Soon everyone gathered inside the classroom. The air was buzzing with soft chatter and laughter as students found their seats. Esdeath, as always, sat at the very back with Maruti beside her. Her sharp red eyes drifted forward where Ethan and his little group were sitting together, their faces glowing with joy.
Their smiles and carefree expressions made Esdeath's mood sour instantly.
"Irritating," she thought, resting her chin on her hand. "I thought once they found out Claus was bullying Violet, they would rage, maybe even challenge her to a duel, and create some drama worth watching. But this? Peace? Just sitting together happily as if nothing happened? I should've let Claus bully Violet a bit longer in secret. Only then their hatred would boil over and I'd finally get some entertainment."
Her lips curled into a small smirk at the thought, though her eyes held nothing but boredom.
Beside her, Maruti shifted uncomfortably, staring at Esdeath's legs before blurting out, "Should I also start wearing pants like you? It might feel strange in a girl's body, but honestly, it's better than what I'm wearing now."
Esdeath didn't even turn her head, answering flatly, "No. Don't copy my style."
Maruti's lips twitched twice as she bit back a retort. "Your style? You makima from walmart," she screamed in her mind but wisely kept her mouth shut, glancing at the teacher instead.
At the front, the teacher cleared her throat, her voice echoing through the room as the lively chatter quieted.
"Today's lesson is about mysticism and divinity," she began, her tone calm but carrying weight. "It is said that gods and goddesses contain divinity. But in truth, every living being carries divinity within themselves. But it is in the form of faith, hope, or courage. But there is also negative divinity—born from the seven deadly sins. Among them, fear and despair are the most dangerous. Those who use this negative divinity as their source of power are called evil gods. And we must never, under any circumstances, attempt to contact them."
The classroom grew silent. Even the playful ones leaned forward, listening intently.
The teacher's face turned serious, her voice lowering. "The cost of even accidentally contacting an evil god is terrifying. Most often, the result is death on the spot. Some are twisted into brutal monsters, anomalies, or disgusting lumps of flesh. For women especially, the outcome is said to be… worse than death itself. Very rarely, an evil god may appear polite, even merciful, but even then—who can guarantee they're not playing a cruel long game with you?"
"That is why," the teacher continued firmly, "knowledge of divinations and mysticism is only passed on to trusted individuals—especially those with an affinity for the light element. Their visions are far less likely to stray toward evil gods, even by mistake, They even have natural advantage in divination."
A boy in the middle row raised his hand, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, "Teacher, did the Demon King also have negative divinity?"
The teacher paused for a moment before nodding. "Both yes and no. He carried both kinds—positive and negative—in great amounts. The world feared him, but the demons worshipped and adored him. That balance is why even after being stripped of his godhood, he remained terrifyingly powerful."
"So scary…" the student muttured while sitting down.
"Ahem..Ahem..Where was I? Yes! Gods have divinity in them, and it's practically impossible, but if you ever meet a god in person, do not look. A single stare at a divine being is enough to kill you unless they allow you to see them or choose to contact you instead. There are hundreds of cases every year where random people find ancient murals or temples, and only end up lost forever or dead after making contact with a divine being!" the teacher explained.
"Hmm… I met him in a dream, and most importantly, he contacted me. That's why nothing happened!" Violet thought to herself.
"Right, the Goddess of the Sea tricked me into reciting her honorific name. She wanted me to see her, that's why nothing happened!" Sylvania realized, her eyes shining with sudden understanding.
---
Soon the classes ended, and Esdeath and Maruti walked together down the hall.
"When is the secret agent going to contact me? I've been delaying my meeting with Xing Liang because of this. I would have rather trained with him instead!" Maruti sighed heavily, kicking at the air as they walked.
"Patience, be patient. Just wander around the academy or go outside for a stroll. I can bet someone will definitely contact you today or tomorrow," Esdeath replied calmly, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
"Every time I take a step here, I only bump into my sister, or Kaelith, or Alice. I should just go outside instead!" Maruti grumbled, waving her hand before heading out of the academy.
Left alone, Esdeath decided to go back home. On her way, she thought about testing Selene's power or maybe cooking something special for Lortell.
These days, Lortell had been even busier than usual. M.A.L.I.C.E. wasn't stopping in the Dwarf Kingdom, and if the king gave the order, she would have no choice but to go there personally to help them reclaim some of their land.
The thought weighed on Esdeath's mind. If Lortell had to leave, it meant she wouldn't return for at least a month. Not seeing her for so long was torture—and Esdeath knew it would be torture for Lortell too.
"If Lortell has to go, then I'll just go with her… and maybe give a little personal advice to M.A.L.I.C.E.," Esdeath smirked to herself, her lips curling in a wicked grin as she stepped outside the academy and made her way home.
But as she walked, several notifications suddenly popped into her status window one after another. She didn't stop or show a single change in her expression, quietly continuing until she reached her home.
When she opened the door, she found the entire room transformed into a frozen land. It looked like a massive snowstorm had passed through—walls glittered like ice crystals, furniture was covered in frost, and the floor cracked with frozen patterns.
