Chapter 40

Ignoring the heavily glitching ‘titles’ and ‘active skills’ sections, she clicked on the passive skills upgrade bar, causing a list to shakily unfurl. Whilst she waited for it to finish loading, she kept her eyes on the spinning cube.

“𝓐𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾’𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓱𝓾𝓱?”

She was glad to see that this ‘system’ was still functional after all this time, even if it was in an albeit deteriorated state. Because of it, she could use any skills that had been bound to her soul separately.

Whatever body she ended up inhabiting upgraded or added to her skill base, and so, World to World, she had gradually built up a repertoire that exceeded the boundaries of any skill holder.

Although magic-based skills wouldn’t be usable this time around.

Once the screen had finally finished loading, she quickly scanned over the updated contents.

Passive

• Legendary Energy Control (upgraded from Advanced Energy Control): Harness and shape raw energy with flawless precision.
• Ultimate Perception (upgraded from Masterful Perception): Perceive the imperceptible; nothing escapes your gaze.
• Ultimate Weapon Control (upgraded from Legendary Weapon Control): Wield any weapon as if it were part of your soul.

“𝓘 𝓼𝓮𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓾𝓹𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓭? 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓓𝓮𝓵𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓪 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓼 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓼…”

The ribbons of colour began to spin around her and dance as she contemplated her next move.

“𝓢𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓓𝓮𝓵𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓪.”

After a few seconds of blinking, the screen stuttered and reloaded.

Active

• Blood Rush: Pain is weakness leaving the body… De-buff: Strain afterwards leaves you exhausted.
• Bone Breaker: Every shield has a weak point…
• Elf Eyes: What do you see, oh green leaf?.. De-buff: long-term usage deteriorates eyesight.
• Iron Will: Bend the body, break the bone, but never the mind…
• Steel Grip: Once I have you, you will not escape…

Passive

• Beauty Beyond Bounds: A presence so radiant it captivates all who behold it.
• Companionship: A loyal bond that strengthens hearts and spirits.
• Curse Attraction: Draw in dark energies to shield others from the burden.

“𝓞𝓱𝓸? 𝓢𝓸 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓴/𝓼𝓾𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓫𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓭, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮 𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷? 𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰… 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓓𝓮𝓵𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓼’ 𝓲𝓷-𝓰𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼.”

Nodding to herself as she said this, she felt comfortable being restricted to support or a similar build subset. It would change things up from her usual play style.

“𝓚𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓘 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓼 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷.”

Suddenly, the screen began to flash.

[₱₳Ɏ₥Ɇ₦₮]

Glaring at the broken, yet brazen message that had filled the screen from edge to edge, she let out a snarl.

“𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕪𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕤, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕕. 𝔹𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕒 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕕𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥, 𝕠𝕙 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕦𝕟.”

Just as she was about to continue her tirade, she felt as if she was being watched. Lifting her chin to look at the grey sky, she couldn’t determine where the gaze came from, though shockingly, it wasn’t from the ‘system’ in front of her.

Even after spreading out her energy to scan through her consciousness, she couldn’t find anything unusual.

Tilting her head slightly at the discrepancy, she wondered if it was due to the memory download. Being inside for this long would only take seconds of real time externally.

Looking through her lashes at the spinning cube, she sneered loudly.

“𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓭𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓳𝓸𝓫, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘’𝓵𝓵 𝓭𝓸 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮.”

With a flick of colour swirling around her like a delicate dress, she turned her back to the pedestal and left.

********

Blinking rapidly as she centred herself back into Delphina’s body, the first thing she noticed was the cool ceramic handle pressed harshly into her palm. Then it was the texture of the russet brown toilet lid beneath her legs.

Giving her toes a wiggle and taking a deep breath in, as the damp vapour left her lips, she felt the reactivated system stir within her. Perfect, she could now handle the task at hand.

Even if it meant tonight would be one filled with horror.

