After klein successfully reported about how he felt like someone was following him to Dunn Smith, he managed to reach home successfully without anyone else following him and even met Benson for the 'first' time. He informed Benson about his new job and brought up the topic of loving out to a terrace. Apparently, their contract still jad about 6 months left but benson had said that he'd be able to haggle and manage it and to not worry, which eased Klein's mind a lot.
After that they had a casual chat and lunch before finally Benson headed out for his job and so did klein to buy some more better ingredients for the family dinner he and benson had planned as a celebration for Klein's new job.
Klein bought some beef, fish, potatoes, peas, radishes, rhubarb, lettuce and turnips as well as spices like rosemary, basil, cumin and cooking oils. Throughout this time he still had the feeling that he was being watched but since there was no physical interaction he deemed it safe enough and went back home safely.
Klein, who's hands were already stinging from lifting too much weight from the bags of groceries he had bought as well as from the shooting practice he had done in the morning, remembered Amon's words-
He looked down at his noodle arms.
Next thing he found himself doing was lifting whatever he found as proper weights to get started at bhukfing his muscles again.
He wouldn't let his fiance tease him like this again!
Wait why was he already considering Amon as his fiance?!
He could only do this simple exercise as although he was an athletic kid during school, he had forgotten all the various military exercise plans and stuff since he had a desk job in an IT company.
The Antigonus family was a noble family from the fourth epoch...
Klein made up his mind and started re-reading some of original Klein Moretti's notes uring his break in order to find out more information about the fourty epoch.
Klein and his siblings managed to eat an entire feast made by Klein's culinary experiences from the modern earth and he couldn't help but feel happy and giddy inside that he was finally able to feed his siblings some good food instead of just some cheap rye bread.
Since he had gotten a job that played really well, he could finally get the Moretti family to get a better house and a better life.
After the siblings had had their dinner they finally went to sleep with satisfied stomachs and minds.
Klein was dreaming peacefully when he suddenly felt like his dream had been interfered with!
He jolted awake in the dream and noticed Dunn Smith in his room,
"Someone has broken into your room, after you wake up use your revolver and push him to the corridor where we will deal with it next."
Someone had sneaked into his room? The observer had finally taken action? Klein jumped in fright, but did not dare ask further. All he did was nod and say, "Alright!"
With that the dream shattered and klein woke up, he looked toward the window and saw a thin but unfamiliar back standing at his desk, rummaging for something in silence.
"That ant keeps following our Klein and even broke into his room!" One Amon crow grumbled and quaked as it speard its wings in an annoyed and angry expression.
"Yes! Klein can only be robbed by us!" Another Amon clone, this one the poor insect that was caught in between the crow's claws also shouted back.
One judgemental Amon just looked at the previous two Amon's positions and just muttered out a, "Why." He didn't even want to know what kind of play they had been doing before he got here.
"Steal that thief's fate!"
"Yea!"
"Kill that ant!"
"Ants are the worst!"
The sequence 1 ant Amon glared at his doppelgangers, "Oi."
"The body tasked us to let everything go as normal unless an emergency," one Amon pouted, the entity was sleeping right now to control his extra beyonder characteristics they had eaten from the true God's body, even if the body's extraordinary characteristics had already condensed into an artifact, it was true God nonetheless and they had ingested really strong characteristics of a pathway that wasn't even one of their own or their surrounding pathways.
This was the cost of power- he was now at the apex of all Kings of Angels.
Thankfully, using a few loopholes and their own way of using clones to separate their beginner characteristics, the characteristics had been split and so had the madness which just ended up with the clones who did have those characteristics being super weak and needing sleep- something not required to all mythical creatures.
Maybe it did somehow even impacted their human nature in some way with having to have proper sleep withing intervals of time- another gift of humanity given to them by the unknown God.
Right now, there was only one angelic level sequence 1 clone awake- the ant Amon, the body had specifically created him with a lot of extraordinary characteristics which didn't have the pollution of the unknown God to act as the temporary entity when he and the other stronger clones were asleep.
There were only a few sequence 3's and the rest were 4 and 5's. Although they could temporarily merge if need be for stronger power.
Right now they could only overlook their love and not involve themselves in anything it the few changes the entity had planned for. They had temporarily exited Klein's room as they knew that if they were in there while that ant invaded their lover's room none if them would be able to hold hold themselves back. Not caring for the fact that this was the point which allowed Klein to become a beyonder.
They observed transfixed as they watched Klein so calmly and wistfully handle the situation and the robber while keeping in mind his own strenghts and weaknesses and successfully saved himself in such a way with almost no upper hand in the situation and neither any sort of combat experience with starry and loving eyes.
Yes...
This truly was their dear Klein and Mr. Fool.
