Circle of Inevitability

Black… When it comes to luck, this color signifies they'll face a deadly calamity… If the hue isn't dense, could it mean the calamity is potentially fatal but avoidable—that there's a chance of overcoming it? Yes, I'll watch others going forward. I might spot dense black. Maybe that implies if the corresponding tributary is selected, a deadly fate is sealed… Lumian continued observing Franca and Hela's fates, forming a related hypothesis.

Since the tributaries constantly shifted, Lumian couldn't fully grasp a target's future fate. He could only catch glimpses of a few possibilities. The black "mark" let him pinpoint the critical junctures.

This wasn't covered in the mystical knowledge accompanying a Fate Appropriator's power. Lumian strongly suspected that once Luck Observation evolved into Fate Observation, it could merge with a Reaper's Weakness Investigation to create this unique ability.

It was like exposing a target's physical and spiritual weak points—the tributary leading to their demise!

As I suspected, the Hunter and Inevitability pathways' visual abilities have combined… Lumian used the chance to examine Hela and Franca's fate rivers, realizing he could perceive fragments of their past and present destinies, similar to when he used Fallen Mercury to discern others' fates.

The difference now was that he could see it directly, without extending his spirituality. With the right abilities, he could touch the ethereal river that shimmered with mercury-like ripples, woven from intricate symbols.

Put another way, he could "see" part of a target's fate without their awareness.

Naturally, compared to touching the corresponding fate river through abilities, there were clear limits to relying on eyesight. Most life scenes in the mercury river were quite hazy in such cases. The nearer to the present, the sharper they became. Likewise, the less they involved high-level matters, the clearer they appeared.

Franca and Hela's life scenes presented a vivid, striking contrast in this regard.

Past and present fragments manifesting in Hela's fate river's mercury ripples seemed veiled in fog, while others appeared cloaked in night, making them indiscernible. Only a handful could be perceived. Franca's was far clearer. Especially in the last week or two, Lumian could see everything except scenes with high-level entities like the Evernight Nation, Madam Judgment, and the Demoness of Black.

During his exploratory observation, Lumian was abruptly startled.

After a few seconds, he looked away, unsettled.

"What's the matter?" Franca inquired, curious and concerned. "If you prefer not to disclose your specific abilities, that's fine."

Only then did she realize she had been too eager to ask about the Fate Appropriator's situation and potential abilities in front of Madame Hela.

Lumian couldn't help swallowing hard. Composing himself, he met Hela's gaze.

"There's nothing I can't share.

"I can no longer just observe luck. I can directly perceive the fate river corresponding to each of you. It ranges from the main course to the tributaries, but most is indistinct. I can only clearly detect it when actively using my fate-hunting ability, and there's a time constraint.

"Indeed, among the fate river tributaries I saw, one likely leads to death…"

Lumian succinctly recounted his initial theory, the hue of his eyes gradually normalizing.

"If death isn't inevitable, it should be termed a death calamity," Franca remarked, focusing on the symbolic import of "black."

Death calamity? Lumian and Hela turned to Franca, awaiting clarification.

Franca laughed self-consciously.

"Simply put, if you navigate a catastrophe, crisis, or incident that could cause death, you might emerge alive."

I see… Lumian considered briefly before saying, "Then I'll dub this ability the Eye of Calamity—eyes that can perceive death calamities."

The name mattered little to him. Its utility was paramount.

Lumian then absorbed the mystical knowledge that had entered his body along with a Fate Appropriator's power.

A Fate Appropriator's core actually lay in fate appropriation, split into three abilities.

The first was Fate Appropriation. By touching the target's fate river, he could appropriate and extract the desired fate.

This differed somewhat from Fallen Mercury's abilities. One needn't kill the target to Appropriate their fate, but it required time. The less weighty the corresponding fate, the quicker the process, and vice-versa.

A fate fragment's weightiness denoted its significance to the target's overall fate.

Naturally, Lumian could also Appropriate a fragment of the target's fate by slaying them. Moreover, the target's overall fate would be locked without further changes. The time to complete the Appropriation was very brief.

As a Fate Appropriator, Lumian could compress two fate fragments within himself, surpassing Fallen Mercury's single one.

Usually, there could be three, but Lumian hadn't been a Dancer or acted as an Alms Monk. He hadn't even signed a full set of special contracts. Meaning, during the Inevitability domain's initial trio of stages, he had seldom neared the power bestower in daily life. The fusion with the powers was comparatively weak.

