Big drops of water fell from the dark, cloudy sky above a certain bustling city. Perhaps it was the most crowded night ever known. There stood a man wearing a black suit and an expensive looking fedora. His glances were aimed at a certain building.
The building was really shabby, with holes here and there. Nobody would believe that someone was actually living there. But in fact, somebody was.
After standing still in the rain for almost 5 minutes, he walked into the building. He knocked the door three times, opened it, and went inside. The inside of the building was so dark and damp, and filled with numerous cobwebs, while the smell was also musty. It was hard to breathe, but the man did not care and just walked straight, deeper into the building.
"Who's there?", a voice of a child could be heard from the deepest part of the building.
The man paid no heed and just continued walking.
"Stop right there!", the child shouted. "Take another step and I'll stab you!"
The man stopped his legs. He then took a cigar from his pocket and lit it. The smoke from the cigar started to fill the cramped room. Not long after, a figure of a child hooded with a shaggy cloth appeared from the dark corner. Her face was full of bruises and scars, and her clothes were badly tattered. She was holding a short knife in her right hand, while her left hand was looking limp.
"Look at the state you're in right now. No one will believe that you are from that distinguished family."
The man spoke in an arrogant manner. His raspy voice echoed through the whole building. It was thanks to the rain that his voice was not heard outside.
"How did you know I was here? Did my father send you?", the child freaked out. "I don't wanna go back."
The child pointed the knife to the man. Even though she looked so weak, one could see resolve and determination through her sharp glare.
"Why would your father send someone to pick you up? You're abandoned by them. Why don't you understand that?"
The child went silent after hearing the words that came out from the man. She was on the verge of crying, but she was still pointing her knife bravely.
"Annette von Schwarze…", the man extended his right hand. "Take my hand. We will give you a new meaning to your life."
***
A small creature was flying through a bright and fiery alley. It was seemingly fleeing from something while flapping its little wings fastly in hope to lose its pursuer. The creature had red skin and a little horn sticking out from its forehead. It was known as the lowest ranked Asura, an Imp.
"As if I'd let you go! Come back here my cute little EXP!"
Yep, I was the pursuer. I was running as fast as I could, but with a child's body and short legs the gap between us just slowly widened.
"Huff… Puff… If only… My feet are… Longer!"
I was panting and sweating like crazy. The gold dress I wore was not able to absorb my sweat at all so it was really stuffy.
"Damn it!"
I stopped and fell on the ground. I laid on my back even though the floor was rocky and hot at the same time.
"I never knew running with a child's body would be this tiring! Ugh…"
I placed my left hand on my forehead and raised my other hand. The chains made a soft clanking sound when I raised it.
"I wonder if I could let go of these chains…", I mumbled to myself.
[It is impossible with your current state. Releasing the Sealing Chains now will result in your body exploding due to the pressure of the sealed energy within your body.]
She stopped for a moment.
[You should at least evolve 5 times before you are able to do so.]
"What the fuck?!", I was struck in confusion. "You never told me that!"
[You never asked.]
Her immediate answer was enough to make my blood boil in anger. But I knew it was useless to get mad at Dea since she always prioritized the highest possibility to help me survive and grow stronger.
[And also, I have a suggestion for hunting monsters.]
"What is it?"
[An ambush would suit you more, instead of chasing it blindly and using brute force like an idiot.]
There she babbled abruptly again. Wait, did she just roast me? Well, I hated to admit it, but everything she suggested was always perfectly on point. I also thought of ambushing it before, but I underestimated it since it looked so weak and vulnerable.
"It's easier said than done! Look here, I'm a child! If I were in my original body this would be a piece of cake.", I grunted, justifying myself.
[It is useless to blame your body to make excuses. It makes you look more pathetic. You have a brain but you did not use it well.]
Damn. She actually roasted the shit out of me. Twice. Or maybe thrice?
"I was so stupid for anticipating good advices from you. Are you actually having fun roasting me?"
[...]
"Hey!"
[A little bit.]
This bitch… Someday I'd rip that mouth of yours.
