Otto's damaged eyes glared at the wheel spinning at an untold rate. Noticing the impairing of his vision, he took action.
With his blood-dyed hand, Otto projected a lance of white purity and held it in his hand. White Flower glowed a gentle warmth as the False Divine Key used its Authority of Life to heal his wounds.
He didn't know why his eyes suddenly started to bleed; maybe it was the backlash or punishment from his system of trying to gain a Boon.
'Ah! What a cheapskate.'
His eyes blinked rapidly as the once-dripping-blood eyes turned back to his normal emerald eyes.
The only sound in the room was the endless click of the tentacle pointer about to mark the Overseer's prize, and with his healed eyes, it was apparent the wheel was slowing down into a standstill.
As the marker declerated, Otto thought about the three Pathways he could gain from this fortunate and unfortunate encounter.
The Error Pathway is all about Theft, Deception, and Errors. They can trick others with their eloquence and sleight-of-hand, steal their targets' or mundane abilities, decrypt, and steal thoughts and intentions.
At High Sequences, they can turn into a parasite to attach to a host, deceive the rules of reality, create avatars, tamper with fate, manipulate time, and also become experts in exploiting the loopholes in rules, becoming a "BUG" like existence.
The Black Emperor Pathway is the Shadow of Order and the Hidden Corruption of the Law. It's the opposite of Harmony and Order. Anarchy and Disorder.
They are proficient at loophole exploitation, possess extreme physicality, use bribery to achieve various effects, distort words, actions, and intent, disorder all sorts of things, and dominate others.
At High-Sequences, they could exploit abstract laws, manipulate the environment to their advantage, magnify the effect of their actions, isolate the location from the outside world, and infinitely resurrect if "Their" order was still in place.
This Pathway, if reached at the level of a Great Old One (Above Sequence 0), its Symbolism and Authorities could counter Xipe the Harmony, Ena the Order, and possibly HooH the Equilibrium if fighting one of those threes.
Otto wasn't planning on getting into conflicts with those outside of this solar system, but if push came to shove, a classic Supernova would surely work in their faces!
The last Pathway mentioned was the Chaos Mist Pathway. One of the 10 introduced in the second book of LOTM.
It's the bridge between light and dark, order and disorder, white and black.
They represent Grayness, which is the ultimate Truth of the universe, and are the manifestation of Chaos that renders all that is certain to become no longer certain.
It was the least out of the two Pathways on which he had info, but being given one of these Pathways his stocks on beating his enemies would soar.
He could imagine it if one of his opponents suddenly launched an attack with a long name.
'Boop! I accuse you of committing a crime, and now the world shall want to kill you. Huuzah, you made a deal with me and didn't read the contract. Then I commit blasphemy and steal all your powers.'
Otto's daydreaming came to a sudden halt as the wheel finally reached its Finality, and what was soon presented was the symbol of a worm crawling through fate and time shoved onto his face.
The sound of an ancient clock ringing reached his ears, and the screen pressing on his eyes was this:
[How fitting that you got the Error Pathway! Anyways, "WE" won't stay too long as "WE" been popping up so much because of how fun you are.]
[Here you go!]
[We grant you the Error Pathway!]
[The Trojan Horse of Fate; The Slug of Time, The Loopholes in Rules; The Manifestation of All Errors.]
[That is who you will become in the Inevitable Future, oh thy Angel of Redemption]
Otto's eyes widened in pain as a sudden black worm engraved with the ticking of time pierced into his body. It whirled into his soul as if it was being fused into his very being. His body tensed up and paled with sweat as the intruder kept on worming in his body.
He forced himself to stay awake as another prompt flashed before his eyes, and he soon fell onto the floor. Ah, yes the same floor where he first became a Seer.
[Here "WE"LL give you this one for free.]
The pain of being pierced by the creature slowly disappeared but his sight soon started to dim as a scene began to unfold within his eyes.
A green, cloudy light started to burst, and after a moment, his perspective changed into something entirely different.