In the center of it all sat Selene. Her figure was surrounded by a faint, chilling aura. She held a strange mural in her hands, her brows furrowed as she kept trying to cover it with layers of ice, but no matter how hard she tried, the mural refused to freeze.
Esdeath's eyes softened, though her tone remained calm. "What are you doing?" she asked, without anger or surprise, as if this kind of scene was something she was already used to.
"I wanted to train my ice magic, Thus father gave me this, She said it's called Elemental Mural, Noo matter how hard I try, It just won't freeze, The whole room got freezed!", Selene showed her frustration clearly on her tone.
Esdeath's lips curled into a faint smile as she stepped closer to Selene. She bent down and gently kissed her on the forehead, her icy red eyes softening for just a moment.
"It's good that you're working hard," she said, her voice calm but firm. "But turn everything back to normal. Mother needs some personal time." With that, she walked past her and made her way toward the bedroom.
Selene quickly nodded, her small hands trembling as she released her power. The frozen air began to fade, the walls and floor slowly returning to their normal state.
To be honest, Esdeath had originally taken Selene in as nothing more than insurance. As a human, her own growth had limits. Her initial potential was high, but she wasn't confident she could ever break past A-rank. S-rank seemed like a far-off dream. That's why Selene was important. A being like her, who carried power beyond comprehension, would definitely grow stronger than any S-rank in the future.
But as days passed, Esdeath found herself slowly changing. The more she merged with real Esdeath, the more natural their bond became. And after Lortell accepted Selene as their daughter, Esdeath too began seeing her as one—no longer just insurance, but family.
Of course, every time she heard Selene call her "mother" again and again, Esdeath couldn't help but sigh deeply inside.
---
Inside her room, Esdeath sat cross-legged on her bed and opened her status window.
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Esdeath's lips twitched slightly as she stared at the glowing screen.
She didn't know whether she should be furious over the 20,000 SP deduction, or laugh at the 40,000 net gain.
Before this, she had 60,630 SP. Just from being popular these past few days, she gained about 1,370 points daily. And now, with this new reward, her total had shot up to 102,000 SP.
"Hmm…" her eyes narrowed. "The higher existence my constellation is talking about must be the Mother of Corruption. But there's something off about this…"
Her mind worked quickly, piecing things together. "It feels like they're tempting me. With this much SP, it's enough to break that annoying rule about not damaging the main plotline… but the cost is 100,000. Convenient, isn't it? They purposely cut off some of my SP just to frustrate me, but still left me with just enough to tempt me. And then, they threw in extra stat rewards so I wouldn't spend SP there, leaving me hovering around 80 or 90k until I decide to break that rule later."
Her lips curled up in defiance as realization sank in. "She's desperate. Something about this stinks."
Without hesitation, she raised her middle finger toward the open window and looked up at the sky.
"Fuck you, Constellation," she spat with a smirk. "As if I'd ever do what you want me to."
Her eyes gleamed as she decided to waste some of her points on stats and skills instead.
"Although I had some doubts before, now it's clear. My constellation doesn't have many worshippers… or any other incarnations. That's why she's so scared of me dying before I fulfill my role."
Her smirk deepened, her heart racing with both excitement and suspicion. "Looks like I just got one step closer to uncovering the identity of the star watching over me."
With that said, she started using her SP points to boost her stats. She focused more on mana, since with the amount of essence stones she now had, she didn't really need much physical strength anymore. Besides, if she pushed her body beyond what it could handle, it would only bring her trouble later.
"I still need to handle two important things first…One, A golden veins essence stone, With that my ESR talent will likely reach 90% and second a powerful heart that can contain huge amount of mana, Only these two can make me a real rank a awakened" she muttered softly, her red eyes narrowing in thought.
She then used her points to enhance her skill Veteran Shooter.
Description: Heals wounds immediately by "echoing" moments in time when the user was uninjured. Injuries instantly begin to mend to match their healthy state. The limit of the skill depends on mana. As long as sufficient mana is supplied, there is no cooldown or daily limit.
She had spent around 5,000 points on her stats and 30,000 to upgrade what she considered her second most reliable skill after Veteran Shooter.
"Phew… this solves my healing problem. An A-rank skill… as long as I have enough time and mana, I'm basically immortal!" she said with a bright smile on her lips.
She could feel her chest lighten at the thought. The change in the skill was huge. The word "quickly" had now turned into "immediately," and the most important part—there was no limit to how many times she could use it in a day. If she had the mana, the skill would keep her alive.
Of course, it was both an advantage and a risk. If she had plenty of mana, it would become her lifeline. But if she ever ran out, then the skill would be nothing but dead weight.
"Whatever the case, having an A-rank skill is the same as holding an A-rank essence stone in my hands," she thought to herself, her gaze drifting toward her remaining SP points.
She let out a small laugh, her voice shaking with a mix of amusement and disbelief. "If it were the me from before… seeing 30,000 SP vanish just like that, I probably would have started crying instead."