Luke lay in bed, staring dead at the ceiling.
It's been a few minutes since he had woken up. He was in his bedroom with Nyx perched on the bedpost, sleeping. To his left, on a sofa, was his father, sleeping as well.
The doctors must have come and gone after checking up on him, finding nothing wrong.
If it wasn't for Mr. Principal's visit in the evening, making him wary, his father would have taken him to Dr. Donald on his private jet.
The sudden, cold reasoning ability made Luke frown.
It seemed the memories had finally settled down and the resurrection had completed.
As if that was a cue to activate some greater mysteries, Luke's vision blurred, rows of white-colored words appearing over a black background with a soothing, female voice, shocking him.
…
[
Congratulations!
Welcome to the Lord Of Mysteries System, Blessed!!
You have unlocked Sequence 9: Apprentice, Marauder, Seer!!!
]
…
Luke almost sat up in shock, but held himself back, his breath quickening.
What's this? Mind Control… No! Luke remembered what Mr. Fool had told him before sending him back into the past.
Of course, you would find that changing the events leading to your death will be pointless, especially if there are external factors involved. In that case, I am willing to extend a helping hand to you, parasitizing you with a hint of my powers.
Is this the helping hand Mr. Fool mentioned? Luke looked around and noticed that his father hadn't woken up. Only I can hear and see this… notification? Good.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the notification again.
What are Sequences? He asked the question within.
…
[
Sequences are Paths to the Divine.
Each Sequence is numbered from 9 to 0, with 9 being the lowest and 0 being the highest.
To step onto the Paths to the Divine, the Blessed must consume the potion of a Sequence, gaining mystical abilities corresponding to that Sequence.
Those who consume potions to reach the Divine are called Beyonders.
]
…
I see… Luke narrowed his eyes. The Sequence is almost like a growth-type Quirk.
Then he eyed the three different Sequence 9s and corrected himself. Three Growth-type Quirks… With this…
Luke looked at the mention of the potion, then. Show me the details of the three Sequences.
…
[
Sure! Let me display all the Sequences' general abilities and their Potion Ingredients in brief. You can go through the detailed processes of brewing the Potions later.
Sequence 9: Apprentice
— Door Opening: Phase through walls and other big obstacles by Opening a symbolic, incorporeal Door
— Lock Opening: Open any lock that doesn't contain mystical powers
— Potion Ingredients: 1 Gem-Devouring Worm, 1 Illusion Crystal, 10 drops of Goat's Beard Hydrosol, 90 milliliters of Ancient Well Water, 1 flower grown from a corpse, 5 grams of Spirit World-contaminated soil
Sequence 9: Marauder
— Superior Observation: See in the darkness and have an intuition of where valuable items are or even how much they're approximately worth
— Physical Enhancement: Enhanced agility, dexterity, and strength. Also grants powerful coordination, near inhuman level of acrobatic skills, and excellent talent in the realm of throwing various objects
— Theft: All abilities serve to make the Marauder's core skill of Stealing more potent
— Potion Ingredients: 1 Blood‑Speckled Black Mosquito, 1 Core of a Candle Devourer, 100 milliliters of Another's Blood, Nail fragments from Nine Different Individuals, 1 Sapphire, 10 grams of Verbena Powder
Sequence 9: Seer
— Enhanced Memory
— Spirit Vision: See non-physical things, such as ghosts and specters, and different parts of a Soul to deduce a person's health and emotions through it
— Divination Arts & Ritualistic Magic: Master all kinds of Divination methods, including astrology, spiritual numbers, and scrying
— Danger Intuition: Can intuitively detect danger
— Potion Ingredients: 10 milliliters of Lavos Squid's Crystallized Blood, 50-gram Stellar Aqua Crystal, 13 drops of Night Vanilla Liquids, 7 Gold Mint Leaves, 3 drops of Poison Hemlock, 9 grams of Dragon Blood Grass Powder
NOTE:
— All abilities will keep progressing as you digest a Sequence Potion
— You can consume a different Sequence Potion of the same level only after you have fully digested the already consumed one
— You can consume a higher-level Potion of a Sequence only after you have fully digested all the lower-level Potions of the three Sequences
]
…
That was a lot of information. But Luke, who had spent over a decade memorizing books upon books, and even more complex procedures, it took him less than a moment to process everything.
Luke focused on Seer, first.
Enhanced Memory was well and good, but his memory already bordered on photographic. But when he saw Spirit Vision, he remembered seeing himself as Mr. Fool saw him, the Spirit Particles manifesting as Quirk Factors within his hands.
That's a great ability… Luke ruminated. I can target certain parts of the plants and animals using my Bioalchemy even finer if I can see the Spirit Particles within them. Hmm… But in combat… only Danger Intuition is helpful.
Contrary to Seer, Marauder attracted Luke's attention more. Not only it would help him physically, but it would also attack his greatest weakness — his body!
Then, there was Apprentice.
An ability to escape any entrapment to run away…
Luke wanted them all, but he must decide which he wanted the most first.
Keeping that in the back of his mind, he focused on the second thing that garnered his attention.
What's digestion?
…
[
Great question, Blessed!
Digestion refers to the process where a Beyonder assimilates the mystical qualities of a consumed Sequence potion into their body, soul, and mind.
If you fail to digest a potion, you become mentally unstable, risk going insane and mutating into a monster, and cannot safely take the next higher Sequence potion.
It will be even more dangerous for you, Blessed, as you will be consuming Sequence Potions from different Paths.
However, the Lord Of Mysteries System will help you curb some of the potential dangers.
For that, I recommend using the Acting Method!
…
The name of a potion is not solely symbolic at its core, but a concrete imagery, and the Key to digestion!
Acting Method is the process of acting according to the potion's name to fully digest the potion.
For this, the Blessed must understand the core traits and behavior patterns of the consumed Sequence potion.
You must actively simulate, practice, or embody those traits in real life, while simultaneously keeping in mind that you are only Acting!
With the Acting Method, you can digest a potion faster, and your abilities will become more instinctive and easier to control.
Upon full Digestion, you will have a clear sense of breaking a bottleneck.
]
…
I see… Luke nodded to himself. So it's not as simple as drinking a Potion to gain powers… Reasonable, I guess.
Still, there was this one unnerving feeling that was constantly prickling his nerves.
At the end of the day… it all depended on —
Will you provide the Potion Ingredients to me?
This time when the female voice spoke, it sounded hesitant.
…
[
Unfortunately, such a feat is impossible, Blessed.
Your world is cut off from outside interference by a Boundary.
The Lord Of Mysteries System cannot contact the Gray Castle to exchange physical and spiritual objects.
Also, the Potion Ingredients are alien to your world and don't exist, as already confirmed by Mr. Fool before bestowing the System to you.
Perhaps, as you rise higher in Sequences and spread Mr. Fool's faith, I will be able to do so.
So, till then, do your best!
Good Luck!
]
…
Luke's lips twitched.
Good luck?! How am I supposed to become a Beyonder without Potion Ingredients?!!
*********************
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