It was in the early morning that Otto woke up, and his mind clearer than ever...In a much better state than before last night.
He faced-palmed himself when he relived those moments and quietly muttered to himself.
"I've underestimated the downside of that Monocle. Being elated is one thing, but using its authority to stop time immediately without thinking about the consequences is Amon-like...It's sort of like having Amon in me...Pause. Other than that, I can't spam it and should only wear it when acting as a Marauder. Don't want to be too crazy."
He stared at his gloved hand before standing up and walking over to his desk. Put on the Monocle and pulled out a portrait of the blonde stick man from his inner coat.
"The potion barely digested, and I can't believe I didn't realize to take out before going to sleep...Sheesh, I blame you, Monocle."
His hands lingered on the frame for a moment before hanging it with its built-in hanger on the wall behind his desk, and his face lit up with delight. He blew a chef's kiss towards the drawing and spoke.
"Oh, Luna, would you still see me as you're guardian when I become a worm?"
That was what he became in that vision, a worm that loved to steal for its own happiness, and maybe it was a hint toward one of the principles for acting as a Marauder...Steal for self-gain to fill up the empty void that the World took from you.
He suddenly felt a surging course from within his Soul as he thought of that principle, and within a moment, the Maruader Potion was digested by 10%.
"So those scenes give hints on how to act as a Marauder. Since that's the case, maybe I can start saying nonsense about stealing and see if that works...You steal from the poor and give to the rich."
Nothing.
"So, the personal intention doesn't matter, only the main principle of the potion. Steal for yourself and only yourself...Do not be bound by morals."
The same feeling of his potion digesting occurred once again, and the potion jumped up to being 20% digested. Seeing the feedback, Otto let out a cruel smile and kept on spewing up stealing nonsense.
"Theft is for Communism."
"Marauders steal because they're baddies!"
After a few wild comments, he stopped his blabbering as the feedback ceased to exist.
"Ah...So I can't abuse the loophole anymore?... Guess I got to go out in the world and start stealing stuff."
Seeing as there was nothing left to do, he projected a coin with Void Archives and held it in his hand before performing a Divination.
"Is it safe to advance to Sequence 8 Clown. Heads for yes and tails for no."
He flipped the coin into the air with a flick of his thumb, and as it shined a glimmering gold, it soon landed on heads.
"What luck! Shall I call this month March Madness because it is time to ball and advance my Sequence each day?"
Otto thrust his hand into the air, and soon a glowing yellowish light was projected in his grasp. What came out from that glimmer was a clown mask. Donning the elated mask, he started to laugh as a symbolic luck ritual.
That was what he used to do back in his world, do such rituals and tributes to increase his luck.
With a character named Blade from Honkai Star Rail, when he was pulling for the former High Cloud Quintet, Lin started to spam the phrase "Of five people, three must pay the price."
He lost fifty-fifty three times in a row, but even if it didn't work it still brought him the peace of mind that even if he lost...His spirit will never falter in the face of sweet lady luck.
Otto brought up a previous screen from the system that he had previously rejected, and it soon popped up.
[Sequence 8 Clown of the Fool Pathway is ready. Would you like to advance?]
He immediately accepted the Potion from within his mind, and a sudden liquid started to flow into his throat. The taste of fizzy bitter oranges lingered in his mouth as he stood completely still for the incoming mental torture.
His body paled as an abrupt shock pierced into his very soul and body. It caused him to fall onto the couch like a drunken man.
A migraine started to pulse and burst within his head, but Otto held his ground, biting down his teeth to ease his suffering. His hands and knuckles burst into whiteness from his fingers, clinching tightly into a fist.
The headache started to deepen its damage, and in the next moment, Otto's vision started to blur with multiple colors. It was the most visually indicated that...He was about to start tripping into the next dimension.
His entire viewpoint was shifted into that of the third person, his senses turned up to the entire 360, his eyes staring at the worming figure of his own body shaking and trembling from the potion.
Various flashes started emerging from the unknown and engulfed his eyes. He couldn't comprehend what passed his sight, but it all bubbled from within his chest.
Laughter started to burst from his mouth, he started to laugh at reality. One final image was placed in his eyes; it was the endless void where nothingness was its ideal.
It was an empty place where nil engulfed everything and the truth that nothing ever mattered as civilization was a speck of sand in the grand schemes of the Universe, but instead of despairing at it, he laughed.
Even if the Universe was but an empty void, one can hide their suffering with laughter and smiles.
Reality refolded into his senses; sweat started to drip from his forehead, and his chest started to heave back and forth with each breath he took. Otto quickly took off the clown mask, crashing it with his bare hands into golden glimmers.
