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The world contorted, distending and folding within a sea of grey and black, and the omnipresent susurrus of rain pattering without was diminished to a distant rumble as, abruptly, Kiyotaka's eyes snapped open.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the change in light. Despite the sky being overcast with dark and grey clouds, Kiyotaka squinted his eyes and groaned minutely as the bullet wound in his shoulder made him sink deeper into his bed.
The ceiling was recognizable and he knew instantly that he was back in home. Beside him, on the bedside table, was a mug with three incense sticks which made the room smell quite pleasant.
The outer layer of his blanket was cold and the inner side was warm, indicating someone had just performed lüften, as he had instructed his house maids to prevent mold. However, that was not what got more of his attention.
It was the two women inside his room. One was sitting on the protrusion of the giant window that stretched from floor-to-roof, and the other on one of the chairs with her arm slung over the backrest.
As the brunette sitting on the chair turned her head towards him, her eyes widened. "How the tables have turned." Fors joked awkwardly, referencing to how he had been sitting on a chair many weeks ago after she had almost died during a full moon.
Xio, who had turned her head by this point, stared right at him and sighed. "What did you even do to get into this situation?"
Kiyotaka would've shrugged but the fractured shoulder rendered him unable to do so. Instead, he used his good hand and sat himself straight up. "A friend of mine lost his mind. That's all there is to it."
Xio knew that was not all there was to it, but it did coincide with the report that the police had given her, while returning his unconscious body back to his home.
From the bottle of wine and signs of struggle, it was deduced that Oswald was the first to attack due to the ongoing dispute between the two. When he was hit in his shoulder, Williams tried to wrestle the gun out of his hands, but it went off, killing Oswald in the process.
"After I came back from the site, they had already brought you here and then both me and Fors took our leaves, after confirming you were alright. We came just to check up on you. Seeing as how you are doing alright, we will take our leave."
Kiyotaka adjusted himself and looked around himself. He was laying shirtless with his shoulder swathed in bandages. From the looks of it, it was quite professional, as if a proper doctor had done it with some kind of red-yellow ointment on the bullet wound.
Thankfully, before going to Oswald's house, he had already sent Gloom, Scourge, Ember, Guile and Cyst to the space above the grey fog. He had already received news from Klein regarding the main ingredient for Briber, but he had asked him to store it there as well, given he needed that final push for complete digestion.
Now that he had fully digested it, it was safe for him to advance. It was quite important as well, given the Feysac woman from the Hunter Pathway was at least a Sequence 6. Kiyotaka was unsure what Sequence 6 of Hunter Pathway could do, but a part of him knew that it would be well suited for trapping people, if the overall theme of the pathway is centered around hunting.
To at least stand a fighting chance against such an opponent, he needed to be at least Sequence 7. The fight with Sequence 6: Rose Bishop was a different thing, given how he could tell that there were some other powers involved as well, such as the local authorities not even reacting to it until a whole day had passed.
As for his fight against Sequence 7: Werewolf and Sequence 6: Zombie, it was successful due to his well executed surprise attack against the Werewolf and an unholy amounts of counters and mystical items against Zombie.
However, in this scenario, he knew nothing about his enemy.
"Did you eat anything?"
Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the inside of the warm room.
"Yes. We were accommodated quite nicely."
Nodding slightly, Kiyotaka sunk a little deeper into his blanket. "Thanks for checking up on me." Then he turned his head towards Fors. "And thank you for tending to my wounds. Although I would recommend washing your fingernails. Its quite unsanitary to have someone else's blood in you."
Fors — who was trying to not appear in his eyes — looked down at her fingernails and sighed. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Once the two exchanged pleasantries with him, the two women left. Kiyotaka watched the two leave and narrowed his eyes. 'She has tried to investigate multiple times now.'
He thought, looking at the slightly ajar cupboard.
As the two women left, Kiyotaka closed his eyes and prayed to Klein, asking him to bestow the main ingredients to him. Once he had the Weeping Infant Flower from Little Sun, he jumped out of the bed and hung his injured hand in a sling.
Picking up a glass, he let the flower drop into the glass before adding Strange-Faced Cannabis Crystal. This was something he had bought in the timeframe between his meeting with Nighthawks and his visit to Oswald.
As the two things began to interact with each other, Kiyotaka could sense some kind of devious feeling from the potion. However, it was so minute that if he did not focus on it, he would not have felt it. Following that he added 5 drops of Golden Jimsonweed Juice, 5 drops of Black Jimsonweed Juice, 4 drops of Fantasy Grass Essential Oil and 80 milliliters of Red Wine.
The last ingredient was something he had on hand already, and Fantasy Grass Essential Oil was obtained after his quick meeting with a certain Nighthawk.
Once all of the ingredients began to mix, their color changed and it began to contain fizz. Inside the glass was a clear, black liquid that bubbled constantly and looked delicious.
Looking down at it, Kiyotaka picked it up and drank it all in one go. At the same time, his brain began to expand once more, however, this time more violently. However, using Cogitation, he was able to calm himself down pretty quickly.
In a few seconds, he completely settled down.
He had finally ascended! Kiyotaka had finally become a Sequence 7: Briber.
As soon as he had drunk the potion and calmed down, a torrent of information regarding his new abilities flushed his mind.
As the name suggested, at this Sequence, he had gained two new abilities of "Bribing" and "Connection," however, the latter was directly connected to Bribing and was dependent on it.
