"Triss," Nairn looked at his subordinate, "I want this Mystical Item. As for that member of the Aurora Order, keep observing him for now; if he has anything else good, we can continue to trade."
"Yes, Master." Triss respectfully lowered her head.
"Also, regarding that case in Tingen City," Nairn paused, a gleam of excitement flashing in his eyes, "Reply to Sir Derville and tell him—I am very interested in this case and will go there personally to handle it."
"Go and reply first, then come back in a while."
Triss's figure silently exited the room, and Nairn's gaze fell back onto the wooden box.
For any Beyonder, advancement is a crucial metamorphosis and a gamble facing the risk of losing control.
However, for Nairn, the risk of this "gamble" could almost be ignored.
Possessing the Sefirah "chaos theater," he could theoretically be compatible with the Beyonder characteristic of any Pathway.
As long as the Sefirah itself did not reject it, he would not be in danger of losing control.
And the "Path of a Thousand Faces," as one of the two initial Pathways that came with "chaos theater," naturally had unquestionable compatibility.
Therefore, although his every advancement was not by directly consuming a potion, but by absorbing—or more appropriately, refining—a Beyonder characteristic, there would not be much risk.
After all, these two Pathways could be said to be completely foreign Pathways.
The benefit of this method was that the madness and corruption within the characteristic had already been neutralized and worn away for the most part during the refining process.
"Huu—" Nairn let out a long breath, feeling that his spirit had adjusted to its optimal state.
He bent down and reached out to open the antique wooden box.
A bizarre Clown mask was lying quietly on the black velvet lining, its curved corners of the mouth seemingly smiling at him silently, revealing an indescribable evil aura.
Nairn reached out and picked up the mask.
It felt cold to the touch with a peculiar texture, carrying a faint, elusive fleshy sensation, as if it had been peeled off from the face of some living creature.
Without hesitation, he slowly placed the mask onto his face.
Hum— The moment the mask touched his skin, an indescribable, wonderful feeling instantly spread throughout his entire body, like countless tiny electric currents traveling beneath his skin.
The world before his eyes seemed to be covered by an invisible filter, and all colors and lines became vivid, as if they were blinking at him.
Upon the mask, that Beyonder characteristic belonging to the "Trickmaster," like a fish that had found its home, crazily and actively surged into Nairn's spirit body, carrying a sense of joy and excitement.
The power of "chaos theater" was instantly activated, and an invisible vortex quietly unfolded deep within Nairn's spirituality.
The surging Beyonder characteristic, without the slightest resistance, was swept into the vortex and was rapidly absorbed, purified, and reorganized.
Those mental imprints of the original owner remaining in the characteristic, and those negative effects attached when it was made into a Mystical Item, were all crushed one by one under the power of "chaos," turning into the purest Beyonder power.
Nairn felt that his body was undergoing some kind of wonderful change.
A peculiar feeling instantly spread throughout his limbs and bones.
He felt that his way of thinking was undergoing a subtle transformation. In his eyes, the world was no longer so "solid," and no longer so unchanging.
The wall was no longer an absolute obstacle; it was just an aggregate composed of countless particles that one could temporarily "borrow a path" through.
As long as one found the most fragile connection point, one could easily pass through it.
Sound was no longer just simple vibration; it was musical notes composed of frequency and amplitude that could be "woven" at will. He could turn the sound of horse hooves into a cat's meow, and he could also make his own voice come from the ceiling.
Light was also no longer rigid straight-line propagation; its path was a line that could be "twisted" and "refracted."
He could make himself in the mirror make faces at the person outside the mirror, and he could also create a fleeting shadow before others' eyes.
He could even clearly "see" that between objects and objects, and between rules and rules, there existed countless tiny "loopholes" that could be utilized.
This was a brand-new perspective, a perspective belonging to the "Trickster."
A strong impulse to want to fiddle with these "loopholes" surged crazily from the bottom of his heart.
He wanted to make the coachman downstairs suddenly discover that his horse had grown a pair of wings.
He wanted to make a singing sunflower grow out of thin air on the neighbor's dining table.
He wanted to make the Tingen City mayor's hat turn into a funny green Clown hat tomorrow morning.
These absurd thoughts sprouted and spread wildly in his mind like weeds.
This was the power of sequence 8, "Trickster," and also its most direct risk of losing control.
Once one indulged in this kind of pure, meaningless prank, one would eventually completely lose oneself and become a Lunatic who only knew how to create chaos and chase after momentary fun.
But Nairn had long since made full preparations.
The experience from absorbing the "Criminal" characteristic previously, as well as all the groundwork done for playing the "Fun-seeker," at this moment, had become the solid foundation for him to resist losing control.
