The deep red light came and went quickly, Seth quickly regained his vision as his body unconsciously took a fighting stance. His right hand felt light—the plastic bag containing all his materials had vanished. The greyish-white fog gave a mysterious and ancient sense as he broke out in a cold sweat.
Seth instinctively took a few steps back to observe the unfamiliar place. In the grey fog beside himself were three others. A small distance away from him was a tall girl with blonde hair, her head swayed as she tried to observe her surroundings. Directly opposite to her, was a bulky man with medium blue hair. Seth could feel the man's gaze on him before he turned it away to observe the man in the center.
He was shrouded in a dense fog as his eyes glowed in an unnatural red colour. His silhouette was like that of a phantom, constantly flickering unstably.
Seth moved closer to the blue haired man, forming a small circle with the blonde. He faced the mysterious figure and politely asked, "May I ask who you are?"
At that instant, the other two too spoke up in unison
"Sir, where is this?"
"What do you plan on doing?"
The figure didn't speak as an unnatural silence befell the place, after a few seconds of silence the figure spoke in a smooth tone,
"An attempt"
Hearing his words, Seth felt a chill spread throughout his body. This mysterious figure had somehow been able to transport him and two others and bring them to this mysterious place–likely his domain with ease. Seth felt the only explanation was that this man present in front of him was a Deity.
What does that Deity want with me? Did he discover my uniqueness and transmigration? Is that why he brought me up here? If so, are these people around me transmigrators too?
Seth thought quickly, his thoughts turned into a blur as he felt an indescribable amount of fear.
The other two possible transmigrators too were shocked at his answer. After a long silence, the blonde girl spoke first with a bit of hesitation, "Sir is the attempt over? Can you let us go?"
The figure replied with a light chuckle, "As long as you request it, I can send you back right now."
There wasn't a trace of malice in his words, like this was all child's play to 'Him'. But Seth could feel a bit of anxiousness in his voice or that might've been his own imagination.
The man's words brought Seth a pang of relief, "Thank you for this attempt, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can I leave now?" Seth wanted to say aloud, yet he wasn't able to muster the courage and could only mutter it in his mind.
"This truly is a marvelous experience, I've always been curious about looking forward to interacting with the supernatural. Um, what I mean is how can I become a Beyonder?"
The blonde hair girl who was first hesitant at being summoned here, now seemed very lively, a stark contrast.
Seth pondered whether to answer her question, suddenly the grey fog slightly churned before surging upwards. Soon towering stone pillars, and a vast dome encapsulated them all.
It looked like a court designed for Giants, it was grand, lofty and quite tall. Directly under the dome where they gathered, a long bronze table appeared with ten high back chairs on either side of the table.
There were twenty two seats in total, Seth soon found himself near a seat, opposite to the seat of honour which was being occupied by the mysterious man. Seth took his seat as he found the others, the blonde girl was seated to his left, next to the mysterious figure. While the blue haired man was seated to his right, opposite to the girl. He was the farthest sitting at the seat opposite to the seat of honour, opposing the suspected Deity.
The mysterious figure stroked his chair as even more changes started appearing. The blue haired man remained silent as he leaned back and crossed his hands. The blonde hair girl remained curious as she shook her head between the both of them.
Seth was a bit hesitant before he decided to answer her question, "If you want to become a Beyonder, you need to consume a potion made by mystical ingredients. To acquire a potion, you can either purchase formulas through unofficial channels such as Beyonder gatherings or join the Orthodox Churches and becomes a Beyonder through them"
Seth had learned the existence of official Beyonders, who were a part of the Churches through his various experiences with them. They had tried to capture and identify him multiple times, for his crimes of murder and inciting people to commit murder to digest the potion.
The blue haired man decided to finally intervene in the conversation as he chimed in, "From your accent I can figure out you're from Loen. You can join the Evernight Church, Church of Storms, or the Church of Steam.
