Luke and Nyx let out a breath of relief, still in the bathroom.
"If we spend a minute longer in the bathroom," Nyx quipped, "we will have to spray shit on ourselves to make it believable."
Luke's lips twitched.
"… I don't know…" he lampooned. "I have already lost all my social cred, I think."
Despite the two Clowns comforting each other with odd remarks, the touch of fear of what happened moments ago still lingered on their faces.
"I still can't believe it," Luke mumbled. "Mr. Fool… sent an Angel…"
[… That's how Mr. Fool is. The most benevolent God. As long as you don't harm innocents and stray on an evil path, He will look after you.]
If he was being honest with himself, Luke had never considered himself Mr. Fool's true follower.
However, recently, especially after the meeting with the other Tarot Club members and hearing about Him from them, Luke's beliefs had begun changing.
When he used to promote Mr. Fool's faith before, it was all because of the condition.
Now, after experiencing His blessing, Luke felt a spark of true reverence in his heart.
"What was it, Miss Justice?" Luke dared to ask after a moment, Nyx losing her smug smile instantly. "What happened to me?"
The System didn't reply, an odd silence filling the gap.
[… I don't know.] Miss Justice answered, as if collecting her thoughts. [What you experienced is a common event among the Beyonders from Mr. Fool's world.]
Luke and Nyx's eyes widened. "It's… common in Mr. Fool's world?!!"
[Hmm. When a Beyonder consumes a Sequence Potion, he is susceptible to strange murmurs and visions left by High Sequence Beyonders of the same pathway. It is part of the Corruption, and such Beyonders are advised not to explore the matter shown or conveyed to them by these corrupt entities.]
Luke's eyes narrowed. "Then why didn't I experience the same before?"
He had already consumed 7 Potions till now, including two from the Door Pathway — Apprentice and Trickmaster.
Yet, other than some mystical sensations, he hadn't experienced any terrifying vision or murmurs — not to this extent.
[That's the thing… Your Corruption directly comes from Mr. Fool Himself. So… normally… you shouldn't have experienced anything…]
Luke's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean… normally?!"
[… Well. Cough! I don't know. It's related to Mr. Fool's unusual state and His past. I don't have access to that knowledge.]
Luke and Nyx's eyes narrowed.
That was the worst-case scenario for them.
Without knowing what was going on, how would they take precautions against it?
Mr. Fool's benevolence of blessing Angel's protection was all well and good, but he couldn't make a habit of it.
He had more Potions to consume. Very soon.
As predicted, because of its similarity to Seer, Luke had already digested over half of the Astrologer Potion right after consuming it.
If he wasn't wrong about it, then he stood a great chance of digesting it before the beginning of the second year at UA.
What if, while consuming the Sequence 7 of the Error Pathway, he again experienced something like this?
What if, unlike this time, Mr. Fool failed to bless him on time?
What if he didn't even get the time to pray?!
[I have an idea.]
Luke smiled. "Well, I can spend a few more minutes here, I guess," he joked. "Will just blame Nyx for it."
Nyx made a disgusted face. "You wouldn't dare…"
Miss Justice ignored the two's rants and told them her idea. [You should contact the Tarot Club members and ask for advice related to this. You are Mr. Devil — a member of the Tarot Club. Start acting like it.]
Luke's brows rose suddenly.
Yes. Why didn't he think of it?
All the Tarot Club members were from Mr. Fool's world, to begin with.
So, logically, if he mentioned everything to them, they might shine some light upon it.
[I will recommend Miss Magician.]
Miss Magician?! Luke frowned. He remembered the two women who had asked for the same amount of money from him as payment. "I was thinking of contacting Mr. Hanged Man… But, alright. Let's go with Miss Magician."
[… Hehe. Trust me. She's more experienced than she'd let on… Cough! Are you contacting her now?]
"No." Luke shook his head, getting up. "Let's end it here for now. Can you show me my Stats?"
…
[
Coming right up!
Blessed Stats:
Quirk — Bioalchemy
Sequence:
— Seer, Clown, Magician
— Apprentice, Trickmaster, Astrologer
— Marauder, Swindler
Stats:
— Spirit: 475
— Stamina: 195
]
…
"That's a massive boost in Spirituality," Luke noticed.
Like Seer, the Astrologer Sequence was spirituality-oriented, too.
So, for it to grant 50 Spirit Points right away didn't come as a great surprise to him.
"Did you get new powers?" Nyx asked.
"Hmm…" Luke contemplated getting the knowledge from mysticism instead of asking Miss Justice for it. "All my Trickmaster abilities have strengthened. Also, I can now create small doors, instead of full-sized ones, using the Door Opening ability. I can take other people through the door as well."
"Whoa…" Nyx landed on his shoulder. "That was a real pain in the ass."
Luke nodded. "My Spiritual Intuition has greatly enhanced, along with my Anti-Divination abilities."
[This will come in handy if Conformity and Singularity try to find you through divination-like Quirks.] Miss Justice pointed out.
"Indeed," Luke agreed. "However, for me, the greatest benefit of an Astrologer is still the use of the Crystal Ball. If I hadn't been a Seer, then I might have only been able to use the Crystal Ball to go through my memories. But, with Seer and Astrologer combined, I can use the Crystal Ball to fill the gap of Dream Divination."
And Luke had already created a Crystal Ball using Blood Creation.
It was just a matter of getting his hands on it by teleporting to his secret lab on the Suwanosejima Island.
So, with upgraded Stats and with a plan in his mind, Luke stepped out of the bathroom.
And when he reached the hall where the students were studying, he found a team of doctors waiting for him…
… a worried Momo standing next to them, making Luke and Nyx's mouths twitch.
*****************
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