The hours following the ritual passed in a blur of confusion and revelation. Welch had fallen into a deep, unnatural sleep shortly after touching the notebook, his body wracked with fever and his lips moving constantly as if he were carrying on conversations with invisible entities. Naya had tried to wake him, but Klein had stopped her, somehow knowing that interrupting whatever process Welch was undergoing could be dangerous.
"He's changing," Klein explained, though he wasn't sure how he knew this. "The ritual affected all of us, but him most of all. We need to let it run its course."
Naya stared at him with a mixture of fear and fascination. "How do you know that? And what happened to you during the ritual? You spoke words that weren't in the notebook, and your eyes..."
Klein looked down at the Antigonus family notebook, which now seemed to pulse with a faint inner light visible only to him. The text continued to shift and change, revealing new information as his understanding grew. He was beginning to comprehend that what they had stumbled into wasn't just historical research—it was an entire hidden world that existed parallel to the mundane reality most people knew.
"I think," Klein said carefully, "that we've discovered something that was meant to remain hidden. This notebook isn't just a historical document—it's a guide to something called the 'Beyonder' world."
As he spoke, more information seemed to flow into his mind from the notebook. He learned about "Sequences" and "Pathways," about the twenty-two different routes to supernatural power that existed in this world. Each pathway had nine sequences, with Sequence 9 being the starting point and Sequence 0 representing godhood itself.
The Antigonus family, he discovered, had been guardians of the "Fool" pathway—one of the most mysterious and dangerous of all the pathways. The ritual they had performed wasn't meant to contact spirits of knowledge, but to awaken the potential for Beyonder abilities in those who participated.
"Welch is becoming a Sequence 9 'Seer' of the Fool pathway," Klein explained to Naya, the knowledge flowing through him as if he'd always known it. "He'll gain the ability to see glimpses of the future and sense supernatural phenomena, but the process is... traumatic."
"And what about you?" Naya asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Klein considered this question carefully. During the ritual, when he had prayed to "The Fool," something had responded—something vast and powerful that existed far above the normal hierarchy of Beyonders. The vision he'd seen of himself on the throne suggested a connection to this entity that went beyond normal Beyonder advancement.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Something different happened to me. I think I might have made contact with the source of the Fool pathway itself."
As if responding to his words, the notebook opened to a new page, revealing a detailed diagram of what appeared to be a vast palace existing in a space above the normal world. At its center sat a throne, and around it were arranged twenty-two high-backed chairs, each marked with a different symbol.
"The Sefirah Castle," Klein read aloud, the name appearing in his mind as he looked at the diagram. "The source of the Fool pathway and the meeting place of... something called the Tarot Club?"
Before he could investigate further, Welch began to stir. His eyes opened, but they were different now—deeper, more knowing, with an unsettling quality that suggested he was seeing things beyond normal perception.
"I can see it," Welch whispered, his voice hoarse. "The threads of fate, the possibilities branching out like a vast web. Klein, what have we done? What have we become?"
Naya backed away from both of them, her face pale with terror. "This is madness. You're both talking about things that can't be real. Magic doesn't exist, supernatural powers are just superstition..."
But even as she spoke, Klein could see that she was beginning to change as well. The ritual had affected all three of them, though in different ways. Naya's transformation would be subtler, he realized—she would become what the notebook called a "Spectator," able to read people's emotions and thoughts with uncanny accuracy.
"I'm afraid," Klein said gently, "that we're going to have to adjust our understanding of what's real and what isn't. We've crossed a threshold, and there's no going back."
As dawn broke over Tingen, painting the sky in shades of gray and gold, Klein realized that his new life was truly beginning. The transmigration from Earth had been just the first step. Now, as a nascent Beyonder with a mysterious connection to one of the most powerful entities in this hidden world, he would have to navigate dangers and opportunities that the original Klein could never have imagined.
The crimson moon was fading with the sunrise, but Klein could feel its influence would return. And when it did, he would be ready to take the next step on a path that would eventually lead him to powers beyond mortal comprehension.