We lingered in the forest entrance of the second floor, taking our first real breath since the last fight. The scent of pine clung to everything, grounding and fresh, threading through the cracks of exhaustion in our chests.
Frey dropped onto a patch of moss with a groan, stretching her arms overhead until her shoulders popped. "Okay, I admit it," she said, eyes half-lidded. "This place is… not awful."
Geomi sat cross-legged beside her, tugging her braid loose and shaking out the tension. Her expression, still soft with wonder, held a rare ease. I stayed standing, watching them for a moment before finally letting my legs give out.
We deserved the break.
"So, Geomi," I said, nudging her gently with my elbow. "We've seen you stab things, run like hell," "And somehow look cute doing both," Frey chimed in. "What else are you hiding? Weird hobbies? Party tricks? You know, besides making poison."
She blinked, then gave a small, almost embarrassed smile. "Um… I used to do simple puppeteering for my little siblings. At first, it was just sock puppet stuff, but they got so excited that they made me some little wooden string puppets. I wasn't great or anything, but… it kept them entertained when my parents were busy. And I don't make poison, well, I mean I technically do, but it's for medicinal purposes only!"
"Wait, puppet shows?" Frey asked, sitting up straighter. "With voices and everything?"
Geomi nodded, her ears turning pink. "Yeah. I had to do all the characters. The oldest of my three younger siblings was 5 back then, so… it didn't take much to impress them."
I blinked. "That's… adorable. Frey and I are only children, so we don't have any cute stories like that."
Frey, however, turned to me with mock horror. "You know what's scary? Geomi."
I furrowed my brow. "What's scary about her?"
"She's makes poison, knows her way around a knife, sneaky as hell, and now she tells stories with puppets? That's serial killer energy, Rika. You're lucky she likes you."
Geomi covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. "I'm not a serial killer, I promise."
"Yet," Frey added under her breath.
We all laughed, and for a moment, everything felt normal.
That's when the system prompt appeared before my eyes.
{Please open the class menu and select a class.}
I blinked, then looked to the others. By their wide eyes, they saw the same thing.
"Uhm... I guess since we're taking a break, let's pick our classes," I said.
We sat closer, and soon realized we could enable panel sharing.
"Hey," Frey said, a grin tugging at her lips, "wanna peek at each other's options?"
"Sure," I replied. "Might help us balance things out."
We enabled the share setting, and each of our panels opened at once.
We didn't go through every option. Just the ones that stood out.
"Okay," I said, pointing to mine, "I've got Trickblade—which sounds fun and stabby—Adaptancer, which builds resistances during fights, and Wyrdbinder… something about luck and odds shifting."
Frey whistled. "Not bad. I've got Berserker, Bloodrager—scary stuff—and Ironheart Brawler. Basically, punch harder, bleed more, and punch again."
Geomi tilted her head. "Mine are a little strange. Blade Dancer's about rhythm, Threadblade uses reinforced thread as a weapon, and… Weaver of Fates is support-y. Luck stuff. It sounds like it can nudge crafting or combat results in our favor."
"So you're like a lucky seamstress sniper," Frey said. "Figures."
"Frey, what the hell does that even mean? You're always coming up with these weird names and stuff. I really don't get where you even get half the names, like where the hell did 'snipper' come from? None of her classes even had anything to do with snipping."
Frey just turned and looked at me with the same stupid look she always gives me when I call her out on nonsense, and I couldn't help but laugh. My laugh was contagious, and soon the entrance to the second floor of the forbidden section was filled with our laughter. As we laughed, another option blinked into existence at the bottom of our screens.
{[Wait] – Picking this option allows the user to delay class selection. The user awakens to mana and gains increased skill growth, skill gain, and opportunities for overall growth. Level progression is halted, but skill points and stat points are gained instead, and partial access to the system store is unlocked. The more skills and stats the user has when officially choosing a class will increase the chances of classes of uncommon rank and higher to appear, and if the user has developed a combat style based on certain skills and factors, the chances of a specialized class appearing are higher.}
"Okay, so Frey can understand, I'll summarise the pros. The class allows for flexible growth and custom fighting style development, allowing for a higher chance to acquire, oh my bad that word was too fancy, to get an uncommon or hidden class, and it partially unlocks the system store. I'm also pretty sure that the higher the class rank, the higher our possible growth in the future."
Frey turned to me, a little annoyed. "Rika, I'm not stupid. I don't need you to explain something I just read. If I needed your help, I'd-" Suddenly, Geomi cut in.