"I, Nairn, am the master of 'chaos theater,' a player, and a Fun-seeker."
His will was as firm as iron, forcibly carving out a clear path through the chaotic thoughts.
"I create chaos to obtain play value and to achieve my goals."
"Pranks are just my means, not my everything."
"I, will always be myself."
Powerful self-awareness, like an indestructible dam, firmly constrained those surging, roaring, and disorderly prank impulses within a controllable range.
The pleasure brought by the advancement slowly receded like a tide, and Nairn quickly calmed his excited heart completely.
He sank comfortably into the sofa, while tasting a cup of steaming black tea he had just "snatched" from the kitchen using his new ability, and started to test his newly acquired abilities with great interest.
With another thought, the air in front of him twisted slightly, forming an invisible mirror, clearly reflecting his appearance at this moment.
The face wearing the Clown mask looked both funny and weird.
This was one of the most basic abilities of the "Trickster," light and shadow tricks.
Hmm, convenient; in the future, I won't even need to buy a mirror.
The moment the advancement was completed, Nairn felt that the entire world had shed a layer of serious Disguise before his eyes, revealing its funny inner core filled with "loopholes."
The air was no longer just simple gas, but a screen that could twist light and refract sound.
The solid wall also revealed countless "shortcuts" composed of atomic gaps that he could pass through in his eyes.
This was sequence 8, [ Trickster ].
A Beyonder Pathway that took pleasure in creating accidents and found fun in deconstructing order.
He looked at the floor beneath his feet, his gaze easily penetrating the surface wood grain, seeing its internal stress structure. Intuition told him—only a negligible spiritual disturbance was needed to make this solid wooden board become as soft and bouncy as rubber at a specific moment.
He glanced at the pocket watch on the table; the uniformly swinging gears and hairspring turned into strings of fragile order in his eyes. With just a gentle pluck, he could make time fall into crazy fast-forward or abrupt stagnation within that square inch.
This was a brand-new dimension of perception, a kind of "aesthetic perception of loopholes."
It was not for battle, nor was it for destruction.
It was an instinct for comedic prediction—able to accurately foresee what kind of minor interference could trigger the most dramatic chain reaction, and could make the most serious occasion instantly collapse into an absurd farce.
"little theater. Give me the Sequence description of 'Trickster'."
Nairn gave the command casually.
Immediately after, a cute thought belonging to little theater came over eagerly: "Alright!"
The curtain of "chaos theater" slowly opened in his mind, and a brand-new character script exclusive to sequence 8 [ Trickster ] appeared in gorgeous and playful gold-stamped fonts.
[ sequence 8: Trickster ]
[ Essence: Use precise, creative physical tricks to create "accidents" that make people astonished, annoyed, or unable to laugh or cry, thereby tearing open cracks filled with an entertainment spirit on the curtain of order. ]
Nairn read with great interest, the arc of his mouth becoming more and more obvious.
[ Core Ability 1: Prank ]
[ Branch 1: Physical Property Alteration. Can change the physical properties of non-living solid surfaces in a small range, but does not change their essence. ]
Nairn's gaze fell on the black tea cup at hand.
With a slight movement of his mind, a weak and delicate spirituality reached out and gently covered the contact surface between the bottom of the cup and the saucer.
[ Prank · Directional Adhesion ].
He reached out to pick up the tea cup, but the feeling in his hand was that it was immovable, as if the tea cup and the saucer had been welded together with superglue.
He exerted a little force, and the entire saucer was brought up; the tea sloshed around and almost spilled out.
Nairn chuckled, retracted his spirituality, and the adhesive force instantly disappeared, returning the tea cup to normal.
He cast his gaze toward the smooth surface of the desk and pointed his fingertips into the air.
[ Prank · Temporary Lubrication ].
A fountain pen on the table seemed to have life, "sliding" from this end of the table to the other by itself, stopping precisely at the edge, swaying precariously.
"Interesting."
This is simply a god-tier skill for creating physical accidents and awkward situations.
Imagine, at a critical moment, making the enemy's sword hilt slippery, or making the stair treads under the pursuer's feet turn into an ice rink—
[ Prank · Elasticity Imparting ].
Nairn's playful heart was greatly aroused, and his gaze fell back onto the floor beneath his feet.
He lightly stomped his foot. "Thump!"
The solid wooden floor, at the moment his foot landed, actually became like a rubber trampoline, and a huge elastic force traveled up along his ankle, causing him to uncontrollably bounce upward.
The script continued to unfold downward.
[ Branch 2: Light and Sound Tricks. Can precisely control the propagation of light and sound, creating short-term auditory and visual hallucinations, but cannot construct complex scenes. ]
This was inherited from "Trickmaster," but the application direction was even more tricky.
