Lord of The Mysteries: Chained

"Isn't this the Sefirot Tenebrous World!, but how is it manifesting here?"

Caster became more intrigued at the fact that the Tenebrous World chose him to be its embodiment. "Wasn't it supposed to be sealed in the Western Continent!"

His thoughts turned sluggish as he fell down in shock. Caster soon manifested a palace in the woods similar to how Klein manifested his own palace, Caster could also now remember his previously foggy memories.

Sitting in one of its seats, Caster exhaled with panic. 'Am I a revival plan for some eldritch horror, maybe the Mother Tree of Desire?!, but why?.'

Caster knew he couldn't ruminate over the matter more lest he wanted to be corrupted. Even though the Sefirots were strong and were able to provide protection against Deities, he wasn't sure if it could protect him from Great Old Ones.

As such Caster put these blasphemous thoughts in the back of his head and decided to explore his new Sefirot. He first delved into the vast forest.

Caster travelled a few miles in each direction but seemed to find no end of the woods. The World seemed to be in an eternal state of darkness as even though a few hours had passed, the moon still did not fade.

With a sigh Caster returned back to where he first appeared and decided to explore the mountains which seemingly harboured the Demonic Wolves — a race he thought was extinct.

Just as Caster came near the foot of the mountain, the gazes of the wolves at the top turned hostile as they bared their fangs at Caster; a striking contrast to their previous longing expression.

The only wolf that did not bare its teeth at Caster was the one guarding the base of the mountain. Caster warily approached the seemingly docile wolf, Caster quietly crossed the distance between him and wolf and came close enough to pet him.

This seemed to have angered three other demonic wolves as they're jaws unhinged and their breathing laboured. Their howls broke the quiet atmosphere but Caster paid no heed to it.

Caster cautiously raised his hands to the wolf's head and after confirming there was no danger, he gently stroked its head. The wolf remained docile for a few moments before its eyes widened seemingly receiving an order and jumped towards Caster.

Caster panicked and raised his hands trying to cover his face from the wolf's attacks. The wolf greedily sunk his jaw into Caster's hand as his teeth dug straight into his flesh; a type of venom was soon injected into Caster who remained unaware of this development.

With a yelp Caster kicked the wolf's body which sent it flying towards the mountain and Caster soon screamed: "Bloody Bugger, I'm going to hunt you down and roast you over a fire!"

Just at that minute moment, a qualitative change appeared in Caster's body as his body was wrapped by illusory black chains which seemed to imprison him.

Caster's eyes went purple as he chanted in Ancient Hermes

"Temperance that has been Imprisoned to This Era,

The Ruler of the World swallowed by Darkness, The One Above Omniscience,

The Ruler of Transformation and Change"

Caster soon blacked out and withdrew from his Sefirah.

********

With a gasp Caster awoke from his kitchen, he hazily looked around and sighed after seeing that he was in the safety of his house.

Caster could also feel on an astral level that the prayer that he recited pointed to him, kind of like Klein's honorific name.

The powers granted by the Prisoner potion also seemed to have been engraved in his mind, right after Caster awoke.

The first ability of the potion was that it enhanced his bodily capacities allowing for movement, health, agility and senses beyond human constraints.

The second ability gave him a myriad of criminal knowledge ranging from lock picking to killing people with harmless items to making explosives.

The third and final ability was to manifest illusory chains that could bind opponents and restrain them for a few moments. These chains could also provide serenity and stability to their spirit bodies.

Caster was puzzled about the third ability, to his knowledge the prisoner pathway did not seem to grant that ability. Yes, he was quite sure of that, was this a peculiarity from his Sefirot.

He soon recalled the parting gift he received from the wolf before he was forcefully withdrawn from his Sefirot, was this extra ability a boon granted by that wolf. If so he might have to reward the little gremlin.

Caster disregarded his useless thoughts and decided to focus on his next objective, and that was to gain the favour of both the Wraith Sharron aka the goth baddie and the Zombie Maric aka the one who does not have friends; so that they may tell him the sequence 6 and 5 potion formulas.

With a pleasant smile, Caster departed from his home and rented a carriage to the Bravehearts Bar. Travelling through the stormy streets of Backlund, Caster gripped his hand tightly.

Throughout the journey his rationality was dropping and he unwantingly desired to end the man's life. Caster bit his tongue to stop his desires from getting out of control and banged his fist against the carriage wall.

Which unwittingly attracted the coachman's attention: "Sir, is there any problem?"

