"What will happen if I move to another body? Would I lose my main body's powers?"
Otto asked calmly, but deep down, he was nervous.
The truthseeker paused and smiled.
-"Thine system is a built-in communication device that transmits thy soul powers' information to ye. It does not matter which body ye goes to. I merely dabbled with the indecipherable language to a decipherable language and inputted thine missions."
-"Thine powers are downloadable, unique to thee."
-"All negative and positive traits can be transmitted to a new body depending on ye. To move thy powers to a new body will require tremendous amounts of Honkai Energy."
"Ohh. I see." Otto nodded with a satisfied look.
"Alright."
Otto sighed and contemplated. The information he gathered from the truthseeker was adequate to make a glass cannon build.
He also asked for a preview regarding the full efficiency these traits could give from the truthseeker's memories.
'I have to choose five negative traits that wouldn't hinder me in a fight or exploring places with terrible climates.'
Weather variables. It was best to avoid negative traits that could hinder exploration and fights.
Depletion of Honkai Energy. Insomnia. Honkai Addiction. Cold Feet. All Rejected.
'Sexual dysfunction, chronic headaches, lifespan reduction, insomnia, and worsened physical health are all liable options.'
Otto didn't care much about women or having a family. To him, who struggled alone, it was all pointless. He didn't see the point of falling in love, and losing his lifespan isn't a problem once he gets the soulium body and the Flower Abyss.
-"This..."
The truthseeker was in disbelief at the suicidal decisions Otto had made.
"What?"
He asked in an annoyed tone due to disrupting his thoughts.
-"You could have chosen nothing."
"I know. I have good reasons to choose these traits."
To Otto, this amount of suffering didn't mean much to him.
'I already have plans to counteract the negative traits.'
'But... exchanging for these positive traits is worth the trouble.'
He glanced at the 'Perfect Honkai Compatibility' and 'High Honkai' Resistance with a gleeful expression. Despite that, the options couldn't compare to these two.
The Iron Body, Natural Genius, and Gifted Reflexes were also great.
[ Completed! ]
[ Effects of the positive and negative traits will begin after characterization ends. ]
"Oh?"
Otto said in a surprised tone. He did not expect something like this to appear with only a slim to none chance.
[ Characterization 2/3 ]
-Your appearance is changeable.
"This... it's like a video game character customization."
He glanced at the truthseeker with a baffled look as if not understanding why character customization was in the system's characterization.
'Forget it.'
He thought that it was probably just for convenience.
He chose the default appearance, except that he changed Otto's face to a more charming appearance. He had a fashion talent, so it wasn't an issue for him.
'So androgynous.'
He glanced at his character with satisfaction before slapping the 'done' button.
The truthseeker didn't know whether Otto was angry or joyful.
[ Characterization 3/3 ]
-You may choose unique traits.
"Unique Traits?"
He pressed the '?' icon, and another screen popped out.
[ It is a trait unique to the host's past attainments. ]
[ In short. It creates a trait unique to the host's achievements and rates it.]
He glanced at the first screen again with twitching eyes.
"Is this a way to ridicule me?"
-"..."
[ Options ]
World Destroyer (S+) - Temporarily increases all physical and supernatural attributes to the maximum. It ignores all debuffs and negative traits for five minutes.
Enhanced Willpower (S+) - The ability to possess greater willpower than normal.
Actor (D) - Your actions are always natural, and any action always masks your intentions and emotions.
Extraordinary Senses (A+) - Your senses improve after taking physical and mental damage, depending on the pain level inflicted.
Dark Empath (C-) - You are a naturalist when manipulating the emotions of others.
Charm (A) - Your charisma significantly attracts everyone.
Wine Drinker (E) - You're a wine connoisseur, and any wine consumed increases the effects of favorable psychological health.
Otto found the options to be extraordinary. He never once thought that his achievements would become merits to newfound powers from another world.
'Supernatural attribute should mean the category created from the byproduct of a law far beyond the scientific understanding or the laws of nature.'
