When his gaze turned toward the garden's center, Klein's mind naturally painted the scene: in the shaded corners, a flock of gray mice, aged and haggard, moved in frantic circles, squeaking wildly and struggling to push aside their fellows to reach the core. At the heart of it all, a gray mouse the size of an adult Roon short-haired cat lay motionless, its eyes distinctly bloodshot, as if frozen with fresh blood. Its tail whipped rapidly, as though trying to expel the inner turmoil. Yet whenever normal-sized mice approached, it would extend its claws, pin them down, and bite them to death right beside it, piling up one body after another. Still, this could not stop the others from gathering and pressing forward. Seeing this scene, Cline suddenly had two thoughts: first, the enhanced "intuitive sense" gained from the gray mist truly proved to be an excellent asset for the "Weird Mage" in manipulating the "soul threads," as in open, spacious areas one could clearly identify which "soul threads" represented specific targets; however, in bustling urban environments or areas with numerous buildings, where the "Weird Mage" lacks the ability to perceive through the surroundings, it becomes difficult to distinguish among the overlapping "soul threads" at a distance, making it hard to precisely identify and lock onto enemies—unless the enemy's actions are particularly distinctive from others. Of course, the "Weird Mage" could also choose to act without concern for accidentally injuring others, opting instead for indiscriminate control. Second, the "Thief" residing within the mouse body had indeed reached the brink of losing control; not only had its size grown several times larger than what the earlier "Mirror" Arados had demonstrated, but its condition was also highly unstable, radiating a strong sense of fury and madness. Good thing he arrived in time—otherwise, if he had waited a few more weeks, a disaster might have occurred... A thought flashed through Caine's mind, and instantly, phantom threads of black appeared before him. At this moment, his straight-line distance to the mutated mouse was less than 50 meters, allowing him to directly manipulate the "spirit threads"! Yet, at this very instant, the large, sleek mouse seemed to sense something, suddenly standing up and turning its head toward the kitchen. The gleam in its deep crimson eyes flashed instantly, leaving the young man wearing a silk hat and a black formal suit completely motionless. It had subtly taken over the man's primary thoughts for the next two seconds, leaving him nearly blank, and notably, the mouse had not performed any corresponding physical action—unlike a Sequence 5 "Dreamer." Immediately thereafter, the mouse lifted its right front paw, attempting to seize the opponent's extraordinary ability. At this level, for the same objective, the extraordinary ability to "steal" has evolved from one to three, sustained for up to two hours—though each individual "steal" event still involves only one ability. At this very moment, the giant mouse's thoughts grow strangely sluggish, its actions when employing abilities as if tightly bound by invisible threads, appearing notably slow and hesitant. It has been initially controlled by the "Spirit Threads"! Just now, it successfully "stole" the thoughts of "Gelman Sparo," leaving the latter momentarily stunned—only a mere illusion, an illusion crafted by the "Sorcerer of Deception." Before formally taking command of the mouse's "Spirit Threads," Caine had already exchanged his own position with the "Winner," Enyuni. Since the secret figure—being a mere figure—lacks self-awareness and individual thoughts, it remains unaffected by the extraordinary ability that enables the "theft of ideas." After all, what cannot exist cannot be stolen. To paralyze the half-divine "thief" approaching through this path, Caine employed a transformative illusion ability and deliberately had the secret figure Enyuni, taking on the appearance of Garmen Sparrow, exhibit corresponding behaviors. At this very moment, he stands outside Mahet's deer manor, more than 500 meters away from the colossal mouse—yet this distance does not impede his manipulation of the other's "spirit thread," because the "Sorcerer of Mysteries" can bestow upon his secret figures extraordinary abilities, including mastery of the "spirit thread," which is precisely the core method of transforming a target into a secret figure! Thus, in the absence of other limitations, the "Sorcerer of Mysteries" could fully leverage his secret figures to extend the range of his control over the "spirit thread" from its base of 150 meters to an infinite distance, simply by placing a secret figure roughly every kilometer, thereby extending his influence through the bestowal of extraordinary abilities. Of course, no ability in the world operates without limitations. On one hand, Kline's current limit is a total of fifty spectral companions—he cannot exceed this number. On the other hand, the "Weird Mage" cannot bestow thought capabilities or self-awareness upon his spectral companions. Therefore, the limit of one spectral companion controlling another is precisely the limit of the "Weird Mage" himself controlling them—1 kilometer. Beyond this range, spectral companions