"The only cons present, at least the only ones I see, are that it stops us from leveling up, and doesn't give us access to a class tree. But both of those issues are resolved because we get stat and skill points instead of experience points, and instead of having a class tree to unlock skills, I'm pretty sure we can use the store to compensate."
"Uhm..." I muttered. "Is it just me, or is this the best option? Like, if you didn't pick this, you're kind of an idiot. I mean, even Frey thinks it's the best one and Frey's....well...let's just say she's....uhm...a little complex..."
Frey glared at me. "I'm not dumb!"
"I had to explain Italian go-kart to you, it's literally just a racing game with no story mode. Not to mention, I had to explain how the regular Super Itain games work, like it's so simple! Jump on the turtle, defeat the dragon, and save the kidnapped princess. It's so simple that someone's eighty-year-old grandma could understand it."
"I-I was eight, cut me some slack!"
"I had just turned seven. How did you need someone almost two years younger than you to explain a game for five-year-olds?"
Suddenly, our argument was cut off by Geomi's laughter.
"Girls, could we just decide if we're choosing to wait or not? I don't know if any more laughter on an empty stomach." Geomi sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye. "You two argue like a married couple."
"No, we do not!" Frey and I retorted in unison.
Geomi smirked and turned back to her panel.
After a few seconds, we all chose [Wait].
My screen disappeared.
Then the world spun.
I swayed, and the last thing I saw was the floor rushing up to meet me. Then darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the forest anymore.
The world around me was the sky, rolling clouds stretching as far as I could see, and the space was split down the middle, one half was lit by the moon and was night, and the other was lit by the sun and was day. The ground felt soft beneath me, like woven light, and in the distance, directly under the celestial bodies, stood a shrine that shimmered faintly, split perfectly down the middle by the moon and sun. The architecture reminded me of the Shinto shrines my parents used to take me to on New Year's. Mom once said that the reason why we would visit the shrines was to pay respect to our ancestors and ask for their blessings in the coming year.
I wandered toward the temple, drawn by instinct. Its doors stood open, and inside, in a dark room, two women sat before a glowing screen. One leaned forward with lazy energy, her laugh carrying through the still air. The other sat prim and composed, arms folded, watching intently.
They looked familiar, though I couldn't place why.
The vibe they gave off reminded me of those two administrators from that weird game.
Between them sat a small creature. Fox-like, curled up and breathing slowly.
I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I tried again—nothing.
They didn't seem to notice me at first. The screen in front of them flickered, showing them a scene I couldn't fully see due to the contrast of the light and darkness of the room. But I did notice what I assumed was a tree.
"Hey, little one, your other half is quite smart,t isn't she~" Said the bubbly one while looking down at the fox.
"I expected her to pick the Wyrdbinder class due to her extremely high luck stat, but her picking to wait was honestly the smartest option. Sure, she made it harder since she won't have access to the class tree, but her potential has risen so much more." The quiet one said while looking at the other girl.
"Don't forget that that's the only one that gives access to the store early; usually, you'd have to leave the tutorial or make it to floor ten to get partial access."
"True, but I was hoping she'd be at floor three by now. I mean, don't get me wrong, Ammy, finding a hidden quest and completing it is good and all, but the faster you complete the tutorial, the more rewards you'll get. At this rate, she might be the last to finish." The quiet girls sighed
Rasu smirked. "Slow and steady wins the race, Tsuki. Out of everyone, you should know that best, or do I need to remind you about what happened with North's divi-"
"O-Okay, I get it...Ahem...It is better to build a good foundation and to get everything there is to offer. It's better to pace yourself than to rush through things and get complacent."
The girl called Ammy snickered, causing the one called Tsuki to yell at her. "Sh-Shut up!"
My stomach dropped.
They were talking about me.
As that realization took root, the shorter of the two, the one called Ammy, turned slightly. Her face was obscured by the light of the screen, but her reddish amber eyes glowed like hot coals as they locked onto mine.
Everything in me screamed to look away, to run, but I couldn't as if I was trapped in a cage waiting to be devoured.
The Tsuki turned too, her purple-gray gaze colder than ice. "What's wrong?" she asked.
The Ammy smiled, but there was no warmth in it; it sent shivers down my body.
"We have a little guest," she said.
Her voice turned cold and resounding.
"She's not supposed to be here yet."
"Ammy, if it's who I think it is, won't they think we called her here?"
