It was huge, massive, reaching above the trees that outstretched it. Shell had to arch her head upwards in order to simply see it's figure in full.
A massive hulk of a body covered in ash gray fur, save for its brutish face clawed with sharpened teeth and four fangs protruding outwards; two on top and two at the bottom. Two curved horns aligning atop its head that seemed as big as a human child, elongated ears at both sides, and gleaming crimson eyes stared down at the group as if they were ants; with all the fur atop it's body, or just because of its build, it looked as if it held no neck whatsoever.
"What are you doing in my area?" Its voice thundered into the ears of everyone present, resounding with a beastly vibe, as it took a single step forwards.
The ground quaked with that simple step of its full body.
Its legs as bulky and wide as a tree and its feet stretched and looking like those of monkeys, grasping against the earth.
"Are you all deaf!?" This time, taking another step forwards, his voice boomed with growing anger.
Shell took a step back in return.
Her eyes traced up as she watched it lift its massive arm.
'Oh shiet!' She had already activated her skill as she turned around.
Bang
With the ground crashing behind her, Shell jumped away with speed befitting of someone escaping death.
Her body rolled into a crouch before taking a small glance backwards to gleam at the flailing figure.
"I am Bultak!" Its mouth producing saliva that flew every which way.
"Speak when I ask!"
Shell coughed lightly as her body stood upwards, shaking her head slightly of the earlier surprise, she patted her clothing and looked up to its gigantic figure.
Looking at its brutish face, she managed a forced smile.
"I am Shell Chrome," Her voice grew in order to be heard.
"I and my party were simply passing through and have become a bit lost, would you mind letting us waltz towards our destination?"
Bultak looked towards the girl before him, his thought process was quite simple. This was his area, they had trespassed, and….anyway, it wouldn't hurt to consume a soul or two to increase his strength after waking up, would it?
It was definitely surreal. When she saw its smile, Shell wanted to bury her head into the ground.
She began to slowly inch away with a smile plastered onto her lips.
However, when she saw it move its body, she immediately turned around,
"Run!"
As her legs carried her, and the ground behind her quaked with the steps of the beast, Shell berated herself on the thought of even trying to somehow reason with a demonic beast. It didn't matter if it could talk or not, a beast was still a beast. And, likewise, its mind held a simple thought of devouring the souls of humans to increase its own power.
However, she was bound to be disappointed by her own speed.
"Get back here!"
There wasn't any surprise to the fact of the matter. It was definitely faster than her, and quite so, the hands of the beast effortlessly stretched to grasp her figure.
"!!!"
At a moments notice, Shell found herself looking at the brutish face of the beast. It grinned. Quite naturally, the hand that grasped her figure tightened with each passing moment.
'This ba*t*rd….he's planning to squeeze me to death.'
It wasn't any contest, she was undoubtedly weaker than Bultak. Her muscles ached as they were forcefully pressured, and her sapphire blue eyes stared daggers into its own crimson blooded eyes.
"I am Bultak!" It roared.
As the saliva landed onto her face, Shell's expression was one of deadpan-ness. Even as it moved her body closer to its mouth, she was expressionless.
Only a single thought crossed her mind.
"Who the hell cares if you are Bultak!?"
Boom
With that statement of her's a single boom eclipsed her voice.
She felt a surge of heat slam into her centric location.
The pressure on her body drowned away as her decent was made imminent.
A small thud eclipsed her ears and her back found itself placed onto a hardened surface. For a splitting moment, the air in her lungs was forcefully pushed out and her eyes closed before she regained herself.
And when she looked upwards….
"Are you alright?" Maria asked
Her vision tracing down upon the dungeon guide that laid upon a glitteringly golden platform with the shape of a blade. Quite naturally, this was one of her mana blades….well, not one but specifically a combined set.
"Ugh." Shell sat upwards, her legs falling over the edge of the hovering blade.
She looked into the distance and could glean the figure of 'Bultak' inspecting its right arm that had been traced with scorch marks and the furs around the area blackened a bit.