transformed from one another become completely immobile. Additionally, the actual mechanism by which the "Weird Mage" imparts extraordinary abilities to his spectral companions involves sending a worm—specifically one linked to the mythical creature's form—through the "Spirit Thread" into the companion's body. Unless he has previously provided several such worms to the same companion, the new spectral companion formed during a transformation cannot receive the original host's extraordinary abilities, as the corresponding worm cannot be separated and transferred. Currently, Klein can only manage around 50 lines—any number beyond that would strain his spiritual essence, leading to symptoms of mental fragmentation, which would require effective treatment to recover from. Even with excellent treatment, full recovery is not guaranteed, and the tendency toward loss of control may actually worsen. Thus, according to Klein’s experiments, his current limit for manipulating the "lines of spirit" is 1,000 plus 150 meters. For a new miracle being to be fully under his control, it must remain within 1,000 meters. Moreover, if a miracle being dies, the characteristics of the worm within its body will gradually return to the original entity over time, following the Law of Aggregation of Extraordinary Traits. Should this process be interrupted, the characteristics may be lost entirely. As the "thief" pathway’s semi-divine movements grew sluggish and stagnant, the mice previously transformed into miracle beings around the figure resembling "Germán Sparrow," Enyuni, surged out of the kitchen, facing the garden, opened their mouths, and prepared to blast the target area clean with air projectiles. Suddenly, the deep red glow in the giant mouse's eyes brightened, and in an instant, "Germán Sparo" appeared in the shadowed corner of the garden, among the mice that had been bitten to death. Meanwhile, the half-divine "thief" who had passed through, arrived at the kitchen and took position at the long table laden with various items. It had "stolen" Germán Sparo's place! The dust settled, and the mice lay scattered, lifeless. Yet "Germán Sparo" remained standing, untouched. "Winner" Enyuni had unleashed all his accumulated fortune at that very moment! However, his control over the giant mouse "Thread of the Spirit" was momentarily disrupted. The "Thread of the Spirit" had only so many strands, and the mouse familiars had previously been unable to intervene—otherwise, their efforts would have clashed and canceled each other out. Seizing the opportunity, the teacher of Haiyur, the half-deity of the "Theif" path, regained her mobility and turned her body, raising her right forepaw toward "Germán Sparo," instantly stealing his exceptional ability to manipulate the "Thread of the Spirit." As a Sequence 4 half-deity, she could typically extract a desired ability from her target with a degree of precision—usually one of three options—though the likelihood of success increased with greater familiarity. This time, her fortune proved particularly favorable. Of course, if the "thief" operates at a lower level of the object and possesses a deep understanding of the target, it can achieve exactly what it wishes to steal—what it wants, it can secure. As the "thief" lowered its right front paw, the half-deity it passed along the way raised its left front paw, causing the mouse effigies beneath to collapse, their four legs giving way, unable to turn over. This was a broad-scale theft—stripping the mice of their very ability to walk! Immediately, an array of strange symbols emerged within the giant mouse's deep, crimson eyes. It swiftly unraveled the mystery and pinpointed the location of Kline's true form. A flash of red light, a lift of both paws, and the "thief" half-deity arrived directly before Kline. This time, it stole the very distance between them. At that very moment, the young man with a lean, sharp-featured face who had been seated within the giant mouse's gaze vanished, and where he had stood, a gray mouse now appeared. Meanwhile, insects emerged from the trees, opening their "mouths" one by one. Thump! Thump! Thump! Air cannons fired, enveloping both the giant mice and the ordinary ones. While manipulating the secret figures within the Deer Manor, Klein didn't forget to transform new secret figures around himself—a fundamental trait of a "mystic wizard." Then, leveraging the seamless interchange between his physical form and the secret figures, he set up a simple trap! Dust and soil surged upward, completely submerging the "thief" as it passed through the giant mouse hosting a semi-divine entity. When the commotion settled, a strong scent of blood spread from the area where the large crater had formed, littered with irregular fragments of flesh and blood. Dead? Klein observed the scene through the eyes of the surrounding secret figures. Yet he quickly furrowed his brow, as there were no signs of extraordinary properties being released. In an instant, Caine pulled out a gold coin and flicked it with a crisp sound. As the coin descended, a series of vivid images surfaced in his mind—insights received from the stellar spirits. Compared to before, as a half-god, Caine now gained even more information through this simplified form of divination!