He was but a worm crawling upon a world filled with gray fog; various symbols and abstract beings roamed this same realm.
The floor on which he dragged himself was constantly changing filled with History of the unknown.
His instincts screamed at him to crawl like a worm, as that was what he became. A small little worm meant to be stepped on, but would he accept that? Just as any sentient being would want to live and survive, the worm was going to do that.
He spotted a fellow creature of an unamusing mass eating an orb of fog. The worm didn't know why, but it disgusted him, for he wanted to be in that position and a sudden thought engulfed his mind.
The worm with all its might sneaked towards the thing and, when it wasn't looking, stole its food right under its nose. It screamed as its delicious prize was gone!
Eating his reward, the worm soon found a calling. If it couldn't find happiness in this world then it'll steal from others!
*Crack*
The sudden perspective changed back to that of the waking world. Otto opened his eyes to the familiar ceiling of his sanctuary and noticed the differences in his body.
The once gray monochrome world regained its color, and time started to flow again. Otto took his time stretching his body and soon called out.
"So that cheapstake forcefully promoted me to a Sequence 9 Marauder, but for what reason!?"
He quickly got up from the floor and dusted himself to get rid of any lingering dirt or dust off his clothes.
"Doesn't Rita clean this place? I doubt there wouldn't be any messes around here. Speaking of messes, the one mess that anyone dreads is bloodstains."
His eyes drifted toward the spot where he started to bleed out from his pupils, and what was left was a crimson stain that would be difficult to get out.
Otto, with a determined mind, went into the bathroom and pulled out the bleach. With a projected bowl, he started to fill it up with a mixture of three-fourths water and one-fourth bleach.
"I can't believe I am doing this...The Schicksal Overseer on his knees and wiping the floor with paper towels. Of five blood stains...Three must pay the price." He muttered to himself and started to wipe furiously.
His hands went up and down on the floor to wipe out this dirty stain, how filthy and dirty. The stain of blood was the hardest to clean.
After a while, he finished with the job and threw up the bowl filled with bleach water and the jug of bleach. His hands started to juggle the two objects in the air like a master juggler. Back and forth.
An effect from the Sequence 9 Marauder Potion.
It gave the usual effect of granting a Beyonder Spirituality, but in Otto's case, it further enhanced it to another degree of increasing its capacity. He could spam out more Rituals, Divination, and Beyonder abilities.
His eyes could now see in the dark, and his Spiritual Intuition got strengthened to the point of being able to estimate how much a valuable item was worth.
His physical ability improved, and he can perform near inhuman level of acrobatic skills, and excellent talent in the realm of throwing various objects. Climbing buildings and doing backflips would be much easier.
Most importantly, he gained extremely dexterous hands, which are even more improved than the general enhancements given to the rest of their body. Thanks to all these factors it makes the Maruder's core skill more potent, Theft!
This Pathway is the definition of a Thief, and with each Sequence, Theft will become more powerful to the point of stealing Concepts from other people like their Thoughts, Actions, Powers, Authorities, and Destiny.
Even now, his Spiritual Intuition was screaming at him about how valuable everything was in this room, most importantly an object on his cluttered desk.
Among the various materials on Otto's desk for the previous ritual laid a shiny crystal monocle.
Otto's spine shivered upon seeing such a sight, and various memories flashed before his eyes. The symbol of a Monocle was the most dreadest thing.
A character in LOTM who was a Beyonder of the Error Pathway could Parasite various of people and make them become him. In which they would wear a monocle.
Imagine this: You go home one day, and you suddenly see your family wearing monocles. Then your neighbors started to wear them, then the entire town started to wear them. You tried to figure out what the trend of these monocles was but it was too late.
Your body was beyond control, and you soon became an Avatar to a pleasure seeker who loves Monocles. In your hands was the same monocle, and you soon wore it. You were now Amon... the bugs, birds, dust particles, and air were all Amon. Amon is Eternal, Amon is Life, and Amon is Monocle.