She sighed, and looked around to the gathered group, "I thought I said you shouldn't use your skills."
"Would you rather die?" Maria asked, her head tilted.
"Touché." She hummed.
She stretched her body for a moment, her hands reaching upward and her back arched.
"So? Do we run?" Arthur arched a brow, his hands folded and his sight narrowed towards the beast ahead.
"Run?" Shell laughed for a moment, the brief time elapsing with her laughter resounding the area.
Finally, she spoke out, "No."
Her hand placed onto the golden blade, she jumped off and landed at her feet.
"That little shiet tried to fudging eat me!"
Looking at the beast ahead, her lips formed into devilish grins as her eyes glared with unbiased fury.
"I'll show you all how to bring down a titan!"
"We're gonna kill it then move on to the towers!"
She arched her head backwards, smiling lightly, she spoke, "This time, how about we go all out a bit?"
For a splitting moment, Arthur's body shuddered briefly.
'Hmm?' He frowned slightly before a shrug came into being
"Okay, First step---we've gotta stop it's movement to hit it."
"Let's see here, I'll use my own weapon and Arthur…" She turned to the prince.
He raised a brow, "Use my flame rope?"
"Mhmm," She nodded, "After that,
She smiled, "We hit it till it dies."
"Not even giving It a chance to retaliate."
And with that, her weapon appeared in her hand, the thin ironic string glimmering slightly amidst the midday sun.
"Let's begin."
Her feet kicked off the ground.
Maria took her blade to her hand, well, the blade that had been given or loaned anyway. As she watched Shell running towards the beast with a crazed grin plastered into her face, she smiled lightly.
Turning to the three companions at her side.
"Well then, I will go on ahead too."
The hovering golden blade naturally disappeared. And with that, she also ran forwards.
"..."
[...]
A small sigh escaped her lips.
Ashe simply walked forwards, showing nothing more than a slight stretch of her body, her hands folded at her chest, she went towards the beast.
Ais, yes, she still existed, was silent throughout the whole process as always.
She looked towards Arthur.
"I can take care of myself." The young prince answered without a question.
"Mhmm." The royal guard nodded, her blade appeared at her hand, she grasped its azure hilt and thus...looked forwards.
At a moment's notice, her entire aura changed.
Her golden eyes stared at the beast ahead with unbridled killing intent. It was almost as if they held a blood feud towards each other. In that instance, spanning the length, she met with its crimson eyes.
"A waste of existence..." Was the simple sentence she spoke before her run began.
Meanwhile, Arthur briefly thought...
'Hmmm, how far can I stretch my mana?'
And with that, a gentle cove of red light welled from his right foot. Forming into the shape of a thinly built rope, it began in a slither as if it were a snake.
Arthur grinned.
"You actually dare and stay and fight!?"
It was enraged.
Its arm raised, its fist balled, before crashing back down like lightning.
Shell kicked in her skill, manipulating both her momentum and direction.
Instantly, her figure stopped for a fraction of a second before simply scooting rightward.
The air seemed to explode onto the side of her face, grazing against her cheek.
Reaching its base, watching as it raised its left leg in a stomp….
She smiled.
"Thank you."
As soon as the foot made contact with the ground, as she dodged its might, her hands had already begun to move.
Her weapon spun into the air.
The thin metallic rope spun with her movement.
"What!?" Bultak's enraged voice echoed out.
Ashmir, that was the name of her weapon--her artifact. Holding within it was a singular skill…
[Lengthen: With the increase of mana poured into this object, its length can be increased proportionally.]
A bluish aura converted the iron string, the color of her element, she poured her mana into it. And, likewise, the thin weapon grew in length.
Running circularly, the string coiled around the singular leg…
Binding it and digging into the clusters of fur.
…she wasn't done, however….
She removed her rings from her fingers.
An extremely thin blackened pole appeared within her hand.
Twirling it into focus, she smiled, "Checkmate."
Her hand raced down as the pole dived into the two rings, passing through both holes, and nailing them into place.
