It was morning.
Jace opened the door to his apartment and entered; it had been a long, exhausting night.
He removed his coat and suit, hanging them carefully on the wooden hanger by the door.
Heaving a tired sigh, he looked around the room for the black cat.
The cat, Nyx, was tucked behind the couch, busy eating breakfast from her bowl.
She seemed to have no problem serving herself with her paws—a dexterous feat that Jace found quite curious for a feline.
Nyx threw him a cautious, narrowed glance and shifted her body slightly to shield the bowl of cat food from his sight, as if afraid he might snatch it.
Jace chuckled at her territorial display. "Oh, hey! Good morning, Jace! — Nyx, good morning to you too," Jace replied to her cold greeting by imitating her imagined high-pitched voice and playfully greeting himself.
The cat, however, did not seem entertained.
She turned toward Jace and hissed, pulling back her lips to show him her sharp, white fangs.
Jace beat a quick retreat from the temperamental cat and went into his bedroom.
There, he changed into comfortable, loose-fitting clothes and collapsed onto the bed.
After their reconciliation, Catherine and Jace had kept at it like rabbits for another two hours.
Even when they finally woke up later, they had decided to take a bath together. But seeing each other naked in the large bathtub, they couldn't stop themselves and went at it again for two more rounds.
Thinking about it, Jace's cheeks took on a red hue.
But he was truly tired now; he felt drained, both literally and figuratively.
Jace couldn't help but think that Catherine was perhaps better suited for the Demoness pathway than she was for the Justiciar path, as she was a literal monster in bed.
Just as he was about to give in to sleep, he remembered something he had to check.
He forced himself up and took a glove from the drawer of his desk.
Sitting at the desk, he inspected the black leather glove—the sealed artifact he had found in Edward the psychopath's bungalow.
From his divinations, he knew this glove was from the Planter pathway, corresponding to its Sequence 8.
As a Big 'LOTM' fan in his past life, Jace had literally scanned the wiki fandom pages of almost every pathway, so he knew about their abilities and formulas.
Now that he was a mid-sequence Beyonder of the Seer pathway, he didn't even need the Reading Glasses (the sealed artifact he had initially bought to recall memories) to remember what he had read. His memory was significantly better now that he had reached Sequence 7.
If he remembered correctly, the Sequence 8 of the Planter pathway was called 'Doctor.' It was one of the most useful sequences ever, as it possessed incredibly helpful abilities like healing, treatment, soul-suturing, and giving life. These were versatile powers that could completely heal a normal person or a fellow Beyonder.
However, the black glove in his hand only possessed two specific abilities.
Jace pulled the glove onto his right hand. With a small silver knife, he made a shallow, precise cut on his left wrist.
Dark red blood started to flow, staining his skin.
Jace immediately brought his gloved right hand up and held it directly above the wound.
Fair, shimmering lights appeared from the palm of the glove. The wound wriggled, the skin contracting and knitting itself back together until it healed completely, leaving no scar behind.
It felt a bit funny—a strange, tingly sensation—but Jace smiled as he watched the cut vanish.
He looked at the glove and then brought it to his chest, pressing it against his solar plexus. He activated the artifact, and the glove began to glow slightly.
The two abilities the glove had were: first, Healing, which could be used to mend physical wounds and even repair a damaged soul, though that effect was not as strong.
Second was Giving Life, which could be used to recover a weakened or exhausted body.
Since Jace was drained of his strength and vitality due to his "nightly activities," he figured the glove would be able to restore him.
He was right. As the energy seeped into his chest, he felt much better. His power recovered—not completely, but the effect was significant enough to clear the physical fatigue of his body.
He removed the glove and returned it to the drawer. As he did, he began to notice the side effects of the artifact.
The side effect was not dangerous or life-threatening, but it was incredibly strange and uncomfortable.
The sensitivity of his entire body had increased—his sense of touch, pain, and everything else was heightened.
The clothes on his body felt funny against his skin, ticklish and over-sensitive to the minor changes in heat and cold. It was a weird, distracting feeling.
Raising his right hand, he experimented by slapping his left wrist.
"Ow!" The sharp sting caught him off guard, even though he hadn't hit himself particularly hard. Though his pain sensitivity had spiked, the actual damage done by the slap was still insignificant.
He got up and slumped back onto the bed.
There were twenty-two pathways, each with different abilities and unique sequences. Jace was fascinated by them.
It was one of the reasons he chose the Seer pathway.
Once he became a Marionettist, he would be able to turn Beyonders of different pathways into his marionettes, possessing them and gaining all their diverse abilities. That was the reason Sequence 5 was his most anticipated milestone.
Jace had decided long ago that when he eventually became a Sequence 4 Bizarro Sorcerer, he would literally have a demigod from each Beyonder pathway as his marionette... that would be his ultimate Act of Bizarreness.
Klein Moretti in the original book had only used about five marionettes throughout the whole series, which Jace felt was one of the most disappointing things in the story. He intended to do things differently.
Lying on the bed, Jace couldn't help but wonder what sex would feel like with this heightened sensitivity.
'Uncomfortable, likely,' he concluded with a wince.
But then, his lips curled upward as a mischievous thought formed in his mind.
He chuckled softly to himself before finally drifting off.
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Jace (pic)
Catherine (pic)
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