Klein was dropped off back at his apartment.
Hmmmm, that was an interesting night. Well, guess I'm working with Perran and need to head back to the church today. Yeah, today, it's past midnight. Well, time to head up and tell Melissa; actually, how am I going to explain this to Melissa and Benson?
He slowly turned around and enjoyed the cool breeze and tranquility of the night while walking closer and closer to the apartment building's door. He took out his keys, inserted the correct one, and turned it gently, allowing the crimson-mixed darkness to expand with the creaking sound of the opened door. Walking on the staircase without a single person in sight and taking in the cold air, Klein had an inexplicable and amazing feeling. It felt like he had a few more hours than others. This caused him to hasten his pace. In a similar state of mind, he opened the door to his room, and before he even stepped inside, he saw a silhouette sitting silently in front of his desk. It had reddish-black hair, bright brown eyes, and a delicate, pretty face. Undoubtedly, she was Melissa Moretti!
"Klein, where did you go?" Melissa asked curiously as she relaxed her eyebrows. Without waiting for Klein's reply, she added, "Just now, I got up to go to the bathroom and realized you weren't home." It was as if she wanted to know everything clearly, from the causes and effects of the matter to the underlying logic.
"Oh, I decided to take a walk." Klein was still considering how he could explain to Melissa and Benson his new job, and he also needed to tell the professor that he wasn't going to do the interview.
After staring at Klein for a while, Melissa decided to showcase one of her creations to Klein: a mechanical tortoise. Or at least that was what Klein thought it was. Klein saw it could move and began to praise Melissa for its creation and how she made it. Then he asked if it was a tortoise.
Instantly, the atmosphere in the room took a great plunge, leaving behind an air of graveness for a while. Then, Melissa faintly replied with a voice that seemed enigmatic like the crimson veil, "It's a puppet."
Puppet...
Klein gave an awkward smile and tried to forcefully explain, "The problem lies in the materials; they're too rudimentary.
Conveniently for Klein, Melissa began to have digestion issues. "I-I'll go get some more sleep!"
Bang! She grabbed her tortoise-like "puppet", trotted to the interior of the house, and closed the door to her room.
Last night's dinner was too good; she ate too much, and now her stomach is having trouble digesting it... Klein shook his head as he smiled, slowly walking towards his desk. He began thoroughly thinking about his plans for the future. One thing he definitely was going to continue was the plan of going with the church. Secondly, he needed to find a way to make his new money from the church not look suspicious to Melissa or Benson. Maybe Arianna could give me some advice. Thirdly, he needed to tell the professors he wouldn't participate in the interview. Soon the first rays of sunlight appeared.
At this moment, Melissa, who had gotten out of bed again, had pushed open the door to the room. She was surprised to see her brother stretching in an unglamorous manner. "You didn't sleep?"
"I was thinking through some things." Klein smiled, feeling relaxed.
Melissa thought for a moment and said, "Whenever I encounter problems, I'll list out both the pros and cons one by one and compare them. After that, I would be able to get a hint of what I should do next."
"That's a good habit. I did that too," Klein lied perfectly. He felt disturbed that he did that.
I'll need to not make that a habit.
Melissa's countenance was relaxed, and she did not add more. Holding a yellowish sheet of paper and her toiletries, she headed to the bathroom.
Klein decided to wait till Melissa left to go to the church. He also decided, before leaving, to clean up a little bit. He cleaned the apartment with his marionettes and ate breakfast. He then prepared his clothing. This caused him to go to the church at twelve o'clock in the afternoon. He then decided to walk to the church to go see Arianna.
He arrived at Saint Selena Cathedral and entered, but his spirituality quickly alerted him to Arianna's presence in a corner. He saw her looking at him, and he quickly went over to her. He then saw her waving to follow. They went through a tunnel before arriving where they were last time they met.
"So, time to continue. We went over the acting method; do you have any questions?"
"I'm still considering the acting method."
"That's alright."
