While the sound of dying undead dragons roamed the church halls, Bloom and I did our best to look for clues in the rotten remains of the formerly holy sanctuaries. I'm feeling sick being here...
And worst of all, despite our efforts, there's nothing to be found in the churches. Lots of the stuff was too destroyed to get anything good from them. It looks partly from the dragons rampaging, but most of it is due to old age. Even if there was something suspicious about these churches, I'm several decades too late to find anything noteworthy.
Since I hate leaving empty-handed, I snatched some old texts on church-related alchemy. They contain recipes on how to make stuff like holy water. I'm not certain if a demon like me can make it in the first place, but it will be an amusing experiment.
After leaving the churches, a giant corpse came flying into one of the churches. HEY! Be glad I've already looked through that one, or else I'd chew you out for that reckless usage of corpse-crushing! Or haunt you if I was INSIDE the building!!
This is..., crap. A Dracolich. These are one of the C-rank undead dragons, and the most famous for this racial rank.
The dragon-type undead start at rank E as a "Corpse Dragon", then it evolves into either a "Skeleton Dragon", "Zombie Dragon", or "Ghost Dragon". Each of these undead lines has its unique evolutions, but they can all evolve into a Dracolich. But don't get me wrong. The Dracolich is far from the weakest just because more undead dragons can end up as one. I'd say it can easily be the strongest of the C-rank undead. And I mean ALL of them! Even liches may have it troublesome facing this beast...
And yet here it lies. Like the broken remains of a bloodthirsty guard dog's toy. Not that I'm gonna tell her that. Or else I'll be her next toy, albeit in a more adult meaning...
"Garami, sorry~. I didn't see you there~." - Filyn
"Do you think a 'sorry~' is enough here?! Are you trying to turn me into a demon pancake with Dracolich toppings!?" - Garami
"Wow. That must be the most nightmarish of all food lovers' nightmares." - Filyn
I am a little offended, considering I'm part of the nightmare, but I can't do anything but agree with her judgment.
"As an apology, you can get this stuff~." - Filyn
"...In other words, you want me to clean up the corpses from your mess?" I asked to reaffirm her intentions. I mean, there's a LOT of dragon corpses here, so I'm not exactly bothered about the job...
"Sure~, we can say it like that~. Just be quick about it. I want to go to the theater before it's too late." - Filyn
AKA, before Alf's group catches up with us. I got it. Now, time to convert some corpses..., but maybe I could make use of the remains of this Dracolich? Most of these guys' corpses are so damaged that it makes me doubt if [Necromantic Rites] would work on them. Let's see if I can harvest some materials from them later. And into the Storage, you go~...
Crap. I forgot that I don't have much space left. Grr, let's settle with just this one Dracolich's remains and convert the rest of the damaged corpses.
---
After the clean-up was done, I hurried along with Mira to catch up with Filyn and Iron, the latter acting as a guide for the impatient demoness.
"That is one big score for you, Garami~. When am I getting mine?" - Mira
"Don't ask me. I'm only picking up the remains from our resident queen of destruction." - Garami
"Fair enough. Speaking of that matter, weren't you surprised over Filyn's combat abilities?" - Mira
"Not really. I was too busy looking for clues. Was she that impressive?" - Garami
"She kicked Dracoliches around like they were pebbles in the road! How can a single demon do that much damage!? My pride as a swordswoman was crushed alongside the undead when I saw how amazing Filyn swung her katanas!" - Mira
"Oh, that. No need to worry. You two were in different dimensions from the beginning." - Garami
"...Garami? Do you have a fetish for making girls cry?" - Mira
"If I had to choose between being an M or an S, I'd say the latter, but that isn't the case here. Filyn's probably lived way longer than any of us, long enough that she has already acquired a Master-tier class." - Garami
"For real?" - Mira
"For real. I tried looking at her stats, but all I could see was some [Netherworld Sword Mistress]. Now that I think about it, that may be part of the reason why she's so strong against the undead." - Garami
Something with the "Netherworld" in its name has to be damn special for the unloving.
"*Sniff*...I'll beat her in a duel one day...!" - Mira
Uh-oh. Someone's getting stupid ideas here. Let's hope there are some treasures nearby that can distract her. Or perhaps...
"Not to change the subject, but where do you want to go on our date later?" - Garami
And with that, all plans related to revenge evaporated from Mira's head. I'm starting to get used to how she works by now.
As we discussed whether to mess with the city's casino district or go on an eating tour in the restaurant streets, we reached the Theater District. It looks...pretty standard. The only eye-catching thing about this place is the large building in the middle of the neighborhood. That must be the rumored "Silver Key Theater".
