While Marcus and Annalise celebrated Seifer’s victory, he was back at his personal laboratory in the Ceres Potions Guild. Without hesitation, he brought out the Ascension Potion and downed it in one go.

For the next ten minutes, he felt waves of power wash over him, each one putting the sunfruit to shame. At last, he was struck by a wave that felt more like a Tsunami, the potion had finished its work.

Seifer floated off the ground, using his ether to propel him towards his desk. He grinned as he checked his Spirit level, 2689. As expected, the Patriarch’s gift had allowed him to reach the Upper Stage of the Second Step at once.

Now the real fun begins thought Seifer, not bothering to land. He floated to the largest of the many stations in his lab. The time he had spent under the clutches of Karma had been short but not short enough.

At last, he could begin to negate the effects of Karma and progress in the way that a former demon should. His first order of business was to simply brew a basic Karma negation potion.

This one was called the Eres Draught, it made use of common ingredients that he already had, unlike the higher level potions which would have sent him on a wild goose chase for vampire fangs or elf placentas.

This would suffice for a few murders and thefts but anything more and he would need higher level Potions or certain Rituals.

While waiting for the distilled water to reach the appropriate temperature, Seifer brought out the grotesque looking ingredients, making them float with his ether.

If Marcus could see his grandson use his ether so precisely as soon as he reached the Second step, he would have forgiven Octavian's early departure and agreed that this was indeed a perfect day.

Half an hour later, Seifer held a vial of light purple liquid in his hands. Perfectly brewed Eres Draught, the bane of the Light. Any Second Step Transcendent could get their hands on this, though if you weren’t in the Upper Stage, it would just get you sick.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Seifer drank the potion, feeling a slight warmth rise up from his stomach and spread to his fingertips. Despite it not being an ingredient, He noticed that the Eres Draught did have a very strong taste of elf placenta.

And now, I can do what I intended to do as soon as I realized which time I had been sent back to. Ceres won’t know what hit it thought Seifer with a sinister smile.

Unfortunately, it seemed like his plans would have to wait. As soon as he walked out onto the cobblestone streets, he felt a piece of parchment being pressed into his hand. It wasn’t signed but judging by the amount of hearts drawn on it, it was certainly sent by his Aunt.

Come back to your quarters, we need to talk

“So grandfather and you will be gone for 6 months?”

“Why do I not see any tears?! Can’t you at least pretend to be upset?!” whined Annalise. Seifer’s face contorted into the perfect image of depression, making his aunt recoil in surprise.

“When the hell did you learn to do that?” she asked.

“It’s one of the many secrets I keep from you” said Seifer, making Annalise scowl.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden? This mission seems to have come out of nowhere” he asked, changing the topic.

“You know Arcturus Harkes, right?” she said.

“Yes, he has some sort of alliance with grandfather and the Patriarch, doesn’t he? I think he provides high level dark potions” said Seifer.

“Well, one of his contacts in the Obis Islands needs a high-level Karma Immunity Ritual, the kind that works for dozens of people. He connected him with us, it’ll be really time consuming but we are being compensated very well” said Annalise.

“I suppose that’s why you can’t contact anyone during the mission, you might be traced by Light Order” said Seifer.

“I still think it would have been fine to leave you a call stone or something but father didn’t let me, I don’t know why” said Annalise with a sigh.

“You should have learned by now that grandfather lets you do anything that won’t kill you” said Seifer with a laugh.

Half an hour later, Annalise was gone. He poured himself another cup of tea, pondering the latest change in his new life. This mission that had both Marcus and Annalise sent away had not happened in his last life.

A few hours later, Seifer still had no idea why he felt so uneasy about this change. He decided to take a walk in the castle gardens to clear his head but that had the opposite result of what he intended. Almost immediately, he was approached by a certain blue eyed and blonde haired man.