A golden cube with distorted lines appeared within his mind, calming and relaxing his body with Cogitation.
After calming himself, Otto felt the sensation of cracking linger in his soul, and he soon recognized the sensation.
His potion was digested immediately to 100%
Otto wasn't surprised by such a fact since a Clown was what he was synonymous with. An jester acting onto the empty stage to bring back his beloved.
A sudden pop-up appeared after this revelation, and it read:
[Sequence 7 Magician of the Fool Pathway is ready would you like to advance?]
It closed itself back into nothingness as Otto commanded it to...Slow and not turning into a pile of worms wins the race, but just to make sure, he flipped a coin into the air, and it landed on tails.
Seeing how it wasn't very safe to advance, Otto's mind started to track how much of the Fool Pathway he could instantly digest.
Sequence 7 Magician was next and most likely to be partially digested since the blonde man never performed unprepared.
Sequence 6: Faceless was easy as Otto disguised himself numerous times, becoming other people and taking their identities for a bit, thanks to Soulium being shapeable, but he needed their DNA to do so.
Sequence 5: Marionettist has a high degree of digestion, as hiding behind the scenes and controlling multiple bodies to do the work is one of Otto's methods of planning. Be a director of a play that controls the scene like a Marionettist.
The hardest part of advancing Sequence 5 and above is its Advancement Rituals. For Sequence 5, Otto had to consume a potion amidst the singing of mermaids.
'Where in the world would I find some mermaids? Should I just dive deep into the Sea of Quanta until I find a Bubble World with them? I might have to think outside of the box for some of these. For Sequence 3 Scholar of Yore...I must be separated from reality for at least three hundred years and consume the potion. This truly is the Path for a masochist.
After complaining within his thoughts, he soon stood up from the couch and stretched to ease away the mental and physical fatigue croaking in his bones. He let out a goofy smile seeing the changes from within himself.
"The pain was horrible but not unbearable. I might have laughed my jaw away...Hehe"
His feet shifted up with movement as he backflipped onto the crotch behind himself, but just as he was about to crash into it, his hand gracefully shifted to hold the upper back section, and his entire position was moved to where he was hand-standing on the backrest of the sofa.
Otto whistled, seeing his improved dexterity, and he descended back onto the ground.
"A Marauder and a Clown's physical abilities stacked together is like being Spider-Man, and I even got Spider Sense thanks to my Spiritual Intuition and new Danger Intuition being mixed together."
Done with his talking, Otto projected a piece of paper into his hands, he noticed the low amount of his Spirituality being drained and the marginal increase to his Spirituality being able to rival a Sequence 6 with a lower capacity. Even still, stopping time would drain 80% of his reserves.
His nimble hands moved with finesse as the paper was shaped into a paper dagger that was as hard as steel. A shockwave burst from his hand as he threw it toward the wall of his office.
*BANG*
It shattered into thousands of motes of light from the impact and disappeared.
Otto quickly went up to the wall to assess the damage, his fingers gently slid over the damage mark.
"Making a scratch onto a Honkai-Based material wall pretty good or it's just my Soulium body and Clown physics that made it together.
His next action was to go up into Sefirah Castle, but his senses churned as someone was in front of his door and hesitating to enter.
"Luna, it's open. You can come if you want. You're always welcome to come in."
The door slammed open as a small white figure crashed into Otto's chest, knocking him to the floor. Instead of the energetic, bloody child, only a quiet and docile vampire was present. Luna stood silently still as she laid on him quietly, her eyes having marks of tear drips.
He immediately noticed the signs and gently asked
"Nightmare?"
She answered with a sniffle, and in response, he gently put her on the couch. He sat right next to her and started to whisper softly, "It's alright, I am here. Close your eyes and take a moment to let that serene darkness take over."
As a "Grandpa," Otto had plenty of experience dealing with a child who was having a night terror, and he started to guide her with his voice.
Seeing her slowly going into a deep slumber, he projected Fenghuang Down, and the golden feather started to float down onto the girl's head slowly.
"So that's why you've been locking yourself in your room...You didn't want to bother anyone with your nightmares."
A mask was soon projected onto his hand and placed onto his face. It had the symbol of a monochromatic butterfly latched onto it and the small words:
'Funeral of Dead Nightmares'
Otto's vision blanked as he was going to enter Luna's mind, and before he did, he said one last quip.
"...How unfortunate, a tragic child she is. I can do nothing but mourn for the Nightmare she is facing."
A/N Sorry for my lateness. I've been trying to write, but there's been a bunch of work. I'll limit the chapter to 1500 to 2000 words to constantly have a schelude. Also, I won 50/50 for Castorice and her LC. I think she wants to murder me for the April Fools.