Regaining consciousness, I immediately tensed.
I wasn't sure whether the goddess had done something to make me lose consciousness, or if this was simply normal when receiving a Falna for the first time.
An itchy sensation came from my left wrist. Lowering my gaze, I saw a black, vine-like marking coiled around my wrist like a bracelet.
Damn it… I should have gathered more information instead of jumping in blindly.
Cursing my occasional habit of acting first and regretting later, a habit I still hadn't managed to fix, I slowly sat up, only then realizing I had been lying on the ground.
Looking around, I confirmed that I was still in the same place: the hall of Penia's small, one-story house.
When I stood up, I immediately felt some major changes in my body.
My movements were smoother, lighter, almost silent. Strength flowed through me far more easily than before. I was certain my strength and speed had increased dramatically.
If my current self had faced the flower monster from earlier, I was confident I could take on two of them at once without much trouble.
Not seeing the goddess inside the room, I walked toward the door. Peeking outside, I saw Goddess Penia standing in front of the house, speaking to another group of people. This time, she was handing out food and Valis coins.
However, the moment I stepped outside and into the sunlight, my knees almost buckled. A sudden, overwhelming sensation of weakness surged through my body, nearly making me collapse.
Barely managing to keep my balance, I quickly retreated back inside. The moment I left the sunlight, my strength returned.
"Damn. Did I turn into a vampire or something?"
No. There was no pain, no burning sensation from the sun. It's was only my strength weakening.
My heart pounded loudly in my chest. Feeling a slight itch, my eyes moved to my left arm.
The black vine marking had spread, now covering my entire arm.
'A curse-'
"It's definitely a curse." I nearly jumped at the sudden voice.
Looking up, I saw Goddess Penia standing in front of me. She must have entered while I was focused on the marking.
"Although I don't know much about mortals' magic abilities," she continued calmly, "I can identify a divine curse when I see one. The mark on your arm is without a doubt a divine curse, though a very, very diluted one."
"Huh? A divine curse?"
My mouth opened, then closed again.
Divine…?
Instinctively, I took a few steps back, my expression filled with wariness.
"Stop," Penia said, shaking her head as if she had read my thoughts. "I don't know how to cast curses, and even if I did, I can't use divine curses. And if I were responsible, why would I have laid you down here to recover?"
"Then how, how in the nine hells did I end up with a divine curse?" I snapped, my emotions finally breaking through despite my efforts to stay calm.
Penia fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"I'm not certain," she replied honestly. "But the only explanation I can think of is this: a god may have cursed your ancestors, during the brief moment when they were ascending to Tenkai and had access to their Arcanum."
"The curse likely remained dormant in your bloodline as it passed from your ancestors to their descendants. It only activated when it came into contact with my divine blood during the blessing."
She spoke as if thinking aloud, piecing together the possibilities.
That doesn't make any sense. I was teleported to this world. I don't even belong here. How could I have ancestors with a divine curse?
Could the curse be from my original world? But if it was, the big-shots there should have noticed something long ago. Evil gods weren't exactly rare there…
"A divine curse, huh," Penia murmured. "That explains your strange status. It seems your Falna has also been affected."
She handed me a sheet of paper. My status.
-------
Level: Lv 1
STR: I0
VIT: I0
DEX: I0
AGI: I0
MAG: I0
Magic: Darkness
Skills:
^°^°^=°^•^
=°^=^==°•^
^•°=°•°=π^•
----------
"You have three skills which is something to be happy about," Penia said, "but all of them are affected by the curse."
"I tried examining them earlier, but they wouldn't respond at all."
She let out a small sigh.
"When other gods told me I would meet unique individuals in Gekai, I laughed it off. But it seems I truly found something extraordinary, a mortal bearing a divine curse."
Shaking her head once more, she reached into her robe and took out a small pouch, handing it to me.
"Here. The Valis you gave me from earlier."
"You can register me as your goddess at the Guild," she continued. "And there's no need to bring offerings in the future."
She paused, her expression softening, a trace of guilt passing through her eyes.
"Child, no matter the situation, this curse seem to have been triggered because I gave you my blessing, I bear part of the responsibility for what happened to you. Because of that, you don't need to bring me any offerings."
After a brief silence, her tone grew serious.
"And don't become an adventurer. Don't enter the Dungeon," she warned. "I don't know how it will react to a divine curse."
Her gaze lingered on me, filled with concern. "Choose something safer, you still have your entire life ahead of you."
Goddess Penia, no matter what was said about her, in that moment, looked like a real goddess, caring for her Familia member.
....
The next hour passed in a blur.
The weakness under sunlight made it hard for me to focus on anything. Somehow, I managed to return to the inn.
Anna greeted me cheerfully, but I could only respond with a dull, absent reply before heading straight to my room.
I lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind completely blank.
I tried to understand when, why, and how I had obtained a divine curse, replaying moments from the past, things I had brushed off without much thought.
