Lord of the mysteries(600-800)

718

Not finding himself overly exhausted, Klein rubbed his temples and beckoned over a tiny metallic bottle from the junk pile.

Inside it was a tiny tube of blood that he went through great effort to extract from his vein, and he had long brought it above the gray fog. It was only waiting for the opportunity when Klein would use his Spirit Body to enter Groselle's Travels to explore the book world.

After opening the cap, Klein wasn't in a hurry to smear the blood over the book's dark brown cover. Instead, he summoned all the items from the junk pile that he had brought to the mysterious space before the Tarot Gathering, and he spread them out in front of him.

In consideration of how the Black Emperor's form was too eye-catching, and with him not too certain of the exact situation in the book world, Klein decided against bringing the Card of Blasphemy. Instead, he used Azik's copper whistle to fortify his Spirit Body to prevent himself from failing to return above the gray fog before being instantly killed by some unknown power.

As the ancient and exquisite copper whistle fused into his body, Klein's Spirit Body swelled up and became more corporeal.

Two pitch-black flames flared out from his eye sockets as though they possessed a life of their own.

With the help of Cogitation, he adjusted his spirituality, converging the iciness that stemmed from the aspect of Death within his body. Soon, his eyes returned to normal.

This was like an evil spirit taking on an ordinary form to lure prey into its proximity.

Right on the heels of that, Klein wore Creeping Hunger and held Death Knell while he hid the Nightmare Beyonder characteristic in his body. The latter was prepared for him to seek out any abnormalities when exploring the dreams of the living entities in the book world.

After completing all his preparations, he poured a few drops of blood and smeared it over the cover of Groselle's Travels.

After a brief wait, his vision turned blurry, as though countless translucent objects were hidden within it. Following that, it turned clear—there were blue skies, white clouds, grayish-brown city walls, and passersby.

This is no longer the land of ice and snow from before, but a city that looks very normal on the surface... Klein stood by the side of the dirt road as he observed the residents of the book world. He discovered that most of them wore linen shirts, a short brown coat, and loose dark-colored trousers. Their overall style was akin to that of the Loen Kingdom centuries ago.

He looked down at the format of the tailcoat, starched shirt, and damaged dark-red bow tie as he silently changed it all out. Instantly, he was no different from the people around him.

He then walked to the city gates in preparation to enter.

At that moment, a leather-vested soldier at the gate stopped him.

"Entrance fees! One liddle."

Do I look rich? I don't even know what a liddle is... Klein mumbled inwardly, amused. He then "communicated" with him at a spiritual level, successfully transferring the soldier's attention onto a merchant caravan behind him.

As a quasi-wraith who could possess anyone and control them, exerting a psychological influence on others was nothing extraordinary. It wasn't a particularly potent ability, but it was extremely useful against ordinary people.

When Klein entered the city, he walked through the streets in a seemingly relaxed manner, but he inwardly remained wary. He felt that public hygiene was slightly better than Backlund a few years ago. It appeared to have a mature sewage system, preventing the situation of any waste and trash being dumped.