The Precursor (1/5)

The sound of rattling snakes;

The scent of pungent, rotting flesh;

The taste of greasy, filthy mud.

The pain in her left arm; the missing chunks of flesh in her chest.

The burning hole in her abdomen; the ropes of intestines wrapping around her neck.

The lack of light; the thirty-seven broken bones.

Those were her final memories on Earth.

Disgusting; painful, atrocious.

But here she was now.

A toddler in a Ducal Family, a little girl with abhorrent, mixed black and white hair that dropped down to below her waist.

Swirling, whirlpool-like eyes replaced her iris' and pupils, the sign of a Devil.

Mixed, black and white hair; the sign of an Abomination.

She already knew her role in this game world; in [Throes of Fortune].

[Aranea Von Lethraxus]

[Age 4]

[Level 1]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 2]

[Endurance: 1]

[Mana: 32]

[Stat Locked]

This was her, Aranea.

A Cursed being, at least in this world; she'd argue that to be the case even in her last.

'Man, what a shitty game to be reborn into.'

Dangling her legs off the edge of the bed, Aranea glanced at the source of the moonlight drifting into her bedroom.

The twin moons.

The larger, white one, Fallion.

The smaller, grey one, Malta.

Getting off her bed, Aranea pitter-pattered over to her windows. Picking up a small stall, she struggled to place it below the window, but once she did, she carefully made her way on top.

Unlocking the window, she slowly pushed it open, allowing the warm, midnight breeze in.

"Hoo...Ha..."

Sipping the fresh air, Aranea observed the Ducal Family's compound from above; she could see Knights performing their duties down below.

The trickling waters passing through the gardens into the infinite ponds glistened under the moonlight.

'I have 11 years until the start of the Main Scenario's First Act.'

Resting her head on her hands, '...I guess I should do what I'm best at.'

Grind.

Grind some more.

Grind even more.

Then fulfill her role.

---

It's been 5 days since her arrival.

In these 5 days, she snuck into libraries and innocently asked her parents and the maids some questions about the surrounding terrain and any Dungeons.

In the end, she received her answer.

[The Dark Pit]

[F-Grade Dungeon]

Mainly consisting of large, parasitic snakes and their smaller thrall.

Covered in a dark cloak, Aranea looked at the two new Skills she obtained in the last 5 days while experimenting.

It was disgustingly simple for her to control Mana, it was almost like a natural extension of her body.

There were many times when she was tempted to cast a Spell and use Magic like in all those fantasy RPGs, but she had to resist.

It wouldn't do her any good to raise the suspicion and discrimination against herself any further.

'It does feel good though, heh.'

The feeling was electrifyingly good; the sensation of Mana trickling through her veins was nigh-orgasmic.

Her body belonged to Mana.

...in more ways than one.

Looking at the large, relatively so to her size, dark hole in the ground, Aranea began circulating her Mana once more.

Then, she stepped down the steep steps.

It didn't take long before she heard the first signs of life.

Hiss~

It was two small, grey thralls roaming around the entrance of the Dungeon.

Their beady, red eyes locked onto the small, robed figure. The scent wafting off of the target's flesh was dangerously aromatic.

Enticing.

Bobbing their heads, the two smaller snakes began slowly slithering their way at her.

'It's F-Grade for a reason.'

Raising her hands, Aranea commanded her Mana into her palms.

The steps to conjure a Spell were simultaneously simple and complex.

Transform Mana into Element, and fire.

But the transformation was extraordinarily difficult. It required the use of intricate Mana Circles that created a path for the Transmutation of Mana.

It should be difficult.

But for some reason, the information flooded itself into her brain.

It was too natural.

A tiny, compressed spear of flames sizzled on her palm, wafting off waves of blistering heat into the air.

If this was an enclosed room, then she'd suffocate herself instantly.

Luckily it is an open space connected to the surface.

Aiming it at the snakes-

Fwoosh!

-the miniature flaming spears cut through the air, leaving behind a trail of blazing smoke.

The snake's red eyes were beyond slow, they couldn't catch up with its speed.

So.

Squelch-

Psh...

The flaming spears passed straight through their abdomens, splitting the snakes in two as pieces of innards spilt over the cauterized, bisected wounds.

Squeling and squirming on the ground, the nervous systems continued firing signals for a while, until finally, the erratic movement died down.

She didn't receive any tangible reward or notification that the enemies were slain, but the increase in her EXP bar was a good enough sign.

Stepping past the corpses, Aranea took in the pungent scent released by the dead thralls, her face scowling slightly.

The sight was grim, and the smell even worse.

But she had to get used to this.

Taking in another deep breath.

Aranea continued down her path.

She still had a whole Dungeon to clear.

---

It was easier than expected.

While the larger snakes were quick, she was able to easily outsmart them because of their lack of conscious thought processes.