But what catches my eyes are not the glamour, but the filth: there are remains of age-old corpses in the corners and in the shadows of the old houses. And the very same houses are painted in a red color similar to old blood.
"Some very gory acts have been going on in this city." - Garami
"Hmm? ...Now I get it. You are quick to catch on to details like those, Garami. You're like a detective." - Mira
"That's an overstatement. I've just grown up in an environment where I gotta keep an eye on the details." - Garami
"Isn't that a detective's work though?" - Mira
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
No. Their work is to solve mysteries and be a trouble magnet. And I'm not relatable to that. AT ALL!! ...Right?
"Hmm........." - Bloom
"Hey, you're about to enter the death zone." - Garami
"Huh? GYAAAAAAHHH!?" - Bloom
I tried to warn Bloom as she flew ahead of us, her head in the clouds, but she stopped right before a skull's toothless grin. Good thing this one has stayed dead, as opposed to any other we've seen in this city.
"Do you mind keeping your mind in the right places?" - Garami
"Sorry... I was thinking about the 'grave sin' that caused Tir na Nog to end up as...this." - Bloom
"That is the question everyone wants answer to. Even Iron said so when you were talking to that egghead mayor." - Mira
"That guy's a Wiser, but I get your drift. They prolly tried to do something stupid with their Dungeon, just like what that idiot Glavras did." - Garami
"On a lower scale, hopefully. And they probably did. Turning into some undead creature and being kept prisoner here on this island is a harsh punishment, but something of the level of a Disaster would give them an even worse sentence." - Mira
"Yeah. Maybe they tried to cheat the system and obtain some sorta forbidden skill~. Haha..., there are no forbidden skills out there. Please tell me I'm right about this." - Garami
"Calling them forbidden would be a stretch, but there are 14 skills that are 'unique' in a fashion." - Bloom
"Unique?" - Garami
"Or should I say they are restricted to only one person who can own a copy of it?" - Bloom
"The Seven Sins! You're talking about the Seven Sins! Wait, that's only 7, not 14!" - Mira
"Erm, context, please?" - Garami
"What? It's the Seven Sins! ...Is this perhaps not as famous in Velantas as it is in Solomar?" - Mira
"Yup." - Garami
I'm prolly not even qualified to proclaim myself a full-blooded Velantasian, even if this is technically my home country.
"*Cough*, the Seven Sins Mira is talking about is a set of 7 non-attributed Extra Skills, each representing one of the Demon Gods that live in the 7 different terrestrial continents of Terra Sol." - Bloom
"WHAT?! They were that awesome...?" - Mira
And someone's mind just got blown.
"7 Demon Gods? Like Lucifer and Beelzebub?" - Garami
"Who?" - Mira
"As expected of Master~! Did you look into Demon God Lucifer's [Pride] skill already?" - Bloom
"The what-skill?" - Garami
I only repeated the knowledge I knew from my previous life. I was sort of a geek back then. Thinking about it, this continent's name is "Invidia". Don't tell me there's a Demon God Leviathan living somewhere on this landmass?! No, if these Demon Gods are similar to the ones I know from my old world, there's a better chance it's in the ocean close to the continent. But back to the Lucifer thing.
"So you did not know? The various Seven Sin skills have multiple requirements, but only [Pride] requires the user to already possess the non-attributed [Demon Lord] Extra Skill. I believed that you had considered obtaining it." - Bloom
"I only got to know about these skills today, let alone that there are Demon Gods for each continent!" - Garami
"Then from where did you get their names?" - Mira
"Comics, mostly." - Garami
"What daredevil dare to use the Demon Gods for something like comics...!" - Bloom
Whoops, sorry. I meant the comics from my old world. But it's gonna be a pain having to explain all that now, so I'll push past that.
"Anyway, what's the deal about these Seven Sin skills? And you said there are 14 of these 'unique' skills, so I bet there are some Seven Virtues as well." - Garami
"Correct!? Master, sometimes you are amazing..." - Bloom
Hehe...hey! That "sometimes" was unnecessary!
I had Bloom go through all the info she had on these skills. In addition to the Seven Sins, there also exist Seven Virtues skills that are based on the "Celestial Gods" for each of the celestial (aka flying) continents that float through Terra Sol's airspace. The home of Gust, the talking bird I saved in the Water-Knot, is on one of those. I wonder how he's doing these days.
Continuing, from the little info Bloom has on the Seven Sins and Seven Virtues skills, I can only say these are worthy of being limited to just 1 copy at a time. Take the [Pride] skill for example. One of its effects is to perfectly copy a certain number of skills from any possible target nearby, even other Extra Skills! For free! And that is just one out of at least FIVE effects!
