"Alright, Noir-kun, which one is your room? I'll give you your Falna there."
Noir led Hestia back to his room, then stepped outside again.
Not long after, he returned carrying water and bandages.
Just as Hestia was wondering what he was doing, Noir took off his outer coat.
His frail body was almost completely wrapped in bandages, and even the bits of exposed skin were densely covered in all kinds of scars.
Unlike before, when he had simply torn the bandages off by force, this time Noir slowly unwound the layers wrapped around his body one by one. He no longer needed pain to numb himself.
By the time the bloodstained bandages had all been removed, even Hestia, a goddess, could not help covering her mouth.
"Does it hurt...?"
Feeling like nothing she could say right now would truly be appropriate, that was all Hestia could ask in the end, her voice filled with heartache.
"I'm used to it."
Though Hestia desperately wanted to know what had happened to his body, now was not the time.
She reached out and took the cloth Noir had been using to clean his back, then carefully wiped him down in his place.
At last, she took out a needle, pricked her finger, and let a drop of blood fall onto Noir's back.
At once, light bloomed, and sacred text began to appear one line after another.
"Noir-kun, you..."
As she watched the divine words continue to emerge, Hestia first widened her eyes, then her expression dimmed.
A moment later, the light faded, and the sacred text turned into an engraved imprint branded onto Noir's battered back.
[Noir Lv. 1]
[Strength I-0]
[Endurance I-0]
[Dexterity I-0]
[Agility I-0]
[Magic I-0]
[Magic:]
[Skills:]
『Flame of Vengeance』
『Mask of Pain』
『High-Ranking Player』
Skill: 『Flame of Vengeance:』 Activated by hatred, but the target must be recognized as an object of vengeance. Grants a high-domain enhancement to attack power against all vengeance targets, and a super-domain enhancement against humanoid beings. The strength of the enhancement varies according to the depth of hatred. The stronger the hatred, the greater the effect. When the flames devour a vengeance target, a portion of that target's attributes will be seized.
Skill:『Mask of Pain:』
Pain received is doubled;
Endurance receives an ultra-high-domain correction.
Skill:『High-Ranking Player:』
Third-person map perception;
Self-status awareness;
Enemy-status awareness.
"Ah!"
The moment the Falna was bestowed, Noir felt the pain and itchiness across his body magnified without limit. Even with his current tolerance for suffering, his whole body locked up, and he could not stop a cry of agony from escaping him.
"Noir-kun, this is the effect of your skills. We need to keep updating your Falna."
The instant she sensed the nature of his skills, Hestia realized something was very wrong.
Seeing Noir's entire body trembling as blood began to seep out, Hestia had no time to think too much.
The only solution she could come up with was to keep updating his Falna over and over, using it to raise his physical attributes and ease the pain.
So Hestia immediately pricked her finger again and let another drop of divine blood fall.
[Noir Lv. 1]
[Strength I-0 → I-1]
[Endurance I-0 → I-18]
[Dexterity I-0]
[Agility I-0]
[Magic I-0]
[Magic:]
[Skills:]
『Flame of Vengeance』
『Mask of Pain』
『High-Ranking Player』
As the Falna update took effect, Noir could feel the pain throughout his body lessen slightly.
No, the pain itself probably had not decreased.
Rather, his body's resilience had risen a little, increasing the upper limit of what he could endure, which only made it seem as though the pain had eased.
Seeing Hestia prepare to prick her finger again, Noir clenched his teeth.
He grabbed the hand holding the needle, stopping her from continuing.
"Lady Hestia, it's alright, cough cough. You're using a human body right now, so you can't lose too much blood, cough cough. We can just update it once every so often."
Though Noir did not know exactly what kind of skill was making him suffer this badly, he could guess that Hestia was trying to raise his Endurance through constant Falna updates.
It was a good idea, but he understood his own body well enough.
His pain was not caused by ordinary wounds. It came from a whole host of different factors.
A slight improvement in constitution would not truly change that.
Based on the knowledge he had recovered from his memories, Noir estimated that his Endurance would need to reach at least 300 or higher before the effect became meaningfully relieving.
That was not a number one could reach in a single night.
For an ordinary adventurer, reaching that value would require months, perhaps even longer.
If Hestia kept updating him like this, her body would give out from blood loss first.
That was not something Noir wanted to happen.
Hestia might be a goddess, but the body she was using right now was still only that of an ordinary girl.
Looking into Noir's trembling yet resolute eyes, Hestia finally agreed.
From then on, every ten minutes or so, whenever she saw he was about to lose control, Hestia would update his Falna again.
What Noir did not know was that his Endurance was increasing at a terrifying rate.
Endurance I-18 → I-67 → H-118 → H-163 → G-201 → ... → F-389 → E-404
At first, it was once every ten-plus minutes. Later, it gradually became once nearly every hour.
After an entire night of bitter struggle, by dawn of the second day, the pain Noir endured had finally fallen to a level he could bear, and then he sank into unconsciousness.
Thus, Noir's "first" Falna update was complete, and his stats were finally set.
[Noir Lv. 1]
[Strength I-0 → I-17]
[Endurance I-0 → E-404]
[Dexterity I-0]
[Agility I-0]
[Magic I-0]
[Magic:]
[Skills:]
『Flame of Vengeance』
『Mask of Pain』
『High-Ranking Player』
Hestia stared silently at the terrifying values in her hands.
She had been in the lower world for three months already, and she often heard the other gods bragging about Falna-related common knowledge during divine gatherings.
For an ordinary adventurer, receiving even one skill upon their first Falna was already considered extraordinary talent. Even those first-tier adventurers above Level 5 generally had only two or three skills.
She had never once heard of someone obtaining three skills the very first time they received a Falna.
But after seeing what those skills actually did, she fell silent.
Noir had never spoken about his past.
Yet both his body and his Falna were telling that story for him.
After gently rewrapping Noir in fresh bandages, Hestia pushed open the door and stepped outside, stretching lazily toward the newborn morning sun.
Then she sucked lightly on the tip of her index finger, which had grown sore from being pricked all night.
Thankfully, Noir had later reminded her to draw out more blood at once each time. Otherwise, she really would have had to keep pricking herself the whole night.
"Lady Goddess."
"It's finished." Looking at the worried Granny May standing before her, Hestia smiled and said, "By the way, Granny, do you know anything about Noir's past?"
"You saw that ruined body of his too, didn't you?"
"Mm."
"To be honest, I don't know much either. I picked that child up two years ago." Granny May looked off into the distance. "His body was already like that back then. After waking up, he never said a word. He only responded to the outside world on instinct. You're the only person he's ever brought home of his own accord."
"Maybe he doesn't want to talk about his past either." Granny May let out a sigh. "All I want is for that child to live well from now on."
...
Noir remained unconscious for an entire day.
By the time he woke up, it was already the dawn of the third day.
When he opened his eyes, his body felt better than ever before.
The pain and itchiness were still there, but far less intense than they had been in the past.
Most importantly, that whispering voice in his head, the one that had never once stopped, was finally gone.
When he pushed open the door and stepped outside, he found the two of them sitting in the courtyard, chatting and laughing together.
"Noir-kun, you're awake."
Seeing him come out, Hestia waved with a smile.
His luggage had long since been packed by Granny May and Hestia.
At the doorway, Granny May watched Noir walk away with his belongings on his back, and for a moment, she grew absent-minded.
It felt as though she was seeing the day her husband and son had left to become adventurers.
The only difference was that they had never come back.
"O gods, please let this child's journey be a safe one!"
It was the most sincere prayer a mother could offer.
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