Chapter 6 - Chapter 6 Goose and Dragon

A blonde man dressed in olden clothing stood against the blonde girl with a gym outfit, and both were situated in a circular room. Walls and floor were laid with metal plating to offset any damage, and the fluorescent light shone onto the two, making their hair shine brighter than before. Various racks of training weaponry stood on the far side of an area, and a terminal stood glowing dimly adjacent to it. It was used to modify the room to fit any environment with the use of holographic technology.The silence was broken as Bianka was the first one to call out to him, "Otto, since we're going to spar, are you sure you want to be wearing that?" She pointed out his fancy olden noble clothing."Bianka...If I am going to be beaten up I rather be beaten up in style." He said to her with a sweet smile."No need to be that pessimistic I am sure you'll do fine. You're the taller blonde after all." She replied with the same look and stretched herself to warm up for this activity.Seeing such an act, Otto took off his white cloth gloves and threw them at the ground in front of the stretching Bianka, then shouted."I, Otto of House Apocalypse, challenge Bianka Ataegina to a spar of honor. If I concede to defeat, I shall do any single wish you ask of me!""Really?"Biana's face froze as she witnessed this, but in a moment, she giggled at the sight, and her eyes closed for a second as her expression changed to that of a smirking gremlin."I, Bianka Ataegina, accept your proposal, my student. If I were to be defeated, then I shall grant you a single wish...Let us begin!"Her arms and legs tensed up into a fighting stance, her right foot in the front while her left was in the back. Her hands clenched into fists, ready to pummel anything into the ground.Otto didn't take such a stance but instead held his hands behind his back, leaving Bianka wondering what he'd do next.The humming of the air trickled in both of their eyes as each of them anticipated the other's first move.The air crackled as a sudden gust of dust formed from Bianka's movement and a whirl of force was aimed straight at his face. What reflected off his emerald eyes was a white fist approaching his head.He shifted his face away from the right hook coming his way and backed away from the incoming Bianka.'Dodge Left!' His Spiritual Intuition screamed at him to avoid the surprise uppercut aimed at his chin.Otto kept up the momentum, avoiding each of Bianka's strikes with his Intuition. He gained some distance away from the wicked smiling blonde girl."Nice reflexes but I am noticing the lack of punches you're not throwing at me...Scared of hurting me?" Bianka smirked gleefully."We can go with that...Wouldn't want to damage your cheeky face." The Overseer replied.'The Seer Pathway is about the preparation and execution of long formatted plans, but its weakness is that in direct close combat, it pales in comparison to other Pathways. My current Avatar is at the level of an A-Rank Valkryie, while little Dudu is the same but because of her scary family lineage, her strikes would most likely cause a little trouble. Thanks to my experience of the streets and Spiritual Intuition I can keep up with her for a bit. If I wanted to win, I have to risk it for one singular chance!'It was Otto's time to rush forward toward Bianka. His speed was less than that of the Valkryie but faster than that of a normal athlete as the wind blew toward his figure he soon approached Bianka with a straight punch towards her.The A-Rank Valkryie latched out onto the outstretched arm and put her body into flipping onto the ground. As she was in the motion of this movement, she saw Otto's face grin into a clownish smile and mouthing the words.'Got you!'Bianka currently knows various forms of martial arts, and levering this, Otto knew if he threw a simple punch, she'd counter him. With the weight and height difference, he'd predicted that she'd redirect his force into throwing him, but what if he were to fall on her first?!Otto countered by latching onto her and falling on top of her back. Using his weight to successfully win the spar! A move so stupid not even Bianka wouldn't even know that he'd come up with this."Ah!" Bianka yelped as she was pressed down onto the ground by the sudden heavyweight of the Schicksal Overseer."I have the high ground now!... Do you yield!""No! I'll fight tooth and nail to get you off of me. I am not losing from this!" Bianka tried to struggle against the heavy Overseer. "What are you made of? I can't get you off of me!"".. I am surprised you fell for this. The Great Bianka beaten by a frail old man" He wagged his finger in front of her face"I am surprised you did this!" She gasped for her breath. "You win! Just get off of me you're so heavy!"He soon got off of the Goose and cheered out his victory."Otto Apocalypse's great victory!"Bianka dusted