Titles, and finishing checking the status.

First of all, sorry for the delay.

The reason I took so long to post is work. Let me give you a quick explanation:

After the trip I took — which I used my vacation days for — I came back home. The issue is that February 12th/13th/14th is Carnival in my country, basically a huge celebration that turns into a “holiday” for one to two weeks. The problem is that the work that’s supposed to be done during those weeks doesn’t magically disappear. So either you rack up overtime afterward, or everything piles up.

So I used the time before Carnival to get ahead on things. I put in some extra hours and focused on not screwing myself over later. Now I’m basically free during these weeks to do whatever I want, without extra work waiting for me afterward.

As a proper introvert who enjoys staying home, writing, gaming, and listening to idiots on podcasts, I’ll be staying in and writing for you all.

Now, a quick little poll — no rambling, no explanations, nothing:

OrangeOrNeon Green.

Pick one of the three — yes, “Or” is also an option — and write what you prefer. Again, no explanations, nothing. Just vote for whatever your heart tells you is right. This will slightly change the direction of the story later on.

I won’t drag this out any longer — good night, and enjoy the chapter!

(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori.

[...]---[...]

After making sure Dylan and the others had no lingering issues from staring into the “Void,” and weren’t infected by some alien curse, I resumed the conversation.

“Well, now that the questions about how fucked I am have been answered, let’s move on to what really matters.” I ignored the looks the others gave me and turned to Alalia. “The Enchanted Pearl, please.”

“Enchant— ah! The little ball!” she exclaimed.

She quickly reached into the center of the doll’s chest, where a hole twisted through the wood, and pulled the Enchanted Pearl out from inside.

Curiously, the pearl looked more solid than before.

As if she knew I’d notice, she explained before I could even ask:

“I reinforced and fortified what I could of the angler’s little soul fragment and stabilized some memories. After all those tests to find a cure for the Outer Foreign Presence, I got better at adjusting memories.” She looked a little proud.

“It’s not perfect, but the little ball shouldn’t vanish out of nowhere anymore, even if it’s far from me—or you.” She hopped off her small wooden chair and handed me the Enchanted Pearl.

“Thank you.” I ignored the nickname and accepted it.

“You’re going to…” Gilbert pointed from the Enchanted Pearl to me. “I don’t know… see or read Simon’s memories now? Eat it?”

“Eat it?…”

He shrugged.

My eyelid twitched. My right pupil pulsed.

“I’m not eating anything,” I replied tiredly. “And I’m not going to look at Simon’s memories right now. Maybe later. I just asked for the Enchanted Pearl because it’s involved in the matter.”

“Remember what Simon said before he died?” My gaze shifted between the Zoologist and the Merchant.

Maybe I should’ve waited for Selina and the others before starting this conversation, just so I wouldn’t have to explain everything again. But that problem could easily be solved by delegating the task to people far more competent than me.

Which, in this case, included Jinn, Ozma, or Dylan as well.

There were plenty of competent people I could delegate things to.

Gilbert frowned for a moment, exchanging a look with his daughter. Robyn glanced at Dylan, who looked confused.

“That nonsense he said about being cautious with the guide?”

“‘Beware of the Guide,’” I corrected.

“With the guide… who? Wait, me?!” Dylan looked completely lost for a second, pointing at himself.

“No.” I shook my head solemnly. “And that’s what I wanted to talk about. The phrase I was referring to wasn’t that one anyway—it was the one Simon used when he called himself the angler of the previous generation.”

I organized my thoughts for a moment.

“The ‘Angler’ part wasn’t just because he was a angler. It’s a title—one of the many I’ve been ignoring, thinking it was just something vague and empty.” I mocked myself silently. Idiot.

“The shadow—you—said something like that before,” Charlotte said, correcting herself mid-sentence. “On the balcony, at the palace, before the battle. What are those titles?”

I scratched my beard as I replied. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. Again—I thought it wasn’t important, but apparently, it is. I didn’t even think it was something generational.”

Which, on the other hand, was obvious. In the game, when one NPC died, another just appeared out of nowhere. Here, that couldn’t happen.

I turned to Alalia.

