the bags under her eyes.

"No, we didn't sleep at all," Joseph said with a darkened face.

"Wasn't last night's operation smooth?" Leyton asked curiously.

Mentioning last night, Joseph's expression became somewhat gritted.

"It was very smooth, too smooth. That group of vengeful spirits and wraiths didn't even think about avoiding us. Instead, they played hide-and-seek with us in that cemetery for most of the night. Finally, Sia couldn't bear it anymore and directly set the entire cemetery on fire." From Joseph's tone, one could hear that he felt relieved.

"And then? How did it turn into not sleeping all night?" Leyton was even more curious.

"Then, the cemetery keeper reported us, and the Bureau of Public Safety arrested us. We spent the whole night explaining, and it wasn't until the captain and the bishop bailed us out in the morning," Joseph said, his expression utterly lifeless.

"Setting fire to the mountain means a life sentence! Burning a cemetery is even more wicked!" Leyton was stunned by Joseph and the others' experiences. He could only say, 'That's so Sia, with her explosive temper!'

"With something like this happening, when will my Sequence 8 potion ever get approved!" Joseph lamented, his voice filled with resentment.

"Don't worry, I was the one who set the fire. It has nothing to do with you guys," Sia said, offering a perfunctory consolation.

"But we didn't stop you! Besides, we're a team, so of course it has something to do with us," Joseph retorted.

"Oh my! I didn't realize our classmate Joseph was so team-oriented! Don't worry, it's just a Sequence 8 potion. Even if the church doesn't approve it, you can just buy the ingredients and mix it yourself. I know the recipe," Sia teased Joseph before continuing.

Before Joseph could reply, Sia turned to Leyton and asked, "What's wrong with you, big boy? Could it be that you knew we didn't get enough rest yesterday and were so worried that you couldn't sleep either? Not bad, another member for our dark circles club."

"It's a long story. I'm even more miserable than you guys. Let's talk about it later. I need to find the captain first. I have something to report. The captain should be in, right?" Recalling his experiences last night, Leyton's face became even more unsightly than Joseph's.

"Go ahead. The captain has been in the office ever since he and the bishop bailed us out this morning. Maybe he's secretly sleeping!" Sia said, raising her eyebrows playfully.

"You guys can sneak in a nap too," Leyton nodded, indicating he understood.

"Oh? Is our big boy actually being considerate? Could it be that you want to sneak in a nap yourself, so you're trying to drag us down with you? We're not the kind of idle employees who slack off at work!" Sia, seemingly unaffected by the sleepless night, continued to tease each member of the team with boundless energy.

Ignoring Sia's teasing, Leyton turned and headed to the captain's office.

"Knock knock~"

"Come in,"

The captain's voice came from the office after two knocks. Leyton could hear that the captain also sounded tired, as if he hadn't rested well last night either.

"Last night was really lively! How come everyone is so tired? I didn't expect to have companions even when working with dark circles under my eyes," Leyton internally complained before pushing open the door.

"Hmm? Did something happen last night? You look like you didn't get enough rest," the captain said, somewhat surprised to see Leyton.

"Does encountering a bunch of cats and dogs, a crow, and a clown count? It's almost enough to form a circus," Leyton internally complained, trying to relieve the stress of last night's events.

"I encountered a clown. He should be the one causing trouble at the hospital," Leyton said, his voice a little heavy.

"Hmm? Sit down and tell me slowly. Did you encounter any danger?" The captain was a little surprised that the other party had found Leyton so quickly.

Leyton recounted his experiences last night in detail to the captain, including the cats chasing the 'trash dogs' and the crow perched on the streetlight. However, he omitted the part where he used the Eye of Mystery Prying to observe them, but still emphasized, under the guise of his intuition, that the leading black cat and the crow on the streetlight were suspected to be supernatural creatures.

Captain Icanton pondered for a long time before saying, "If what you say is true, then that clown should be the Marauder pathway Beyonder causing mischief in the hospital. I will contact the Earth Mother Church as soon as possible to arrest him. In the meantime, protect yourself. I'll apply for a handgun for you later. Come to Owen's office this afternoon to pick it up. Do you need any other weapons or equipment?"

"Give me a dagger. I've never used firearms before. In a crisis, a dagger might be more helpful to me than a gun. I also want to learn some simple fighting techniques, and it would be even better if I could learn spells and ritual magic. My own Beyonder abilities don't offer much help in either combat or escape," Leyton stated his needs, which he had already thought through.

Captain Icanton frowned slightly. "It's a bit difficult for you to master so many things at once. Even with the assistance of Beyonder abilities, learning one or two spells and ritual magic should be possible. As for fighting techniques, if you have extra time, you can find Sia. Her fighting skills are the strongest I've seen, excluding the enhancement from Beyonder abilities."

He then added, "Fighting techniques can't be mastered in a day or two. I originally planned to have you focus on this after you had fully mastered your own Beyonder abilities, but the situation is special now, so it's good if you can learn some beforehand."

"Let's do this. Go find Kosith first and learn one or two simple spells and ritual magic. This afternoon, I'll give you the handgun and dagger that I've applied for. Then, go find Sia and learn how to use them briefly. But don't neglect your studies of knowledge. This will help you better master the Beyonder abilities you possess," Captain Icanton said decisively, finally reminding him not to neglect his studies.

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