By proffering a target, or targets via an actual or symbolic Bribe, he was capable of exacting various dominating effects upon them. At this level, the ability could only show its influence in three discrete manners: Bribe-Emotion, Bribe-Weaken, and Bribe-Charm.
1. Using Bribe-Emotion, within a set period typically between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, a target will feel a certain heightened emotion that the Briber could designate, effecting them negatively.
He could make a target become proud and arrogant, lowering their intelligence, as well as causing them to have a higher chance of making mistakes or wrong judgments of their situation.
He could also make a target discretely become more anxious and paranoid, causing them to overthink things about their situation and lose track of things that the Briber would be doing in hindsight.
2. Targets affected by Bribe-Weaken will have become significantly weakened, having their attack, defense, and control over their abilities greatly lowered. This ability did not only apply to the mere physical and supernatural abilities the target may possess but also the actions they do with it as well.
A good example would be that attacks done with a ranged weapon, such as a gun or crossbow will have its effectiveness lowered dramatically. Defensive equipment, like shields or vests, will be broken by the Briber's mere punch or kick while the effects of stun equipment and Sealed Artifacts will also be correspondingly lowered to a large degree.
Just like how this ability does not apply to the mere body, the effects it has on the Briber expands to include actions, making their defensive equipment much harder to break and their ranged weapons more dangerous to the target.
3. Upon activation of Briber-Charm, the target will generate an intense feeling of goodwill or have a good perception of the Briber, making it extremely hard for them to have any hostile thoughts towards them.
Sometimes the target may be completely unwilling to fight the Briber, and if the conditions are right, there is a very small chance that the target will turn their back and attack their allies on the spot. Repeated use of Bribe-Charm without incurring any attention will further enhance the smallest probability, making it almost inevitable within more situations.
As for the second main ability, "Connection" it worked after a Briber had "Bribed" or interacted with them.
It was a passive ability which activated between the Briber and the target due to a contract or even simpler words, creating a mystical Connection between them.
Bribers can use the Connection to essentially disguise themselves as the target they Connected to mystically speaking. This has many effects such as:
I. If there is a preset ritual that their target can do but requires their mystical fingerprint, their Connection with the target will allow them to use it.
II. Abilities that can automatically lock on to the target can be avoided via Connection.
III. Through Bribe-Connect, the Briber can automatically dispense the effects of Bribe-Emotion, Bribe-Weaken, and Bribe-Charm within a 10 meter range. At Sequence 7, there can be a total of 10 Connections with each Connection lowering the mystical bond between the targets, making it largely ineffective at accomplishing anything useful.
STRENGTHENED ABILITIES:
1. Physical Enhancement: His physical strength, constitution, and agility have been further improved, now slightly above median level in terms of physical prowess among all Sequence 7s.
His constitution and endurance had been greatly enhanced as well, allowing him to fight even when his body is close to collapsing. Their defense against physical attacks has also increased
While he could not yet survive against a bullet to the chest with his pure endurance, through Bribe-Weaken he can just barely survive against multiple bullets fired straight at his chest.
He was also able to easily scale up various obstacles and roadblocks, allowing him to be extremely stealthy and sneak on to people.
This was the core strength that makes them an excellent Shadow of Order!
His agility allowed him to move much more quickly than that of a Hunter, however, it is not quick enough to outcompete a Pyromaniac.
2. His Spirituality has received a remarkable improvement due to their ability to use these mystical performances being greatly enhanced, however, it is still not good enough to compete against Pathways who specialize in it.
Once the entire flux of information was fully comprehended by Kiyotaka, he sat down in the seat where Fors had been sitting a while ago. The seat was still warm as he thought about his newly attained powers.
'If only I had digested Barbarian potion before facing Oswald. But oh well, I wouldn't have been able to deal with the issue if I just weakened him and survived the bullet wound. Regardless, with these abilities and so many Mystical Items, I should be able to handle a Sequence 6 Beyonder from Hunter Pathway.
Connection also solves the issue of a Pyromaniac's homing projectiles. In a sense, Briber is quite a useful counter to Hunter Pathway Beyonders until Sequence 7. However, I am unsure as to what new ability a Sequence 6 would get.
Perhaps I should just attend one of those Beyonder meetings organized by the Aurora Order's Mr. A. Once I am there, I might be able to sell some formulas and earn some money from it. That way I would be able to pay for Zombie Jason's Beyonder Characteristic that has already been turned into a Mystical Item and also pay back the loan I have taken from Prometheus Motors.'
Knowing what he must do, Kiyotaka nodded to himself and changed into a pair of casual clothes comprising of a white shirt and a thick, puffer jacket, coupled with black trousers and black shoes.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a knock on the door. Turning around, he saw a thin girl with light colored hair and long brown eyes. She was wearing her maid uniform and was carrying two vials in her right hand.
Due to his heightened spirituality, he could immediately tell that the vials contained something that carried spirituality.
"About time"
Freya, who was in a daze, suddenly composed herself. She was a little alarmed, since she had expected him to still be fast asleep, but regardless, she straightened her back and lowered her head. "I was finally able to concoct the medicines and potions you told me to." She paused and then looked at his injured shoulder that was supported by a sling. "I made an additional one... for your shoulder."
Kiyotaka looked at the thin girl and then at the vials before sitting back down on the chair. "Alright. Bring it here."