Cling
Bultak found that he couldn't so much as move his left foot.
An enraged roar escaped its lips.
Clearly, this wasn't her first case of such an act.
Before it could find her, Shell quitely jumped away.
Yet, Bultak held more to worry about...like the figures currently headed towards it.
Rage filled its crimson eyes.
"I'll kill you!!"
Its fist shot forwards and towards its target.
Maria smirked.
The wind hurled past her figure.
She didn't dodge the beasts attack by shifting her body in an instance like Shell. No, rather, she dodged using speed alone.
The gigantic fist of the beast passed by her face, bringing with it a harsh wind, and squarely hitting against the ground at her side.
As soon as she felt the ground quake, Maria took this chance to jump onto its arm.
It quaked, she looked at its surface to see a glistering red rope beginning to enrouch upon its surface and couldn't help a small smirk as the rope bounded and coiled around the arm with her pacing along its length.
Yet, it still held an extra arm.
Ashe stared at the approaching fist in slight disregard.
'Ain, 3rd step.'
The core at her heart burned with fury. She could feel the heat within her body rise.
Badum
Blood poured through her body in a frenzied wave, she could taste it.
For began to enrouch upon her body, crawling and covering every speck of her figure. To the point, where only the frontal area of her face was safe.
At that moment, she felt her strength breaking into the S rank.
Her furred left foot stomped against the ground, making footing.
Her clawed fist shot forwards, yet, around it where the glitters of the blazing hue of flames.
The two's fists met.
"What!?" Bultak's beastly voice echoed in disbelief.
"How can you stop my punch!"
At the same moment, Ais waltzed right by Ashe.
Her weapon spun, her golden irises focused beyond control, her hand grasped the hilt tighter.
She had held it in. She had. She would release a bit of her anger onto the beast...
"A waste of existence."
She grabbed onto its hand.
Propelled herself onto it.
Held her blade slanted downwards, and ran along its surface.
Ais's blade tore through the thick fur of the beast, grazing along its arm as a line of crimson red made its presence known.
Yet, Ashe wasn't done.
Looking at the face of the beast, her mouth widened.
A bluish glow brightened the world within an instance.
A pillar of azure flames shot forwards.
"!!"
The beast immediately raised it raised both arms to block the drown of flames.
At that time, Maria and Ais both found themselves flung high into the sky....
Watching as the flames were blocked by its hand.
Maria brought her weapon upwards.
A golden radiance showed upon her blade.
Ten mana blades instantly made their presence known and delved into it's blade.
Her weapon grew tremendously in size, radiating an aura of light, shimmering in gold, becoming three times her own height.
Yet, it still weighed the same to her.
At that moment that it wanted to at least shift its body to doge.
Yet, before it noticed, a glimmering red light had already crawled around its full body.
Arthur smiled, watching from a distance.
"Blaze."
A single spark.
The rope that coiled its figure instantly ignited into heated flames.
Smirking, oh she was.
Maria brought the gigantic blade down with a single swing.
From the iron rope chaining his left foot, to the blazing flames chaining its body, it could no longer escape the attack even if it tried.
It could not move a single ounce.
However, to the dungeon crawlers before it, everything was for naught.
It raised its head into the air raised its head to the sky.
"
The air exploded in a crazed gush of wind!
'Demonic beasts have skills!?'
Maria found her figure instantly blasted away like an ant.
[Indeed, some may have skills.]
Ashe stomped her furred foot into the ground.
Forcefully maintaining her position, she looked ahead to see the changed of the beast.
The blazing rope of flames had broken into mere shards.
The iron string that was supposed to be holding back its left foot had become mere scrap against the floor.
Clearly, its strength had increased.
"This is a bit of a hassle." A voice resounded to her left.
She turned to see Shell standing there.
"Just a bit? Have you not just lost a weapon?" A brow raised.
"No way." Shell shook her head, "always have a backup."
She then paid her attention to the beast ahead.