Had he not cultivated an Ascetic's core spirit, perhaps he could have stored merely one fate fragment.

The second ability was Fate Exchange, where one's accrued fate was traded for a specific fate of the target.

Ideally, the fate fragments' weightiness should match. Light for light, heavy for heavy. If not, the exchange would be quite slow, maybe taking five to six minutes.

The fate fragment's importance was one facet, while its importance to the individual was another. Together, they would influence the exchange speed. Still, generally, it was swifter than directly Appropriating the corresponding fate—

barring Appropriating from a slain target.

Be it Fate Appropriation or Fate Exchange, there were limits barring him from attacking targets until he finished them.

In this respect, it lacked Fallen Mercury's convenience and flexibility.

The third ability was Compelling Fate. It entailed expending an enormous amount of spirituality to directly compel the target's future toward a tributary.

Originally, this ability didn't function this way. It primarily swayed the target's future fate via rituals, curses, and other means. Yet, after fusing with the Reaper trait, it could directly compel fates.

This combination with the Eye of Calamity allowed Lumian to discern certain possibilities.

Naturally, after careful assessment, he deduced his dual spirituality as a Reaper and Fate Appropriator could only permit two compulsions.

A Fate Appropriator's core abilities are the deepening and streamlining of the Luck Transference Spell… Lumian gave an overall appraisal.

Upon becoming a Fate Appropriator, the ceiling of contracts he could withstand as a Contractee had hit twelve. The endurance stemming from being an Ascetic had also risen markedly.

This spurred Lumian to mull signing two to three more contractual abilities down the line to diversify his combat style and bolster his related trump cards.

However, he wouldn't truly sign all twelve, not even ten. That would surpass an Ascetic's endurance. Lumian had no wish to become a pseudo-inferior Beyonder like Padre Guillaume Bénet, whose weaknesses could be readily grasped and actions predicted.

Another notable shift in an Ascetic was the accumulation of external fate fragments. It had genuinely become a vital component of a Fate Appropriator.

As for rituals such as the Animal Creation Spell, they could be streamlined. For instance, Lumian previously had to drape the target with a ritual sheepskin to transform them into sheep by chanting the incantation. Now, he could use a more symbolic sheepskin to cover the other party to meet the prerequisite.

His flexibility as a Dancer had also grown. Lumian could now perform horrific and incredible actions. If ordinary folk merely glimpsed the corresponding shadows he cast, they would deem him a monster.

Furthermore, Lumian's spirituality had climbed substantially. The most basic yardstick was that he could employ up to 17 Spirit World Traversals.

Nonetheless, both a Fate Appropriator and a Reaper had scant impact on his physical prowess.

After verifying his transformation, Lumian thanked Madame Hela and asked when the next Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society meeting would be before returning to the real world with Franca.

Having returned The Fool's gold coin to Jenna, Lumian briefly outlined a Fate Appropriator's abilities and stated,

"Given my ability to directly perceive some fate fragments, I'll settle on the concrete plan after observing Moran Avigny up close."

"Okay." Franca thoroughly endorsed any step that could lessen the risk.

Lumian rose and said to Franca and Jenna,

"I'll head out first then. Don't forget to help me inquire at your mysticism gatherings if there's the Harvest Priest potion formula and the matching Beyonder ingredients."

lightsvεl m "Got it." Seeing Lumian off, Franca turned to Jenna, puzzled. "Why is he acting a bit odd? Doesn't he usually rile people up and quip before leaving?"

Jenna also found this atypical and sank into deep thought.

Abruptly, her expression changed.

Jenna glanced down at the book in her hand, saying pensively, "Perhaps he just received the boon's power and isn't in a stable state. He needs to hurry back and rest."

Franca nodded, understanding. "Fair point."

She didn't linger on it or bother to. The night was lovely, and she couldn't squander it on such trivial matters.

…

Avenue du Boulevard, outside the Champs-Élysées' Rose Conference Room.

Numerous reporters stood before the hotel's signature indoor golden fountain, awaiting the arrival of Minister of Industry Moran Avigny, who had finished negotiations with the Loen Kingdom's delegation.

Lumian had switched into a pre-prepared black tweed coat and half top hat. He held a rented, new black-and-white camera without a tripod. With his unremarkable, passerby-

like appearance, he mingled with these individuals as a fake reporter.

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