Honkai Energy is a supernatural phenomenon caused by the collision of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta's powers.
It specifies that Honkai Energy is a part of the Supernatural Category.
[ World Destroyer (S+), Enhanced Will (S+), and Extraordinary Senses (A+) are chosen. Are you sure? Y/N ]
"Yes."
[ Ding! ]
[ The Characterization is complete! ]
[ Updating System Information ]
[ Loading... ]
[ System Status ]
Name: Otto Apocalypse
Lifespan: 10 years
Status: <Extremely Sick> <Dying>
Honkai Energy: 10-B (100-Joules)
Physical Capability: (D+)
Unique Traits: <World Destroyer (S+)> <Enhanced Will (S+)> <Extraordinary Senses (A+)> --------------
Negative Traits: <Sexual Dysfunction> <Chronic Headache> <Lifespan Reduction> <Insomnia> <Worsened Physical Health> --------------
Positive Traits: <Perfect Honkai Compatibility> <High Honkai Resistance> <Natural Genius> <Iron Body> <Gifted Reflexes> --------------
''' The Youngest Master of the Apocalypse Family. '''
''' He is known for his sickly constitution. '''
Otto felt his body waver from the negative traits. It was like being burdened with a chaotic force in the body.
He also felt that his body slowly adapted physically and mentally to the changes due to the <Iron Body> trait.
'The Iron Body gives me strong defense and physical fitness. It negated a large number of burdens.'
'I wonder what would happen if I was in full health?'
He felt that the potential he could muster would be enormous.
Thankfully, Enhanced Will and Extraordinary Senses gave him a strong mind.
The truthseeker nodded, slightly understanding Otto's thoughts about the traits.
-"Do'th ye wish to end'th our assembly?"
"Sure. I already got satisfying answers from you."
-"Now placeth thine palm on the tree."
He pointed to the tree that stood lonely in the vast world.
Otto approached and placed his palm hand on the trunk. He felt a sense of connection from the tree.
-"This world is thine world of consciousness, beckon Yggdrasil to move forward."
"This?!"
Otto could feel a transcendental feeling. It was as if he was glancing at the Universe.
The world distorted, and time stopped as if the world was ending.
-"Farewell, Adagium. I pray for a safe journey."
...
The world turned into darkness as the system panel appeared in front of his face pointing to the ceiling.
His eyesight was blurry, with a drenched feeling of sweat throughout his exhausted body.
Light started to appear from his surroundings with mixed colors.
When he blinked a few times, the blurriness dispersed like a cloud of mist, unveiling a clear image with a vivid view of a white ceiling stooping along a system panel in front.
[ You have obtained a unique trait <Absorption (EX)> ]
<Absorption (EX) - %$#@ >
[ The host is capable of absorbing any form of lifeform beings. ]
[ All absorbed beings will have their powers and memories absorbed. ]
"This... am I dreaming?"
The world looked like an anime. It was strange to have reality changed to a realistic anime world.
He knew that reality in this world was different from his past life when he listened to the truthseeker's orientation.
'Weird...'
Suddenly, the sounds of muffled noises came from his surroundings.
He turned his head to the source of the sounds.
It was a nun praying with both palms clasped.
"Lord Heavenly Father, please cure this child from his sickness."
'Oh god. Please get out.'
He didn't like some random person praying at his bedside.
After a while, the nun finished her ceremony. She glanced at Otto with a surprised look.
"Young Master, you're finally awake!"
"Please drink this medicine. It will ease your sickness."
When Otto drank the medicine, he felt like he wanted to puke.
The girl had a warm smile as if she couldn't understand his feelings.
"Can I eat first?"
Otto, with twitching eyes, coldly glared at the girl. She suddenly had a look of flushed embarrassment.
"Ah- s-sorry, Young Master, I forgot it was bitter- Aw-ouch!"
She bit her tongue while Otto glanced at her with apathy.
'Why did I have to see an idiot first after transmigrating?'
He sighed and stood up from the bed.
"A-ah. You shouldn't be getting up!"