Not much of a change had taken place, however, heavy breaths continuously arised from his mouth. So heavy were they that they were visible in plain sight.
"We have no idea how often he could use that ability of his."
"Hmmm, stopping him for a moment is a problem too….I have a plan though."
.
"Come back here and walk into my mouth!!!"
The trees behind them crashed down with the pounding of the earth and the audaciously arrogant roar of Bultak, yet, the group remained on the move. They were not mere idiots, would they simply stop and walk directly into the beast's mouth? The answer was. quite clearly, a no. Right this very moment, they were planning to kill it, so why would they commit suicide?
Ashe looked back for a moment, briefly catching the figure of the beast before turning right back around. A question paced onto her mind and she couldn't help but turn towards the dungeon guide she had come to know for the shortest of times; the one most likely to hold an answer to all this.
"Are all area bosses at least Emperor grade demonic beasts?"
"No," Shell shook her head, her feet steadily placed atop the golden blade at her feet.
The torrent of the wind brushed against her face, yet, she remained quite calmly placed. Her arms folded in front herself.
"It simply means they have Emperor grade intellect."
Arthur raised a brow "Hmm, how strong is an Emperor grade beast?"
"Simply speaking, if they were human, they would be ranked at the U rank—a rank where a whole army, or at least someone of the same rank, is needed to defeat."
"U rank…" Currently speaking, Maria couldn't fathom that level of strength yet.
She had never seen a person above SS rank, much less U rank. To her, it wasn't something she was currently in hold of acknowledging. It might as well be a myth to her at this stage.
"Hmm," Shell nodded.
"Just be glad they're not any Sun Grade level beasts within the first five floors at least, the rank directly right after Sky grade; which is after Emperor grade itself. Sun Grade is the literal equivalent of an OverLord. Which means, only another OverLord or Sun Grade could kill them—an army would simply crumble without eff-."
"There!" She suddenly stopped and pointed downwards in a voice brimming with a bit of excitement.
'Hmm?' Stopping the mana blades within the air, Maria looked below from where the group was currently placed.
"A village?"
Although weirdly displaced and surreally stamped into the midst of the forest, it was clearly a village. Small hut-like buildings spanning the area, the constructs crudely built and woven from everything from wood to sticks and demonic beasts skin.
Finally, surrounding the area was a 'defensive' construct of sorts of protrudingly sharp sticks plunging from the ground and outwardly.
"Not just any village," Shell shook her head.
"This is a Goblin Village."
Maria focused her eyes a bit more, and was not in the least surprised to find that Shell was right. It was indeed a village of goblins, their small green bodies fleeting through the area. Some in the midst of carrying back beasts they had hunted
"See, in this dungeon, a dungeon crawler has to learn to use every advantage and resource given to them…"
"…this might seem cruel and, let's face it, it certainly is and I'm not gonna shy away from it—but! If we want to stop the boss's movement—this would be how we would do it."
Shell glanced at the group for a moment, "If I was to ask, what makes goblins special, what would you reply?"
As everyone racked their brain, Arthur simply shrugged.
"Nothing? Are they special?"
The dungeon guide waved him away, "Tsk tsk, Numbers!"
"Goblins always move and gather in numbers! Being one of the weakest demonic beasts in existence, they have to be a hoard in order to stand even a slim chance at survival!"
"However, there is something even more special about them. Goblins are the second most similar demonic beasts to humans. What does that mean? Well, that is to say, they think outside of the box."
"However, the true reason we are here isn't for them….but for what they have."
"Slime Potion."
She turned towards Maria, "Bring us down."
The mana blades fell in answering as they descended onto the midst of the Goblin Village.
As they each hopped off and landed onto the ground.
Shell spoke, "Look for the biggest building, and find a clear container with a yellowish brown liquid inside."
"Everyone, spread ou-"
Yet, just as she spoke, that….
Bang
A figure fell from the sky and descended right behind Shell.
Naturally, she turned to look at their opponent.
The brutish face of Bultak grinned from ear to ear.