Her Level went up by 3 to Level 4, which was 6 Stat Points she could freely allocate.

While the levels of these Skills looked low, it was good to mention that an F-Rank Mercenary had, on average, Lvl 5 Skills.

As for the 6 Stat Points.

[Agility: 2 -> 8]

The average grown Woman had an Agility of 7-9.

The average Man had 12-14.

It was important to note that the higher the Stat, the more of an impact Stat Points had. For example, the gap between 90 and 91 in a Stat would be the same as the gap between 1 and 30.

It wasn't entirely accurate, but that's how it was.

And yes.

It was overly broken, but it was for a reason.

This System?

The ability to allocate Stat Points?

They didn't exist in this world.

It was a game-only thing.

People in this world also 'levelled up', but it was different.

They didn't have literal Stats or EXP. When they gained combat and training experience, when they learnt new techniques, it would increase their 'Level' and 'Stats'.

In a way, the normal person in this world could never catch up to her.

Emphasis on normal.

'I should head back home, only two hours of the night remain.'

-----

"Ari, come on~ Let's play!"

A blonde-haired kid popped his head around the door, he was 4 years older than her, Aranea's older brother.

Luke Von Lethraxus.

The pout on his face was a common sight in the estate the past month.

It was the talk of the maids; rumours had gone around that Aranea stopped playing with her brother because she was finally becoming a 'cursed' being.

Some said she was finally starting to shift into a Demon, while others guessed that she had gone emotionless.

But, in the end, all rumours had some grounds to them.

The reason for these rumours was because of Aranea's reclusive life the past month.

She shut herself either in the library or her bedroom, she rarely played, went into the garden or anything really.

Even the scarce invitations to tea parties with the other young ladies of Ducal Families of the Empire fizzled away.

"...Luke, I'm sorry..."

Lowering her head apologetically, her universally kind older brother waved his hands frantically, "Don't worry! It's fine!"

His face didn't look fine though, it was more downcast than usual.

But there was nothing Aranea could do about it.

She had no choice.

Aranea had to speed up her research before the Curses destroyed her.

Glancing at her Level and Agility...

[Level 15]

[Agility: 30]

Every Stat Point was shoved into Agility.

Normally you'd be happy.

No, she is happy.

Even with how grim her future outlook seemed, she was still happy to level up, to get stronger. You could say this was the dream of all gaming addicts.

Use Magic and Level Up.

What could be better?

...Swords maybe?

Ooo...

Swords would be fun-

'Who am I kidding?'

[Aranea Von Lethraxus]

[Age 4]

[Level 15]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 30]

[Endurance: 1]

[Mana: 32]

'Sigh...'

That was only the start of her Status Screen.

Her Skill repertoire had gone up by an insane amount but those she could worry about another time.

Everything but these two.

Her focus had been on nothing but this, she, quite simply, had no other choice.

'I didn't even put one point into Mana, yet it's already beginning...'

What, you might ask?

Well, in the past month, a Trait had appeared.

<Body Decay>

'...'

That was the reason for all of her research, for this reclusive lifestyle where any time other than that spent in Dungeons was spent on Magic Theorems, Arrays, etc.

And, most importantly, Human Anatomy books.

Her efforts had been so insane that:

<Pursuer of Mana>

She received a title for it, something rare even halfway through the game.

So, seeing her 'older' brother's dismayed face a few minutes ago, Aranea could seriously only apologise.

If she tried running, climbing, or even jogging lightly; she would collapse.

If that happened then her facade would come crumbling down-

Suddenly-

"Ugh!"

A piercing pain echoed through her veins, causing her eyeballs to bulge in their sockets.

The pain buried itself into her bones, digging holes like a tunnel bore into her bone marrow; every blood vessel in her body squeezed and churned.

It was agonising.

So agonising that it took a few minutes of repetitive breathing exercises to relax.

'...Fuck.'

How?

How did the original Aranea from the game do this?

What did it require?

At the same time, she was thankful that this character had that role. Otherwise, that much detail on her Skills and unique attributes wouldn't exist as extra notes on the developer's site.

That's why she knew what she had to do.

It only required some time.

And pain.

And...

'Sigh...'

She never thought she'd be doing 'that' in this lifetime after mocking everyone for doing it in her last.

Aranea was never one to sigh much; that's how bad the situation was.

So-

Back to her original point-

Before the onset of pain collapsed from all around.

Agility.

That was the reason she put all of her points into Agility.

Her body was too fragile. But with extremely high Agility points it meant that she could use very small movements to emulate a normal one.

That and the fact that she couldn't place any points into Mana until she created that Skill which she was aiming to make; that gave her the freedom to shove it into Agility.

She could, technically, save the Stat Points.

But Agility was too important, even more so in the future, and especially so now when she was so limited in her movement.

'I'm close.'

'Let's get back to work.'

Next chapter