“The titles I’m talking about—do you know them? Do you know what they are?”

The living doll tilted her head. She looked confused for a moment before slowly nodding.

“Yes and no… I know what they are, but they were created before me. The titles were born from an agreement between the world itself and the Empress of Light. Even I have no right or authority to know what that agreement was or what exactly it involved—I only know a few details.”

“Well, all titles except for two of them were created through that agreement…”

“I don’t even know which people hold those titles or not. I can’t detect them. It’s something that wasn’t supposed to continue existing after the world was sealed. The titles were something personally granted by the Empress of Light—and only by her.”

“I can only recognize certain patterns if I see them up close. That’s how I can identify specific titles,” she finished.

My lips pressed into a thin line.

Something involving the Empress of Light. The Queen of the Fae.

To be honest, that was something I’d already expected—after all, everything I’d been “ignoring” somehow always ended up tied to the Fae or their blessings.

The only item that didn’t, as far as I knew or remembered, was the mask I got as a reward in Shahrabad.

I drummed my fingers on the table, uneasy. The part about the Empress of Light being the only one capable of granting them bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

I placed the Enchanted Pearl on the table and interlaced my fingers beneath my chin.

“Wait, so we’ve got something that came from the Fae?!” Gilbert exclaimed, raising his voice a little. “Simon said I was the ‘Merchant’ of this generation, and Robyn was the ‘Zoologist.’”

“So he was the ‘Merchant’…” Alalia murmured. Everyone turned to her, prompting her to explain: “As I said, I don’t know or can’t detect who holds the titles. I only know a few recurring traits that people with certain titles tend to have. The ‘Merchant’ doesn’t have any recognizable ones besides being talented at, well, being a merchant.”

She pointed at Robyn.

“I recognized her as the ‘Zoologist’ the first time I saw her. The ‘Zoologist’ is always a woman who has some kind of animal trait but isn’t a beastkin—it’s a ‘curse’—” she made air quotes with her small wooden hands “—that’s easy to recognize when I look more closely.”

The room fell silent for a moment, aside from the sound of Dylan’s pen scratching the paper.

“I see… at least partially.” Charlotte continued. “So what does this actually mean? Devas said he thought it was something empty, right?”

“Yes and no… I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot today.” Alalia shook her head before explaining, “Each title has a kind of ‘pseudo-authority,’ so to speak, but it’s been heavily diluted because of the world’s seal. Before, it was something much stronger.”

She pointed at Robyn.

“The ‘Zoologist’ is good with animals—especially the one she’s ‘cursed’ with—and can transform into it. It’s a step above beastkin, so to speak. Before the seal, she could turn into practically any animal and control them, even use their abilities.”

She paused before adding, “Or at least that’s what I’ve heard. I never saw a Zoologist up close before the world was sealed.”

Then the little wooden finger turned toward Gilbert.

“The ‘Merchant’ is generally just good at being a merchant. But before the seal, he could impose contracts that, once signed, couldn’t be broken without severe consequences—since the world itself was witness to the contract—and he could see the true value of things in whatever currency they were being sold or traded for.”

What the hell? That was ridiculous. I didn’t think it would be that strong—or that useful.

“Damn, that would’ve helped me a lot…” Gilbert grumbled, echoing my thoughts.

“Alright.” Dylan tapped his pen twice against his notebook. “Following that logic, Simon was the ‘Angler’—or rather, the previous generation’s ‘Angler.’ The ‘Guide’ he mentioned refers to the ‘Guide’ title. How many others are there?”

I searched my thoughts for the information for a moment.

“…Twenty-nine in total,” I answered. “As far as I know, there are twenty-nine titles, but I could be wrong—give or take a few.”

I looked at Alalia. She shook her head.

“I don’t know the exact number either.”

“Twenty-nine…” Dylan muttered. His eyes wandered across the room before he seemed to realize something and asked, “There aren’t only two people with titles in this room, are there?”

Actually, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“As far as I know, no.”

“No.”

Alalia and I answered at the same time. She looked at me.

“Can you detect them?”

“No, I just have a vague idea of what kind of people tend to have them.” I shook my head before asking, “Who were you going to point at?”

