The 'Melee Scholar' potion slid down his throat like a cold, gelatinous mass and settled into his stomach. One or two seconds later, Odis felt as though he had been struck by a speeding train...
His entire body seemed to shatter apart, and every inch of his skin prickled with needle-like pain.
Suddenly, a deafening roar filled his ears, causing severe tinnitus. His vision blacked out completely.
Odis fought to maintain focus, resisting the urge to pass out from the agony and tinnitus.
It felt as though enormous hands were kneading his muscles, violently tearing them from his bones, compressing them into tight bundles, then loosening them again.
The cycle repeated endlessly, until the pain numbed into a dull, all-consuming throb.
Odis struggled against it, clinging desperately to consciousness. Time lost all meaning. Eventually, the darkness receded from his vision, and he could faintly see again.
Through blurred sight, he watched in horror as the muscles of his arms twisted into grotesque spirals under some invisible force before flattening back out, only to contort again moments later.
It wasn't an illusion. The potion was truly remaking him... It ripped apart his muscles, bones, and blood vessels to only rebuild them again.
Then, a piercing agony erupted in his skull, swiftly eclipsing all other pain.
His vision warped from the torment. The floor, the workbench, the ceiling, the beakers... everything spun violently, as though caught in a whirlwind.
Dizziness and pain ravaged his mind, leaving him teetering on the edge of collapse.
Fortunately, his 'Mystery Pryer' potion had been fully digested, and years of meditation had tempered his Spirit. After enduring the worst of it, the vertigo and pain rapidly subsided.
The ringing in his ears faded, only to be replaced by a cold, alien voice slithering into his consciousness:
"...Cosmos... stacking... leaping... knowledge... Carnal... Endless..."
Most of the words were indistinct, drowned out by guttural growls that set his nerves on edge, or screeching like nails on tin, or ultrasonic frequencies that made his skull throb...
As quickly as it came, the voice vanished. But the damage was already done.
Odis slumped into a chair, his veins bulging on his forehead, and his face deathly pale. He dry-heaved for what felt like an eternity before finally gasping for breath, leaning back weakly.
His body became limp, and he had a splitting headache. It was like the worst hangover imaginable..
Checking his pocket watch, he realized the entire advancement had lasted only three minutes... The excruciating pain had taken less than two, yet it had felt like an entire Epoch had passed...
The cause of the lingering discomfort? It was all thanks to the 'Hidden Sage's' unwelcome commentary...
Freshly advanced, his Spirituality was already unstable. Those cryptic whispers had nearly pushed him toward losing control.
'What a scam!' Odis grimaced...
The worst part of this Pathway isn't just having a quasi-Sequence 0... it's that the one holding its Uniqueness is an evil deity!
Then, Odis noticed something astonishing... despite just having advanced, his 'Melee Scholar' potion was already half-digested...
This mental relief eased his physical distress, and soon, the lingering discomfort faded entirely.
After a moment's thought, he came to a realization... 'I've already digested the Scholar aspect of Melee Scholar potion!
His weekly research in the 'Knowledge Moor', along with his real-world experiments, had mirrored the work of a true scholar delving into mysticism.
Over the past three years, Odis had spent the equivalent of two decades studying in that dreamlike realm. Combined with his waking research, that totaled twenty-three years... nearly matching his actual age.
And his efforts had borne tangible results, accelerating the digestion process...
Next, he realized... to fully digest the potion, he would need to balance both Melee and Scholar aspects. The name of the Sequence wasn't 'Melee Combatant', it was 'Melee Scholar'...
Clearly, 'Melee' served as either a means or a safeguard for scholarly pursuits. Of course, studying combat itself could also be part of understanding the world.
The thought amused him. It's like that saying: "Beware the educated rogue..."
Now, as he steadied his Spirituality, Odis assessed his new abilities.
First, his physical control had become unnervingly precise...
Previously, placing a jar on a high shelf would've required a ladder. Now, he could toss it up and land it exactly where intended.
This was because the potion had engraved advanced combat techniques into his mind, as though he'd trained in them since birth.
His body, reshaped by the potion, could now execute these skills flawlessly... though practice and real combat experience would be needed to truly master them.
Odis already had a plan: join a fighting club to spar and refine his abilities.
The second change was an influx of Mystical Knowledge, enabling him to perform higher-tier ritual magic...
As a 'Mystery Pryer', his heightened Spirituality had allowed him to cast spells via rituals or arrays... but those were self-taught trial-and-error efforts.
Now, the Knowledge was innate. He could perform healing magic through rituals or inscribe defensive arrays by channeling Spirituality.
Most strikingly, his mind had sharpened dramatically. Problems that once took three hours to solve now required just one.
His learning and comprehension speeds had tripled... and once the potion was fully digested, they'd reach five times his Sequence 9 capabilities.
Odis exhaled deeply, 'The advancement will also accelerate my research...'
Too exhausted to move, he spent the night in the laboratory...
....
~Backlund Bridge, West Balam Dock, In An Abandoned Shipyard~
Hidden among overgrown weeds, Klein watched as three figures raced toward the derelict warehouse.
At the forefront was Maric, luring their enemies, the 'Zombie' (Jason) and the 'Werewolf' (Tyre), into the trap.
As they reached the center of the shipyard, Maric spun around, raised the 'Flamebolt' revolver, and fired six shots in rapid succession...