"Well, a lot of mysticism information isn't going to be taught by me. This is because the Lady wants to start you off easy and then quickly accelerate. So the Lady has decided to assign you to this city's Nighthawk division. Though before I introduce you to this division's Nighthawks, I'll begin to inform you about special rules about the paths of the divine. The first thing is that once you choose your pathway, you can't change. At least at the low sequence. At high sequences, you can switch to a related pathway. I believe you understand why this is possible? "
Klein nodded.
Likely, the related pathways are pathways under the same sefirot.
"Additionally, you can also switch to pathways not under the same group. You can switch because of Bridge Symbolism. Now this is significantly more dangerous because you must get rid of all previous characteristics. Otherwise madness will ensue."
"Bridge Symbolism?"
"Yes, for example, Moon and Mother are under the same group, yet with Bridge Symbolism they can switch with Demoness via Female symbolism. As said before, the requirement is that you get rid of unrelated characteristics."
"I understand."
"Additionally, you can attempt to change to a completely unrelated pathway, but you obviously risk madness or death. Technically, it is possible to get away with it if you only get madness by simply having children. When you have children, a part of your characteristics will go to the children. Same for madness. But even then, it isn't recommended for obvious reasons."
"Yeah . . . I can understand why."
"Also, at high sequences you can control whether you pass down characteristics to your children. Additionally, you need to understand the Law of Similarity and the Law of Contagion. The Law of Similarity states that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause. One can produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it. The Law of Contagion states that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. Whatever one does to a material object will affect equally the person with whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed part of his body or not. These are two fundamental laws."
Klein nodded to show he understood.
"Now let's head up to meet your team. Though before that I need to tell you that we won't be revealing you as an angel. We intend to simply claim you are an unfortunate soul that came into contact with the Antigonius Family Notebook, which is the Fourth Epoch notebook you and your friends came into contact with. This gave you, a "normal person," a false angelic rank. This will hide your status as an archangel, while also giving a reason for your service here. We also intend to give you an extra sequence 9 to keep up appearances."
"Will that cause issues because I think I already have one?" Klein was somewhat curious, but majorly unconcerned.
"If you gain multiple of the same characteristic, there is a chance of losing control more easily," Arianna said with a straight face.
"Wait what!?" Klein was shocked!
"But you will also become stronger; Dunn Smith is an example. Also, this is not taking into account your current sequence level. At your current sequence level, you could take multiple Seer potions and nothing bad would happen."
"Oh." Klein was immediately relieved.
"Additionally, you will need to take multiple characteristics. To become Sequence 0, you need the 3 Sequence 1 Attendant of Mysteries characteristics and the Uniqueness. Also, there are only 3 Sequence 1 characteristics for every pathway."
"Okay." Klein was following pretty well.
"As you know from the Goddess, another Sequence 1 is here, Sequence 1 Worm of Time Pallez Zoroast. You don't need to worry, though, about 'Him'; he knows to behave. You can also ask 'Him' for mysticism knowledge. Or, as a blessed of the Lady, you can ask 'Her' for knowledge."
"Will I need to pay for the information?" Klein was most concerned about the cost.
"Possibly, it depends," Arianna replied, unsure.
"Hmmmm, alright, I'll keep it in mind."
"Also, I need to tell you to be careful when looking into information; there is a possibility you could go mad. Madness is something important. I almost forgot to tell you."
Klein looked at her blankly.
"Sequence 7 Nightmare of the Darkness, or better known as the Sleepless pathway, causes bad memory." Arianna begrudgingly gave that information up.
. . . . .
"Anyway, madness happens when you lose control or are heavily corrupted. When you walk on the paths of the divine, you must always be ready for madness. If you don't use the acting method, losing control can be very common. This is because you haven't digested the potion imprint. But you must also not lose yourself in the acting. The consequences of madness are mental death and the complete breakdown of the body. Every piece of flesh would become a terrifying monster. Second, their personality will be changed by the powers contained in the potion. They will turn cold, sensitive, irascible, cruel, and indifferent. Third, well… Mental disorder. Turning crazy on the spot, becoming more devilish than the devil. This is what it means by losing control." Arianna emphasized the words 'losing control.'
"Anyway, let's head up." Arianna immediately went up to meet the Tingen Nighthawks. "Dunn Smith will answer any other questions you have."