herself off and glanced at the scratched-up Overseer. His once clean fancy clothes were now caked with sweat and stains of dirt on itOtto smiled back and asked, "What is the assessment, Master Bianka?""Evasive skills are good; your footwork is competent but I didn't get to you're offensive skills." After saying this she walked closer to the blonde man and ordered him."Throw a punch for me."He followed suit, throwing a simple jab at the air and creating a small burst of wind from the force. "Not bad...Where did you learn how to fight." She questioned with a curious glance."Theoretical experience, watching Valkryies on how to fight, and...I have an old friend who's a fanatic in martial arts.""Do I know them?" Bianka asked."You will in the future...Her name is Fu Hua. Treat her well if you can see hasn't grown much in certain ways.""I will take note of that then...Moving on we'll keep on doing punches, kicks, and everything else that one can use with their body." She nodded her head and continued, "Be prepared to get all sweaty.""That was apparent when I tackled you to the ground, and I am going to have to shower to remove the smell of your sweat on my clothes...I was having so much fun I even forgot to throw away my coat before the battle began."'Otto Apocalypse wore this type of olden clothes for several centuries, and he must have thousands of backups of these. Crafted with the most excellent material, so the possibility of fighting naked was close to zero...It happened a lot during Otto's time when someone was so engrossed in the battle they forgot their clothes were burnt.'"Must you be so blunt? I can't smell that bad." Her face cringed, realizing what words came out of her mouth in the heat of the moment."Don't worry about everyone being equally foul-smelling once they sweat." He gave her a thumbs up and she scowled seeing this.'I have to ask Amber to add a laundry machine to my Office.' Otto duly notedA sudden poke to his chest got him out of his thoughts and a smiling Bianka grabbed his attention."More punching and kicking we can have small talk on the side if that's what you want.""Sure...I would be delighted too. What is your opinion on the fruit pineapple on pizza.""Something that shouldn't exist." Her eyes turned blank once hearing his statement.As the Goose taught the Overseer in a distant corner behind a glass window, peering into the sparing room, a lady wearing a maid outfit had a sweet expression seeing the two together.She soon took a picture and titled it, 'The First Act.'...After she saw the blonde man leave with most of his clothes stained with dirt and patches of water, Bianka leaned against a nearby wall in the circular sparring room to catch her breath..In her hand was a plastic container filled with water, she started to gulp down the refreshing liquid gold to replenish herself.She wiped her mouth of any water and started to wander in her thoughts about him.She first met him when she woke up to reality and her mind was hazy, filled with a fog that couldn't be erased.A soft layer of comfort was beneath as she adjusted to the room's light. She was in a soft, comfy bed with a white blanket covering her, and the first thing in her sight was a man with golden blonde hair. He was seated beside her bed and wore a white doctor's coat.Her eyes wandered into the apple in his hand as the sound of peeling entered her ears. The fruit smell lent a sort of natural comfort to her."Good Morning." A soft crisp voice woke her sensesThe dryness of her throat croaked as she responded to the Doctor's words."G-Good Morning.""How are you? Getting used to hospital life." He asked"Hospitalization is like this. There's no getting used to it." After those words, she picked up a form and placed it down."Ah, right. I chose my first and last names. The form is on the head of the bed."The Doctor stood up from his seat and picked it up with a firm gaze."Bianka Ataegina...Congratulations, from now on, you have your own name.""Doctor, it's still early morning. Did you come here for an exam?""No, no. I just came here to see you." "Looks like you have a lot of free time. Isn't being a surgeon a job that kills you from overwork?""Haha, it must be because the departments of this hospital are very finely organized, right?... Pediatric neurosurgery - You can tell by the name I don't have many patients."Bianka tilted her head, "I don't know much about doctors...Anyway - When will I be allowed to get out of bed? I don't feel anything wrong with my body.""Well, it's almost time anyway. How about you go for a walk with me? If no problems come up, I will let you move freely tomorrow.""Really?"The Doctor nodded, "Really. As the saying goes, An apple a day keeps the doctor away." A plate of bunny-shaped apples was placed on her lap by the Doctor."So how about leaving after eating this apple?"In the next moment, she was walking along the sandy beach as the waves churn and wisped along the tide. The blonde-haired Doctor walked beside her and started to weave a tale for her about a love-stricken Medea."In ancient times this place was called "Colchis" - Yes, the same destination of the mythical "Argo", and the place where Princess Medea helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece.""