Chapter 11 - Constellation???

A/N: Super tired today since work sucked, so kinda short chap today, but better than nothing I guess? 

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While filling a basin of water to wash his hair with a large wooden ladle, Ivan quietly stared at his hand. Thinking back on everything that just happened, he halted his movements and turned it over a few times. A subtle prickling sensation remained just under his skin even now. 

The tingling goosebumps on his arms that lingered after releasing Yae Miko from his embrace certainly remained as well, but that wasn't what he focused on. After all, although his bad luck ruined all of his attempted relationships in the past through absurd accidents, it wasn't like he had never felt the touch of a woman before. The current prickling under skin was something completely different. It was something unfamiliar, yet also somehow comfortable. In fact, his entire body felt different.

It felt like a dam had broken within him to allow a steady flow of… something. He assumed it to be the elemental particles of this world. 

'I definitely had Electro sparks come out of my body,' He thought. His face muscles tightened up due to his serious contemplations.

 He wanted to try it. He wanted it to flow. 

Instinct led him to channel elemental particles of his own volition for the first time.Purple sparks crackled around his arm. His lips curled upward into an ecstatic grin.

Wondering what specifically had changed within him, he opened his palm to the sky and summoned his constellation. Briefly, he noticed the red exclamation point on the quest log icon, but he ignored it for the time being. Instead, he clicked his character profile.

The rectangular screen showing an external view of himself posing with arms crossed in front of his chest popped into view. The image did not do him any favors. In fact, he thought it made him look more tired and sickly than normal. Moving on from that, he moved his eyes to the selectable sections at the left. Before, the only choices to select included weapons and artifacts. Now, two more had appeared, but neither were familiar.

'Curses and… Dicia? What is that?'

Frowning, he checked the Curses tab. Then, his frown disappeared, and one eyebrow rose. What he saw looked both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Unlike most characters he knew, his screen was a transparent gray. In the middle, several lights connected over the top of the hazy image of a circular object surrounded by strange symbols of varying shapes and sizes. The center of the circle looked eerily similar to an upside-down depiction of an old-fashioned keyhole.

'This is just the Constellation tab. No, wait… There are eight stars?' Ivan fell quiet. A few taps later, he tapped his chin while mumbling, 'So these correspond to my curses, with all but the first one being unknown. This illuminated one… only has a poem.'

Closing his eyes, Ivan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Well, it's something, I guess. I don't like poems, but guess I may as well read it."

'In the ink of night, whispers dance,

Thunder's heartbeat, a fleeting trance.

Clouds embrace a charge untamed,

Silent vows in lightning named.

Electric veins weave through the sky,

A symphony in shadows fly.

Bolts break free, a celestial key,

Unleashed, the storm's wild decree.

Nature's script on darkened page,

A flash, a roar, the lightning's age.'

'Electro Unsealed. Physical abilities increased.'

'...'

"I don't get it. However…"

Ivan smirked. He tried recalling how his body felt when Electro element lightning exploded from his body. Once again, purple sparks fluttered out from his arm and danced across his skin. 

"I can use Electro! Haha! Let's go, baby! That's what I'm talking about! Heh. Good thing nobody can hear me right now. So, what about this Dicia tab?"

'...'

It was literally just a Talents tab, but it only specified that he had unlocked the Electro element.

'Doesn't specify any skills, but I almost feel like my body already knows what to do. I'm itching to try it, but that can wait until tomorrow. Since that's out of the way, quest reward time.'

After collecting a total of ninety primogems, 42,000 Mora, several adventurer experience books, and one of each type of wish, Ivan set about washing his hair with a happy grin on his face. 

'This is such a great day. I wonder if my bad luck has lessened somewhat?'

Feeling that his luck was unusually good this evening, he went ahead and opened his wish screen. Back in the day, even with pity, he barely summoned five star characters after two hundred wishes most of the time. 

'But this time will be different!'

He eagerly pressed the button to use the Intertwined Wish. A moment later, a screen popped up showing a falling star.

"What the hell?! WHY IS IT GREEN?!"