"Like those scardy cats can do anything to us, besides the system's AI will deal with it. Oh, right, you're still here; we'll meet again on floor ten...or was it fifteen?"
"It's ten."
"Oh, thanks, Tsuki. We'll meet again on floor ten...wait, why am I even telling you, you won't even remember. Bye~"
I jolted awake with a gasp, back on the forest floor. Geomi was still unconscious beside me.
"Rika!" Frey knelt beside me, eyes wide. "You okay?!"
"I-I-yeah. I think so. What just happened?"
"I think we passed out when we awakened to mana. I had a weird dream about waking up on an island that was covered in mountains, and in the center of the island was a giant henge of some kind. There were some giant broken chains attached to it. In the center was a spear stabbed into the ground with a shield leaning on it. I walked towards it, and just before I touched it, I heard growling and woke up."
"Oh...I woke up on a sea of clouds and a Shinto shrine. I walked towards it and entered it, and-" Suddenly, I was distracted by a chime.
{You have successfully awakened to mana.}
{The system has detected unauthorized contact with Constellations Rising Sun and Setting Moon.}
{Constellations have left it to the system's AI to handle.}
{System has determined to purge memories of contact}
Suddenly, a piercing feeling entered my head, and all memories of what happened inside the shrine vanished. All I could remember was entering the shrine and waking up.
"Uhm...Th-Thats all I really remember..."
"Hmm, so you also had a weird kinda religus symbolism kind of thing, anyway I'll ask Geomi about her dream when she wakes up. Just check out you're updated status."
I smiled and opened my notifications.
{Mana-based skills are now available. Skill evolution is now possible}
{Title and stat thresholds expanded.}
{Titles unlocked: [Split], [Sponge]}{Skills enhanced: [Mind's Castle], [9th Sense]}
I opened [Split] first.
{[Split]: Allows the formation of distinct split personalities within the user's consciousness. Personalities may form from emotional extremes or mental focus. Each split may act independently and be granted partial or full control of the user's body. Special Interaction Detected: Linked with [Mind's Castle].}
Then [Mind's Castle].
{[Mind's Castle] (Lvl 1): A mental fortress formed within the user's consciousness. Grants psychological stability, mental debuff resistance, and protection against invasive effects. Generates emotional guardians to defend the mind. Linked Effect: Emotional constructs may gain full sentience through [Split]. May act independently and even copy mental attacks. (0/1 guardians created.)}
I swallowed hard. That… sounded like a lot.
[9th Sense] came next.
{[9th Sense] (Lvl 1): A deep, instinctual awareness that borders on clairvoyance. Predicts enemy actions and guides the user toward optimal paths in unknown situations. Not foolproof, but often accurate in dangerous or ambiguous environments.}
Then a soft chime.
{[Sponge] title activated. You are now passively absorbing ambient elemental energy. Warning: High saturation in this area. Continued exposure will increase the absorption rate. Future effects unknown.}
"...So I'm soaking in magic like a sponge in bathwater," I muttered.
Then another ping.
{[Perfect Affinity] has leveled up to 2.}
{[Perfect Affinity] (Lvl 2): Enhances connection to elemental energies. Due to the title [Sponge], Elemental affinities are mastered more easily. Elemental affinities are separated by ranks ascending from none, basic, intermediate, major, and perfect Absorbed elements:
– Wind: Intermediate (33%)
– Sound: Intermediate (30%)
– Nature: Basic (20%)
– Spirit: Basic (18%)}
{Access to [Store] (Basic) granted.}
I sighed and closed the panels. So much information. So much to process.
I sat back against a tree, staring at the canopy above, then glanced at the others still talking nearby. The forest hummed gently, wind singing through its branches.
"Hey girls, I need your opinion on something." The Frey turned to me. "It's about a weird mental defense skill I have—[Mind's Castle]."
Geomi looked up instantly, as focused as ever.
"I wasn't sure at first what it meant… but it's not just defense. Since I awakened to mana, its true ability has activated, and…" I hesitated. "It makes people."
They both blinked at me.
"I mean… not real people. Emotional constructs. Born from my feelings. And I have this title called [Split]—it used to just let me run things on autopilot, kind of. But now they're linked. My emotions can turn into full-on personalities. Like… actual sentient ones. With their own thoughts. They can even control my body if I let them."
Silence. Then—
Ding.
A panel appeared before me again.
{0/1 Emotional Constructs Generated. Please choose an emotion to generate.}