Neo was soon led by Casey through the tower, the Machinery Hivemind were part time mechanics while they were free and not dealing with any mystical problems. Undoubtedly Neo couldn't wait to be a Beyonder, who wouldn't want to be an all powerful being who could control all information. Well that was in the future, but it was still quite exciting.
Though his thoughts wandered far from that, I could probably get the Assassin or Apprentice pathway potion through my cheat but there is a slight problem–how would I dictate such a situation to arise.
Neo's cheat was almost similar to the ability of a certain zealot. His ability had two parts to it, the first called Verscript and the second called Paralogos. The first part of his ability allowed him to manipulate reality. He was able to make reality into a type of story and manipulate how the story would go thus manipulating reality. But these stories had to make sense and he was also not able to force the story onto reality. He had to make 'coincidences' that would 'guide' reality. The more probable the event was to happen the more chance it had to succeed.
The second part of his ability was the divergence of events. By rewriting fate he could achieve anything he wanted, granted as long as he had spirituality. An example of this ability was by rewriting his death, from dying to him accidentally stumbling on a piece of rock and avoiding the attack.
The difference between these two abilities was that Veriscrpt would guide reality to fit his own narrative while Paralogos would isolate a moment in time, splitting his probable selves and shunting him into a near duplicate equally probable reality, transporting him into it at the moment of parallel determination. Where he did said action, pretty nifty.
He would be in said dimension as long as his Spirituality didn't finish, actions carried out in said dimension would also carry over to his actual dimension. So after shunting off to the dimension he avoided the attack, he could terminate Paralogos and return back to his own dimension and the action carried out in that dimension would carry over and he would thus avoid the attack.
He also theorised that with this ability he could switch to a different Sequence and gain that Sequences ability. As he could shunt to a different dimension where he chose a different pathway, but the second he ended Paralogos he would return back to his original Sequence because he hadn't completed the previous action of taking the potion, he was just taking over the body of another him who had. As such he wouldn't be able to change his Sequence completely but would be able to use other Pathways powers for a limited amount of time.
He could also not shunt to a different reality where he had consumed the Assassin potion and take its formula from the other him's memory, due to the fact that each dimension wasn't an exact replica of his dimension but a near perfect duplicate of his dimension as such the potion formulas would vary. He had already confirmed this by checking it with the Seer potion formula.
Well anyways I can't dwell on it now. I've already chosen my pathway and thus my enemies are fixed.
Casey's hand patted his shoulder as she said, "Well kiddo, we've reached. I hope you're happy with your choice. Good luck, you're gonna need it."
With that said she prattled on a few important points before she turned around and left. Seeing her depart, Neo's heart slowly raced, this was it!, there was no turning back around now.
The air underground the tower was quite fresh, clearly the ventilation was quite great. The air gave him a serene feeling as he gave a slight sigh, his eyes flashed with determination as he opened the door to the alchemy room.
Neo slowly walked into the alchemy room which was filled with different beakers, materials and scrying tools. The room had long tables, scales, and crucibles of the God of Steam, it almost resembled a chemistry room from his previous life but a bit less advanced.
Other than that, there were cauldrons, a crystal ball and a white wooden ladle. The walls were filled with red hot pipes which were made from copper, the pipes hissed with smoke in regular intervals, almost resembling a sewage drain, causing Neo to break out in a grin before he forcefully suppressed it. Who knew if thinking of such matters would cause him to get smithed.
The centre of the room had the sacred symbol of the Steam God. It has a steampunk design and was represented with a triangle filled with mechanical parts such as gears and levers. Other than this, there were a few other symbols all over the room.
In an instant the door to the alchemy room blasted in as Neo saw Old Conner carry a large silver box filled with unknown materials onto the desk, his eyes wandered through the room before it landed on him.
"Brat, I didn't think you of all people would choose Mystery Pryer as your sequence. You look like you would fit in with those damn seaweed brains." Old Conner's gruff voice rang out as he sharpened his gaze, his milky white eyes focusing on him.
"Shut it grandpa, I am pretty smart you know. Keep talking like this and someone will confiscate your dentures, you old leather chair." Neo quipped back with a sigh as he sat down.
"Brat, do you really talk to your elders like this?!"
Old Conner gave a slight tepid sigh before he picked up a beaker, "You're just like how I was when I was younger, brash and sassy, but if you keep continuing like this, you'll surely regret it. Now go light these gas lamps and close the door, or do you want these old pair of bones to do everything."
