5 Chapter 4: Arcana Title and ... Huh?

Ever since I first learned about my status, I've been observing the changes in my Crysaztel Cognizance and Manipulation. And even now…

Crysaztel Cognizance: 0%

Crysaztel Manipulation: 0%

They're still 0%. I wonder what will happen if these rise to a certain number? They're the only numbers that haven't change ever since the beginning.

Hmm… I'll just keep an eye for it for now.

Alright, let me check every nook and cranny of my status.

Let's go first with the new titles.

Specially, this one… (Arcana – Death).

Ever since I saw the words displayed on one of the screens, the curiosity wells out like a surge of hot magma in my core. I can't say 'heart' since I don't have a heart after all. It's just, I feel like I know something about it, but I can't remember. Well, I'll just have to find out with Analyze. But I can't help but be absorbed in it.

Arcana – Death… Just the ring of it gives a sinister feeling.

Alright, Analyze. Do your best for today's chapter.

[Arcana – Death: "Thou, who have faced death, with a new beginning awaits, are Death." Established a connection to the Order of the Arcana. Earning the protection and guidance of the Lost Goddess, the bestowed is granted an Augment skill: Resurrect and Soul Consume Skill and additional status points. "You have persevered to face the new beginning. Please, carry my will and someday, until we meet." – Lost Goddess.]

This Lost Goddess… I definitely feel something about it… It's like something is calling out to me after seeing this name.

Hmmm… Okay. Let's analyze it.

'Thou, who have faced death, with a new beginning awaits, are Death' There's only one person pertaining to this, right? And that's me, right? So that means, I actually died.

How? I recall the events before coming here once again.

… It's no good. I can't remember. The last memory I have in my mind before coming here is the moment where I was reading a book while going home from school. I feel like I'm hearing those guy's voices in the background, but I don't know what they're talking about.

Other than that…

*prick*

Urk…! My head… Wait, do I even have a head right now…? It hurts… My mind hurts…

I waited for a while and the pain subsided. I never thought I would suddenly feel pain again. What's my maximum leveled Pain Resistance doing? Doesn't it null pain when it's maximum leveled? Do your job properly, man.

It's always like this. Whenever I try to recollect what happened then, an intense pain surges throughout my mind. It's as if like it's preventing me from remembering.

I calm myself down and proceeded with the analyzing. Inhale… Exhale… Just kidding. I don't breathe. Haha. Funny, right? No?

I see…

But carefully think about it, aren't these 'Arcana' thingy those in tarot cards? If I remember them right, they're used for divination or something. One of them is the Death. And according to my status display, I gained that title.

Hmm… Interesting. Gaining things like these that spells out 'This is exceptional!' feels like there's a special ring to them. From the sound of it, I also feel like they're only granted to one person, since it says 'Thou' and 'You.'

For its effects, 'Established a connection to the Order of the Arcana. Earning the protection and guidance of the Lost Goddess, the bestowed is granted an Augment skill: Resurrect and Soul Consume Skill additional status points.'

Certainly, I did earn a skill called Resurrect and Soul Consume. They appear in the Status Display, after all… Analyze.

[Arcana – Resurrect: With the Lost Goddess' blessing, the ability to resurrect is granted. Resurrection left: 4]

[Arcana – Soul Consume: With the Lost Goddess' blessing, the ability to consume the soul of the living is granted.]

Whoa…

Let's set aside Soul Consume for now, but isn't Resurrect like a cheat-like skill…? I can resurrect…

Ah, wait. It has a limit. It says four times left.

… Ahhh. I see. Now it makes sense.

Good thing I made sure to read the details of the tarot cards that was depicted in one of my Diana's books. In the Death tarot card, it shows a skeleton that is wearing an armor. It rides a horse and is holding a banner that signifies the absence of light. Inscribed in it…

Is a five-petal rose. Representing reflection, beauty, purification, immortality, and lastly change.

If it follows that pattern, then the remaining resurrection follows the five petals. That means, that I should originally have five times of resurrection available.

However, it's only four right now. That means, I already used one. And that means…

I already died.

… Hm. But even though it happened, it doesn't feel real to me right now. I mean, here I am, still alive. Well, that's because of the skill, like it states, but…

Even though I learned that I died… I feel like it's not my problem at all. It's like, I'm not even concerned. And to think that it's my death we're talking about.

I feel like a ridiculing chuckle would come out of my mouth if I did have one.

I wonder how I died.

Oh well. Nothing will change upon knowing it.

But then again, I see. So I'm actually now a ghost, huh? I can scare people by making sounds or moving things, right? I mean, those are the selling points of ghosts, right?

Well, I want to at least become able to move things like telekinesis or something. That would be cool. Mufufu.

Anyways, I'll set that aside for now. There's still something that I'm intrigued with. It's like a thorn stuck to my throat, I can't help but be bothered by it.