Without hesitation, she pointed at Charlotte, then at herself.

“The ‘Princess’ and the ‘Dryad,’” she said. “The ‘Princess’ title always appears in royalty—or in nobility if there’s no woman in the royal family. It usually skips a generation. Charlotte’s grandmother was the last one—she’s the current one.”

Charlotte’s lips parted slightly in surprise.

“As for the ‘Dryad,’ that one’s obvious. I’m the last one—only I can have that title. It’s one of the two titles that weren’t created through the Empress of Light’s agreement with the world—the planet created them on its own.”

She added a moment later, “The other title is the ‘Guide.’”

A low hum echoed from my throat as I thought. I pointed at Isis.

“And her? Nothing to say about her?”

Alalia looked lost. “No?…” she said hesitantly. “Does she have a title?”

“Probably.” I replied. I wasn’t so sure anymore after these discoveries, but I doubted I was wrong. “The ‘Party Girl’. Or maybe you know it by another name—I know it as that.”

The name was kind of modern, so maybe it had another version.

“The ‘Jester’!” Alalia exclaimed, suddenly realizing. “That actually makes a lot of sense…”

“I’ll stick with ‘Party Girl,’ thank you very much.” Isis didn’t hesitate to choose the title that came out of my mouth. “‘Jester’ isn’t my style at all. I’m not a clown—I just know how to enjoy a party.”

“That makes three more. Five in total,” Dylan said, lowering his gaze to jot down notes in his notebook.

“Six,” I corrected, pointing at him. “The ‘Guide.’”

His pen froze midair.

“You said…”

“I said you’re the ‘Guide,’ but not the one Simon mentioned. Titles are something generational. You’re the one of this generation — the ‘Guide’ Simon referred to could belong to the previous one, or maybe an even older generation. Perhaps even a future one,” I explained my reasoning.

Or maybe not even that. Simon had one foot in the grave, half-mad and corrupted by the Void. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d made something up—or if the information had been planted.

Dylan seemed to relax a bit at my words.

“Right… Do we have any idea who the previous ‘Guide’ might’ve been?”

I shook my head. “Alalia?”

“No idea. The ‘Guide’ is one of the titles without a pattern,” she said, shaking her head too. “It can appear anywhere, with no clear visual or personality traits as far as I know. I only met one—at least I think I did—the founder of the Order of Guides. And he was completely different from Dylan, both physically and personality-wise.”

“I don’t even know what that title grants, honestly. The name suggests he’s supposed to be a guide, but I’m not sure of the scope.” She concluded.

So Dylan’s glowing eyes had nothing to do with the title. Neither did his innate magic, apparently.

I’d need to get everything Alalia knew later.

“Wait, does everyone here have one of these titles?” Charlotte asked, then corrected herself as her gaze passed over me, Jinn, and Millia. “All the Terrarians, I mean. This… can’t just be a coincidence, can it?”

All eyes turned to me.

“I didn’t gather or seek out people with titles, if that’s what you’re asking,” I began slowly. “It just happened to turn out that way.”

“The others—do they have one of these titles too? My mother, Melissa, Selina, and Isis’s team?” Dylan asked, still writing with his right hand.

“Not all of them. Helena and Maribel shouldn’t have any,” I said, then started listing. “The others, as far as I know, are: Melissa should be the ‘Nurse,’ Selina the ‘Steampunker,’ Darnel the ‘Arms Dealer,’ Beldin the ‘Demolitionist,’ Ahinadab the ‘Dye Trader,’ and Hirael the ‘Wizard.’”

I paused briefly, remembering something, then added, “Annabel, Winterhord’s wife, should be the ‘Stylist.’”

Alalia followed up, repeating them in the same order: “‘Healer,’ ‘Steam Engineer,’ ‘Weaponsmith,’ ‘Bombardier,’ ‘Dyer.’ The last two I know by those same names.”

“Thirteen in total… almost half of the possible twenty-nine,” Dylan finished noting before pausing.

I noticed he seemed like he wanted to say something, but decided to stay quiet.