"Oh, alright." Klein was very scared. "Wait, what about the matter with anchors?"
"We dealt with that; you don't need to worry about losing control from having a lack of anchors. Also, you can simply turn a lot of animals into marionettes, which can then be turned into anchors. In fact, that is the most effective method for you. If you have any more questions that Dunn can't answer, use this."
She proceeded to hand him a black stone, likely obsidian, with the Evernight Goddess sacred emblem on it.
"Say, Arianna, in Ancient Hermes or any language that stirs the powers of nature, and I will know you have a question. Let's go up now."
…
"This is the Tingen Nighthawk team; you may refer any questions you have to Captain Dunn Smith. I will take my leave now." She then proceeded to look like she was erased.
"Oh, hello?" Klein was curious about what the Nighthawks were like.
"Hello, my name is Dunn Smith; I'm the captain here. The civilian staff is her Rozanne, Bredt, Old Man Neil, and Orianna. Bredt and Orianna aren't here, though. The Nighthawks are Leonard Mitchell, Frye, Kenley, Seeka, and Royale. Do you wish to speak with me privately first?"
Everyone in the room but Dunn began looking at Klein curiously. The one named Leonard, though- the inspector that came yesterday while he looked curious seemed suspicious.
Oh, he must be the Nighthawk parasitized.
"Oh yes, please." Klein realized he forgot to respond to Dunn's question.
Klein followed Dunn into his office. Both of them proceeded to sit down.
"So I currently have you as a member of the civilian staff. Though what 'Her' Eminence Arianna said was that you were a Nighthawk under special circumstances. Other than me, Mrs. Orianna knows because she needs to make the corresponding records in the budget. I won't ask you why you are special, only that you warn me if it turns into an issue so I can prepare accordingly. Is that alright?"
"Of course, I don't want to cause harm to others because I wouldn't give important information." Klein solemnly replied.
"Thank you for your honesty and good character." Dunn was clearly relieved. "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, when I was with Ma'am Arianna, she said I needed to take the Seer potion?
"Yes, go down with Old Neil; he will help you with this," Dunn replied.
"Also, a discussion I had with Ma'am Arianna led to the dangers of madness? I understand how madness happens and losing control happens, but what exactly causes them? Also, how did we get the potion system?" Klein desired to know this important information.
Dunn went into a discussion on how the Blashemy Slate was created via the creation myth. He then went into the possible ways of losing control.
"Do you understand?" Dunn inquired.
"Yes, I do." Klein felt he learned a lot about the dangers of the Beyonder world and was very glad that he was lucky enough to survive accommodation of a Sequence 1 characteristic.
"Anyway, you can go to Old Neil for your Seer potion."
"Alright, thank you. I'll go to- actually, where is Neil?" Klein felt he could have located him through divination, but decided to just ask Dunn.
"Actually, let me just lead you there. I might remember something I forgot." Dunn got up from his chair.
"Ma'am Arianna said that Sequence 7's on the Sleepless pathway had memory issues; are you a Sequence 7 Nightmare?" Klein inquired curiously.
Dunn looked shocked.
Oh wait, Ma'am Arianna is an angel; he's likely surprised I'm not dead or why she revealed that. Little does he know that I'm higher on the sequence chain than her!
"Oh yes, Nightmares tend to have memory issues because of our ability to enter dreams; this causes us to have issues distinguishing reality from dreams," Dunn replied carefully.
After that, Dunn led Klien to Neil in the Alchemy room.
"Hello Neil, the higher-ups want Klein here to get a Seer potion."
"So soon?" Neil asked, shocked, but was very curious.
"It's due to a special condition Klein has, after his encounter with a very dangerous Fourth Epoch notebook," Dunn explained.
"Oh, I see," Neil was still confused about it. "Does this special condition make him a half-sequence 9 Seer?" That's what Neil concluded since the higher-ups specifically said Klein had to get a Seer potion.
"Yes." Dunn didn't actually know why, but since Klein didn't say anything, he decided to just agree.
