Oh, that was...
GREAT!
This was perfect. One or two powers? Jace could manage that without losing his combat effectiveness.
He could simply select the "Water Pipe" and "Paper Weapons" powers for suppression while keeping his useful powers untouched.
He couldn't help but think that the Artisan who crafted this artifact was a talented one.
Usually, the artifact would have just suppressed random abilities, putting the user at a severe disadvantage if a crucial power happened to be locked away.
But being able to choose which powers to suppress was a complete game-changer.
And then there was the turn-on, turn-off mechanism—the Artisan really was a genius.
He smiled in satisfaction, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes.
Catherine, who was still sitting on Jace's lap and watching his face closely, smiled as she saw how much he liked the artifact.
She herself found the item quite useful and tempting, but regardless, it belonged to Jace.
"Thank you," Jace said with a smile, leaning in to kiss Catherine's cheek.
Catherine chuckled.
"What's in the other box?" he asked curiously, looking at the small cardboard box.
The wooden box had contained another smaller package inside it—likely another artifact that Catherine had ordered for herself alongside his.
While he was curious about it, he hadn't bothered asking about it as it was her business, and he didn't want to be nosy.
"Why don't you guess~" Catherine said with a mischievous smile, caressing his cheek with her thumb.
Jace narrowed his eyes in confusion. "...Another ring?" he asked.
Catherine sighed and pinched his cheek softly. "It's chocolate, my dear, chocolate. Didn't you say you loved it?"
"I do," Jace replied, leaning forward to take the box in his hand, fully intending to eat it right away.
But Catherine caught his wrist. Jace turned to look at her in confusion.
Catherine moved her other hand from his cheek to hold his chin. "Before that, you'll have to answer a few of my questions, sweetheart~" she said playfully, tilting his face up to meet hers.
Jace raised an eyebrow. "Are you exploiting my knowledge for chocolate?" he asked, amused.
Catherine thought for a moment. "...Yes?" she said with an uncertain tone.
"Okay, go on," Jace said as he straightened up, preparing himself for the questions to come.
"Do you believe in luck?" Catherine asked, her flirty demeanor fading as her voice turned slightly serious.
'Do I believe in luck?' Of course he did. There was literally a pathway based entirely on the powers of luck and fate.
"Yes," he replied.
"Do you think it can be manipulated?" Catherine asked.
"Absolutely," Jace replied.
Catherine pondered this for a moment. "Then you know about the pathway that possesses such abilities, yes?" she asked.
"Yes, it's the Monster pathway. Sequence 7 and Sequence 5, in particular, are the ones that have abilities related to luck," Jace said, keeping his eyes on Catherine.
However, it seemed she already knew this, as there wasn't a hint of surprise or acknowledgment on her face.
Catherine nodded. She got up from Jace's lap and sat down closely beside him on the couch. Picking up the wooden box, she opened it.
She removed another small black box from inside and handed it to Jace, who accepted it with a little hesitation.
"This is an artifact corresponding to Sequence 7 of the Monster pathway," she said.
Jace's interest was peaked. He looked at Catherine to ask for permission to open it. Catherine nodded, gesturing for him to go ahead.
So he opened it.
Inside lay a pristine silver pocket watch, adorned with complicated silver embroidery. It was elegant and beautiful.
Jace took it in his hand and set the empty small box down on the table.
Upon closer inspection, he realized it was not a standard watch, but a kind of stopwatch with a limit of 15 minutes. Currently, the minute hand was resting on zero.
There were two small silver buttons on the top—likely to start and stop it, he guessed.
Just as he was wondering about the artifact's exact power, Catherine spoke up. "The abilities and side effects of this artifact are simple: '15 days of bad luck for 15 minutes of really good luck.'"
Jace looked at Catherine, confusion and surprise plain on his face.
Catherine explained, "When you press the button on the top left, the bad luck begins. One day of bad luck accumulates one minute of really good luck. To accumulate the maximum good luck, you have to use the watch for 15 days while enduring the bad luck. Later, you can press the top right button to unleash the accumulated luck."
Jace thought about it for a moment. Fifteen minutes of really good luck sounded incredible to him, but fifteen days of bad luck was a completely different story.
But that obstacle could easily be bypassed by just giving the artifact to other people, letting them bear the bad luck to charge the good luck for him.
He asked Catherine about this loophole, and she confirmed that it would work.
Furthermore, she noted that the bad luck wouldn't be entirely catastrophic; it would only amount to a really miserable day for a normal person.
Now that he thought about it, this was a pretty spectacular artifact.
Fifteen minutes of pure luck was more than enough to turn the tide of a Beyonder fight, perhaps escape a Beyonder of a higher sequence than himself, or even guarantee a safe advancement.
He couldn't help but want it for himself.
"Hehe~," Catherine chuckled. "The greed in your eyes is obvious, Jace," she said with a smile.
"I can't wait for you to see the real thing," she added, a dark glint in her eyes.
Jace looked at her and asked, "The real thing?"
Catherine nodded. "Yes, the real thing. You see, the artifact in your hand is just an imitation of the original. The real one corresponds to Sequence 5 of the Monster pathway," she said.
She stood up and offered her hand to Jace. He took it, letting her guide him across the room.
Behind the couch stood rows and even an entire aisle of books. She dragged him behind the aisle, all the way into the far corner of the bookshelf.
There, she stopped and began pressing specific books in a particular order. Jace stayed silent, watching her movements closely.
After shifting the final book, she grabbed the edge of the shelf and pulled it outward. Like a door, it swung open, revealing darkness inside.
She looked back at Jace and gestured for him to follow. With that, she stepped inside.
But instead of entering a hidden room, the pathway led straight down a narrow staircase.
Jace followed her down. It was pitch black, but since he was a Sequence 6, he had no trouble navigating the darkness.
When they reached the bottom, Jace could see that they were standing in a small basement of sorts.
He spotted a few unlit fire lamps oon the walls around, so he snapped his fingers, lighting up the small room instantly.
Jace looked around, his eyes widening in surprise.
There were shelves lining the walls, but instead of books, they were filled with various Beyonder characteristics and artifacts.
Catherine took in Jace's stunned expression, a triumphant smile spreading across her face.
This was her private collection.