Nairn snapped his fingers.
In the shadow of the corner of the room, a blurry figure flashed by, so fast that one would think it was an illusion.
Immediately after, the muffled "ticking" sound of the wall clock suddenly came from behind him, as if someone had hung a clock behind him.
[ Sound Tricks ] can not only imitate others' voices but also emit sounds from any location, creating an effect similar to "ventriloquism," making it an excellent weapon for misleading and Deception.
And [ Light and Shadow Tricks ] create interference and cognitive dissonance at a psychological level. Making the mirror reflect the wrong reflection, making the handwriting on key evidence temporarily blurry in others' eyes—
These abilities, taken individually, might not have strong lethality.
But if combined with his layout ability, as well as the unreasonable Sefirah power of "chaos theater," the effects that could be exerted would absolutely be a geometric growth.
Nairn's gaze continued to move downward, and he saw an ability that had repeatedly achieved miraculous effects before.
[ Core Ability 2: Phase Prank ]
[ Ability Description: Can subtly "fold" or "stretch" spatial relationships at a very close range, producing a feeling similar to short-distance flashing or spatial displacement. ]
This had already touched upon the true core Authority of the "Apprentice" Pathway—Space.
Although the description emphasized "non-combat displacement" and "creating shock and confusion," Nairn knew that the room for operation here was unimaginably large.
He stood up and walked to a wall.
[ Distance Deception ].
He reached out to touch the wall, but his fingertips stopped a few centimeters away from the wall surface, touching nothing.
That wall seemed to have "retreated" a few centimeters backward.
He tried to take another step forward, preparing to pass through the door frame, but the threshold seemed to suddenly "greet" him, making him almost trip over himself.
"So that's how it is; it's distorting a person's perception of distance within a very small range—"
Nairn's playful heart was greatly aroused, his figure flashed, and he hid behind a huge floor-to-ceiling curtain.
[ Flash Prank ]!
The next second, he had already silently appeared at the other end of the room, on top of the tall bookcase, sitting cross-legged in a strange posture, overlooking the entire room.
The entire process did not exceed two seconds, the displacement distance was about three meters, and it was separated by thick curtains as a visual obstacle in the middle.
This was not moving at all, but a small-range spatial displacement!
Used to scare people, or to appear in an absolutely unexpected position at a critical moment, it was simply a fatal move.
It was simply a "Trickster" ability prepared for creating the "sudden appearance" "face-to-face" effect!
He leaped down from the bookcase, and his love for [ Trickster ] deepened by another layer in his heart.
[ Core Ability 3: Order Breaking String ]
[ Ability Description: Can rely on spiritual intuition to perform "key point" interference on precision machinery or simple rituals in progress. ]
Mechanical failure—can make a pocket watch suddenly stop or spin crazily, make the firing mechanism of a firearm "coincidentally" jam at a critical moment, or make the stress point of a carriage axle subtly shift, emitting a harsh noise.
Ritual disturbance—can make the candle flame unnaturally drift toward the wrong direction, make the ritual powder unevenly disturbed when sprinkled, or make the spiritual focus of low-level rituals appear to disperse for an instant.
This was the "Trickster's" natural deconstruction tendency toward "serious occasions" and "precision systems," and it was the embodiment of its "seeking fun."
Combined with the enhancement of the Sefirah, Nairn could think of a whole bunch of application examples.
Make a certain key valve of a steam train "coincidentally" fail, make the spirituality of an enemy Beyonder suddenly disperse when holding an advancement ritual, make the firearm aimed at him "just happen" to jam when pulling the trigger—
This was a dimensionality reduction strike from the rule level, using the smallest disturbance to pursue the maximum dramatic effect.
"It really is—too artistic." Nairn couldn't help but exclaim.
[ Core Ability 4: Inspiration Snicker ]
[ Ability Description: Spirituality carries an "incoordination" disturbance; when focused on "pranking," it can slightly interfere with other Beyonders' spiritual intuition or danger premonition, making them "just happen" to lose track of the upcoming prank. ]
This is a god-level passive!
It perfectly solved the biggest problem of all pranks—how to prevent the other party from getting an early warning.
With this ability, all his "surprises" would be real "surprises," and every one of his appearances would be a perfect stage entrance.
Even—this Beyonder ability, combined with the Sefirah, was an even stronger version of "anti-divination and anti-prophecy."
It could be said to completely counter the "danger premonition" of the "Devil."
It even had a kind of "halo effect" that "lowers the enemy's intelligence"!
That kind of "just happen to lose track" was a permanent passive, simply even more perfect than the arrangements of a "Spectator."