Even has its breath exhaled and formed into the air like dust before being replaced by another, it grinned.
"Caught you!"
It didn't wait for an answer and instantly stepped forwards with its fist.
Maira threw the weapon within her hand to her front, right by Shell's figure.
"Block!"
The radiatingly large golden blade immediately formed into being.
Bang
The heavy fist of the beast pounded against the floating golden blade.
"A mere blade to stop my fist!?"
The continuous sound of banging echoed into the world as Bultak mercilessly rained blows upon blows upon the visage of the weapon before it.
Naturally, cracks began to form against.
With one final roar, he sent his strength forwards.
The blade crumbled down with that singular force.
Shattering into mere shards as the began to fall and dissipate within the air.
Finally, the weapon that Shell had given to Maria fell down against the hardened earth in a clank---its blade having been broken beyond reparation.
Yet, as Bultak stood to gloat, he found himself in a new situation.
Lining all sides of his vision was nothing more than little green figures holding weapons in arms.
The group was gone and replaced by only the grows of goblins.
They charged towards his figure.
Yet, Bultak didn't escape...why would he? There was a feast right before him…
A roar eclipsed from his lips as he brought a fist down.
.
Shell held onto the Slime Potion, bringing it in front of her face, she scrutinized it a bit.
Just as it implied, it was a potion, and within it, was the same yellowish-brown liquid swirling about has she had described. Slimes were a rarity within the world, as the number 1 weakest demonic beast on the planet, even goblins could toy with them. Yet, they were still one of, if not the rarest beast---and as such, not many knew what to do with their body if they were ever found and killed. However, strangely, goblins of all things knew exactly how to use their fluid.
A Slime Potion, at least this one, was a sticky one....
"Good Job." She looked towards Ais and nodded.
Turning back towards the rest of the group, she spoke, "Hmm, lets return, I don't think the goblins would entertain it much longer…"
They could only find one, but one was enough.
.
They watched them being slaughtered one after another, throwing their life away like chess pieces. With every forceful stomp, every punch, every pounding against the earth, a group of teh green figures would crumble down like paper.
Watching them fall like ants, this group of people were anything but heroes.
Hearing the unending screams of the beasts, their mangled bodies being torn apart, their bones breaking, and…
Arthur turned away for a moment, his hand stretched in front of him, three flaming balls began to dance and chase each other at his palm...his attention was diverted...
Shell, even her who planned this out, couldn't help but momentarily turn away briefly from the image.
Yet...everyone else seemed to watch on with not a spec of change in their expression.
Once again, Maria failed to understand a single aspect of herself...
'Why…why do I feel nothing?'
Yes, she felt absolute null towards this.
'Even as the blood flows and their screams ring in the air, I feel…nothing?'
Indeed, she understood that she should feel a hint of something, yet, she lacked that something.
[The bain of my existence is of bloodshed and purgatory.]
A soothing voice entered into her ears.
[I am nothing more than a crimson blade.]
It resounded with extreme clarity, calm and soothing, as if a drifting wind.
[Drowned in my own pitiful escape, forever to do his bidding even in death.]
As if simply passing through life.
[Unless my soul was to be purged from all realms.]
Watching, but never acting.
[After all, he grasped my existence within the soul contract.]
Solidarity at its finest.
[With his will, there was no room left for feeling regard for others.]
That voice paused for a moment.
[Never forget…]
[...even as you live a new life…]
[...even as you continue on…]
[You are me.] Mar affirmed.
***
Her lungs worked in rapid hastes, her breaths exhaustingly tinged with heaviness. Each pacing of her body brought with it the tiredness and weakness of her muscles. She had been amidst this battle for what felt like an eternity now, in hindsight, with the sun setting against the background for the third time since she had entered the spatial world; it wasn't a stretch to say fighting had been the only thought within her head.
Even as blood covered her hands,
Even as the crimson rain washed her blackened hair,
Even as she frailly grasped the blade at her hand, her knuckles bleeding against it's hilt,
Her silver eyes looked towards her opponents.
