451 Faceless (1/2)

15 Minsk Street, in the dank, cold kitchen.

Klein rummaged for his newly bought large iron pot, poured fresh water into it, and carefully scrubbed it several times.

Then, he dropped some matches into it and snapped his fingers.

The scarlet flames soared, and under his control, they quickly burned the remaining water droplets dry, without harming the surface of the pot.

This time, there were no ingredients such as pure water in the potion recipe, so Klein was even more careful than the previous two times. He wanted to ensure that everything was in good measure to prevent any problems.

Although he was able to divine whether the concoction would be successful or not, at least to not endanger his life, such a result could still involve his potion being ineffective. Attempting to extract the Beyonder characteristics from the concoction would be relatively difficult, just like the removal of the mental corruption of a Rampager. He would need the corresponding technique, methods, or rituals, and Klein wouldn't be able to gather a second round of ingredients within a short period of time either.

After finishing his preparations, Klein took a deep breath as he looked at the neatly arranged boxes. Finally, he recalled the potion recipe:

”Faceless:

Main ingredients: Mutated pituitary gland of a Thousand-faced Hunter, Characteristic of a Human-skinned Shadow.

Supplementary ingredients: 80 ml of a Thousand-faced Hunter's blood, 5 drops of black Jimsonweed juice, 10 grams of Dragon Tooth Grass powder, 3 strands of hair from a Deep-sea Naga.”

He first picked up the cardboard box which came from Vampire Emlyn White. He opened the box and took out the glass bottle that contained 100 milliliters of a Thousand-faced Hunter's blood.

Glancing at the scale, Klein unscrewed the lid and steadily poured the sticky liquid into the pot with a stable wrist. The liquid changed its color depending on the variation in the lighting.

As it was a supplementary ingredient, he didn't pursue precision and didn't use chemical experiment apparatus to separate and titrate the liquid.

The Thousand-faced Hunter's blood was like thin honey that slowly filled the bottom of the pot. When Klein felt that it was about time, he stopped tilting it and allowed the liquid to flow back.

There's still about 20 milliliters left; my spiritual intuition is quite accurate… Klein withdrew his gaze from the glass bottle and tightened the lid. This 20 milliliters of Thousand-faced Hunter's blood could still be used to make mystical items, Beyonder weapons, extraordinary scrolls, or for drawing symbols or labels in some ritualistic magic. It was still very precious.

After putting the glass bottle back into the cotton-filled box, Klein went down the list and added the black Jimsonweed juice and the Dragon Tooth Grass powder. He saw that the liquid in the iron pot started to bubble.

Without pausing, he picked up three strands of dark blue hair that resembled tiny snakes with his black-gloved right hand, and he firmly placed them on the surface of the liquid.

Sizzle!

A faint mist rose from the iron pot, and the color of the liquid turned a deep blue.

It already has such a strange effect even without adding the main ingredients… As expected of a Sequence 6 potion… Klein reached out and grabbed the silver tin box which Vampire Emlyn White had thrown in as well.

With a snapping sound, Klein opened the lid of the box, revealing a peach-like item inside.

He didn't directly touch the Thousand-faced Hunter's mutated pituitary gland. Instead, he placed the tin box over the top of the pot and overturned it.

A yellow-brown object with the grooves and ridges of a brain fell in, crashing into the dark blue liquid.

At this moment, no liquid droplets splashed up, and the pituitary gland that was constantly changing its shape silently melted.

The colors of gray and yellowish-brown quickly merged with the dark blue, and the bubbling suddenly increased in size.

At this point, Klein was a little nervous, but he controlled himself. He picked up the last box and overturned the huge diamond-like Human-skinned Shadow characteristic into the pot.

All of a sudden, the mist converged, and even the glow of the gas lamps showed signs of being attracted and devoured as the room turned darker.

When everything returned to normal, Klein finally saw what the final potion looked like.

It was blackish-green all over, and from time to time, it would produce a bubble the size of an eye, and as if it had a life of its own, it would produce a burping sound every few seconds.

When the bubble reached the surface, it would immediately burst, and during this process, it would reflect light in a myriad of colors.

The colors combined to form a picture of different faces, and the facial features seemed to be a random combination.

Klein picked up the iron pot with one hand and poured the liquid inside into a glass bottle that he had prepared beforehand. Because of a potion's characteristics, not one bit was left in the pot.

Using divination to confirm that the degree of harm was acceptable, which meant that the potion had been successfully concocted, Klein took the Faceless potion bottle and walked steadily back to the second floor, entering the room with the curtains closed.

After locking the door, he sat on the edge of the bed and, with the help of Cogitation, calmed his slightly agitated and anxious mood.

After sitting upright for more than ten seconds, Klein twisted the cap off of the bottle, raised his right hand, and swiftly poured the entire potion into his mouth.

A slightly tingling sensation swished in his mouth and esophagus, and finally, it fermented into a numbing sensation that made him lose his senses.

Klein's psyche seemed to be extracted from his body as he had the feeling of being a bystander and saw his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes melting—his entire face was melting!