?....?"He chuckled at her reaction, "Oh, it seemed you don't know this story. Putting it in simple terms, a magical princess fell in love with a prince who was a captain and helped him steal her country's god-given treasure, the "Golden Fleece". The prince and princess married on the ship later. --The real story starts after that."His face took a bitter expression and he continued "On the way back to the prince's country on the "Argo", the princess's younger brother chased them down to regain the stolen treasure. For the sake of the prince, Medea kills her brother without mercy. The prince, Jason returned to his home country with the Golden Fleece, but the usurper who promised to return the throne if he succeeded but the usurper who promised to return the throne if he succeeded turned back on his word.Medea then used her specialty magic and tricked the usurper to enter a "Magical pot of rejuvenation", causing him to die in boiling water.Medea did so much for Jason, but he ended up leaving her out of fear. In his eyes, the princess's blood-stained hands resembled that of a devil's.In fact, Jason didn't even expect his adventure to succeed - But when the princess did all of that for him without worrying about the cost, he felt panic, fear, and even disgust. But was the princess really in the wrong?A poison named "Love" had taken her soul and all she could do was give her all to support the one she loved--Even if she stained her hands with blood, even if she became an enemy of the world.Once love captured her soul...her life was destined to become a tragedy... Of course, she is still happier than the vermin whose lifelong love would never be reciprocated.But in the end, she still killed her only proof of happiness - Her and the prince's two children.Bianka's face turned grim and silence engulfed her before replying with a sickened tone, "That's a really scary terrible fairy tale. Why did you want to tell it to me.""Because...One day, Bianka you might meet someone similar. When the time comes...try not to take pity on the fool princess. She is already knee-deep in a bloody swamp - Even if she wanted to turn back it would be equally as difficult.""Could it be that...You have someone like that around you?" Bianka asked."God, the world would be a terrible place if that was the case."In a soft tone, he said to her, "Bianka...There are all kinds of people who would do all kinds of bad for all kinds of reasons. But please believe in one thing - That there are more kind-hearted people than there are bad people.Because if that wasn't the case, then hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of years ago, humanity would have wiped itself out."The blonde doctor turned to face the sea, "Even in this wretched ugly world...there's still kindness and beauty in this world. For me you will destroy all graves: As only where there are tombs can there be resurrection.""Master Bianka..." A soft sweet voice suddenly brought her back to reality and away from that past memory."Ah...Rita." Seeing the brunette maid enter her line of sight, Bianka straightened up her posture to make herself look presentable."Daydreaming, I see...Didn't expect you to do such a thing right after spending time with Master Otto...Did you have fun?""I did..." Bianka rather not spur out that she lost in a spar by being crushed by an Overseer...How embarrassing!Rita covered her mouth and snickered, "It was quite amusing for you to lose such an unorthodox method."Bianka froze upon hearing this and her face flushed as she said her piece, "How long were you watching for?""Well, I did invite Master Otto, so...About the whole thing. I even got a sweet picture of it." She waved her phone in front of the blonde girl's face."...Ha. Can I see it?" Her previous embarrassment was sundered by such curiosity. Rita handed her phone, and Bianka's eyes reflected a single image of a smiling sunkissed blonde-haired man sitting on the ground as he listened to a small Goose lecturing him.She stared intently at the image. "His smile...It isn't filled with pity anymore. Rita, do you think if I hit him hard enough in the head, he'll keep genuinely smiling instead of hiding behind a facade? Until now, I didn't know what drives him to do what he does, but I've gotten something out of it.""And what did you gain from that?" Rita asked"Otto once told me a tell about a magical princess falling in love with a prince. Love so strong that the princess would do anything for him and even become a monster to satisfy such love. He