“Half of those titles already knew each other before Devas arrived in Terraria. Even if we split this group into three… meeting one would eventually lead to meeting the others,” Jinn said, speaking up for the first time in a while. “Isis, Beldin, and Ahinadab were already a group. Meeting any one of them would lead to the rest.”

“The same with Dylan, Charlotte, Melissa, and Selina—they’ve known each other since childhood. Darnel had known Melissa for a long time, too. Alalia and Hirael were also close.”

“Gilbert and Robyn are father and daughter, with Gilbert being Simon’s childhood friend. Again, knowing one would lead to the others.”

“The only one without a clear connection is Annabel Winterhord—she’s the only exception. But even then, Melissa and Darnel were the two sent to Winterhord.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “That can’t be coincidence.”

“I’d already decided to take the mission to Jille before even meeting Devas. If he hadn’t agreed to form a group with me, I would’ve gone alone…” Dylan frowned, his lips pressed into a thin line. “I still would’ve ended up meeting Gilbert, even if under… unpleasant circumstances.”

“Alalia had a vision before the Blood Moon,” Charlotte added, tension in her voice. “In it, we were fleeing in a carriage with Hirael, Helena, Melissa—missing an arm—Robyn, who hadn’t seen her father in months, Alalia, and me. No Dylan, no Selina, no Darnel. I’m sure we were heading to Shahrabad…”

She looked frustrated. “I wouldn’t doubt we’d eventually meet Isis’s team at some point, given the pattern that seems to be forming…”

“And Shahrabad was a ticking bomb…” Isis added sadly, Millia perched on her shoulder.

“So what, then? Something’s been guiding us like puppets so we’d end up meeting—or dying horribly? Is that it?” Robyn didn’t sound happy at all. “There’s no chance these titles just… attract each other naturally for some reason?”

‘Was.’ Gilbert corrected her. “If something was manipulating us, I don’t think it is anymore. I don’t think it can anymore.”

He looked down at his good hand, opening and closing his fingers as if confirming something. His gaze wandered for a moment before sharpening again, his voice coming out rough:

“Simon said I was supposed to die in Jille. That’s why I wasn’t in that vision—in that theoretical future where the kingdom falls during the Blood Moon.” His words sent a small chill through several people at the table. “Nine months ago. I was supposed to die then. Simon said it outright. The only reason I’m still alive is because something blinded his master’s vision—either that cursed eye or something else—nine months ago.”

The ‘Merchant’ lifted his gaze, meeting my one eye with his one.

“Not something. Someone. It was you, wasn’t it?”

It was a question—and not at the same time.

“…Nine months and three days. That’s exactly how long it’s been since I came to Terraria,” I admitted, without hiding it. There was no reason to, anyway. “My title—the one granted by the stream—shields me and keeps me from being bound by fate.”

The room fell silent again after that. Not even the scratching of Dylan’s pen remained.

Millia jumped down from Isis’s shoulder, came closer, and used her gel-like body to form tiny tendrils that tugged at my hand. I patted the top of her “head,” just like she seemed to want.

Cute little thing.

After nearly a minute of silence, Dylan finally spoke.

“Funny… looking back, I should’ve died in Jille with the old man.” He sounded oddly amused — and somehow relieved — as he said it. “Melissa lost an arm and almost died in Winterhord. Darnel should’ve frozen to death or gone mad with that deer. Selina would’ve probably died during the Blood Moon.”

He turned toward me, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“You changed a lot, brother. Saved a lot of people. Jille, Winterhord, Shahrabad, the whole kingdom…” Slowly, as he spoke, the smile faded. “But something seems like it didn’t change — if what we know is correct.”

“We still all met, didn’t we? Even with everything you changed, we still ended up here, together. Like something led us to meet anyway…”

“Tell me, was I the first person with a title you met?” he asked, his tired eyes glowing faintly blue.

I clenched my jaw. I knew exactly what he’d realized.

Fuck it — I’d realized the same thing a long time ago…

“Yes.”

He didn’t look surprised. He slowly placed his notebook and pen on the table and started counting on his fingers.

“By meeting me, you went to Jille. You saved Gilbert. Met Charlotte and Alalia after the battle. Met Robyn and Selina later.” I could see his knuckles turn white as his hands tightened into fists.

