Half an hour before,
After being discharged from the hospital yesterday, Luke returned to the small Saionji Mansion in Musutafu.
Tomorrow, they were supposed to move into the dorms, and the staff had already moved all his stuff to his new room.
In the private gym in the basement, Luke finished his training routine, sweating buckets.
He took a cold shower and returned after a while, feeling refreshed.
Today, he would advance, becoming a Sequence 6 Beyonder!
There was no one in the house, making this the perfect time.
Luke hadn't seen Rikuya since the beginning of the break anyway, and Aina was with her mother and had yet to return from Tokyo.
He couldn't go to the Apostles' Headquarters either; at least, not without Mushroom-nimi's help.
If he wanted to advance, he must make do with this empty mansion, with only a few guards stationed outside.
Luke went to one side of the gym and created a door in the wall. The door opened into a large, hidden chamber with animal and plant ingredients in bottles on shelves, all suspended in greenish liquid.
In the middle of the room, Nyx was eyeing a greenish-black liquid bubbling in a cauldron.
Large bubbles were forming in it, exploding into a sickly-looking gas.
"Didn't you say that you would go for Scribe Potion first?" Nyx asked, her voice still ringing feebly. She took out her Spirit Pendulum and let it hang over the potion. It rotated clockwise with extreme speed, indicating the Potion to be a one-way ticket to hell for her. But that was expected, given she was not even Sequence 7 yet.
Luke then divined the same for himself, switching back to the Magician Potion.
When it came out to be dangerous, but still within his limits, he sighed and put away the crystal.
"Miss Justice?" Luke called out the System, letting her explain his change of heart.
He still couldn't bestow a Quirk upon Nyx. So, he had bestowed a Simple Complexity Quirk on a plant lifeform, which transferred Luke's thoughts directly into Nyx's mind in a certain range. The Quirk consumed only 20 Spirit Points and couldn't do much else, but that was the best he could afford for now.
[Cough-cough!] Miss Justice cleared her throat. [Okay, you two. Now, listen properly. Luke has three paths in front of him — Seer Pathway's Sequence 6 Faceless, Apprentice Pathway's Sequence 6 Scribe, and Marauder Pathway's Sequence 6 Prometheus.]
Prometheus gave a massive boost to Stamina. It also enhanced resistance to mental corruption, an effect Luke would benefit from if he were ever forced to use Blessed Gone Insane or to fight against Conformity and Singularity, preventing him from losing control on the spot.
But these weren't the abilities a Prometheus was best known for.
It was the qualitative change on Marauder's Theft — the only ability which Luke rarely used.
A Prometheus could not only steal objects but concepts, too.
In Mr. Fool's world, a Prometheus could steal Beyonder's abilities, which meant…
[…and we are guessing here…] Miss Justice continued her explanation. [We think a Prometheus in this world should be able to steal — Quirks.]
Nyx's red pupils widened. "You mean like stealing Quirk Factors?"
"Temporarily, and within the Beyonder's limit," Luke added. "But, yeah, basically steal a Quirk. Or... a part of it, if not the entire Quirk, I guess."
[I know how it sounds,] Miss Justice said. [Prometheus is easily the winner among these three. It's just too powerful when compared to all Sequence 6 abilities of other Pathways.]
Of course, there was one caveat about advancing to Prometheus.
Nyx scoffed. "Yeah… easily the winner… and the killer!"
Luke already regretted advancing to Cryptologist without proper guidance from Mr. Fool. He dared not become Prometheus now. A Conformity-backed All For One seemed a world-level threat only to those who didn't know about the biggest horror hiding among them.
Amon!
[Yeah… well…] Miss Justice smiled wryly. [But we did consider Scribe, no, Luke? Like, seriously consider.]
Luke nodded. "This is also theoretical for now, but…" he said thoughtfully, "… we think a Scribe is what you can call Monoma from Class 2-B, if he were a Beyonder."
Nyx's eyes lit up once again. "What? Then why didn't you choose it?!"
[A Scribe's prime ability is Record,] Miss Justice said. [We think Luke should be able to record others' Quirks after becoming a Scribe. It sounds the same as Prometheus, but it's fundamentally different, as there's no stealing here. So, yeah. Monoma's Copy is the best way to visualize it.]
Nyx hopped off the cauldron and landed on the table next to Luke. "Again. Why not select Scribe?"
"It's less about not choosing Scribe, and more about why choose… Faceless." Luke said. "First, among the three Potions, only Faceless grants a huge boost in Spirituality; something which we truly need. Second, and it's again one of Miss Justice's theories, that it would be much easier to digest Faceless, given my secret identity.
"Third, unlike Prometheus's ability to steal, which actively helps against an enemy, a Scribe's recording of Quirks overlaps with my Bioalchemy. And, last but not least, both Steal and Record would consume an enormous number of Spirit Points… which we don't currently have. So, even if I advance to Scribe or Prometheus, I might not be able to use their corresponding Beyonder abilities for months."
Nyx tapped her claw on the table, going through all the reasons once again.
"I still think Scribe is the best," she cawed, disagreeing with Luke.
"Are you thinking of recording One For All?" Luke asked, smiling. When she nodded, he added, "I don't think it will work. Not until we reach Sequence 4 or Sequence 3… or even higher. Remember Monoma's Copy's limitation? I think they will also apply to Scribe."
"Hmm…" Nyx cawed, "That sounds… reasonable."
Luke flicked her head and walked toward the cauldron with a smile.
"You have been smiling a lot these days," Nyx said from behind. "If Momo's confession made you feel so good, then you should have just kissed her."
"Nyx!" Luke turned around, gasping, his face gaining a deep blush. "I… I…"
"I… I…" Nyx mimicked. "Go on. Become a Faceless… loser."
Luke stared at her, lacking words.
Even Miss Justice complained in his mind… about him not making a move.
These girls! Luke cursed inwardly. If it weren't for the Villains, they would have already turned my life into a melodramatic, romantic drama! Tch!
Letting out a breath, Luke had to cogitate right from the beginning for some time.
"Will you go above Gray Castle this time?" Nyx asked.
"I hope so," Luke replied. "Right, Miss Justice?"
[Umu.] Miss Justice agreed. [Mr. Fool pulls Luke up during… checkpoints. So, when all three Potions of a Sequence are digested, causing a temporary widening and strengthening of the connection between Luke and Him. But Luke was surrounded by many when he completely digested Cryptologist. So, in that sense, the next checkpoint is him formally advancing to Sequence 6.]
"Oh…" Nyx nodded.
After a while, Luke poured the Potion into a vial, his heart beating calmly, with only a touch of excitement.
Then, sharing a glance with Nyx, he drank the Potion, advancing to Faceless!