Dream and Discovered

East Borough, Backlund.

Ethan found himself walking through the streets of East Borough, all the people around him coming and going to attend their own matters.

He kept his pace constant all the time, but wandered without a set destination through the poorest parts of Backlund.

Not much time seemed to pass, no matter how much Ethan walked, how many yards he passed, the morning sunlight that shone through the humid air never ceased brightening the big capital.

During Ethan's leisure stroll, he passed many people with blurry complexions: a man wearing a hooded black robe, that fanatically prayed to a strange deity; a woman so beautiful her presence alone could make a person despair; a golden haired middle-aged man with an antiquated quill, which wrote notes by itself; among many others.

However, at the end of his stroll, Ethan found nine great constructions being built. Above these nine buildings, floating about in the air, was a figure with brown colored hair and a thin mustache.

"He" stood in the air above the nine palaces and was about to do something Ethan couldn't at all predict, just "His" demeanor alone put a lot of pressure on Ethan's mind.

Soon enough, the figure began ascending the heavens with a powerful aura, and the entire world cracked apart. All the streets turned into blackness devoid of anything, all the houses were demolished with powerful booms, the world shattered into infinite shards.

…

*Swish

Ethan opened his eyes with a cautious expression and quickly jumped from the comfortable bed he was sleeping in. The luxurious, white and blue environment was not any different from when he went to sleep.

Ethan looked around him and tried to understand his current situation. Quickly observing his surroundings, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary with himself or the room.

'Dream revelation…? My spiritual intuition is telling me something will happen in Backlund?' He was able to easily recall all the details of his dream, as if it was something that had really happened.

Ethan calmed down from his stupor and started divining if there would be any danger if he returned to Backlund in the next few weeks.

He soon got his answer and realized there was danger lurking around in Backlund, something he couldn't yet interfere with.

Ethan then proceeded to his bathroom, took a bath, and clothed himself with a new navy blue tailcoat suit and a black bow tie with a black vest.

With this, he left his first-class room and went in the direction of the cafeteria.

Reaching the place, he didn't have to wait in any lines, as he paid for the most deluxe experience the cruiser could offer. Ethan entered a private section that was separated through walls from the rest of the cafeteria and looked at the menu.

Ordering some food, he started thinking about the dream revelation he received, 'Backlund will be affected by some unknown existences, and at the center of it all, someone will try to ascend the heavens… Does it mean someone will try to become a true god?'

Ethan started savoring his food while thinking of possible outcomes the dream could have told him about.

…

One week passed really fast, and Ethan had already digested more than a half of his Serial Killer characteristic.

He had participated in another Tarot Club's gathering in the meantime, having even told the members about his dream revelation and seen The Fool's reaction.

However, he couldn't see anything from The Fool, and the other members didn't seem to think anything was related to the case.

The most interesting thing was the assassination of an important man called Duke Negan, who was murdered by a Sequence 5 Desire Apostle of the Criminal Pathway.

As the Tarot Club's members didn't have much else to add to his dream revelation, Ethan just talked to them and revealed some miscellaneous knowledge about some small matters related to the Second Epoch.

He built even more trust with the members and the gathering proceeded, coming to an end after some time.

When he returned to the real world, Ethan just awaited for the cruiser to reach the City of Generosity Bayam, however, he soon came to realize they would have to make a stop in some small islands that had cities belonging to the Loen Kingdom.

And this was where he currently was, unboarding the ship in Strater; a small city that had a high activity of pirates and swindlers.

Leaving the cruiser, Ethan calmly walked to the nearest bar he previously asked about to some of the attendants in the ship.

He didn't have to walk for too long to finally see a small building made from wood standing in the middle of an intersection. This was Silver Mussels Bar, a regional place where others could come and drink to their hearts' content.

It was also a place that put up some bounty hunts and would also deliver the bounties for you if a percentage of the money received was paid.

Ethan calmly crossed the wooden sliding barn doors and had the place's sight soon enter his eyes.

It didn't look much different from what a common saloon would look like; there was a bar counter filled with patrons, some people sitting at the tables while playing card games and making small talk, and there were some people that were standing in front of some notice boards filled with sheets of paper.

When he entered the place, Ethan noticed many gazes on him, but most quickly left his person, only a few remained to observe his actions.

He looked at the notice board at his right but refrained from going there immediately, first proceeding to the bar to get some information.