Otto stopped his juggling, took a step closer to his desk, and approached such a relic. His Spiritual Intution foretold it was okay to approach and he took it into his hand.
A prompt flashed before his eyes, and he scanned what was written.
The Past God of Deceit's Monocle (Grade 0)
"A Monocle that was once in the possession of a Dual Pathway God embodying the Concept of a Door and Error. Defeated by The God of Fools, the once-and-for-all God of Deceit now roams the Cosmos to learn more and understand about Humanity. "He" is now but a Trojan Horse of Destiny and will be the one that will shine light at the dawn of the Apocalypse as an Angel of Redemption."
Effect:
Embodiment of Deceit and Trickery: Increase the Acting Method Effectiveness of Error Pathway by 100%. Those who walk the path of stealing, tricking, and deception are more likely to accept your words. They'll see you as a God of Thieves and are more likely to follow your will like devoted members of a Church.
Slug of Time: The user can gain a fraction of the Authority of Time from a Sequence 1 Worm of Time to stop time for 0.5 Seconds as the mere base, but it'll cost more Spirituality to allow for more seconds to be stopped.
Downside: The User will be more likely to chase stimulation and cheerfulness. They will be thrill-seekers like a masked fool, intertwined with a deceitful, fraudulent, and somewhat reckless attitude.
"So this is a part of my compensation. You are no longer a cheapskate voice in my head who keeps on giving me Potions."
Otto took a subtle glance at the crystal monocle and, after a moment, placed it on his right eye. His lips soon grinned upward like a smirk, and he soon said in an Elated tone.
"Oh great, Amon! Please never give me up, never let me down, or run around and desert you. Never make me cry, say goodbye, or tell a lie and hurt you. Monocle, stop time!"
The crystal monocle's lens glowed a clear white, and soon a phantom of an ancient clock appeared behind Otto.
A zone of monochromatic color soon took over the entire room, and within that space, the concept of Time was stopped to a standstill.
After a second passed, color returned to the room, and the phantom clock disappeared.
"Damn...!"
Otto's elated smile haltered to a stop as he suddenly collapsed onto the ground with his breath heavy and his Spirituality sucked dry.
"Ha...I knew it was gonna be costly, but draining 95% of my reserves. Time be damn, it really is expensive! What a good deal though, no one would see it coming!"
He crawled like a worm onto the floor and started to drag himself to the familiar couch in his office. His arms were heavy like iron as he climbed onto the soft cushions, and once he laid down, his mind started to rapidly think.
In the case of this potion, it wasn't digested one bit and was like starting a new character, unlike his previous ones.
Otto Apocalypse wasn't a Thief or a Marauder, but he was a Swindler, a Cryptologist, and a very Deceitful man.
Acting a Potion wasn't a problem, but finding opportunities to do so would be troublesome. Unless he made a new identity and started robbing banks along with giving his victims calling cards like a Phantom Thief.
Well, with the Monocle he had, digesting a potion of the Error Pathway would be much easier, but he had to make sure he didn't go too far. After all, Otto Apocalypse was only acting.
If driven too much in the role of one's potion, mental problems would occur and, in turn, lead to losing control. That Downside on the Monocle was very irksome as well, causing one to be reckless and chase pleasure, it was akin to becoming more like Amon.
It wouldn't be a problem if he sorted him out when putting it on and purposefully made some boundaries. He could even give himself some self Therapy with the Spectator Pathway or go out in the world and break an enemy's neck; that is a valid option.
That Monocled Man would be the perfect Emantor of Aha the Elation. Ah, yes, the same Aha that once gave all of his power to a single worm so it could join the Genius Society.
If they would meet...Aha would most likely scar Amon. The Aeon of Elation is more of a Hedonist than the God of Deceit.
Amidst his thoughts, Otto's eyelids grew heavy as the night descended onto the Floating Isle. Otto made sure to take off the Monocle and put it into his breast pocket.
It was time to slumber into darkness, and Otto said one last farewell to the Moon outside his window.
"Good night, Cocoon of Finality...Prepare for gravitational disintegration one day."