"If you needed some help you could've asked instead of being so witty, tell me is your pole down there not rising, is that why you're so angry. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us, and you're old too. It's a normal complication for people of such an advanced age. It's a natural occurence in life, no need to be so ashamed about it." Neo said in a witty tone as he lit each gas lamp in the alchemy room. He made dim light rule over the place once again.
Old Conner looked up for a moment and muttered slightly before he used a few strangely tied tree branches to clean the cauldron. Without looking back he added, "The concoctions for all potions below Sequence 6 are quite simple, they don't need any special rituals or chants. While Rituals are not necessarily needed, it's also not wise to consume potions above Sequence 6 without it. The higher in the Sequences you go, the risk of losing control increases, doing Rituals minimises such risk."
He then took a goatskin parchment from the trunk and held it up to his eyes
Mystery Pryer: Supplementary Ingredients: 80 millilitres of Ghost Shark Blood, 3 Eyes of the Overlooking Spider, 13 drops of Midnight Vanilla Liquid, 7 Gold Mint Leaves, 100 millilitres of
Spirit World Water
Main Ingredients: 3 Stellar Aqua Crystals, 8 Dead End Leaves
Neo recited the formula as he had a gleeful smile.
Old Conner's chestnut hair ruffled as he quickly went to the chest and took out a small vial of deep blue liquid from the trunk. "You're quite lucky, this is that last Ghost Shark Blood we have, if there wasn't any you'd have to wait a bit before we gathered some."
He opened the stopper and poured it into the Cauldron, a sweet sandy smell arose from the pitch black cauldron as Old Conner took out a small volumetric flask filled with dozens of tiny scarlet red eyes, he opened the stopper and fetched three before he dropped it in.
I might just stop advancing the Sequences if these are the materials I have to consume, Neo thought as he held back his retch.
Old Conner took time taking the Vanilla extract, his hands wandered around grabbing different materials and returning it back to chest before he finally grasped a yellowish-sunny extract before he poured it into the pitcher.
The dementia must be getting to him, I wonder how much time he has left before he dies of dementia, Neo wondered.
A faint but easing fragrance emanated from the bowl as Neo stood upright, a strong sense of energy washing over him, Old Conner didn't stop as he quickly added both the Gold Mint Leaves and the Spirit World Water.
"Now this is the most important part, the earliest ingredients were the supplementary ingredients. Their quantity can be minutely adjusted, but the last two is what's pivotal, any changes to the Main Ingredient even if by a fragment night result in death."
As Old Conner finished he brought out 3 pure crystals, they appeared gelatinous but were also not that bouncy, kind of like the jelly you get from school cafeterias.
As Old Conner measured, he used a tiny patterned silver blade to extract the crystal. He soon added a few blocks to the cauldron before quickly taking out a few withered leaves, it had an ash like colour and from time to time released some smoke which eerily resembled souls. Without missing a beat, he dropped it in the cauldron.
Sizzle
Illusory smoke instantly spewed forth, as it filled the room with a purple tinge.
Neo could see a vast array of phrases and scripts floating around, his hair stood up as he felt a cold gaze wash over him. He could feel the existence gazing upon him mouth a few words but his body blanked out as he heard none within moments everything—the words, the gaze, the sound all merged into the mist as it retreated into his potion.
The purplish-blue potion was put into a opaque tumbler, as Old Conner held it up.
"Well then, what are you gawking about?. Your potion is ready." Old Conner's smooth voice rang out as Neo's focus returned.
"Ye-yeah, I'm ready."
Neo steeled his nerves, as he tried to forget about what happened. His hand reached out and touched the cold flask, he gave a soft sigh as he closed his eyes.
Whatever that was, I won't be able to figure out what 'It' is or fight 'It' unless I have enough strength. That also might've been a normal reaction as Old Conner hasn't said anything about it. Either way, ascending the Sequences is the only way I might be able to return home and have enough strength to protect myself.
With a small breath, Neo gulped the potion, his eyes glowed a luminescent purple, just as his potion entered his system. Neo felt a sharp pain throughout his body, his throat burned as his eyes grew darker, his voice screeched but no sound came out. Instantly Neo collapsed on the floor, his body growing cold.
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A/N - So how was the chapter, drop your thoughts. Did you guys understand his abilities or was it a bit too complicated, if you have some questions ask, I'll answer. Also is my writing get better or nah, anyways drop a powerstone to motivate me.