"The majority of people would never meet a Beyonder in their life, their numbers are fewer as compared to the previous ages. While this is the case, Beyonders still exist in courts, military, and churches. Their numbers have been plummeting since the start of this age, as they still fight against the dangers in the dark, due to this if you apply to join the churches you might be accepted."
Audrey stayed silent as she waited for Alger to finish, before sighing.
"Sir, I know all about what you said, maybe even more. I could join the Nighthawks, Mandated Punishers or The Machinery Hivemind. But that would cost me my freedom, I'd be bound to them forever."
Seth was surprised hearing her answer, she might not be as naive as he previously thought. But in the end her logic was still flawed, "To become a Beyonder one must make sacrifices, if you aren't ready to make this sacrifice you aren't ready to become a Beyonder.
"If these don't meet your requirements, you could either consider these two options. One is for you to seek out nobles with a long history, and try to become a Beyonder from their formulas. The other is to seek out clandestine evil organisations such as The Witch Sect, Theosophy Order or the Aurora Order. But do know, if you decide to join an evil organisation, you would be sacrificing your sanity."
Audrey puffed up her cheeks, as she looked at Alger hoping he would give another option but she saw him nodding at Seths words.
But her small tantrum was noticed by the ever perceptive Seth, who swallowed his anger.
"Everything I have wanted to say has been said by the previous gentleman. Though you could seek out Beyonders by yourself and try to purchase their Sequence potion with money."
Hearing this, Audrey's eyes lit up. Before Alger gave her a warning.
"But potions which had incorrect ingredients mixed in it are no different from poison. If you don't have a way to confirm it's true, you would be signing your own death."
Seth figured that the girl came from a wealthy and prominent family, perhaps a noble. Solving problems with money might be an everyday thing for her, but this wouldn't work higher in the Sequence.
An example of this was in his home world, all those nobles who had a whole lot of money, were in the end made into slaves, just like the commoners. No matter the money they offered, their fate remained the same. This made him realise, without strength, even if you have mountains of gold, others will still treat you like dirt
Only those who had some sort of power were able to barely escape and form the Revolutionary Army, to overthrow the Deities. Wealth, status, reputation… in front of true strength, they're nothing but illusions.
Seth did want to advise the naive girl about this, so that she wouldn't continue being ignorant but in the end he felt it wasn't his place.
Audrey lowered her head in disappointment as sank into her seat, "Is there no other way?" She asked with a heavy heart.
Seth decided to speak up, "There are other ways." He had quickly caught onto the blue haired man's plan, he had wanted to use Seth's words about the difficulty of obtaining potions to set up his own groundwork to try and sell her the potions he had.
Seth looked at mysterious Deity and saw that he had no opinions on their conversation and remained silent, not intervening in their deals. He was currently low on money, so this was the perfect time to make a quick buck, it wasn't his fault that the girl was this naive.
"I have a Sequence 9 formula with me, the formula continues till Sequence 7, so you would have a bit of smooth sailing, if you opt to buy it."
Audrey's eyes lit up as she asked eagerly, without sparing any time, "Really?, which one is it?"
Seth was happy at the girl's reaction, he might actually be able to 'sc-', no he might actually be able to help the girl achieve her dreams.
"The Sequence is called Assassin, those who consume this potion have their bodies strengthened. Their vision is improved, to the point of being able to see in the dark and can concentrate all their power into one blow. Moreover they gain excellent control over their own body and are light as a feather."
Seth tried to pump his formula up as he hoped the girl would try and buy it.
Audrey seemed to be in deep thought, "It's a potion primarily focused on combat" The girl muttered with a hint of disappointment.
Sure enough, after a few moments the girl spoke up, "Are there any other potions?I've heard that some potions allow you to control people's fate or predict the future."
Hearing her words, Seth couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sorry, but if you want those powers you need to be at least Sequence 4 maybe 3. Did you really think you could get all those powers at a measly Sequence 9?"
Hearing his words, Audrey's cheeks puffed up from being humiliated. She looked a bit vengeful, I'm going to get revenge for this. She thought in her mind.
Alger soon spoke up, "If that potion doesn't suit you I have two sets of other formulas."