There were already signs…
'Feeling weak after leaving the Dungeon. The sunlight affecting me for the first time.'
'And then later-'
Knock, knock.
The knocks on the door interrupted my thoughts.
When I opened the door, Anna was standing there, holding a plate with a piece of cake on it. She looked a little hesitant, her eyes shifting away for a moment.
"Umm… you didn't look very good earlier," she said softly. "My mother always gives me cake when I'm not feeling well."
She pushed the plate forward awkwardly, "You can have this. Just… don't tell my mother."
Before I could respond, she hurried down the stairs, her footsteps quick and light.
...
I closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a slow breath.
"Damn it… what am I even doing? I'm an assassin, for f***'s sake. And I'm feeling down like this."
I cursed under my breath.
"And all because of some damn curse." I clenched my jaw. "I'll deal with it later. For now-"
"The cake is good." I took a bite, giving my mind time to calm down. The cake was sweet but not overwhelming, with a faint aftertaste of honey that lingered pleasantly.
After finishing it, I sat down on a chair and took a deep breath. Slowly, my racing thoughts settled, and the tension eased from my body.
That calm made me frown. Something felt wrong. Very wrong.
"I always keep a firm grip on my emotions, but earlier… it felt like I couldn't control them at all. Like I was high on drugs."
As I placed the empty plate on the table, something caught my eye. A faint glint reflected from my jacket's side pocket.
My Sp.I.D.M card.
"Right… the IDM also has an identification feature. Let's try it." I placed the card against my hand and began pouring mana into it.
Five minutes passed, the usual time it took for my attributes to update. Nothing happened.
Ten minutes. Still nothing.
By the twenty-minute mark, my mana was nearly depleted. Just as frustration began to set in, the purple card glowed faintly before returning to normal.
I infused a small amount of my remaining mana.
A screen appeared.
"Looks like my luck improved a bit." I exhaled.
The screen displayed new information, along with descriptions of my updated abilities.
-----------------
Name: Quinn Nightshade
Race: Human / Devil [1/4th]
Technique: The Road to Hell [3rd Ring]
Combat Power: High 3-star
Magic: Darkness
Abilities: Forsaken One; Ring of Life
Status: Cursed
Curse: Curse of a Ruined World
---------------------
I stared at the race section.
"So I'm not fully human anymore. One-quarter Devil, huh? Sounds cool, if it actually did something."
My expression stiffened.
"Too bad it doesn't actually do anything."
"If I'd turned into a full Devil, my power might've jumped straight to six stars." I scratched my head and sighed.
My combat power was lower than I had thought. High 3-star, still not reaching the level of a low four-star.
Next, I checked my signature magic: Darkness. Upon selecting it, a detailed description appeared.
-----
Darkness:
- Can use all types of magic except Holy and Light attributes. A Dark attribute will be added to any magic cast by default.
------
The description of the first magic I had learned remained unchanged.
"Figures," I muttered.
Next came my skills. Just the names alone felt ominous.
I selected the first one.
-----
Forsaken One:
- A being not from this world. The fate of this world does not bind you. You are free to choose your own path.
- Blind hostility from the people of this world: +10%.
- Hostility may increase or decrease depending on your actions after meeting them.
---------
I frowned.
"So people will dislike me for no reason? But that first line…"
"If this world's fate doesn't affect me…" My eyes narrowed. "Does that mean everyone else's fate is already fixed?"
"I'll need to look into this later."
I moved on to the next skill.
----------
Life Ring:
- Upon advancing to the next Ring of Fate, the user's physique evolves to match their magic.
- During level-ups, all stats will reflect the Magic stat unless already higher.
- Greatly increases Magic stat while practicing The Road to Hell magic art.
----------
"So it's similar to my magic art, but now my physical growth will keep up properly."
Next was my status.
Cursed.
I clicked on the curse.
------------
Curse of a Ruined World:
The Devil race were responsible for bringing the world of Svani to ruin. As such, the race is cursed by the world itself.
Due to being far from the world that cursed you, and because of divine blessings, the curse is currently weakened.
Curse Effects:
- Under sunlight or while affected by Light or Holy skills, all stats are reduced by 90%.
- Emotional control is severely weakened after activation. Increased susceptibility to negative thoughts.
------------
My expression darkened.
"So that's it, that's why I felt weak… and why my thoughts went completely out of control."
Now that I understood both the cause and the conditions, my tension eased slightly.
"As long as I'm careful, I can manage this."
Information and knowledge were everything.
Knowing about a curse, and being ignorant of it, were two completely different things.
I had dealt with curses during my assassin missions before. Even though this one was on an entirely different level, it was still manageable now that I knew its cause, trigger, and effects.
Glancing at the sun still hanging high in the sky, I stood up.
"I'll rest until evening," My head already coming up with ideas to bypass the curse, "Then I'll head to the Guild."
I planned to register myself, both as an adventurer, and as a member of the Penia Familia.