“You went to Winterhord because I asked. Met Simon on the way. In Winterhord, you met Melissa, Darnel, and Annabel. Finally, while exploring the storm and the outskirts, you went to Shahrabad and met Isis, Beldin, and Ahinadab — not to mention Hirael…”

At last, he relaxed his hands and let out a long sigh — a sad, weary sound that felt heavier than simple exhaustion.

“What title did you say I had again?… Oh, right. ‘Guide.’”

He chuckled — a dry, resigned laugh — and let out a single phrase that, no matter how many times I heard it, always managed to get on my nerves the same way:

“Beware of the Guide.”

[…]

After our short meal — if you could even call it that. Maybe dinner, depending on the time — I left after a few more words.

Dylan and the others stayed in Proto-A. Charlotte decided to take the rest of the day off, and if anyone dared complain, I told them to direct their whining to me, since it was “my order.”

Not that anyone would actually confront her, but still — I said I’d gladly play the role of complaint receiver.

That kind of job was the fun kind.

I left them wandering around the Proto-A. Some of them clearly needed time to cool off; Dylan himself said he had some thoughts to sort out.

The only two who followed me to the ship’s command room were Millia — perched on my right shoulder — and Jinn.

I tossed Alalia into a room I’d planned to turn into the Proto-A’s garden and let her amuse herself there. She seemed like she had plenty to think about too.

I still had things to discuss with them, of course, but saying everything at once felt counterproductive to me.

I slumped down into the command chair, the leather creaking under my weight. My hand went to my forehead, massaging it slowly.

“The day started out fine and went downhill fast…” I sighed. My head still throbbed. “If I take, say, ten thousand ibuprofens at once, would my headache vanish instantly or would I just become immune to the medicine because of my adaptation?”

Jinn exhaled softly through her nose and stepped behind my chair. I heard her shove the two living life-support pods aside, making space between them and standing right in the middle.

Her fingers slid into my hair as she began to massage my scalp slowly.

It helped — a little.

“Ten thousand pills would probably kill you. Don’t.” she scolded gently.

“I highly doubt that.”

“Maybe, but let’s not test it.”

Millia made a tiny gel-like hand and poked my cheek.

“Headache? Aunt Alice used to take hot baths when she had one. Said it helped.”

Of course the fucking Empress of Light got headaches too…

I’m not even gonna ask why. Or how. Just thinking about it stressed me out.

“I’ll try that later, Millia. Thanks for the idea.” I poked her with my finger. She poked me back, clearly pleased to have helped.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes to rest them for a few seconds. I tilted my head to the side, elbow on the armrest, covering my face with my hand.

“Wanna talk about it?” Jinn’s voice came from above, her fingers still gently working through my hair.

“About what exactly?”

“Anything you want. I’ll help however I can.”

“… Later. I just want to rest a bit right now.”

Her only response was a soft, melodic hum of acceptance.

I still had to analyze someone — Dylan, preferably, or Charlotte. Best case, all of them — I should have enough SP. I’d been putting it off… maybe because I wasn’t sure I’d like what I’d see in their status screens.

Was that really the reason… or something else? I sighed. Fuck it.

I must’ve sat there a minute — maybe two — eyes closed. Didn’t really count.

When I opened my right eye, it instinctively went to the (CHAT) messages that had popped up in front of me:

[P.E.N.N.Y]I recommend Mr. Devas to rest. If that’s not possible, making a list and following it might help with stress management.

[AsuraLady]Go check the rewards from killing that eye thing! It might distract you from the problems. Don’t overwork yourself! ( ´△｀)

[MagicalGirlSera-Tan]…Sooo, can we talk about that big, thick sword with red veins? I like it. Gimme more details. ╰( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )つ──☆*:・

[JustAnOrdinaryPeasant]Do NOT defile something as beautiful as that sword! Have some decency!

[TohsakaHeiress]Ignoring the perverted devil above, I agree. But seriously, you look like you’re about to have an aneurysm. Maybe go to bed?

