The heat emitted by the notebook in his arms dispelled the coolness of the early autumn night.
Jason was surprised to see the words that suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Attained beginner level of Graphical Reiteration!]
[Attained novice level of Protection from Evil!]
[Obtained a 'Certificate of Night Watchman'!]
[Fulfilled the oath of a night watchman in public and gained recognition of people around you (no fewer than 10 people)!]
[To determine a pre-completion of the inauguration of a night watchman. Yes/No Spend 5 points of Satiety for the completion of the inauguration of a night watchman?]
[Determined that Satiety is insufficient, unable to complete the inauguration of night watchman!]
Jason glanced back and forth at the message that suddenly appeared.
Before this, he had always thought that the name, "night watchman", was just a way of calling a special group of people on the mysterious side. But the prompter right before his eyes was telling him that a night watchman was a profession.
In order for one to be inaugurated in this profession, one required a variety of preconditions to complete the foundation, as well as a considerable amount of Satiety to complete the critical point.
There were many foundations that Jason had long known of.
Including the so-called "Certificate of Night Watchman", which should be in the notebook that his "teacher" had given him.
Jason did not know what was required for ordinary people to complete the critical point. But he knew that the requirement of five points of Satiety to complete a critical point was not easy for the average person.
Among which, it could be the cumulation of training acquired over a long period of time. It could also be the guidance of a mentor.
Or, it could be both of the above, to start with.
"Is this one of the true faces of the mysterious side?"
Jason could not help thinking.
The mysterious side was far more complicated than he imagined.
Not only were there ferocious monsters and special force fields, but there were also systems used to summarize all these special forces.
Profession was the best embodiment of these systems.
Jason could totally imagine that there had to be many such special force systems within the bizarre and unpredictable mysterious side. The night watchman was definitely not just one of many.
For example, the person that the "teacher" of his was tracking down.
The other party should also be a certain professional.
Otherwise, it was difficult for an "Incomplete" to fight against a complete system.
And since there were other professionals appearing.
Were there naturally antagonistic professionals?
Various thoughts were emerging within Jason's mind.
The mysterious side was already bizarre to start with. But now, from Jason's point of view, it was getting increasingly dangerous.
However, this certainly did not affect Jason's determination in choosing the night watchman.
Jason was very certain that he was already in the game.
No one knew what was in store for him if he were to continue moving forward.
But if he were to back off?
Then there would be no other choice but the path of death.
"I require even more Satiety, now."
"Inauguration of night watchman, 5 points. Protection from Evil, 6 points. And now, I only have 1 point. There are 10 vacancies for Satiety to be filled."
"And the novice level of Protection from Evil is one of the preconditions for the inauguration of night watchman. So, if the beginner level of Protection from Evil requires 1 more point as compared to the inauguration of night watchman, does this explain…"
Jason, who was in the thick of thinking hard, suddenly felt a bout of dizziness, and his body began to stagger.
Bondy, who was right beside him, was quick to detect this with his sharp eyes. With agility, he moved quickly to hold Jason up.
"Jason, how are you?"
"I'm fine. Just a little tired."
Jason said truthfully.
At this point, Jason had a deeper level of understanding of what it meant by "extremely energy-consuming", as noted from the Protection from Evil.
Now, he was feeling as though he had just completed a full marathon, and his body was directly emptied of everything.
Bondy looked at Jason most apologetically, and then, this sheriff gave an assurance.
"Leave the rest to me!"
This was something Jason could trust.
He believed that Bondy, who had regained his sanity, was reliable.
Without ado, he nodded.
"I need to take a short break."
Bondy immediately waved to a constable, who was standing on the side.
A moment later, a carriage stopped in front of Jason. And for the purpose of a precautionary measure, in addition to the constable maneuvering the carriage, there were two other constables, as well as a detective.
No one objected to Bondy's arrangement.
In fact, after witnessing that bizarre yet magical, behind-the-scenes incident that took place just moments ago, their respect for Jason, once again, went a notch higher.
To a certain extent, it might even be a kind of… fear.
Fear derived from the unknowns of the mysterious side.
Jason sensed the change.
But he did not give any further explanation.
After all, in terms of the mysterious side, he was merely a newcomer, who could not be any newer than what he was.
Or, to be more precise, he was a rookie.
After returning to the singles dormitory and thanking the detective and constables for escorting him back, Jason locked all the doors and windows. He pulled himself together and conducted a thorough check around the room before lying down on the bed.
The moment his head met the pillow, the tiredness of exhaustion drowned Jason like waves of tidal water.
The next moment, Jason fell into a deep slumber.
The eerie and cold chill made Tik, who was in a comatose state, shudder. Then, soon after, he woke up with a start.
Subconsciously, Tik wanted to sit up.
But it was only until then that realization hit him; not only was he gagged, but he was also tied up.
Both his hands were bound behind his back. A rope ran from his wrists to his fingers, keeping him firmly tied up. Then, the rope extended to both his ankles and once again, the rope was pulled tightly, forcing his body into a reverse curve shape.
There was no need to speak of sitting up at all.
Wanting to move a little was already extremely difficult for him.
Tik was perplexed. But, then, his mind regained clarity. When the memories surfaced, Tik's expression became exceptionally awful.
He recalled the scene from earlier on: a huge dark shadow suddenly crashing into the carriage and grabbing the horse in one fell swoop. It had bitten off half the body of the horse. Then, Tik himself was picked up by the monster…
"I'm going to end up like Panke, Kurtz, Joffe, and Tahr?"
Tik also knew a little about the once-in-three-days cycle and information about revenge for Kalina.
It was just that it had never crossed Tik's mind that he would be put through all these encounters.
He thought he had kept everything sufficiently hidden.
There was no way anyone could have known about that incident.
Or rather, those who knew were already dead!
Suddenly, Tik's face changed.
He thought of the mysterious side!
He thought of the people from the mysterious side who were rumored to be able to converse with the dead.
Since the other party was able to facilitate "activities of the dead", could it be that they were also able to communicate with the souls of the dead?
The more he thought about it, the greater his fear grew.
The more he thought about it, the more scared he felt.
Tik could not help shaking all over.
And at that moment, a low sneer suddenly rang from behind Tik.
"What is causing you to fear?"
"What are you afraid of, again?"
The voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Tik wanted to say something loudly, but, with his mouth gagged, all that could be heard were sounds of inexplicable whimpers. Positioning his body into the shape of a bow, he tried to flip over so that he could directly face and pray to that person who knew his secret.
But, the very next moment, he was trampled by a boot that stepped onto his back and pinned him down to the ground. Tik's entire being was just like an earthworm about to be cleaved into two. He tried his best to arch his neck up. His eyes were filled with imploration and tears were flowing ceaselessly.
This made the master of that indifferent voice sneer again.
"You'll all receive your just desserts!"
"Can forget about trying to escape!"