When morning arrived, Jace woke up in the quiet comfort of the bungalow.
After freshening up and shaking off the remnants of sleep, he headed out into the crowded streets of the North Boroughs to give a morning street performance.
His little magic shows were going quite well; he had gradually amassed a dedicated audience for himself in this corner of the city.
Currently, Jace performed in four particular spots.
Some people would even come early and wait for him to arrive at the designated time just to watch him perform—especially the younger audience, whose eyes wide with wonder provided the perfect feedback.
Due to this consistent "acting," his potion digestion was progressing quite well, and the high-intensity battle he had engaged in the day before certainly helped accelerate the process.
He had already established his first principle for the Magician acting method, which was quite simple: "Amaze them, and make them curious as to how it was done." Yes, that was his first principle, and it was serving him well.
After his performance concluded, he wrapped up his props and disappeared into the crowd like any other unremarkable citizen.
He walked around, his eyes scanning the environment. The streets were filled with people rushing to work, their breaths fogging in the cool air, while shopkeepers noisily set up their displays.
In this mundane scenery, Jace's feet suddenly froze. He stopped dead in his tracks!
In the far left corner of his field of vision, he had seen something—a swift, fluid action that caught his eye.
The moment it happened, he felt his spiritual intuition flare up. It wasn't the sharp prickle of danger, but rather a faint, humming resonance that tugged at his spirituality.
In a dark alleyway between two buildings, he had glimpsed a man jump down from one high window to another, moving effortlessly like a professional acrobat.
Jace hadn't seen the man's face because the movement occurred at the very edge of his vision, but he had definitely seen the feat.
Jace turned swiftly, weaving through the walking crowds with ease. He made it off the main street and started walking directly into the network of dark alleys.
The man was no longer in sight, but Jace had seen him turn left at the corner of a nearby brick building, so he followed suit.
He continued through the maze of narrow passages until he emerged on the other side.
It was another street, populated by a few pedestrians, but looking at them, he immediately ruled them out as his target.
So, he opened his mind, letting himself be guided purely by his spiritual intuition.
He started walking, letting his "Spirit Vision" and gut feeling lead the way. After a minute of looking, the back of a man wearing a white shirt and a black vest caught his eye.
Looking at him, Jace confirmed immediately through both the man's attire and his own intuition and spirit vision that this was indeed the person he had seen.
Jace smiled, a thrill of excitement running through him, and started following.
The man looked young—perhaps twenty or in his early twenties—with a lithe, athletic figure and a height slightly taller than Jace's.
What Jace saw and felt suggested that this man belonged to a similar pathway—meaning he was from the Seer pathway. Given the acrobatic endeavor Jace had witnessed earlier, he concluded the man was likely a Sequence 8 Clown.
If the man had been a Sequence 7 Magician, he probably would have realized someone was following him through intuition alone. Since he remained unaware, Jace felt confident in his assessment.
A large, predatory grin spread across Jace's face.
'Is this the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence?' Jace wondered.
He had long known that this law began to affected Beyonders from the Sequence 7 level upward.
Now, it had finally affected him, pulling him toward a fellow traveler of the same path.
Fortunately for him, he was being attracted toward a lower sequence rather than a higher, more dangerous one.
Jace kept his distance and continued following as the Clown made his way into another twisting alleyway.
He was deeply curious as to why a Beyonder from the Seer pathway was walking around the streets of the North Boroughs so casually.
'What is his origin? Don't tell me this guy is from the Secret Order!'
Jace knew the Seer pathway was strictly controlled by the Secret Order and the ancient Zaratul.
Of course, there was the Evernight Goddess who held the secrets of the entire pathway, but the Church of Evernight never had a Seer pathway Beyonder—except for Klein Moretti, but that was in the future. Jace had transmigrated well before the protagonist's story began.
'I sure hope he's an independent Beyonder, because I am not ready to be anywhere near the Secret Order just yet!' Jace prayed silently.
Even if that were the case, the question remained: how did an independent obtain the restricted potion formulas? He sighed but continued following. He had to know the truth.
For several minutes, the Clown kept changing paths with the ease of someone who knew the area well, eventually reaching the border of the Cherwood Borough.
Jace followed discreetly, performing a few quick divinations along the way to confirm that no one was following 'him' while he was busy following the Clown.
When he confirmed he was alone, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He also divined to see if the Clown knew he was being followed and was leading Jace into a trap; the results were negative. Which was good for him.
Soon, he saw the Clown entering a three-story building.
Jace followed him inside and discovered the man lived on the third floor. After confirming the apartment, Jace exited the building and waited outside in the shadows.
His plan for now was simple: wait for the guy to leave—which he hopefully would—and then search the apartment for clues.
He waited outside for around three hours, mapping the surrounding streets and exits. Patience was something Jace had plenty of, so he didn't mind the wait.
Fortunately, his patience was rewarded. The "Clown"—well, Jace called him that because of his sequence, though the man didn't look like a circus performer—finally emerged.
He was now dressed in a formal suit with a top hat and a silver-topped cane. His features were average, but they were sharp and observant.
The man looked around before exiting the building and walking toward the left.
Jace watched him go, waiting for several minutes to ensure he wasn't coming back, before walking purposefully into the building.