[BestToadSannin]Since I’m used to dealing with stubborn idiots who overwork themselves, I’m not gonna tell you to rest. But if you wanna explain what that “being watched by Truth” thing was in Reality 4D, I’m all ears.

[BestToadSannin]Wait, am I the only guy here? I feel special now.୧| ” •̀ ل͜ •́ ” |୨

“Of course the damn perverted magical girl found a Lenny face with a magic wand…” I muttered.

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.

“I’ve slept enough. Don’t worry, Rin — no aneurysm incoming.” If it were gonna happen, it would’ve been back on my first day in Terraria. “And I’ll get organized, Penny. Checking rewards now, Saya.”

As I spoke, I pulled up the (CHAT) with Jarvis and told him to remind me every thirty minutes to analyze one of the Terrarians with a title.

Also set up a bunch of alarms on my phone.

“As for Excalibur Asura and that ‘being watched by Truth’ feeling…” I paused — very slowly. “That’s something for me to know and for you to find out on your own.”

[MagicalGirlSera-Tan]( ︶︿︶)_╭∩╮

[BestToadSannin]୧༼ಠ益ಠ╭∩╮༽

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]凸( •̀_•́ )凸

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]Couldn’t resist the opportunity.

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]Neither could I.

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]t( -_- t )

I laughed. Damn idiots.

I waved my hand, dismissing the messages and watching them scatter away into the air.

Taking advantage of the moment, I pulled my phone out of the VoidBag and opened my status screen. I could feel Jinn’s breasts pressing against the back of my head as she leaned over to read along.

Judging by the faint amusement leaking from her, I knew she was doing it on purpose — she wanted a reaction. So I ignored her.

I went to my racial traits and opened Divine Anathema. I could feel that something there had changed — grown, to be precise. Nothing new had appeared, but what was already there had become stronger.

I let the stream camera see the information. I didn’t mind showing this part.

In a way, I even wanted it to be seen.

-//-

[Divine Anathema - Rank C >> C+++]

Description (1):In your world, there were no gods, so you created your own.When no longer needed, you killed them...

Could a mortal kill an immortal?...Could something non-divine kill the divine?...Could a human kill a god?...

Description (2):

What is a god?Something powerful? Something worshipped? Something that contains divinity? Something higher? Something from beyond?

That thing was all of those.It was powerful. It had a cult.

That thing was rotten — a fragment, lifeless.Even so, it carried divinity. It was superior. It came from beyond.

That thing possessed more power than many complete gods.That thing was the eye of an Outer God.

That thing is dead.

You killed a god.

[..]

Function:Moderate >> Considerable increase in hostility from Divine beings.Moderate >> Considerable increase in effectiveness against the Divine.Moderate >> Considerable reduction in the effectiveness of attacks received from Divine enemies.

[…]

The first of many...How about eating that eye’s flesh?...

-//-

A part of me—larger than I expected—actually felt proud of the phrase “You killed a god.”

It wasn’t exactly a god, but I’d take the achievement for what it was.

I liked it.

Leaking out from the phone, messages materialized in front of me:

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]Bro, I’m pretty sure that’s not in my DNA. Am I doing the human thing wrong? σ(´し_｀〃)ゞ

[TheRainWitch]Oh! How curious…

[So-Tan]In my opinion, Devas is the weird one here. In what world is being a divine anathema an intrinsic part of the human genome?! That doesn’t even make sense!

It had been a while since I’d seen Sona comment on (CHAT), and the first thing she did was call me weird.

...That’s why Rias had more fans!

“At this rate, I think you’ll be assaulted the moment you step inside a pantheon,” Jinn said, drawing my attention away from the messages. Her tone was half amused, half impressed.

“I’ll hit them first, then it’ll just turn into a fight,” I muttered, swiping the messages away. “Not that I plan on ever stepping inside a pantheon.”

“You don’t plan to, but I’m sure you’ll end up doing it anyway.”

“Please don’t speak such bitter truths. My fragile heart aches just hearing them…”

“A painful truth is still better than a sweet lie that’ll rot away~” I could see her smile reflected faintly on the dark monitor in front of me.