"Then what should I do?", I asked her with a half-assed tone. Who wouldn't?
[You have been gifted with skills and blessings. Why did you not make use of them?]
"If I knew I would gladly use them! You never explained it!"
[You have already used [Devour] twice. Do I always have to explain everything to you?]
"You little—"
[Incompetent.]
I was rendered silent.
***
"At… Last! I did it! Look, Dea, I did it!"
I was jumping around in happiness.
[Congratulations. You have successfully made your first weapon by using the skill [Weaponize]. The skill's proficiency increased by 1.]
It took me around 2 hours just to succeed this once. Why wouldn't we flashback a little bit?
After Dea and I bickered, she actually taught me how to use my skills. The first one was [Appraisal]. It allowed me to gain a certain amount of understanding from anything I laid my eyes on, she said.
"Is there anything notable here?", I asked myself while turning my head right and left.
I was looking for something to appraise. Then I found a pile of stones and set my eyes on it.
"Appraisal.", I said loudly.
[A pile of stones.]
"... Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"Haaahh…", I inhaled deeply. "THIS IS SO FUCKING USELESS!"
I snapped, again. It was so irritating to know that the skill I'd been anticipating to use was actually garbage.
"You know what? Fuck this bullshit. Even a baby could tell that it was just a pile of fucking stones! What kind of [Appraisal] is this?!"
[A pile of stones.]
…
"... FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—"
[Correction. The more you use the skill, the higher the proficiency it will have. I suggest you use more skills from now on.]
"UUUuuuuck… Wait, what?"
[The higher the level of your [Appraisal] is, the more information you can get from a single scan.]
"So how can I raise my skills' level? By using it frequently?"
[Correct. It requires you to use a certain skill 10 times to level it up from level 1 to 2. It doubles continuously right after.]
"So you're saying that I will need to use it 20 times to level up from 2 to 3 and 40 times to level up from 3 to 4?"
[Correct. You still need to use [Appraisal] 7 times more for it to level up to 2.]
My mood calmed down. It was not as bad as I thought. Actually, it was convenient for a skill to level up that quickly. I started counting down and used the skill.
"Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
"This is the last one…", I took a deep breath while preparing myself to be let down. "Appraisal."
[A pile of stones.]
[Congratulations. Your skill, [Appraisal], has leveled up to 2.]
It was the truth.
"Okay, let's use it one more time.", I got a little excited. "Appraisal."
[A pile of stones. Rarity: Common.]
Dea actually told me the truth. My anger completely subsided after knowing that I could get a somewhat useful information. I tried to change my tone to ask her nicely.
"Dea, tell me. Is there a maximum level for a skill?"
[The answer is, it depends. Normally, skills will have a limitation of 15 level ups. But for EX, Unique, and Mutation skills, they do not have the concept of level, since they are maxed out from the start.]
She did not roast me. That fact alone was already my win.
"Wait a minute… In that case, I already have 2 maxed out skills?"
[Correct.]
She replied immediately.
[And you are a fool to not realize that until now.]
"Can you just make this worse?! God, seriously!"
*Farenna's newest status:
————————————
{{{ Status }}}
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Name : Farenna
Gender : Female
Age : 8 y.o
Race : Lv. 1/30 Blood Nymph
Status : Sealed
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Sync. Rate: 10.01%
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HP : 200 MP: 100
SP : 70
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STR: 10 LUK: 5
AGI : 15 DEX: 10
INT : 12 VIT : 20
Unallocated pts: 0
————————————
Equipments:
· Headgear : None
· Armor : Rough Golden Gown (Rare)
· Torso : None
· Feet : None
· Misc. : Sealing Chains of Hell (EX)
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Skills:
· Appraisal Lv. 2 (↑1 Lv. Up)
· Devour (EX)
· Bona Dea (Unique)
· Crafting Lv. 1
· Weaving Lv. 1
· Weaponize Lv. 1
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Blessings:
· Blessing of Purity & Chastity
· Blessing of Growth (Inherited)
————————————
Curses: None
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Titles:
· Regressor
· Goddess' Apostle
· Rotten to the Bone
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