Ignoring the heavily glitching 'titles' and 'active skills' sections, she clicked on the passive skills upgrade bar, causing a list to shakily unfurl. Whilst she waited for it to finish loading, she kept her eyes on the spinning cube.
"๐๐ฝ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ช๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ'๐ป๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ต๐ต ๐พ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐พ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ, ๐ฑ๐พ๐ฑ?"
She was glad to see that this 'system' was still functional after all this time, even if it was in an albeit deteriorated state. Because of it, she could use any skills that had been bound to her soul separately.
Whatever body she ended up inhabiting upgraded or added to her skill base, and so, World to World, she had gradually built up a repertoire that exceeded the boundaries of any skill holder.
Although magic-based skills wouldn't be usable this time around.
Once the screen had finally finished loading, she quickly scanned over the updated contents.
Passive
Legendary Energy Control (upgraded fromย Advanced Energy Control): Harness and shape raw energy with flawless precision.Ultimate Perception (upgraded fromย Masterful Perception): Perceive the imperceptible; nothing escapes your gaze.Ultimate Weapon Control (upgraded fromย Legendary Weapon Control): Wield any weapon as if it were part of your soul.
"๐ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฎ, ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ช๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ ๐พ๐น๐ฐ๐ป๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ? ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ท๐ช๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ช ๐ถ๐พ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ช๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ท๐ธ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ช๐ท๐ ๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐ต๐ต๐ผโฆ"
The ribbons of colour began to spin around her and dance as she contemplated her next move.
"๐ข๐ฑ๐ธ๐ ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐ต๐ต๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ป๐ธ๐ถ ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ช."
After a few seconds of blinking, the screen stuttered and reloaded.
Active
Blood Rush:ย Pain is weakness leaving the bodyโฆย De-buff: Strain afterwards leaves you exhausted.Bone Breaker:ย Every shield has a weak pointโฆ
Elf Eyes:ย What do you see, oh green leaf?..ย De-buff: long-term usage deteriorates eyesight.
Iron Will:ย Bend the body, break the bone, but never the mindโฆ
Steel Grip:ย Once I have you, you will not escapeโฆ
Passive
Beauty Beyond Bounds: A presence so radiant it captivates all who behold it.
Companionship: A loyal bond that strengthens hearts and spirits.
Curse Attraction: Draw in dark energies to shield others from the burden.
"๐๐ฑ๐ธ? ๐ข๐ธ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ผ ๐ช ๐ฝ๐ช๐ท๐ด/๐ผ๐พ๐น๐น๐ธ๐ป๐ฝ ๐ซ๐พ๐ฒ๐ต๐ญ, ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฌ๐พ๐ป๐ผ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ป๐ช๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท? ๐๐ท๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ... ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฝ ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ต๐ช๐ฒ๐ท ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ช๐ผ' ๐ฒ๐ท-๐ฐ๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ช๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ท๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ผ."
Nodding to herself as she said this, she felt comfortable being restricted to support or a similar build subset. It would change things up from her usual play style.
"๐๐ฎ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป๐ผ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ต๐ต ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ต๐ต ๐๐ธ๐พ, ๐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐ต๐ต๐ผ ๐ ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐พ๐ผ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ธ๐ธ๐ท."
Suddenly, the screen began to flash.
[โฑโณษโฅษโฆโฎ]
Glaring at the broken, yet brazen message that had filled the screen from edge to edge, she let out a snarl.
"๐๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ช๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ค, ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค๐ค ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐. ๐น๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ช ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฅ, ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ช ๐๐ฆ๐."
Just as she was about to continue her tirade, she felt as if she was being watched. Lifting her chin to look at the grey sky, she couldn't determine where the gaze came from, though shockingly, it wasn't from the 'system' in front of her.
Even after spreading out her energy to scan through her consciousness, she couldn't find anything unusual.
Tilting her head slightly at the discrepancy, she wondered if it was due to the memory download. Being inside for this long would only take seconds of real time externally.
Looking through her lashes at the spinning cube, she sneered loudly.
"๐๐พ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ญ๐ธ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐ณ๐ธ๐ซ, ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐'๐ต๐ต ๐ญ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ."
With a flick of colour swirling around her like a delicate dress, she turned her back to the pedestal and left.