said one day when such a thing would happen always remember there's still beauty and kindness in the world to be worth fighting for...At the time I didn't understand it but now I do. If he's willing to be a monster for the world's beauty then I'll become his Lance to stop him and guide him toward that beauty he showed to me...The real reason why Schicksal fights for Humanity...To protect what you hold dear and important. I don't know what caused him to suddenly start acting like this but I want to help him and understand who he really is...Not the Overseer of Schicksal but Otto Apocalypse."Rita sweetly smiled hearing this, "You're always ambitious, to say the least, that is what I cherish about you...It'll be tough to convince him, but who'd say you'll be doing it alone? As a Maid of Schicksal, it'll be an honor to help you, Master Bianka. After all, it is a Maid's wish to see their Master happy and for them...To succeed."Hearing such words, Bianka wrapped her arms around Rita and pulled her into a tight hug, "Thank you, Rita...You've always been a good friend to me."The Maid gently patted her back and responded calmly, "You're welcome...But may you unlatch yourself? You reek of sweat.""..."...The morning sun started to touch Otto's blank face as he stood up from the couch in his office...After his season of teaching that lasted until night came he immediately went to sleep and made sure nothing was urgent. Of course, he had to shower and change his pair of clothes before slumbering.Having a body like Ottos meant he didn't have to sleep as previously the man had never slept ever since he started to switch Avatars, but having a sense of Humanity was good for one's mind and body. So, he made a vow to sleep when it was appropriate.Now with his mind relaxed and refreshed what better way to wake oneself eyes than to have that dopamine whenever you get a new power-up?The next Potion he was going to take was the Sequence 9 Spectator. He willed a screen to pop up right in front of his eyes, and the words that reflected were.[Sequence 9 Spectator of the Visionary Pathway is ready would you like to advance?]'Yes.' He mentally gave his constant, and soon, a dense, bubbly silver liquid went down his throat seeping into his Soul.One last message flashed between his vision started to blur.[Congrats on taking your Second Pathway. You are now on the first step to becoming a God of the Mind and the one who directs the trends of the times! Have fun]A cold, tense sensation engulfed his body as if a vicious dragon was staring at him, eager to devour him whole.The bitter frost spread from his body and into his head...Otto clinched his hand to stay awake in such death.His sight flashed before his eyes as the surrounding colors distorted once more. The scenes within his eyes started to change. He saw a ball of golden light in an unending void; drifting across a vicious sea that seemed to contain all the colors of the world.The ball was an eye with a vertical pupil filled with calculating madness, and its gaze went to everything.Flowers that seemed to be brimming with life, and each petal dipped with purple shine. Another pair of flowers littered the sea with misty dreams and purplish liquid.White powder streamed from the air as it had the essence of milk streaming from it, and a torrent of the purest of water seemed to follow from behind it.It was merely indifferent to such scenes as it kept on drifting through the colorful sea and as the ride finally stopped, it closed its eye. In the end, it was a mere Spectator, a being that doesn't take the stage but merely witnesses it.White engulfed Otto's eyes as he was soon brought back to the waking world and in his familiar office.His breath was heavy, and his mind was in a frenzy. He thought of a golden cube with distorted lines and slowly reined in his thoughts.'...I dreamed of another Sefirot. Are these universal legacies just gonna be rolling into my lap like a cabbage market?... Please give me another free Sefirot! I want to one-shot a Herrscher by merely looking at them.'What better way to slowly calm oneself than to vent by saying the most nonsense things possible?'The vision I had was different than last time, and for this one, I was an eyeball drifting through the Chaos Sea. I was covered in milk and water. The symbolism was clear I had a connection to the Sefirot, and the random things appearing were the ingredients for the Spectator Potion, but why though?I have enhanced memory, but I don't have a total recall of the ingredients of a potion within my mind, and who in their right mind would remember an entire list of flowers? Masochists? The only thing I remembered from the Spectator Potion formula was Cow Teeth Paeonoel Powder, only because it reminded me of milk.If I drank the Savant Potion, I could recall every single piece of knowledge and experience I ever gained, but I don't have