These skills have some limitations though. Obtaining certain titles, possessing other skills to a certain degree, stuff like that. Even Karma Values play a big role here. The Seven Sins skills are only available to people with -200 Karma Value, as in people with the [True Chaos] title. The Seven Virtues are the opposite, requiring +200 Karma and [True Order]. Also, only [Pride] requires the [Demon King] skill to be obtained. On the Seven Virtues side, the skill [Humility] requires a certain [Hero] skill.
On a different note, Bloom also mentioned that there exists a [True Neutral] title obtained when your Karma Value reaches 0. The highest value (either plus or minus) before it reached 0 will be noted and when the total number of "karma points" reaches 200, you are asked if you wish for the [True Neutral] title. This "karma status" has an Extra Skill named [Adventurer].
It, alongside the [Hero] skill, has almost the same effects as [Demon Lord], the only difference being the attribute-based resistance effects are different between each skill.
"Aren't there any such skills related to [True Neutral]?" - Garami
"No, not any unique ones such as the Seven Sins and Seven Virtues. Extra Skills that are allowed to have multiple copies are a different case." - Bloom
Hmm, going by that logic, won't there be Extra Skills that require you to have [True Chaos] as a requirement outside of having to complete an Extra Trial? That sounds kinda tempting, but a little scary at the same time...
"But why did you think Garami would aim for [Pride]? Couldn't she have tried to collect all seven Sins?" - Mira
Hey, hey, hey. What sort of super Demon Goddess are you planning on turning me into?
"That would not work. Master already has a non-attribute Extra Skill in [Demon Lord]. The only way for her to obtain a Seven Sins skill would be to it as a catalyst for [Pride]." - Bloom
"...? Not that I'm gonna go all sinful, but why's that pausing me from getting any of the other Sins? Like [Sloth]?" - Garami
"Really? That's the skill you think of first?" - Mira
Hey, don't mess with sloth. Not doing anything all day is the occupation for spiders (when not fixing their webs). Even if I only play at being one now, I do have spider genes (as in, the Trait) in me.
"Better than choosing [Greed] if you ask me." - Garami
"Why's that?" - Mira
"What if you face a martial artist?" - Garami
"Then I'd strip them and make them incapacitated due to shame." - Mira
"And if the martial artist is a giant macho musclebuilder humanoid roach?" - Garami
"...Then I'd rather wish for [Wrath] so I could turn him into bug paste." - Mira
Yuck. That may be even more disgusting.
"But enough joking. Why can't I get anything but [Pride]?" - Garami
"Because Extra Skills are limited to a total of 5 per person." - Bloom
That rules out the dream for those who which to become a Super Demon God. And I feel there's more to the story.
"Why 5?" - Garami
"I did not obtain the full information, but it seems that one can only obtain 1 Extra Skill for each attribute one specializes in, meaning a maximum of 3, plus 1 more Extra Skill that is required to not possess any attributes. The Seven Sins skills, Seven Virtues skills, Master's [Demon Lord] skill, and Marcus Pollen's [Dimensional Merchant] are all part of this category." - Bloom
"And the 5th?" - Garami
"That seems to be...a skill representing the skill owner? I am not sure about this one, but the skill needs to be part of at least 1 of the attributes the user specializes in." - Bloom
So technically, outside Zahhak, I could potentially obtain another Darkness-type Extra Skill, or Mira have one more Light-type other than Airgetlám? That is handy info.
"Oh, and the non-attribute Extra Skills seem to be possible for Migrants to obtain when they arrive at Terra Sol, but Extra Skills that have attributes are out." - Bloom
"Not exactly interesting info, but thanks anyway." - Garami
"Tch, and here I fantasized about having Garami obtain [Lust] so she could win her rematch against Filyn..." - Mira
Hey, I'm not gonna fight that incarnation of death and destruction! Especially not at night!
"For my part, I wish to never hear anything about any Sins skills ever again. Why did you suddenly grow so knowledgeable about Extra Skills anyway, Bloom? Before, the Kigal-Note refused to give us any more info than what we'd already uncovered when it came to the Extras." - Garami
"......? ??? Now that you mention it, why do I know? I only tried to obtain information about Tir na Nog." - Bloom
Hey, hey. Don't tell me it's true that this place's royals did set their aims at those Extras. It would make sorta sense that Bloom would unlock some Extra-info if she ran through Tir na Nog data and snapped up some juicy bits on the way...
Nope. Never. Unbelievable! That sorta punchline would be too horrifying...for me! If that's true, then there might be some undead jerk hidden in that castle, potentially armed with a Sins skill...
Nope. Never. Impossible! My luck can't be THAT bad, right? I mean, my LUC is 150!! ...Let's go and find Filyn ASAP anyway. For some reason, the area around that avatar of debauchery feels like the fastest place on this island now. *Shiver*...