Even if he wasn't the cute weak sequence 3 in the land abandoned by the gods or the Fool who had blown their entity up with a supernova or the half sane quiet scary but still Klein in the source castle or the innocent and sweet IT worker Zhou Mingrui and nor the fully divine lord of the mysteries after the apocalypse... this in front of them was also Klein and still as radiant and interesting.
The same Klein who had managed to ascend to a god and an old days in under age years- a feat which was achieved only by himself alone.
Although the Amons were never worried that the Klein they would meat wouldn't be their Klein- but still after this showcase of his wit and ster ghts they couldn't help but become less tense and more excited!
After Klein had calmly been able,e to follow the captain's orders and successfully managed to threaten the invader towards the corridor where Leonard and Dunn had then successfully managed to deal with the guy without waking up Benson and Melissa.
After everything was done, Klein finally asked if they knew the invader's identity and background.
Dunn nodded and said, "An ancient organization known as the Secret Order. They were established in the Fourth Epoch and are related to the Solomon Empire and a number of fallen aristocrats of that period. Heh, the Antigonus family's diary came from them. Due to a member's negligence, it entered the antique market and was obtained by Welch. They had no choice but to send people in search of it."
The Swcret Order... to think there were even secret organizations and cults in this world... this world was really scary and dangerous!
"Our success this time is all thanks to your sharp wits. This contribution is all yours. In light of the possibility of hidden dangers and how heightened perception would aid in finding the notebook, you have a chance at choosing." Dunn said with a small smile.
"A chance at choosing?" Klein vaguely guessed something as his breathing subconsciously turned heavy.
Dunn wiped the smile from his face as he said in all seriousness, "Do you wish to become a Beyonder? You can only choose the starting Sequence of an incomplete Sequence.
"Of course, you can give up this chance and choose to accumulate the merit you have garnered. Then, all you have to do is wait till there's sufficient room for you to become a Sleepless, which is also the first, complete Sequence the Goddess has bestowed on the Nighthawks."
Indeed… Klein felt delighted and did not have any hesitant emotions. He took the initiative to ask, "Then from which of the Sequence 9s can I choose from?"
Dunn introduced him to the incomplete sequences the church of the night currently had in hand.
The first was the Mystery Pryer pathway which they only had the sequence 9 of and which was chosen by Old Neil as Rozanne had mentioned.
It dealt with research and knowledge, magic, witchcraft, astrology, and other mystical knowledge and especially in magical rituals with higher deities.
This may have suited the original Klein Moretti who was interested in studied and furthering his knowledge of ancient knowledge, but for klein it didn't sound cool or good enough. Especially with the part with secret deities, he didn't want to expose his own transmigration and the area above the grey fog to anyone else.
Then came Corpse collector, which they had until sequence 7 which was Spirit Medium which did appear mysterious and cool, but what Klein wanted the most was to grasp knowledge of mysticism…
Dunn Smith looked sideways at the crimson moon and said, "We only have Sequence 9 of the third type. Whether the Holy Cathedral has it, I'm not sure. It's called Seer."
Seer? Klein's pupils constricted as he recalled the regret Emperor Roselle had left in his diary: He regretted not choosing an Apprentice, Marauder, or Seer!
Klein tried his best to remain his usual self as he asked with genuine interest, "What abilities do Seers have?"
"Your question is inaccurate; the question should be, 'what abilities does consuming the Seer potion give?'" Dunn Smith shook his head and chuckled, "There are many kinds of things involved—astromancy, cartomancy, spiritual pendulums, and scrying. Of course, it does not mean that consuming the potion will immediately allow you to grasp all of them. The potion only equips you with the qualifications and ability to learn it.
"As they lack direct means of fighting enemies, heh. You can probably imagine that setting up a magical ritual requires a lot of preparation. It's not suitable for combat. Therefore, in terms of knowledge of mysticism, a Seer will be more learned and professional than a Mystery Pryer."
This did seem to be what Klein required...
'However, the lack of means to directly deal with enemies is quite a dilemma… Furthermore, the Church of the Evernight Goddess likely doesn't have the subsequent Sequences… The Holy Cathedral likely refers to the headquarters, the Cathedral of Serenity… The means available to low-Sequence Beyonders against their enemies might not be comparable to firearms…' Klein fell into deep thought as he racked his brains. He kept going back and forth between Mystery Pryers and Seers. He no longer considered Corpse Collector.
Dunn Smith smiled when he saw this.
"You don't have to rush into a decision. Tell me your answer Monday morning. Regardless of your choice of Sequence or giving up this opportunity, none of us from the Nighthawks would have any other thoughts on the matter.
"Calm down and ask your heart."
With that said, he took off his hat and bowed slightly. He slowly walked past Klein and headed for the stairwell.
As Klein was about to head back to sleep- he heard the door open once again- it was the green eyed poet Leonard, Klein's colleague as well as the same man who had seen Klein wearing that ballgown for women with Amon!
Shit!
He probably wanted to confront Klein about what he saw at the clothing store!
