Luke saw Iwao disappear beyond the Descorrer's teleportation vortex and slumped back into his chair, Nyx resting on the table next to him.
"To think that our first roadblock would be the most normal ingredient of a Sequence 6 Potion…" she cawed, shaking her head. "Who would've thought?!"
With a helpless frown, Luke asked Miss Justice to bring the Scribe Potion up.
…
[
Sequence 6: Scribe
Main Ingredients:
— One complete brain of an Asmann
— Cursed artifact of an Ancient Wraith
Supplementary Ingredients:
— 3 Diary Pages over 22 Years Old
— 10 milliliters of Mercury
— 10 drops of Honeysuckle Essential Oil
— 30 milliliters of Seawater, Lake Water, Glacier Water each
]
…
Luke glared at the Ingredients holding him back from advancement.
In contrast to the diary pages, the main ingredients would be much easier to obtain, though each carried difficulties of its own, he observed.
An Asmann was a room-sized monster, similar to an exposed human brain in appearance, with many jellyfish-like tentacles. It was said to create illusions so strong that it could make people die from their own actions.
Luke couldn't afford to pull punches when it came to Miss Justice's description of these creatures.
So, he would have no choice but to create a lifeform from an animal's brain with Quirks exactly like an Asmann's abilities.
Such a mutated lifeform would never last long before experiencing total deterioration, well before the Quirk Activation period ran out.
Moreover, the Asmann would constantly affect those nearby, causing them to hallucinate until they lost their mental faculties.
For a three-Pathway Beyonder like Luke, it was nothing short of an open-armed invitation to lose control.
In Mr. Fool's world, people kept Asmann's brain stored in a gold casing, which cut off its abilities from influencing the outside world.
It wouldn't be a long-term solution for Luke, though, as he would need to immediately use the created, mutated lifeform to brew the Potion.
So, because of the threat involved, Luke was holding off on its creation until he had all other ingredients at hand.
The second main ingredient was a touch trickier, though.
An Ancient Wraith was a ghost-like creature with a Beyonder Characteristic mixed in. The cursed artifact in this case was an item of importance to the Wraith when it was still alive. It was the same item that fused with the Characteristic, turning into a foundation upon which the creature relied for its existence.
Even when Luke had unlocked all the Sequence 6 Potions, he had known that compared to Faceless, the Scribe and Prometheus Potions would pose harsher challenges when it came to the main ingredients, as they both involved ghosts-like creatures.
If it hadn't been for the Faceless Potion's digestion difficulty, Luke still would have gone for Faceless first because of its easier ingredients.
Even now, Luke had no idea how to create an Ancient Wraith or a Specter.
There were no such concepts in his world, unlike Mr. Fool's world.
However, Miss Justice had promised that He would be able to help in this case.
The thing was, Luke didn't want to contact Him until he had the rest of the ingredients in his hands.
Getting a response from Mr. Fool was a tricky business in itself.
What if He directed him to create a Potion on the spot?
Even Miss Justice agreed with that.
And that was how Luke found himself dropping a level to the Supplementary Ingredients, instead.
The non-organic Ingredients were fine, as it was just a matter of their exotic state.
But the three diary pages of a twenty-two-year-old diary…
"Are you sure it has nothing to do with ink or paper, Miss Justice?" Luke asked again. "Maybe I need Momo to…"
[There's nothing special about the ink and paper, Luke,] the System replied. [It's what these pages represent: time and attachment. It must be a diary that has been kept continuously for over twenty-two years. At least twenty-two years, remember. More is always better.]
Luke's lips twitched at that.
He had thought — truly thought — that it would be easy to get these diary pages once he had digested the Faceless Potion.
However, Luke had been looking for them ever since returning from ORIGIN and had found not a hint of someone who had been keeping a diary for so long.
Forget the time period for a moment.
Luke doubted anyone even kept a diary in his world anymore.
"It has been the age of laptops, mobiles, and artificial intelligence for well over a decade…" he complained. "It will be a miracle if we find someone who has been diligently keeping a diary for over twenty-two years."
[Then why were you so sure you would get the diary pages after digesting the Faceless Potion?!] Miss Justice hissed. [Why didn't you start looking for them right after unlocking the Sequence 6 Potions?!]
Luke rubbed his temples, grimacing. "I wasn't allowed a mobile or personal computer when I was in Blue Site," he admitted, remembering his past life. "Most of us researchers kept diaries… I kept one as well, for eleven years."
Miss Justice went silent.
"… he overlooked the simplest thing and fucked up," Nyx cawed.
Suddenly, Kazuho and Melissa, who had gone out of the Conference Hall to discuss something, returned together.
Luke sat straight, noticing the heavy expressions on the girls' faces.
"Leader…" Trick*Step said, standing at the end of the table. "… I think I know someone who may have such a diary."
Luke's eyes gleamed, but he didn't smile. "And?"
"Well…" Kazuho gulped. "… I was wondering if I could use my current Credits to access Descorrer first."
The Apostles of Mr. Fool had a Credit System which Luke himself had implemented.
For all their contributions, the Apostles got a set amount of Credits, which they could utilize for various purposes, especially to get another supply of Potion when their abilities ran out.
They could also make special requests, as Kazuho had just done.
"Are you sure?" Luke asked. "You will not have enough Credits left to borrow a Faux Sealed Artifact if you need it. Are you hoping to get more Credits in exchange for diary pages, then?"
Kazuho nodded repeatedly.
Hmm… Luke tapped the table. "Alright," he said. "Where to?"
Kazuho licked her lips, exchanged another glance with Melissa, and said, "… America."