"I am fine. Ugh-"
He felt that his situation was even worse than before.
Otto glanced at the silvery mirror.
It reflected a blonde-haired boy with emerald eyes. He would've been a celebrity child back in his previous world.
'I see.'
The state of being a spirit and a child were two different things. First, a spiritual body from his middle-aged adult spirit from his previous life was at the peak of its condition while a child Otto was still developing.
It was logical to find that he was finding it far more troublesome to endure the physical burdens he was currently facing.
"What year is it now?"
"What do you mean, Young Master?"
The sixteen-year-old nun tilted her head in confusion.
'Ah. It must be because this world didn't have the modern calendar.'
"What calendar is it now?"
"In the year of our Lord. Did you lose your memory, young master?"
'In the year of our Lord, means AD.'
Otto nodded and finally understood.
He was back to the time when Otto was still at age 13.
Traveling back in the Medieval Ages, people used religious contexts to tell a year. It did not have a scientific basis like years 1-2023 from the Modern Era.
Neither did it have the 24-hour clock in Medieval Germany except for special civilizations like the Ancient Egyptians.
Otto glanced at the table with brunch. He turned his sight at the sun from the horizon, and it seemed likely that it was already a quarter past 2.
The brunch menu had barley bread, sweet potatoes, a cup of milk, and rice porridge.
It seemed like sweets weren't allowed for patients, Otto thought as he sat down.
"Ah, young master. Do you want me to heat the milk? It seems like it's cold."
"Hm. Yes, please do so."
His eyebrows rose. It reminded him of the memes from back then, with a nun pouring breast milk into a wooden cup.
"Pft.-" He spat the water from the cup and cleared his dirty mind.
He ate the hard bread with an apathetic look.
Suddenly, tears came out of his eyes.
"It tastes awful."
The sensation of taste gave him a glimmer of joy. It was an odd feeling, long forgotten from his ill-begotten past life of being born as a mistake.
He was silent as he continued to eat the barley bread and sweet potatoes with uncontrollable tears in his eyes.
'So, this is what having the sense of taste is like? It's not so bad...'
"Young Master, I am back- Ah! What's wrong?! Why're you crying?"
"... It's nothing. Give it to me."
When the nun approached to inspect Otto, he impatiently took the handkerchief before wiping the tears from his eyes and then drank the milk.
'It's warm...'
He had a gleeful expression, and the nun glanced at him with a sad look.
Otto had a bleak backstory of being born into a noble family with no love or warmth, so it was quite familiar to the nuns and priests due to the rumors and being able to attend to the Apocalypse Family's members.
"Uhm- Young Master. Do you want more?"
"Yes." He nodded without hesitation.
She took the empty dishes outside, and Otto sat while glancing around the Church Clinic. It was an abode with simple furnishings without any decor to it. It had wooden brown furnishings with a wool bed.
'It's fitting for the minimalistic religious followers.'
He nodded with approval at the display of furnishings.
'I have to recollect my thoughts...'
'AD 1465.'
It was the period when the Church of Shicksal still had not sent a war expedition to Shenzhou.
But, there was an event that would occur next year. It was the death of Francis Kaslana, Patriarch of the Kaslana Family, and the flaming beacon of Shicksal's deterrence from corruption.
Francis Kaslana, the Knight of Shicksal, was strong enough to be a rival of S-rank Valkyries. It was why Nikolas did not think of betraying his subordinate's trust.
'What would happen if I prolong his life longer?'
Otto knew that Francis had deteriorated lifespan due to the side effects of using the Judgment of Shamash.
'It isn't his first time using it on AD 1466.'
It was an event when Shicksal got raided by an Emperor Class Honkai Beast. Francis had to use the Key of Destruction's Cleaver Form to defeat it.
Thinking about it, Otto had an advantageous position.
'If I just manage to gain the support of the people and Shicksal's officials. I might be able to win the succession war.'
'First is to win the Kaslana Family's support.'
Otto still doesn't know whether the current Otto was able to befriend Kallen at this moment. So, it was best to find out soon.