Despite not looking forward to the consequences of using her skills, it was something she had long gotten used to. And so, with a cheesy grin now plastered on her face, she moved to set her plan in motion.

“Looks like I know how to activate Delphina’s skills now, No.69.”

[Congratulations!!]

[☜(˚▽˚)☞]

[Because you’ve transmigrated, you can use skills earlier than most sub-adults!]

[As a perk for unlocking skill usage so quickly, let me issue you a quest!]

[Issuing Quest; Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill.]

[Quest: ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill’ Is currently at 75% completion and ready for submission.]

[If you wish to raise your completion to at least 95% you need to activate a skill of your choice once.]

Letting out a chuckle, Delphina mentally checked off any skills that would be outside of what ‘Delphina’ would be able to use, before settling on the few she would activate today.

“Earlier than most sub-adults? No.69 must be referring to those whose birthdays are before the Imperial Ball. I guess they get a slight learning advantage on those born later in the year or something.”

“I’ll activate the skill ‘Valour’s Call’”.

“Oh brave souls, heed my name, answer my call”.

Mentally chanting the skills start-up line, she crossed her fingers that others would be able to do the same; repeatedly chanting the skills out loud could become tedious. No.69 would chalk it up to the transmigration, but the others in this World?

Well, maybe she could just bullshit it by saying one of her skills was mental chanting. No doubt, somewhere in the de Luna lineage (formally being the Family of Mages in this World), there would have been a similar skill that would give her some credence.

[Valour’s ₵₳ⱠⱠ: Oh brave souls, heed my name, answer my call.
Effect: People ₩ⱧØ ₳ⱤɆ chivalrous, knightly, or brave view ɎØɄ more positively and easily ₳₵₵Ɇ₱₮ working together with ɎØɄ. They may view ɎØɄ as their leader if ĐɆ₣Ɇ₳₮ɆĐ by you.]

Hearing the broken voice echo in her head, she confirmed that activating skills through that ‘system’ would still work despite now being bound to a second one. If it hadn’t? Well, the passives would always work, and she’d just be limited to the original Delphinas’ skills.

“Not that those are too shabby either, I wonder if the skill progression trees in the Game also exist in the World? That’d be fun.”

[Delphina? Has the skill been activated successfully?]

Oho? Looks like No.69 can’t even monitor skill activation.

Looking back up towards the gently sparkling screen, she nodded.

“Most of Delphina’s skills are passive enhancement ones. So there’s nothing super flashy to show unless it’s on the battlefield.”

“This skill just makes anyone who’s knightly or brave view her in a more positive light, especially if she’s defeated them. Luckily, Delphina is charismatic enough that I don’t see anyone being able to resist it.”

[I see! Thank you for informing me. Would you mind updating me on your skill set in the future? Some users expressed dissatisfaction at being forced to share skill activation/deactivation moments and descriptions.]

[As such, the Administration initially blocks our systems from accessing the user’s skill data until confirmation.]

“Sure, I do feel uncomfortable with you accessing it remotely, so I’ll update you via the interface bracelet. I won’t be sharing activation/deactivation unless I have to verbalise it.”

[Your preferences have been noted!]

[Quest: ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill’ Is currently at 95% completion and ready for submission.]

Finally standing up and stretching, Delphina moved to exit the toilet cubicle; however, as she reached to unlock the door, a sudden thought stopped her in her tracks.

Why didn’t she just ask No.69? She no longer had to rely on herself alone to find things out about this World.

“Question for you, does the skill system from Lovers of Mareveil exist in the World?”

[5/20 questions now available]

[Yes, the skill trees from Lovers of Mareveil are available within the World of Mareveil. The reward for ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill’ is to unlock this skill tree access early.]

[(｡◕‿◕｡)]

“Well, would you look at that, then I’d like to confirm my Quest completed.”

[Quest confirmed completed and submitted at 95%. Congratulations Delphina! You have unlocked the skill progression trees!]