"Well then, let's begin creating your potion, Klein, was it? Oh wait, let me just go to get the Seer potion formula and ingredients." Neil then left.
"Oh yes, I just remembered, Klein, before you leave today, you need to go to Mrs. Orianna to pick up your money. Additionally, I need to assign you a small mission." Dunn replied seriously.
Oh right, likely my 1,000-pound bonus; maybe I might even get my weekly paycheck! But what mission do I have?
"Also, I would recommend you use that money you gain to equip yourself more professionally and switch to a house. Due to the nature of our business, it isn't recommended for you to live in an apartment. I believe you can figure out why. The mission, though, is rather simple. If 'Her' Eminence hasn't told you, we haven't found the Fourth Epoch notebook yet. You currently have two tasks. First, every morning or afternoon, go take a stroll outside. Focus on the various streets that lead from Welch's place to yours."
"What?" Klein was dumbfounded.
What kind of job is this? Is that very professional?
Dunn inserted his hands into the pockets of his black trench coat and said, "After you confirm that you have lost your memories, we will close the case on Welch and Naya. Similarly, that diary of the Antigonus family has vanished completely. We suspect that you brought it with you. You might have hidden it on your way home, which might be why we did not find any clues at your place. This is also likely the reason why you were not there and chose to commit suicide at home.
"Although you were mysteriously influenced and have forgotten this piece of memory, the human spirit and brain are very fascinating, so there might be residual traces. Perhaps you will feel a sense of déja vu at a familiar and critical spot. That is what we wish to obtain."
Ah, that makes much more sense. Also not too difficult. Even better!
"Secondly, you get a day off every week. You can decide which day it is for now. When you are not outside, go to our armory and read the literature and canon books. This is a job for a professional historian. When you finish them all, you will have to begin taking shifts with Old Neil and the rest."
"Alright, no problem." Klein heaved a sigh of relief.
This is not something too difficult...
"Also, when you are done with Neil, I'll take you on a tour of the base. I'll bid you goodbye for now." Dunn waved and left.
Klein began to patiently wait and contemplated what he was told. Soon after, Neil arrived with the formula and materials.
"Close the door, would you, young lad."
"Alright." Klein closed the door.
After Klein closed the door, Neil quickly prepped the room and began creating the potion. At first, Klein was rather in a mixed state of concern due to Neil's appearance of carelessness, yet also in a state of knowing it was fine because his spiritual intuition wasn't going off. Eventually, Klein realized Neil was donning an air of carelessness to lower the stress. Or at least that's what Klein guessed. Klein would have preferred that Neil didn't. The air of carelessness ended when Neil finished with the supplementary ingredients of the Seer potion. Neil immediately became more serious, yet still carried an air of jovialness while he began putting in the main ingredients of Seer. Soon, Neil finished.
"It's done, your Seer potion."
To Klein, the Seer potion looked dark-blue. He could tell that it was fine, but he was still worried about how easy it seemed; he felt that... something was off. Klein looked at it hard again; to him, it kinda looked disturbing. It honestly, on second look, didn't even seem liquid.
"Am I to drink it just like that? Is there no need for any other preparations? Like a ritual, an incantation, or a prayer?" Klein felt stupid asking since Neil had said it wasn't necessary for Sequence 7 and below. Though he felt he should ask nonetheless.
Neil began to humor him with a ridiculous ritual. Though when Neil looked at him, he said, "Lad, do not hesitate. The more you hesitate, the more nervous and afraid you will be. That will only affect the absorption that follows," said Old Neil with his back facing Klein. It was as though he had said it casually.
Through his spirituality, Klein understood Neil was being entirely truthful in this manner. Furthermore, he felt that concerning part of his soul wanting the potion, wanting it badly. Klein would like to believe the reason why he was hesitating so much was because of this part of his soul. He wasn't wrong.
Wait, this part of my soul, is it the spiritual imprint of the Original Creator? Yes, that seems likely. The imprint likely is responding to the Law of Convergence. Should I drink it? What can I do? Klein instinctively tried to divine whether he should drink.
"It is all right, there is no danger," a voice that sounded like Arianna resounded in Klein's ears.