Klein felt shivers up his spine, even more than when he had faced that intruder!
Wasn't it common knowledge and basic courtesy to never bring up topics like these?!
"Whatever you saw that day- it was a misunderstanding!" Klein quickly defended himself even before Lepnsrd had any chance to say anything.
The gay looking poet gave him a serious his before saying in a little hurry and seriousness, "Klein, if you're being blackmailed or held against your will- we can help you!"
What?
"What?" Klein blurted put with a weird expression.
"Its okay, I understand that in front of someone stronger and more powerful than you one automatically becomes submissive and follows their words and is afraid of reporting to the authorities in case they accidentally hurt your family!" Leonard stated, he did not mention that Amon was a high level extraordinary that even the old man in his head who was probably a grounded angels was afraid of. He had ran away the previous time because of the situation- but then the old man had explained why he had shouted at Leonard to run!
Klein was dumbdounded-
Did... did Leonard think that Amon had kidnapped him and was blackmailing him to be his fiance?! And that he was being abused in a relationship?! And was using Klein as a toy to be played with and a doll to be dressed up?!
Although it was technically true-
He did not want to wear the female clothes Amon had made him wear-
But wasn't this a bit too much?!
Did Leonard really come up with such a ridiculous excuse to have what he had seen make sense?! It would have been better to just forget about it and never speak of it again rather than make theories like some badly written and filmed Stockholm syndrome romance TV drama!
"I can help you run away from that evil-"
"Leonard." Klein stopped the poet as the edges of his eyes twitched.
Also, if he had to play the part of Amon's fiance well so as to not get caught and chained up in the Chains gate Fhanis hate or whatever- he had to at least protect the image of his fiance!
"That 'evil' wretch that 'kidnapped' and 'blackmailed' me is my fiance."
[What] old man in Leonard's head blanked out.
"What." Leonard too blanked out.
Klein opened the drawer and pulled out the ring he had hidden there and had fortunately not been talen by that secret order member and wore it on his ring finger and pointed the grey fog like gem in the middle of the ring encrusted with diamonds and rubies and jades towards Leonard's direction.
"Our engagement ring that he gave me." Klein said sith a threatening smile.
"What." Leonard blinked.
"Also its quiet rude to enter uninvited into someone else's house, bring up embarrassing past details and even accuse their lover of crimes. Me and my fiance just got carried away while buying clothes and were just playing around for fun."
Before Leonard could even reactor reply to that, klein had already pushed him out of the small house.
"Good night." Klein smiled as he shut the door with a loud bang!
"..."
"Old man-!"
After he had made sure that Leonard had actually left, Klein finally went back to his bed, his ears still red and burning from the event. He had shown so much protectiveness and love for his fiance Amon- and he wasn't even gay!
Ahhhhhhhh-!
After taking a few breaths and forcing himself to forget what had just happened, Klein stared at Benson's bed over him and sighed.
Although he was constantly hoping to become a Beyonder previously, he was thrown into a dilemma when the opportunity arose; the subsequent missing Sequences, Beyonders having the risk of losing control, the believability of Emperor Roselle's diaries, and the illusory murmurs that could corrupt people into madness all mixed together and formed a moat that obstructed his advancement.
He pulled off the ring he had worn in front of leonard from his rung finger and stared at the illusionary grey fog trapped inside the stone for a long while.
The ring reminded him and gave him the same aura as the grey fog... and the grey fog was probably the secret to his transmigration as well and hence his only way of going back.
But to further research and find out the way to find a way back, he needed to get stronger and become more knowledgeable. For that the Seer pathway seemed like the best bet for him aside from the Mystery Pryer.
He carefully took off the ring and gently placed it back inside the drawer in the secret compartment.
He took a deep breath and slowly breathed out.
"No matter how bad it is, it can't be worse than making an eighteen-year-old high-school student decide on his future career…" Klein gave a self-deprecating chuckle. Gathering his scattered thoughts, his closed his eyes softly
He laid there with his eyes open, silently looking at the bottom of the top bunk that was dyed with the faint crimson of the moon.
Klein's emotions settled down as he recalled his past on Earth. He recalled how he liked exercising, his father who always spoke loudly, his mother who enjoyed busying herself despite having a chronic disease, his friends who grew up with him, going from playing sports like soccer and basketball to games and mahjong, as well as the person he made a failed confession to… These were like a silent river; it did not have many ripples or deep sentimental feelings, but it silently drowned his heart.
Perhaps one will only learn to cherish things after they have lost them. When the crimson receded and the sky turned golden-yellow from the flaming ball's illumination, Klein had made his choice.
Outside, all the Amon clones were all blushing and rolling on the ground with flustered movements.
Klein had called them his fiance and had protected him!
AAAAAAAAA
They promised themselves to remind the entity to be kinder to Leonard and Pallez in the future!