NOVEL WEB Chapter 22: Cuttlefish
Michael stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking into his own eyes as he activated the Eye of Providence.
As he used it, his pupils turned red and began to swirl.
So that's why Becca's eyes became red and swirly. It's part of the Eye of Providence...
I'll need to keep the physical aspect of the Eye of Providence in mind when I use it. If a normal person sees this, they'll get creeped out, and if a Beyonder with knowledge of the Delusional Pathway notices, they'll know the moment I use it...
I wonder if the Devotee and Hallucinated have something similar...
Michael closed his eyes, deactivating the Eye of Providence.
As it deactivated, he felt an immense burning sensation, as though boiling oil had been poured into his eyes.
An inexplicable pressure also built in his brain, as if an anvil had fallen directly onto it.
Damn. I knew activating the Eye of Providence would be a huge burden since it uses up so much of my spirituality. And unfortunately, the Delusional potion barely changed the amount of spirituality i have...
That explains why I was sick basically all my life. As a Half-Delusional, I couldn't control the Eye of Providence, and it just kept consuming the little spirituality I had...
When Michael opened his eyes, he noticed Lana standing in the bathroom doorway, a sly smirk on her face.
"When did you get back? I didn't hear you come in."
"Just a few minutes ago. Congrats on becoming a Sequence 9," Lana said, walking back to the room.
She glanced at the desk where her papers were scattered and noticed her flowers were out of their jar.
Looking puzzled, she asked, "Why are my flowers out of their jar, and where's the jar?"
Michael stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. "There weren't any glasses, so I used it as a container for the potion. Don't worry, I cleaned it."
He handed her the jar that now had more water then before.
Lana stared at him, her expression frozen in shock.
"You could've just asked at the reception for a glass..." Lana weakly said as she placed the flowers back in the jar.
Michael stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and dismissing her comment.
"Oh, I forgot you're a wanted criminal. Sorry."
Michael sat on the bed. "Anyway, what time is it?"
"Around 4 P.M. Why?" Lana asked, sitting in a chair and revising the papers on her desk.
"Nothing. I'm just thinking about where I can spend the night without being recognized or caught."
Lana turned to him, clearly confused, as if the answer were obvious. "You're staying here. Where else could you go?"
Michael raised his eyebrows, looking at her in disbelief. "Are you sure? If someone catches you hiding me, you'll get into big trouble."
Lana tapped the desk and said firmly, "The keyword is 'if.' If you get caught, we're screwed. If. They'll have to work really hard to catch a Journalist and a Delusional working together."
Michael placed his hand over his mouth, trying to hide the smile that formed on his face, but his expression made it extremely obvious.
Changing the subject, he asked, "Lana, I've been thinking about that saying you told me. I'm curious, how do the Hallucinated's abilities work?"
Lana barely paused before answering. "The Hallucinated's main ability is somewhat similar to the Delusional's. But instead of seeing someone's future, we hear their past."
"Hear the past? How does that work?"
Lana thought for a moment, trying to simplify her explanation. "How does the Delusional's ability work?"
Michael tried to think of a way to describe the ability. "Well, basically, once you use the ability, everyone becomes a giant, colorful flash of light. If you stare at one of those flashes, you can see part of their future. It's not literally that, but it's really hard to explain in words..."
Lana listened closely to Michael's failed attempt at an explanation. "You are horrible at explaining things, you know?"
"Anyway, the Hallucinated work in a similar way. Everyone has a different sound. For example, when I used my ability on you, I heard waves and the ticking of a clock. Rebecca's sound was like brushstrokes on a canvas.
"If you focus on someone's face and listen to their sound, you can learn different things about them. That's how I knew Gregor Alighieri was a fake name.
"But you can't fully trust what you hear, it might be incomplete, or you might interpret it wrong, leading to wrong assumptions.
"You probably will have the same problem since the Delusional can only see part of someone's future and not the whole thing."
Michael nodded, satisfied with her answer. "What about the Devotee?"
"I honestly have no idea. Beyonders of the Devotee pathway are mainly located in the Western Continent. Very few of them are in the Northern or Southern Continents, and those who are here are at most Sequence 7."
Since Lana couldn't help him with that, Michael tried to reach his own conclusion.
The Delusional sees the future, the Hallucinated hears the past... Could the Devotee have something to do with the present?
Since he couldn't find a definitive answer to his questions, Michael decided to ignore his questions.
"Now that I think about it, compared to other Pathways at Sequence 9, the Delusional and Hallucinated seem much more powerful.
"The other Pathways generally just make Beyonders physically stronger or give them knowledge about rituals and spirituality. But the Delusional and Hallucinated abilities are incredibly powerful for Sequence 9."
Lana kept revising her papers while not giving much attention to Michael's questions.
"You're a noble who never had contact with mysticism before. How do you know so much about other Pathways?"
Michael chuckled as he remembered the time he spent reading the novel in his original world, "Would you believe me if I said that a cuttlefish taught me?"
Lana smirked, still focused on her papers. "A cuttlefish? That's interesting."
Michael stared at the ceiling, melancholy washing over him as he remembered his original world. "Yes... a Cuttlefish that Loves Diving..."