The hoard was unending to her.
As an eight-year-old, at this time, she was the same as them. Short, minuscule figures, inconsequential to the grand arena known as the world. No one would bat an eye to their death, no one would hear their screams, no one would put forth any effort towards them. Only ever to obey the higher order of the world….and for her…to obey that man that had taken her soul in restriction.
Yet.
They also held the same belief.
'Survive!'
Her legs kicked off the ground beneath her.
She charged into the midst of the goblin horde once more.
If she failed this challenge given to her, like many others he had, she would be tossed away as useless.
She would be stripped of her reason for leaving.
Worse, she could be killed.
Her gray pupils was focused.
Wherever her hand flashed past, a goblin corpse would be made.
Wherever her blade passed, a head would fly.
Wherever her figure passed, blood flowed.
***
A striking pain bolted against the side of her face.
Maria opened her eyes to see the crimson glare of Ashe looking straightly into her's.
The lips of the brazen girl before her opened.
"Resist the call of the remnant soul."
Her tone was harsh.
"Learn to bring yourself back from the memories." She ended.
Maria briefly felt the pain of her cheek…
'Do not do that again.'
[I cannot promise that, it was not my intention.]
'Not your intention?' Maria frowned.
[Yes, it is merely a response to having viewed or experienced something similar to myself.]
[Your soul aligned with mine and forcefully lived a part of my memory.]
At that time, however, a roar brought her attention back.
"Found you!"
Blood dripping from its lips, Bultak's crimson eyes traced onto them.
"The main course!"
Its massive body instantly charged towards them, the earth quaking with its steps.
The calm voice of the dungeon guide spoke out at that time, "Arthur, Ashe…."
The ball of flames that danced atop his palm instantly merged as it began to grow and wallow into the air.
The prince held his right hand up for a moment, the burning sun atop his hand, before finally tossing it towards the charging beast…
Just in time, an azure pillar of flames pushed forwards behind it…
Two flames crashed into him with a thundering might.
Bultak was forced to stop as his arms shielded his face.
Naturally, the intense heat of their combined might burned against his face.
Although he could hardly see much, he could feel his arms burning and his fur becoming null.
Seeing it stopped briefly by the flames, at that time, Shell smiled.
She raised her arms and chucked the potion in her hand.
Naturally, as the flames died down, the potion broke upon contact with Bultak.
"The heck!?" HIs enraged voice immediately roared into the world.
A glob of the yellowish liquid formed at its head, finally, as if growing, the goo-like substance began to spread throughout the surface of Bultak's body...until…
He couldn't speak, he couldn't roar, he couldn't move.
...Bultak found himself stuck, his entire body covered in what seemed like a sticky liquid. This time, he truly could not escape if he wanted to.
"Now," Shell grinned from ear to ear, her eyes boring holes into the beast
"Maria, if you will."
Maria walked forwards quite steadily.
A cove of light appeared at her hand as her Radiant Blade manifested from the world's mana.
Finally, she raised her weapon…
Ten mana blades manifested from nowhere as they each inexplicably melded into the blade.
...as it began to grow in ever-increasing magnitude…
She grinned, looking at its fully encased body and the crimson eyes that seemed to shine through even the substance that covered it.
"Checkmate."
Maria swung her weapon down.
Blood flowed.
***
They stared at the tower for a moment.
It was wholly rectangular in shape, a rectangular cuboid. Blackened in its entirety, reaching into the sky, it could only be called a pillar. There was no doors, no platforms, not even a standing, it just seemed as if it was birthed from the ground up.
A cough rang out, Maria turned her vision towards Shell who stood before the pillar.
"Now…" The dungeon guide began.
"As I said before, tower bosses are easier than area bosses. However, that isn't truly because area bosses are stronger or anything like that. No, that's due to the special system of the towers."
"You see, there are 100 towers in total on each floor, and they are split up into four groups with 25 being linked each time in randomness each day. Anyway, what makes this so special? Well, when you stumble upon a tower and enter, luck might have it that someone else might do the same to one within the same tower group."