ย
********
ย
Blinking rapidly as she centred herself back into Delphina's body, the first thing she noticed was the cool ceramic handle pressed harshly into her palm. Then it was the texture of the russet brown toilet lid beneath her legs.
Giving her toes a wiggle and taking a deep breath in, as the damp vapour left her lips, she felt the reactivated system stir within her. Perfect, she could now handle the task at hand.
Even if it meant tonight would be one filled with horror.
Despite not looking forward to the consequences of using her skills, it was something she had long gotten used to. And so, with a cheesy grin now plastered on her face, she moved to set her plan in motion.
"Looks like I know how to activate Delphina's skills now, No.69."
ย
[Congratulations!!]
[โ(หโฝห)โ]
[Because you've transmigrated, you can use skills earlier than most sub-adults!]
[As a perk for unlocking skill usage so quickly, let me issue you a quest!]
[Issuing Quest; Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill.]
[Quest: 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill' Is currently at 75% completion and ready for submission.]
[If you wish to raise your completion to at least 95% you need to activate a skill of your choice once.]
ย
Letting out a chuckle, Delphina mentally checked off any skills that would be outside of what 'Delphina' would be able to use, before settling on the few she would activate today.
"Earlier than most sub-adults? No.69 must be referring to those whose birthdays are before the Imperial Ball. I guess they get a slight learning advantage on those born later in the year or something."
"I'll activate the skill 'Valour's Call'".
"Oh brave souls, heed my name, answer my call".
Mentally chanting the skills start-up line, she crossed her fingers that others would be able to do the same; repeatedly chanting the skills out loud could become tedious. No.69 would chalk it up to the transmigration, but the others in this World?
Well, maybe she could just bullshit it by saying one of her skills was mental chanting. No doubt, somewhere in the de Luna lineage (formally beingย theย Family of Mages in this World), there would have been a similar skill that would give her some credence.
[Valour's โตโณโฑ โฑ :ย Oh brave souls, heed my name, answer my call.
Effect: People โฉโฑงร โณโฑคษ chivalrous, knightly, or brave view ษรษ more positively and easily โณโตโตษโฑโฎ working together with ษรษ. They may view ษรษ as their leader if ฤษโฃษโณโฎษฤ by you.]
Hearing the broken voice echo in her head, she confirmed that activating skills through that 'system' would still work despite now being bound to a second one. If it hadn't? Well, the passives would always work, and she'd just be limited to the original Delphinas' skills.
"Not that those are too shabby either, I wonder if the skill progression trees in the Game also exist in the World? That'd be fun."
ย
[Delphina? Has the skill been activated successfully?]
ย
Oho? Looks like No.69 can't even monitor skill activation.
Looking back up towards the gently sparkling screen, she nodded.
"Most of Delphina's skills are passive enhancement ones. So there's nothing super flashy to show unless it's on the battlefield."
"This skill just makes anyone who's knightly or brave view her in a more positive light, especially if she's defeated them. Luckily, Delphina is charismatic enough that I don't see anyone being able to resist it."
ย
[I see! Thank you for informing me. Would you mind updating me on your skill set in the future? Some users expressed dissatisfaction at being forced to share skill activation/deactivation moments and descriptions.]
[As such, the Administration initially blocks our systems from accessing the user's skill data until confirmation.]
ย
"Sure, I do feel uncomfortable with you accessing it remotely, so I'll update you via the interface bracelet. I won't be sharing activation/deactivation unless I have to verbalise it."
ย
[Your preferences have been noted!]
[Quest: 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill' Is currently at 95% completion and ready for submission.]
ย
Finally standing up and stretching, Delphina moved to exit the toilet cubicle; however, as she reached to unlock the door, a sudden thought stopped her in her tracks.
Why didn't she just ask No.69? She no longer had to rely on herself alone to find things out about this World.
"Question for you, does the skill system from Lovers of Mareveil exist in the World?"
ย
[5/20 questions now available]
[Yes, the skill trees from Lovers of Mareveil are available within the World of Mareveil. The reward for 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Skill' is to unlock this skill tree access early.]
[(๏ฝกโโฟโ๏ฝก)]
ย
"Well, would you look at that, then I'd like to confirm my Quest completed."
ย
[Quest confirmed completed and submitted at 95%. Congratulations Delphina! You have unlocked the skill progression trees!]