that, plus making potions is useless to me since I can naturally unlock a Sequence and Pathway.Along with that, I am sure these don't even exist in the Honkai Universe unless it's wine and oils.'Having cleared his mind, Otto soon summarized the imparted knowledge he gained from the potion along with the changes within himself, but before he could, a familiar sensation of cracking occurred within his soul.His Spectator Potion was fully digested!'I should have expected it...Otto has been alive for 500 years and pulling the strings of the world, of course, he would be a Spectator...What else could be instantly digested? It feels good to have my choice not backfire on me even if my abilities are manipulating people to the fullest like a Marionettist...Let's see what did I gain this time.'His power of observation has been strengthed in the form of Body Language Analysis and from this he can look at a person strictly from a bystander's perspective, discovering their true thoughts from their expressions, their manners, and their subconscious actions. Then, with that knowledge create make a mental model of the target.His Mental Attributes have been enhanced, from which his Body of Heart and Mind have been strengthened, affecting his inferential, analytical, observational, identification abilities and memory to be greatly boosted.To complement this, it granted him an enhanced vision needed to properly analyze someone's body language. For example, in a corner of a room, Otto could accurately see subtle body movements across the room.'Now, onto the juicy parts. Having drank both the Seer and Spectator Potion, the effects were stacked together to form a sort of qualitative boost to my basic abilities. My Spirituality has increased twofold, meaning I can spam Divination and Rituals twice as much along with that, I can now attempt to make some charms with the help of Sefirah Castle.My already enhanced memory, combined with the Spectator's mental attributes, means I can use most of the knowledge from my previous life.Did you know one of the Seer Potion Ingredients was a poison called Poison Hemlock? A highly toxic substance that induces numbness throughout the body, potentially leading to death if ingested. The Seer Pathway most like pain that much.My Spiritual Intuition is more sensitive to danger, and I can even somewhat manually activate it to sense a situation's anomaly and problems.'He slowly digested the knowledge before another screen popped up in front of his eyes.[Sequence 8 Telepathist of the Visionary Pathway is ready would you like to advance?]It immediately faded away as he willed it, too. Otto wasn't going to risk doing back-to-back advancements...For one, advancing is physically and mentally taxing. If he failed to advance, he could end his life to bring up the backup system, but there's a real chance that his previous body will become a horrid monster or it'll explode...This wasn't all or nothing; it was die or die.The thought of sleeping in eroded his mind, but there was so much stuff to do, and as his position of Schicksal Overseer work needed to be done.'Unless I shove it all to Amber, but she's a sweet girl, I mustn't.'He got off the couch and decided to check if any changes had been made to his little empty Sefirah Castle.His steps echoed through the room as he went into each corner in a counterclockwise motion, and once finished, overlapping murmurs began to flood his ears.The ancient palace hall reached his sight, and he was within the far end seat with the pupilless eyes on its back...A newly arrived symbol joined the symbol of the Fool.A horned Alice blue dragon glowed softly as it stood beside the eye on the back of its chair. Seemingly, with each new Sequence Pathway he gains, the pupilless eye will get new friends."Sweet chair." He amusingly muttered.Having sat for a moment, he sensed a change within the Sefirot, and his eyes peered down onto the floor.It was just for a moment, but the ground beneath his feet flashed a light that seemed to contain all the colors.Having witnessed such a sight Otto concluded...Whenever he advanced in the God Almighty group, the Sefirot Chaos Sea would appear and slowly merge with Sefirah Castle.He was elated at such an opportunity to raise his combat ability but also came a sense of dread...How hard will it be to unlock a New Sequence Pathway if it comes with a Sefirot? Would he have to wage wars, create catastrophe, or pray to the sun? As a gamer back home, he knew that being given free equipment and supplies suspiciously right before a large area meant there would be a boss fight...Right now, Otto felt like he was in the same predicament: he was going to fight an opponent that was leagues beyond his current state but winning was still possible.Faced with such a fact, he only had one thing to say with a laughing smirk."Can I really accept such an outcome of losing?"