Humming a tune, Alaric skillfully gathered the vessels needed for potion preparation. He retrieved an iron box from the cabinet, opening it to reveal the auxiliary materials for the Actor potion. Apart from pure water, these were mostly common spiritual materials, such as Black Sunflower powder, Dragonfang Grass powder, and the like.
Alaric unhurriedly added these auxiliary materials to a beaker one by one. Then, he took out Medici's blood gem and placed it into the beaker. As if triggering a chemical reaction, flames instantly surged within the liquid in the beaker.
Observing the changes in the beaker, Alaric remained calm. With a flick of his hand, a fragment of Nyarlathotep's power... the main ingredient for the Actor potion... appeared in his grasp.
As Alaric tossed the fragment into the beaker, the flames quickly vanished. The liquid's surface crystallized into translucent ice. Beneath the ice, a flicker of crimson flame continued to burn, unextinguished, resembling the eternal flowers Alaric had once seen. Like a blood-red rose, the flame burned within the ice, both gorgeous and dreamlike.
"Honestly, these potions are getting prettier, but they look less and less like something you'd drink. Will chugging this really not burn me?" Alaric muttered with a strange expression, eyeing the flame-filled eternal flower. After a moment's thought, he raised the beaker and downed the Actor potion in one gulp.
The initial sensation was icy, followed by heat. Alaric felt as if he were oscillating between ice and fire. Then, all temperature changes vanished, and his consciousness seemed to plunge into a bottomless abyss, surrounded by nothing but darkness and chaos.
This was madness that could drive an ordinary person to lose themselves. Yet, in the depths of this unfathomable darkness, Alaric suddenly saw a crimson flame. The moment he saw it, his scattered thoughts instantly cleared.
With practiced ease, he began to rein in his mind, breaking free from the darkness and chaos. Then, he opened his eyes.
"So that's it. The auxiliary materials really do reduce the risk of losing control…" Alaric mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
While the effect wasn't as noticeable when he consumed the Sequence 9 Joker potion, with the Sequence 8 Actor potion, Alaric immediately understood the significance of the auxiliary materials tied to higher sequences in the potion formula.
They were like a single black dot on a blank sheet of paper. Being distinct from Nyarlathotep's power, they introduced a different kind of distortion and madness. This madness, however, served as an anchor, preventing one from being consumed by the darkness and chaos inherent in Nyarlathotep's power.
In simple terms, it was fighting poison with poison, chaos against chaos, madness against madness.
"Yet, these two forms of madness somehow cancel each other out, achieving balance. If this trend continues, when I advance to higher sequences, will I end up pitting the original will against Nyarlathotep's madness?" Alaric speculated, his expression turning odd as he muttered a quip. Then, with a grin, he began to sense his newly acquired abilities.
The Actor potion first enhanced his spirituality. Its core ability, however, was "Thousand Faces."
This ability was somewhat similar to that of a Faceless but less potent. It allowed Alaric to slightly alter his facial features, with adjustments of about 10%. While not significant, for someone like Alaric, a master of disguise, this 10% adjustment, combined with makeup, was enough to completely transform him into another person.
Moreover, while "Thousand Faces" Had limited effects on facial features, it allowed free changes to hair and eye color, sparing Alaric the trouble of finding contact lenses in this era.
Additionally, the Actor potion granted Alaric the ability to create illusions. Though the illusions' range was limited, they were convincingly realistic.
Furthermore, the core ability of the Joker, "Emotion Manipulation." was enhanced. Previously limited to controlling an individual's emotions for a short time, it now allowed Alaric to manipulate the emotions of a group, up to about ten people at present. As he digested the potion further, this number would likely increase.
"Finally, my observation, mental capacity, and learning ability have also improved. I can now pick up vague thoughts from others like a Reader, and my speed and strength have increased significantly, likely comparable to Sequence 8s specialized in direct combat."
"The gem from Medici grants me flame manipulation. Thanks to Medici's unique nature, I can control multiple flames simultaneously with relative ease, effectively compensating for the Actor's lack of offensive power." Alaric concluded, unable to help but marvel. "Tch, the Actor sequence is almost outrageously strong. I feel like I could take on a Sequence 7 head-on without borrowing anyone else's power. With preparation, I might even hold my own against a Sequence 6. But the digestion difficulty is no joke... it's like digesting four or five normal Sequence 8 potions."
"However…" Alaric assessed his Actor potion's digestion progress, his expression turning peculiar. "It seems I've already digested about a fifth of it. Why? Could it be because I've been using alternate identities to fool people lately?"
The Actor sequence, as its name suggested, centered on playing a role. This aligned perfectly with Alaric's recent actions.
As a dedicated Joker, Alaric had been meticulously embodying various alternate identities, strictly adhering to their personas in front of others. He had successfully deceived major figures like Pallez and Azik with these personas, so it wasn't surprising that the potion had partially digested already.
"So, the Actor's acting direction is to play a role like an actual actor. Ugh, that sounds so meta…" Alaric couldn't help but quip.
"But it's probably not that simple. Actors perform on a stage, so to fully digest the Actor potion, I likely need to perform in character with an audience watching." Alaric rubbed his chin, formulating ideas for his next steps.
He thought of Qilangos and Ince Zangwill, coming up with a few plans for acting as an Actor.
"There's no rush to digest the Actor potion, though. First, I'll look into the next sequence. Hmm, Sequence 7 Mask Maker. The auxiliary materials require items related to high sequences of the Abyss or Monster pathways?" Alaric raised an eyebrow, recalling the Rose School of Thought from the original story, as well as Sharon and Maric, his eyes glinting with contemplation.
***
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