"That means, you enter what we dungeon crawlers like to call a 'boss queue'."
"Yet, don't be fooled. Depending on how many people gather into one 'boss queue', the dungeon might just decide to summon a 'raid boss'."
"Pay attention, if a raid boss is summoned instead of a 'que boss', it can be told easily by the terrain of the tower shifting from smooth limestone to one that fits the battle ability of the boss well or simply works against us."
"However, a raid boss is always worth 2 times the fighter's mark of any other boss."
She ended, "Finally, everyone place your hand on the surface of the Boss Pillar."
Maria did as she was told, walking forwards, she placed her right palm onto the smooth surface of the pillar. A small red imprint of a pointed blade was shown at the back of her hand, this was the 'point' they had gained from defeating the boss earlier.
A moment later, she found her world engulfed in blinding light.
***
The area was a single hall of smooth white limestone beneath their feet. The whole room was lit as if the day, even though it was an enclosed space with no visible door nor any light. Aside from that, the span of the room was gigantic. Looking up, Maria thought she would need to be at least twenty times as tall to reach the roof and looking side to side...she thought about fifty adult males with quite the bulky figure would be needed to even stretch across the area.
Yet...
"Oh, this is quite interesting."
A voice took her attention, Maria turned her head.
Aside from the party she had grown familiar with, there were two new figures spanning the hall she had been summoned into.
The first was a man sitting a great distance away as if in meditation. His upper body holding no clothing and showing off his tanned skin against his toned body. There seemed to be blackened marks that spanned that area. While his lower body wore nothing more than a simple black cotton pants, he wore no footwear.
His eyes were closed, and his long black hair fell against his back.
"Gushin Mao…"
Maria briefly heard the voice of Shell comment at her side.
Her irises turned a trace of gold.
[Name: Gushin Mao
Strength: A
Speed: A
Mana: A
Skills: Freya's Markings (U)
Overall: SS]
[Freya's Markings: Your Body is a vassal for power and container of strength. In return for channeling your mana through your body, your stats increases based on the quantity of mana being channeled at once.
Stage 1; 10% - +1 minor rank
Stage 2; 15% - +2 minor rank
Stage 3; 25% - +3 minor rank
Stage 4; 50% - +4 minor rank
Stage 5; 75% - +5 minor rank
Stage 6; 100% - +6 minor rank.
-This is applied to all stats
Auxiliary:
'How did she know?' She thought for a moment before turning her attention towards the other figure.
Now, this prospect was standing, a blackened umbrella in hand, held keenly above her head and covering her in a small shadow.
However, she was still visible as day, there was no way anyone couldn't help but see her.
A petite build that was reminiscent of a young girl, with long white hair that fell onto the back of her gothic like red dress. Yet, this was not the most striking aspects of the figure. There was still the crimson eyes that seemed dull and not so at the same time. Even more so, however, was the color of her skin; ash white.
As the group took a moment to stare at this surreal presence, the girl simply spoke, as if speaking to no one in particular.
"When I decided to come and pick something up, I never thought I would meet you all here of all places."
Her voice sounded anything but young, it was indeed soft, and it indeed carried with it ease, however---it was quite sharp. This was not the voice of a young girl.
"Hello Maria Springfield, Arthur Springfield...hmm, oh? Shell Chrome and Ashe...I see."
The party looked towards one another, trying to glean which one of them knew the person, yet, based on all of their expressions--no one knew her.
"You may all simply call me Iu."
Yet, aside from the way this person spoke familiarly with them, and the mere nature of her figure, there was something even more nerve-wracking about her to Maria…
'I cannot see her Sacred Text.'
Yes, she could not glean the stats of this figure.
Yet...
The person who named herself as simply Iu seemed to smile.
"Oh? So you have the ability to see the Sacred Text of certain people?"
Maria's eyes widened briefly.
'What? Did I say that out loud?' She furrowed her brow.
"You didn't."