He didn't get much information after paying for a beer, only a few minor things happening around the city. As there was nothing useful to be gathered here, Ethan went to the notice board and saw a few faces: Admiral of Blood Senor; Admiral Hell Ludwell; Admiral of Ailment Tracy; among many others.

Looking at these bounties, Ethan observed them for a few moments and left the notice board, he had already memorized every single bounty there was on there.

'This place is filled with pirates, it should be easy to get some quick money here. I just wonder if there will be any Beyonder pirates in such a small city.'

As Ethan was thinking about his future actions and other things, he just left the bar and proceeded back to the cruiser.

With his return to his room, he called Jörmungandr from the Spirit World through their powerful connection.

The huge snake appeared in its semi-corporeal form, still covered in dark-green scales and black skin, its big body covering most of the room.

Ethan looked at it and calmly said, "Look for these people around the city, if you don't find any of them here, just go to a place called Bayam in the Rorsted Archipelago and search for them there. Don't take too long."

Through their connection, Ethan could transfer small bits of information to its mind. What he did was send it all the faces he saw on the notice board before.

Having received the appearances of its targets, Jörmungandr slithered and hissed for a few seconds before disappearing from the room, traveling through the Spirit World.

Ethan then sat on the leather sofa in the room, seemingly intending to wait for his snake spirit to find the targets that he wanted.

…

Two days later, the route to Rorsted Archipelago.

Ethan waited for the snake to find his targets, but it seemed that it was incapable of doing so in that small city, and with his ship soon leaving, Ethan hoped it could find the pirates in Bayam for him.

He was currently laying on his body while reading a new book on different kinds of medicine that could be created with current day technology.

However, when he was about to get to an interesting part, a knock came from his room's front door.

Ethan slowly left his comfortable bed, put on his navy blue tailcoat suit, and walked to the door.

Even before reaching it, Ethan could already discern the person outside his room through his spiritual intuition. It was a young woman with raven black hair, her expression was cold, and her black dress accentuated her strange gloomy countenance.

He didn't really know why such a strange person was knocking on his door, but as it didn't seem to pose any problems as his spiritual intuition wasn't giving any signs of danger, he decided to see what the woman outside wanted.

Opening the door, Ethan was able to more easily observe the woman's clothes, accessories, and expression. Everything about her was very strange, as if she wasn't even a living person.

This idea sparked Ethan's mind for a second, and he soon activated his spirit vision by just willing it to activate. The sight that greeted his eyes was just very interesting to say the least:

The woman had a black aura representing her body, which meant that she didn't possess any Spirit Body, Ether Body, Body of Heart and Mind, and Astral Body; she was essentially dead in all the senses of the word.

'Zombie? What is a zombie doing at my front door like this? And this isn't a weak zombie either, she has energy levels very close to Sequence 8. Is she an undead with Beyonder characteristics?'

Ethan calmly looked at the person on his door, his lips soon curling up into a polite but amused smile as he said with a calm and unreserved tone.

"Yes? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, stranger?" He wasn't afraid by the fact the woman was a zombie being controlled by someone else, even if he knew only a Sequence 6 could do such a thing.

The gloomy woman looked at Ethan with a cold expression while saying, "I have reason to believe you have something I want, it's best you cooperate with me without any resistance."

She talked in an arrogant tone like she owned the place herself, treating Ethan like crap on the side of the road.

'Is this person insane? Do they think they can talk like that with anyone? Or maybe they are somehow certain I'm weaker than them… How, though? Maybe a Sealed Artifact? Or maybe their Sequence allows them to be certain of my power level? No, there's no way someone below the level of a demigod could do that. And a demigod wouldn't use such a crude zombie.' While thinking so, Ethan started looking at the woman in front of him with even colder eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you really, should I call the guards?" Ethan acted like a terrified civilian that was being harassed by a random person they didn't know anything about.

The woman looked at him with an even colder expression before arrogantly saying, "How annoying that a mere Lunatic thinks they can deceive me."

With these words, the woman suddenly lunged forward at Ethan, who dropped the acting and calmly sidestepped to avoid the incoming attack.

'Lunatic… This Pathway is controlled by the Rose School of Thought… Has the person behind this zombie found out I have the powers of a Lunatic? Well, I think they will soon be fairly surprised then.'

Ethan looked at the woman with a gaze filled with coldness and a small bit of pleasure. His gaze seemed to go beyond herself as it seemed to be targeting the one that controlled the dead body, "Maybe killing you will allow me to directly advance"