That smile froze slightly, fading as she spoke in a lower, more commanding tone: “Speaking of rot — you are not allowed to eat that eye’s flesh.”

“…Let’s see what changed in my Semblance.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Jinn tilted her head over my left shoulder and poked my right cheek.

“Oh look, a distraction!” I opened the Semblance section of my status before she could respond.

At the same time, I waved my left hand, scattering the new messages that had appeared. I caught glimpses of ones from Saya, Ruby, Weiss, Stark, Kaguya, and Serafall.

I was going to eat that fucking eye, no matter how many people disagreed!

The new description of my Semblance read:

-//-

[Mystery Devourer - Rank C++ >> B- (Evolutive)]

Description (1): (+)

Description (2):

The night was dark and bloody.

You stared into the silent ‘void’ of the abyss. Something stared back.

The ‘void’ within the abyss bared its teeth and growled. Low, rumbling noises echoed through the darkness, turning into a horrifying, inhuman scream — something stirred in response to his presence.

The thing within the ‘void’ lunged out and bit you. Your flesh withered under the bite.

Your fangs are stained with blood.

The abyss fell silent once more.

[…]

Function: Consume and absorb anything categorized as a [Mystery] and process it.

The stronger or more resilient the [Mystery], the more Aura is consumed in the process.

[Mystery Devourer] partially evolved after consuming part of the divinity of the being known as the “God of Light,” along with the remnant divinity contained within angel and fallen angel feathers.

Its fangs sharpened, making it easier to devour any [Mystery] related to [Divinity].

[NEW!] [Mystery Devourer] partially evolved after consuming the flesh of the Moon’s Eye.Divinity is now a familiar flavor. Any [Mystery] related to divinity will be much easier to devour.

[NEW!] [Mystery Devourer] partially evolved after clashing its ‘fangs’ against [MoonBite].

[NEW!] [Mystery Devourer] is evolving as it devours the ‘void’ within your Aura.

Any attack involving ‘devouring’ or ‘consuming’ aimed at your body or soul will find something trying to devour them in return.

Your fangs sharpen further, pointed toward the ‘void.’

[…]

The moon bites. You devour...Divinity, devour’itDevour and consume

-//-

My Semblance agreed with me!

That was clearly a sign for me to grab a skewer, slice off part of that damned eye’s cornea, and throw it on the grill.

“You are not barbecuing that eye’s flesh.”

“You can read minds now, huh?” What the hell was that?

Jinn let out a small laugh and stepped back, straightening behind me again and returning her fingers to the top of my head, massaging gently.

“I don’t need to read minds to know that. You have a weird habit of trying to barbecue everything you find.”

(“She’s right. You grilled a cactus back in the desert.”) Ozma’s voice echoed soon after.

Wasn’t that bastard supposed to be asleep in his rocking chair? Did he wake up just to slander me?!

“It’s not slander if it’s true,” Jinn pointed out matter-of-factly.

She was getting way too good at reading me for my liking…

“I’m getting predictable…” I grumbled. “And I don’t barbecue everything. I didn’t do anything with the Deerclops or the goblins.”

“You literally wore the Deerclops’ hide. And the goblins — you turned them into Artificial Sapphires. You just didn’t have time to eat them.”

“Now that I think about it…”

“Oh, by the Brothers, no!”

“There’s like twenty or thirty thousand of their corpses out there — that’s a lot of wasted meat!”

(“Not even in my worst moments, in my worst lives, did I ever think of something like that!”)

“They’re sentient!” Jinn exclaimed. “That’s borderline cannibalism!”

“Food is food!” I tapped the table twice with my finger.

“I agree!” Millia chimed in, joining my side. Truly the most loyal and cute slime.

After a second of silence, we all burst into laughter.

My headache felt much lighter.

[...]---[...]

First of all: no, Devas’s title isn’t fake or broken. There’s a reason and an explanation behind what’s happening — but I won’t say it, since that would be a spoiler.

As for the titles, they’re basically what NPCs are in Terraria (the game). I just gave it a logical meaning within the story. The special ones are the “Dryad” and the “Guide,” for reasons that will be explained later on.

Well, I think that’s it. Have a good night, everyone — and enjoy the read!