The man inquired concerningly, Caster clenched his fist and silently chanted the motto: 'The mind is the prisoner of the body, and the body is the prisoner of the world.'

Repeating this phrase as a mantra, Caster calmed down by a portion and said with a smile: "No, there's no problem dear sir. I'm just a bit sick!"

The coachman nodded wistfully, seemingly aware of what he was going through. After what seemed like hours, Caster finally reached Bravehearts Bar; Caster hastily gave the driver a soli with 2 pence as a top and hurried inside where he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Caster could soon feel a part of the potion digest which made him conclude one rule of his acting method.

'Repress Desire and Show Temperance' Caster thought with a sorrowful expression. This one rule was infinitely harder than he ever thought, if he got such desires from being around just one person.

After a short pause, Caster braved himself and sat in a vacant spot. The bartender looked at the albino who entered and approached him while tending to a drink showcasing his excellent skills.

"What do you want to drink?" The man asked, dropping the pretense.

"A Southville Beer" Caster answered ignoring his blunt tone.

The bartender soon poured Caster the drink who after taking a few seconds to finish it handed the man 6 pence; just before he handed the man his money Caster whispered in a secretive tone

"I want to see the Old Man"

The bartender's indifferent face dropped and he adopted a serious expression. Caster remained calm at his antics as the man sighed and replied in a serene tone

"Second Floor, third door on the left"

Caster hastily climbed the stairs and reached the aforementioned door. He calmed himself down and stepped inside; the room was quite spacious, it featured a medium-sized pool table in the middle where a few men were playing pool.

All of them had a cold tone except the one at the end, Caster soon approached the man at the end ignoring all the cold and unfriendly gazes.

"Good Afternoon Old Man, I require your services!" Caster said in a warm tone as he bowed slightly and tipped his hat.

The Man looked at him carefully and asked in a curt tone: "Who told you about me?"

Caster smiled and answered immediately, showcasing his friendly behaviour: "A Fool" Caster inwardly sent a prayer to Klein.

'Sorry my brother, I'm going to use your name for all sorts of shenanigans; please don't mind. If you have a problem, feel free to speak up!'

As Caster finished his sentences, the cold gazes turned into growls and disdain. The man's eyebrows twitched as he looked at him with an inquiring gaze.

"So what do you require?, I don't have all day here so speak fast" The man said as he returned to playing his pool game.

"I want you to introduce me to the big bad zombie guy" Caster spoke softly, his words instantly drew the man's attention as he stared at him for a few moments.

The man sighed as he left the room, after a few minutes the man entered the room and beckoned Caster to follow him, after a few turns Caster landed in a single large room. The man knocked at the door and after gaining permission pushed it open.

It was a card room where more than ten people were playing Texas poker. A man wearing a black vest and a white shirt slowly stood up. The others who were playing cards stopped in their tracks and didn't make a sound.

Maric soon asked in a deep voice: "Why are you looking for me?" He then gestured to the old man to leave the room as he sat silently in his chair.

Caster suppressed a gulp and instantly began bullshitting: "You see I was a slave onboard a ship to the Rose School of Thought"

Maric seemed intrigued as he gestured for Caster to continue: "After a brutal struggle, I managed to escape the ship but before escaping I had been able to read a few documents aboard it.

It specified about an attack that was going to happen in four months. The targets were two people, a Zombie called Maric and a Wraith called Sharron. The address specified this specific bar.

Anyways because I'm a good person I wanted to report this to you. It also mentioned that there were going to be three pursuers, and they were going to wield something called 2-057"

Maric's expression instantly changed as he heard. With a debating expression Maric asked Caster: "What do you want for this?"

Caster just smiled: "I just hope for goodwill!" Caster then tipped his hat and exited the room.

Maric stayed silent for a few moments before he spoke aloud: "What do you think of him?"

His surroundings stayed silent before a woman with a pale face and delicate features appeared, she wore a gothic regal dress and answered.

"He seems to be telling the truth. It seems we are in more trouble than we thought."

*******

Caster soon made his way to a carriage, his next task was to make contact with Miss Judgement. He had been hazy about the location of Mr. A's gathering even with his Sefirots help.

This was also a perfect way to make contact with a future Tarot Member. He hoped that his discussion with Maric earned him a few brownie points, he also wanted Maric and Sharron to invite him to their hunt if the Rose School of Thought members.

Caster still had not forgotten about the way he had been treated and vowed to destroy that accursed organisation. The reason Caster had informed them of the Rose School of Thoughts assault is that he intended for them to give the remaining potion formula of the Prisoner Pathway as goodwill.