As Jace sat at a table, he studied closely the artifact in his hand: the 'Scarlet Lunar Corona'.
It had the abilities of darkness-related spells like Dark Wings, Shadow Shackles, and Corrosive Claws. It also had the abilities of regeneration and incredibly fast speed.
And most important of all, it had the ability to control the surrounding environment of the moonlight; it could manipulate the effect of the full moon to be nonexistent or magnify it on a particular person.
This was the most useful ability for wraiths, who were deeply affected by the full moon; with this, they could be immune to the effects of the full moon.
The side-effect was that using it would freeze the user's blood, which would in turn freeze the user, but this didn't affect a werewolf much, as they had insane regenerative qualities.
This artifact was indeed made for Beyonders of the Prisoner pathway...
But the power of controlling the effects of the full moon was useless to Jace, and it was so for Christoph as well. So in the past, Christoph had taken this artifact to one of his very few friends, who was an Artisan, and had the artifact modified to be able to use another particular power of a Sequence 5 'Scarlet Scholar' of the Vampire pathway.
This power was called 'Moonlight Transformation'.
Using this power would make the user turn into a condensed stream of ethereal moonlight; in this form, the user could move fast, and even if hit, they could reform their body with the moonlight unless they were hit in the heart. Every attack could be withstood in this form, and they could also teleport in this form within a limited, small range.
Of course, the prerequisite for using all these powers was to be under the crimson light of the moon.
When Jace had first made Christoph his marionette, he was curious as to where Christoph had recorded the 'Moonlight Transformation' power; it was only when he saw Christoph's memories that he found out.
Nonetheless, Jace smiled as he looked at his new artifact in his hand. Soon he kept the artifact in its box and went to sleep, as it was late.
—
Three days later.
Jace was enjoying the casual environment of Intis.
People here mostly wore casual clothes and spoke freely, unlike in Backlund, where one had to wear formal clothes and speak refinedly.
'People one backlund are quite uptight....' Jace thought as he drank water from the glass at his table.
Currently, he sat in a restaurant that was well-lit and filled with many people.
People here were quite the romantics; it was quite normal to find lovers being intimate here and there.
One of the very first things he noticed here were the women; they were always dressed in some type of sleeveless corset dress with low necklines, looking flirty and casual.
In fact, Jace himself had been flirted with many times when walking in the streets.
Some women would wink at him while walking by, and some would call out to him like, "Hey handsome~", which made sense, as he was a good-looking guy even if on the younger side.
Of course, he had seen women in Backlund notice him the same way, but they were always too reserved to say or do anything about it. That was not the case here.
Jace read the menu for dinner patiently. He wasn't here just to eat; he was here to act!
As he read the menu, on the other side of the restaurant at the bar sat his marionette, Christoph. Beside him was a Pyromaniac, one of many acquaintances Christoph had in Trier.
"Come on, old man! I know you know about such things. Tell me! I'll pay you for it!" requested the middle-aged Pyromaniac, who was wearing a vest over his shirt. He had a rugged appearance with messy hair and an unkempt beard.
"That's what you said the last time," said Christoph in a calm tone.
...
Jace had once again scried through Christoph's memories to know about the people he interacted with and how he acted with them.
A waitress came near his table and set a glass of beer down. Jace looked up at the waitress, who wore a casual gray dress with short sleeves, a slightly low neckline, and an apron. She seemed to be a pretty enough woman in her late twenties.
"Excuse-moi, but I did not order a beer." His Intisian was quite fluent.
The woman smiled. "Oh, that's on me, sweetheart~. Now tell me what you want for dinner," she said with a sleazy smile.
Jace gave a small smile, but he accepted the glass of beer with a thank-you and gave his order.
...
As for the Pyromaniac who sat beside Christoph, he was an independent Beyonder involved in organized crime in Trier. He also often worked as a freelancer and bounty hunter in association with the churches here in Trier.
And apparently, there was some serial killer going around killing teenage girls, and they were having some trouble tracking him.
So here he was, asking Christoph.
"Come on, man! I really didn't have any money on me that time," the Pyromaniac said, desperately trying to get information out of Christoph.
Jace, of course, knew that this was the work of a Sequence 6 Devil, seeing as the killer still wasn't caught even after four kills spanning over two months.
"Hmm," Christoph thought for a moment. "The killer is likely from the Criminal pathway," he said wisely.
The Pyromaniac's eyes gleamed. "Criminal pathway, you say... What's that?"
Christoph threw a glance full of disdain at the Pyromaniac. "You should ask that question to your acquaintances at the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom."
The Pyromaniac nodded thoughtfully. Then he turned to Christoph. "Old man, I knew I could count on you!" With that, he got up.
Just as he was about to leave, Christoph caught his shoulder firmly and stopped him from getting up. "The payment."
"O-Oh, right, the p-payment," the Pyromaniac said wryly as he hesitantly checked his pockets. "Oh man! Look at me, I forgot my wallet at home! How about it, old man? I'll just pay you the next time we meet!"
Christoph sighed. "At least pay for your own drink, you shameless man."
...
After the Pyromaniac left, Christoph sat at the bar alone, drinking alcohol.
Jace, meanwhile, finished his dinner. After he was done, the same waitress came to his table with the bill.
Jace took some money out of his jacket and kept it on the table right where the waitress set her hand on his.
She leaned down before him, which made him see more of her cleavage. Near his ear, she whispered seductively, "I get off in about less than half an hour. So how about it? Wait for me and I'll take you to my house~"
Hearing her jace blushed a little.
'Emperor Roselle was right, women of Intis really are quite open...' Jace thought, but he quickly shook his head inwardly.
He had just gotten into an official relationship with Catherine about a week and a half ago.
'I can't just go sleeping around with other women just because Catherine indirectly allowed it. It's wrong!'
...
The next morning, Jace woke up naked under a blanket in a woman's arms.
'So... I did something wrong...'