This final affirmation from Arianna steeled Klein's resolve, and he drank the Seer potion. He immediately felt his body take in the Seer potion, but he realized in about 3 seconds of weird color saturation, it was over!
"Whaa, how are you fine so soon?" Neil was shocked he drank the potion so easily and without any signs of issue.
Guess Arianna was right; since I'm at such a high level, what is one Sequence 9 potion? More importantly, I can feel that part of my soul that was hungering slightly weaker. Why is that? Shouldn't it be stronger?
"The Sequence 9-1 characteristic you accommodated is pure of any taints, so what you received was the purest will of the old Lord of Mysteries. When you gain additional characteristics that have been through multiple people, their residual will will help dilute the imprint." A voice like Arianna resounded in Klein's ears again. It also seemed Neil couldn't hear her voice.
Klein realized Arianna hadn't completely left and was still thankfully monitoring him. To this, he silently praised Perran.
"Well lad, I should still probably teach you Cogitation," Neil said in pleasant surprise.
Yet a good thing was a precursor to a bad thing; Klein felt his head swell. He felt like it was being yanked apart. Whatever he saw had countless afterimages. His ears were overwhelmed by an ethereal murmur.
"Hornacis... Flegrea... Hornacis... Flegrea... Hornacis... Flegrea..."
Klein felt a stabbing pain at his forehead as he quickly had thoughts of destroying the room around him to vent the discomfort in him.
He frowned and hurriedly shook his head. Thankfully, Arianna, who was still close by, quickly soothed his soul and mind.
"Oh, a delayed response- no, that can still be normal; just means I definitely need to teach you Cogitation." Neil was mainly talking to himself. "Is your vision abnormal? Are you also hearing things you did not use to hear?" said Old Neil, at his side with a concealed smile.
"Yes, Mr. Neil, what should I do?" Klein, despite the help of Arianna, or perhaps she left some of the murmuring for him to practice on.
Neil quickly told Klein how to deal with it, and Klein was able to use it to kill any of the remaining murmurs or effects.
"Huh, I've drunk a Seer potion," Klein murmured to himself.
"Well, that's a weird way of saying you've become a Seer," Neil remarked while pulling out a mirror-like mercury plate and shoving it in front of him.
"Look at your eyes."
Klein immediately locked onto his eyes and realized they had deepened.
"This is a physical manifestation of the potion's powers. When you learn Cogitation and how to converge your power, your eyes will return to normal." Old Neil smiled as he reached out his right hand. "Congratulations, our new Beyonder, our Seer."
Klein was about to ask where he could learn Cogitation when he remembered Neil talking about teaching him Cogitation. Old Neil saw that Klein knew he was going to teach him and prepared to tell Klein how to do Cogitation. While Klein was doing Cogitation, when he got to "imagine something that doesn't exist," he tried to imagine an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). That failed, though, so he went with something different. That worked out, and Klein successfully performed Cogitation.
Neil quickly praised his success and said that this was to be expected because he was a Seer, and Seers naturally did well in these things. Though Neil snuck in a remark, he only did slightly worse than him. He also began to teach Klein about Spirit Vision. Which Klein immediately got because of his Sequence Level. Klein learned that a particular sequence let him turn on and off Spirit Vision at will.
Neil remarked at his skill and began explaining what he would see with Spirit Vision. Klein immediately realized he could see far more because of his sequence level. He looked at Neil and saw some issues, likely because of his old age. Though when Klein looked deeper, he saw something chaotic in Old Neil's spirit body! Klein was immediately trying to figure out how to tell Neil without exposing himself.
Wait, maybe I can tell Ma'am Arianna! Wait, what are those eyes behind Old Neil!?
"Old Neil, there is a pair of eyes behind you!" Klein was immediately put into a state of vigilance. He felt deeply disturbed by those eyes; he felt that they were extremely dangerous!
Arianna silently prepared herself. She also knew, unlike Klein, what those eyes were; they were the Hidden Sage.
Old Neil was taken aback before he forced a smile.
"It's nothing; it's just a byproduct of your advancement." Neil forced it out.
Klein and Arianna could tell it was a lie.