Cherwood, Crimson Lane, Jace's apartment.
In his bedroom, Jace appeared back into existence just as he had faded from it the night before.
The night had been long and exhausting, but it was also beyond satisfying.
Without bothering to change or do anything else, he collapsed onto the bed and closed his eyes in sadness.
All the money he had earned was officially gone.
In the morning, when Jace and Catherine had woken up, he had settled his account with her.
He paid the money for the Faceless potion ingredients and the Prometheus artifact.
The cost of the ingredients was something he had anticipated, but the price of the artifact was more than he had expected.
So, with a heavy heart, he had to hand over the cash.
Catherine had actually offered to cover it herself, and Jace was internally overjoyed by his "sugar mommy," but ultimately, he decided to pay it himself.
He had the funds available, and relying entirely on Catherine just didn't feel right to him.
On the other hand...
While he lay flat on the bed, his lips curled into a wide, triumphant grin.
From his pocket, he pulled out a beautiful silver watch—no, a stopwatch—and held it above his face, staring at it as if it were his long-lost lover.
He clutched it to his chest with both hands. "Oh, the things I did for you," Jace said with an overly dramatic flair.
Yes, it was the 'Lucky One Stopwatch'. The moment he had laid eyes on it, Jace was taken by it.
But it was a rare, expensive and a usefull piece, and it belonged to Catherine.
However, after learning that it was merely an imitation and that Catherine kept the original golden one in her basement, he had seriously considered asking her for it.
As it turned out, Catherine had simply been curious about the pathway capable of puducing such a Artifact related to power of luck—meaning the original Sequence 5 'Winner' stopwatch.
So she had spent a few years researching the pathway and searching for its corresponding Beyonder characteristics, finally finding a Sequence 7 'Lucky One' characteristic and having an Artisan craft it into an artifact that mirrored the original.
And the result was remarkably good.
Catherine had no real practical use for it outside of a few experiments, so Jace dialed his shamelessness up to the maximum and asked her for it.
She rejected him at first, of course. So, Jace had to be highly persuasive—both with his words and in bed.
He even had to go down on her, which was a first-time experience in his life that had made him a bit nervous, but Catherine, on the other hand, absolutely loved it.
That had been the final nail in the coffin, and Catherine ultimately agreed to let him have it.
But, naturally, it didn't come without a price.
Jace had to promise Catherine three Sequence 7 Beyonder characteristics or two Sequence 6 characteristics in return.
Meaning he had to hunt some beyonders.
Jace was a little disappointed when he realized she wasn't just handing it over for free, but then he reminded himself that he was being too shameless anyway, and gladly accepted the deal.
Sitting up, Jace decided it was time to clean himself up. He got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to take a bath.
Hunting Beyonders was no longer a major issue for Jace.
He was a Sequence 6 now, and with his three main artifacts by his side—the Polymath ring, the Prometheus ring, and now the Lucky One stopwatch—he could likely take down a Sequence 5 with some preparation and effort.
Therefore, standard Sequence 6 Beyonders were easy for him to handle, and Sequence 7s were even easier.
However, Jace shook his head while rinsing off. He couldn't afford to become arrogant like that; it wasn't in the nature of a Seer.
Even when dealing with a low-sequence Beyonder, he would still prepare meticulously.
After finishing his bath, Jace changed into fresh set of clothes and began packing.
It was finally time to move.
After packing his clothes, books, and various other belongings, he slipped on the Polymath ring and teleported directly to his bungalow in the North Boroughs to drop them off.
Why would he waste money hiring a carriage when he could simply teleport?
He returned to his Cherwood apartment the exact same way, packed up the remaining items, dropped them off at the bungalow, and teleported back once more.
Jace now stood in the apartment he had lived in for a long time. It looked rather empty, though he had left a few minor things behind just in case.
Jace wasn't the sentimental type. He hadn't returned to gaze at the apartment one last time out of nostalgia; he had returned simply because he wasn't quite finished with Cherwood just yet.
He walked out of the apartment and exited the building, scanning the residential complex to find a specific target.
And he found him. Near the wall of a building that looked identical to Jace's own, a middle-aged man in his forties was sitting on a bench, taking a puff from a cigarette.
The man's appearance was haggard, defined by a thin, scrawny body frame and crumpled clothes.
Jace walked toward him. It was mid-afternoon, so there was nobody else around, which suited Jace perfectly.
As he closed the distance to the bench where the man sat, the heavy stench of alcohol and smoke invaded his nose.
This was a bad man. His wife and two sons worked day and night, but the man routinely stole their hard-earned money and squandered it entirely on alcohol and gambling.
Jace knew him well by reputation, as the man frequently caused a ruckus and fought with the neighbors numerous times. Everyone in the immediate area knew exactly who he was.
Jace stopped directly in front of him. The man noticed his shadow and looked up with half-open, drunken eyes. "Hey! What do you want?!" he demanded in a hoarse, grating voice.
Jace didn't waste a single second.
Activating the Polymath ring, he imitated the 'Hypnosis' ability of a Sequence 6 Hypnotist.
He had previously asked Catherine to use her 'Hypnotist necklace' she had in his presence just so he could observe and imitate it.
And it worked, since the artifact channeled the authentic powers of a Beyonder, So he could imitate them without a Problem.
The ability of hypnosis was going to be useful to him as a Faceless.
The moment the hypnosis took hold, the gambler's eyes became dull as he sat up perfectly straight.
"Take this," Jace commanded softly, handing the silver stopwatch over to the man. His voice carried a smooth, slightly ethereal quality.
"Press the top left button."
The gambler obeyed absentmindedly pressing down on the button.
"Keep this watch with you for three days. Do not give it to anyone. Three days from now, come back and sit on this exact bench at this exact same time," Jace instructed slowly and deliberately, ensuring the commands were ingrained into the man's subconscious mind.
He repeated the instructions a few more times just to be safe.
The abilities he imitated through the Polymath ring were only about half as effective as the original versions, but since his target was a mundane civilian and not a Beyonder, Jace was confident it wouldn't pose an issue.
"What will you do?" Jace questioned, testing the man.
"For three days, I will keep this watch with me. I won't give it to anyone. After three days, I will come back here at the same time as today," the man replied, his expression completely blank and his voice devoid of emotion.
"Good," Jace said, promptly snapping the man out of the hypnotic trance.
Before walking away, he quickly plucked a few strands of the man's hair and tucked them safely into a piece of folded paper—just in case he needed to locate the man via divination.
With that completed, Jace casually walked away.
A few moments later, a spark of conscious awareness returned to the gambler's eyes. He looked around in a state of brief confusion, and looked at the silver watch resting in his palm, and carelessly shoved it into the inner pocket of his jacket.
Jace smiled to himself as he walked.
The man would endure three miserable days of bad luck on his behalf, ultimately gifting him three full minutes of good fortune.