Neo considered himself a bit lucky, well one couldn't call themself lucky if they transmigrated to a slightly less worse version of Cthulu Mythos but there's a first time for everything right? But there was a red herring to this, he had transmigrated into a recently deceased body.
The cause of death, it's what you guys guessed, mysticism!. Through some unknown lucky accident, he had also gotten a cheat. Is it a gift from some random Evil God or just something that was given to him as a sort of consolation prize for being transmigrated in this God awful world who knows? But one thing was for certain, he was going to take full advantage of it, that brings us to the present.
Due to the previous body's cause of death, and him believing in the God of Steam and Machinery his case fell under the purview of the Machinery Hivemind. The Machinery Hivemind had also inducted him into their organisation as an Exterior member. Unlike the Evernight Goddess's Church, which was divided into the local Nighthawks which were further divided into the Civilian Staff Members and the actual Beyonders and also the more superior Red Gloves.
The Church of Steam and Machinery was a bit different, in the way that it functions with Exterior, Interior and Real members, which was quite confusing. Exterior members functioned similarly to the civilian staff members in the Evernight Church while Interior members had a bit more authority. They were also candidates for promotion to the Real members, who were the actual combat unit as long as they had enough contribution points.
And today was the day Neo would finally be inducted into the Real circle. By solving the cause of the previous owner's death which was linked to some hooligans from the Aurora Order, he was finally able to meet the minimum requirement for promotion. Neo soon reached a crusted old wooden door with metal hinges on the side, the wood was uneven with slight bulges which seemed to have some sort of sentience.
Neo lifted up his hands from his coat as he tapped the door twice in the left most corner before finally tapping the center. Within moments, he could hear the sounds of the gear turning as it came apart piece by piece. The whirring sound of the engine drowned out the sheer silence in the still corridor, it took less than a second before the door completely opened, instantly sounds of laughter and exuberance could be heard.
Neo quietly entered the room as he pushed his fedora onto his head, his attempt at hiding himself clearly failed as a blaring voice cackled across the room.
"Oh Midget, seems like you're finally gonna be a part of us! Don't choose a sequence that'll make you one of Santa's little elf alright." The man's voice thundered across the room as he laughed harder than before, his eyes darted to the food filled table as he stuffed himself to delight. Nep's face turned red as he turned to the booming voice.
"Shut it Hody, I'm not a midget I'm only 16 I can grow taller! I'm more worried about you dying from a heart attack, you uncultured swine!" Neo kicked his feet as he headed towards a bronze door located to the side of the room, it was almost forgettable at first glance. It was faded beyond belief but it had a clean cut and a slight gloss over it giving it an overall elegant look.
Times like this makes me want to choose the Hunter or Warrior Pathway, fucking jackass. Neo quipped in his head, his hand soon landed on the door producing three loud thumps. Moments later, a voice resounded from beyond the door.
"You can come in"
Within moments the door parted open revealing a brown cladded sandstone floor, the walls were made up of brownish black metal pipes with gears and wheels all over it, one could see that occasionally steam blew out of the pipes. Neo made his way into the room as he came up to the glossy brown flat top desk, the wood was coated in what seemed to be gel.
"Well then Neo, it's been three days since I've given you the choices you have. But in my opinion, it's better to wait and earn more contribution points and choose a complete sequence then choose an incomplete sequence." She said in a serious tone, as her hands cupped together to form a slight clap.
The only complete sequence they have is the Paragon Pathway, which already has a God occupying it. If I choose this, my hopes of becoming a Sequence 0 would be unattainable unless I switched to the Hermit Pathway, but the risk of doing such a thing makes me a bit worried.
But if I were able to successfully switch to the Hermit Pathway, I would definitely be stronger as I would have the abilities of both the pathways. But herein lies the problem, to get enough contribution points for the Savant Potion it would take close to two months, time I can't waste. Klein is going to descend out of Sefirah Castle in about six months, and I'm pretty sure I don't have the kind of protagonist luck he has unless I'm a main character in a novel.
So it's good to choose a Sequence right now, I think by the time Klein descends I would be a Sequence 8 or a Sequence 7 if my luck is good and I could act properly.
Neo smiled slightly, "I think I'll stick to my choice Captain Casey, but are you sure the Church doesn't have the Assassin Potion?"
The Demoness Pathway is one of the strongest pathways in this world aside from the Cowardly Trio. Their abilities are versatile and are quite strong, the only problem is Cheek occupying the throne of Sequence 0 but then again I would just switch to the Red Priest Pathway after I reach Sequence 2 if I'm not able to kill her. I think I would make a pretty good Demoness.
Casey's eye twitched as she gave a small sigh, "I told you many times that we do not have the Assassin Pathway, where did you even hear about this in the first place." Neo cracked a small smile, "Well that's a shame, and I'm not telling."
"Fine, choose from the three I gave you. Mystery Pryer, Hunter and Arbiter. These are the only incomplete sequences the Church has."
Neo thought for a bit as he turned his head upwards, The Hunter Pathway is quite strong in the later Sequences but the need for an army for advancements turns me off. Arbiter on the other hand is all that I want, it is quite strong and the Great Old One occupying the Pathway is currently sealed inside a lamp. But the problem remains, what happens if Chaos somehow escapes, wouldn't that just make me lose my position and corrupt me.
I don't want to risk that, but it would be pretty fun to be an Arbiter. So in the end that leaves me with Mystery Pryer, one of the weakest sequences in this world. Let's just hope there's something called skill involved but even with all the skill in the world, this Pathway is quite weak with little to no notable abilities.
"Well I choose Mystery Pryer." Neo said in a cherry tone as he looked straight at Casey.
Casey cracked a small smile before it quickly vanished, "Alright, go to Old Conner and tell him your decision. Glad to have you as a part of our team Neo!"
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A/N - So it's been a while since I've actually written a novel, so I've gotten pretty trash at it. Please tell me if there are some mistakes or inaccuracies and I do want criticism so do tell me if there's something wrong with the novel. I'm pretty sure I'll get better as I write, so yeah maybe by Chapter 20 or 30 it would look smooth.