Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 547

Following Audrey's instructions, Jenkins nodded slightly. He closed his eyes, trying to feel the Spirit flowing through his body, seeping into his very soul. The temporary loss of sight heightened his other senses. He could feel the faint, rhythmic breathing of Chocolate on his shoulder, the weight of Audrey's gaze upon him, and a subtle warmth emanating from the machine.

His body sank into its most relaxed state, trying to let his spirit break free from its physical confines to briefly commune with the world... but that was all in his head. Jenkins felt nothing at all. He began to question whether he had any talent for divination whatsoever. Chapters fırst released on nοvelfire.net

He'd had his eyes closed for a little too long; he figured he should give an answer soon:

"Alright, the newspaper was exchanged for a cleaning rag!"

Predictably, Jenkins was wrong again. What emerged from the machine was a smooth pebble, the kind one might find on any riverbank.

"Well, there's no need to rush. We can take our time."

Though he'd started with great enthusiasm, after more than a dozen consecutive failures, Jenkins couldn't help but feel a little deflated.

For safety's sake, they avoided putting anything obviously dangerous into the machine. But even with that precaution, when they tried inserting a completely blank sheet of paper, what emerged was a solid silver metal beetle that could crawl on its own.

Jenkins was certain it was made of metal and possessed a mind of its own. The creature was highly dangerous, capable of spraying a searing red liquid from its tail.

Fortunately, Audrey reacted in a flash. She activated the machine again at top speed, swapping the beetle for a sock with a hole in it. Only then did they both breathe a sigh of relief.

Jenkins actually had many other wild ideas about how to use B-08-02-8214. For instance, he was dying to know what would happen if he activated the machine without putting anything inside. Would the default exchange item be "nothing," or would it be the air within the drawer?

But Audrey warned him against it, explaining that he wasn't the first to have that thought. The last brave soul who actually tested the theory pulled the lever only to find that half of his internal organs had been transferred into the machine.

This gave Jenkins a renewed and profound appreciation for the term "Danger Level 2."

"So, what if we put numerous materials containing Spirit inside? Is it possible we could create a new supernatural item?"

"But it's just as likely we'd create a monster brimming with immense Spirit, one capable of wielding supernatural powers at will."

Audrey apparently found Jenkins's line of thinking far too dangerous. Before he could even attempt to toss a hair from Chocolate's tail into the machine, she announced that their lesson for the day was over.

Jenkins hadn't succeeded even once, but that was to be expected. Audrey planned to continue these sessions for a month, though she wouldn't be using this machine again. She thought that, if all went well, Jenkins might have a shot at performing a true divination before the Year-End Festival.

When the two of them left, B-08-02-8214 remained in the distance, but Audrey expected it would disappear within two hours. She used a few talismans and a simple ritual to create a "shadow veil," making it impossible for anyone more than three feet away to see B-08-02-8214—a reasonably cautious security measure.

After returning to the surface from the sewer, the pair went their separate ways. Audrey offered to escort Jenkins back to the church, but since the alley wasn't far, Jenkins politely declined her offer.

Watching Audrey disappear around the corner, Jenkins glanced up at the twin moons, which looked perfectly normal tonight. Then, with Chocolate in tow, he quickly departed.

He didn't return to the church immediately. Instead, he found an even more secluded alley nearby. Halfway down, a stack of new lampposts intended for the main avenue leaned against one wall, while a large trash heap sat on the opposite side. The narrow space between them stank, but it was a perfect blind spot.

He sent Chocolate to the mouth of the alley to keep watch while he squatted on a small patch of flat ground. He pulled out the notebook hidden in the inner pocket of his greatcoat; tucked between its pages was the lock of hair he had acquired the previous night.

He wasn't sure if vampires could contract human diseases, but it was worth a try. If it failed, he would only have wasted a few materials.

The disease for this curse was, once again, the one Jenkins knew best: the common cold. After completing the ritual, he fished an empty can from the trash, placed the hair-wrapped stone inside, and buried it deep within the garbage heap.

And that was that. If it worked, it would be a blessing from the Sage. If nothing happened, then he would just have to wait patiently for that mirror to appear again.

Although the concept of a weekend was beginning to take shape in this era, very few people actually enjoyed two days of rest per week. As a result, Friday wasn't a day most people looked forward to.

He had noticed the gloomy weather when he returned to the church the previous night. Sure enough, when he woke on Friday morning, he found the church courtyard blanketed in a thick layer of snow.

Light snow was still drifting down when he set out from the church for Pops Antique Shop. By the time he reached the corner of Fifth Queen's Avenue, the flakes were as large as goose feathers.

He was idly running through his to-do list when he suddenly recalled that the "Spirit Incident Support Group" Nelly had mentioned was meeting tonight.

"Now that I've confirmed the All-knowing Treasure Mirror is in the hands of the vampires, there's no real need to go..."

He mused, still undecided on whether he should bother with the gathering that evening.

Thanks to the wretched weather, not a single customer visited the antique shop all morning. Papa Oliver was long accustomed to the quiet of winter, so he spent the time sitting by the fireplace with a newspaper, engaging Jenkins in idle conversation while complaining about every single article.

This morning's front-page headline in the Nolan Daily was about a series of murders that had occurred earlier in the week in Greentown, a small town under Nolan's jurisdiction. Papa Oliver took the news very seriously. He told Jenkins with absolute certainty that the cause of the incident was the appearance of a [Killing Mark] holder in Greentown.