'You have persevered to face the new beginning. Please, carry my will and someday, until we meet.' – Lost Goddess.

This.

This got me thinking and wondering. Just who is this Lost Goddess? It really strikes a chord…

Aside from an advice-like words at the start, that 'will' gets me intrigued. What is the Lost Goddess' will? Is it connected from how I acquired such title and skills? And is she waiting for a meeting? If we did happen to meet, what will happen?

If you think about it carefully, if this Lost Goddess is seeking help like this, then that means there's something that is worth seeking help with. For a Goddess to seek help… Sounds troublesome.

Yeah.

I guess, there is more in this world that I came into than meets the eye, huh? Though, I don't have eyes right now.

This will be tough to understand just by asking questions in my head. There's too much lack of information.

And this one. <Arcana – Soul Consume> It says that I have gained the ability to consume souls of the living. What will happen if I do, I wonder? I want to try it out. But I don't have anything to test it out to.

Well, I hope that there won't be a time that I will have to use it to a person.

Being that the case, this Lost Goddess is one generous lady, though. I imagine she's like a grandmother or something, giving allowance and cookies to her grandchildren. These Arcana Type skills are overpowered.

Thanks, grandma. I'll gratefully take these.

Anyways. Let's just put a mental note of this Lost Goddess for now. If she wants to meet, then she herself can just go to me and meet me.

Well, she wouldn't do something like this if she can, but… Que sera, sera. Just go with the flow, me.

To sum up, this kind of titles and skills are a must have. Just from acquiring it and leveling up, my status have gained a remarkable boost.

The Death title didn't mention anything but I did receive additional status points in my Physical Defense and Magical Defense. 5 points to each. I just hope they also stack up every level just like World Traveler.

Still, these numbers are kind of worrying me. Will these be enough, I wonder? 5 and 2… They're really small compared to what I usually see in games.

Hmhm. I wonder what the maximum value is.

Now, let's go with the skills.

[Glow: The ability to produce an unceasing light is granted. It can be deactivated at will.]

Hmhm.

I'm an Orb after all. I'm guessing here that I'm 'that' orb that appears in pictures. If that's the case, does my body looks like a sphere now? I turned off Intangible to confirm it, but there's no use. I can't pinpoint my exact shape.

And so I'm floating around, getting dragged by the wind.

I don't want to stay in one place and attract hostile monsters just like the other one. So for now, I should move around as much as possible. And floating around, riding the wind, is perfect right now, as I am checking my skills.

Just imagining that I'm in a residential area right now… Funny how the people around are having their wits thrown out of their minds after seeing an orb floating around. Mufu.

Well, I don't think I'm in a residential are right now, anyways. There's a monster after all.

So these are the skills I gained from defeating (sort of) a monster. Now that I've gotten a fair view of them, I judge that for now, my priority is to gain the remaining four senses. Next is getting stronger. I already have the sense of touch whenever I deactivate the Intangible skill so there's no problem with that.

Hm. Let's try keeping it deactivated for a while.

I was avoiding that option since day one because of my HG, which was only a mere 1 point. But it's different now. I have an 11 Health Gauge.

Also, my Physical and Magic defense are both 7. So even if I somehow take damage from the action that I will take, or somehow a monster suddenly ambushes me and attacked, I may still be able to survive the attack and escape. I can also depend on my 7 Physical and Magical Defense. I hope. Probably.

Please let me depend on it. I mean, 7…? No matter how you look at it, it's quite a small number…! I just hope that this number is normal…

And so, I drifted along the wind and went my ways to wherever my body takes me. I'm in control anyways, so it's not like I don't know where I'm going. It's just that, I can't see anything so I don't feel like I'm working my way towards somewhere even though I intend to.

I just feel like I'm moving towards a distance.

After moving for more than an hour, I was suddenly halted by a hard object. I reacted in pain in reflex but I forgot that I don't feel any pain because of the Pain Resistance skill.

I wonder what this is.

I tried rubbing my body against it to confirm.

Hmm…

Th-This is weird. Not the object, but my action. I'm rubbing my whole body to an unknown object… I know, my body is just one small orb so it's not objectively strange. But for me, it's kind of strange imagining my former body doing it. Ugh.

… I just hope it's something normal.

Hmm… It's hard. Yeah. It's rough. Okay. It's kind of damp, too. Alright.

… It's like a guess the word game.

Yup. Confirming complete.

It's a tree.

But I didn't feel any leaves on it. It's just the trunk, branches, twigs, but no leaves. Is it dead?

At any rate, this is the first time in a while since I found a familiar object. It's sort of touching now that I think about it. I've only been here for more than a week or so now, but I feel like it's already fairly long enough. The nostalgia is rushing… Nice, very nice.

Ahh… Tree. Thank you for being here, man. It's not at all lonely, but it's nice knowing something familia-

*thud!*

Eh?

I… Right now…

… I was… just hit real hard…?

…

..

.

Chapter End