The realization that the dungeon had been a peaceful, maybe even happy place only half an hour ago shook Rose more than she had expected. It was one thing to realize the monsters were people twisted into foul forms—but somehow this shrine being tainted felt… fouler. It was probably because of the beauty.
Rose had been in a rush as she had entered the dungeon, so she hadn’t taken any time at all to appreciate the environment itself. But now she finally stopped for a moment, and looked. The graveyard she was in was a place more tranquil than she had ever seen before.
Everything was in harmony. The shrine forest surrounding the graves was lush and peaceful—the paths through the mountain made to fit the bends of nature, rather than to bend them. A peaceful stream was flowing behind the outer edge, softly pattering down the mountainside. The buildings, gates, gravestones—all of it was built for beauty, not for function.
She had never seen anything like it before. For a moment, Rose closed her eyes and imagined her home back in the temple. A scarred, pillaged land of smog and decay, where no forests stood anymore, and all water was a polluted slop. The immortal realms held no places of beauty and peace, everything had been torn down for the sake of war.
Then she inhaled, breathing in fresh air, just savouring the cleanliness. Rose opened her eyes and saw the streaks of blood and twisted bodies that ruined the landscape. Ruin had already come to this place. If things went as always, this realm too would be integrated into the realms and stripped bare for war.
That’s why I need to get stronger. Strong enough to topple… everything.
Rose opened her status and began reviewing the fight she had just gone through.
Name: Rose
Species: ???
Divinity Aspect: Blood
Soul Rank: Nascent Divinity
Attributes:
Boons: Blooming Blood
Artifacts: N/A
Blood: 3/100
Mind newly focused on her task, she immediately noticed several problems with her methods so far. Number one—she had killed four monsters, but only received blood worth two. Her current fighting style was inefficient, wasting a huge amount of blood for every kill. Should I carry a sword or something of the sort? A weapon that wouldn’t take consuming blood to use?
The second issue was more fundamental, a matter of how she thought of herself. Rose had always craved receiving some sort of power to use, but one that would not bind her to a God’s whims. Making a pact with the God of Shadow had been a compromise, as that particular deity was rumored to be more transactional—someone you could reason with.
But now Rose had received a power that only depended on herself, Blooming Blood, and she had consequently fallen in love. True, she had already figured out several ways to fight using it, but she had been too focused on it, when it was actually the least of what she had received.
Rose wasn’t a blood mage, she was a nascent Goddess. And here she was, just running around throwing blood at monsters. Was that really all she was now? Annoyed, the young woman began pacing around the courtyard. Is there anything god-like I can actually do?
True, blood was connected to her divinity, but her powers weren’t especially divine, at least yet. She hadn’t heard of any deity who spent their time fighting monsters—didn’t they have better things to do?
Frustrated with herself, Rose finally stopped and her eyes came to the dead monster husks littered about. She stared for a moment, lost in thought. Yes… maybe that.
Rose once more reached out and felt for that sensation of wrongness.
As an initiate of the emerald order, she had been lectured very thoroughly on the monsters that inhabited these realms. She had talked to several people who had fought them. But none had ever mentioned this sensation she felt. A profound unease, as if the world was just a bit twisted right at that spot.
Where am I getting this sensation from?
Rose closed her eyes, focusing inward. She had gained many new senses, but most of those had to do with blood. Even eyes closed, she could sense it thumping in her veins, splattering the ground. Then there was a different sensation, of something… crawling under her skin. But it felt foggy, blocked. Is that Veil of Innocence condition hiding whatever this is?
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
If so, it had to do with her true nature. But no, that feeling of wrongness came from a different place altogether, far from any of her other senses. From somewhere near her… core. She searched and searched and finally found the faintest sensation of power. Waiting. An ember to be fed.
Yes, that had to be it. It wasn’t much, but it was something at least. This perception… let’s call it Divine Sense.
Newly focused and energized, Rose surveyed the area. The corpses were the strongest to her divine sense, but she could feel fainter sensations now, further away. She nodded to herself. Time to move on.
For at least an hour, Rose gradually moved up the mountain, stepping through wooden gates and investigating the myriad shrines she came across. But this time she moved slowly and methodically, carefully observing every nook and cranny she passed. Her divine sense let her track nearby monsters rather easily, and the ones she found were the same type of guard as earlier, each twisted in their own macabre way.
Rose dispatched them all with growing ease, practicing her blood thorn and petal storm. Her body was agile and strong, none of the monsters could do much to her poke-a-hole-and-siphon-them-dead strategy. If it was one, she tested her limits. If it was many, she played the war of attrition. With each kill, she wasted less and less blood, and gained more and more for herself.
Blood: 4/100
Blood: 6/100
Blood: 9/100
Every bit of blood went into her core, fueling a transformation waiting to happen. Her senses sharpened and her strength grew. Gradually, it started to feel routine, predictable.
Blood: 10/100
Blood: 13/100
But the routine made her careless. It was on climbing a staircase about halfway up the mountain that Rose felt her next shock. It was a stone staircase like all the others, framed by a new wooden gate every few steps, and she walked up it like any other. Her divine sense didn’t feel any wrongness, so she wasn’t even alert.
Then Rose finally crested the top of the stairs, looked to the courtyard ahead and—stared.
Corpses. Dead bodies. Half a dozen of them, lying right in front of the courtyard’s ornate shrine, faces frozen in eternal despair. Rose felt a new regret.
Because they were not monsters.
The corpses were of humanoid people, women dressed in red and white robes who had a slight brown tint to their skin. They were tall—and young!
Rose stopped focusing solely on her divine sense and instantly felt the blood—still warm. The bodies were only starting to cool. Cautiously, she began to approach to get a closer look. And seeing their skin, she corrected herself. Not monsters, no—not yet.
Those same burnmarks that the monsters bore had started on the women, but they had acted decisively. Each had a ceremonial dagger dropped to the ground before them, bearing their own blood. The women had sensed the corruption starting and chosen to slit their own throats.
For a moment, Rose felt the urge to say a prayer for their souls, as she had learned to do in her former home. But to what god? She shook her head. Sorry, but I don’t know if I have any salvation for you. Could she have done what they did? Or would she let herself turn into a twisted mockery? Can’t know before you’re in the situation.
Solemn, she began investigating the scene further. These women were dressed differently than the guards, so what was their role? A shame the system only gave information on the living. After a quick survey of the area, Rose noticed chips of wood on the ground and half-finished carvings on a nearby table.
The women had been etching some sorts of symbols into wooden blocks. They had finished a few, which had been placed on the shrine, where more were already hung up with strings so they could bob in the wind. Some sort of prayers tablets, perhaps? Did anybody hear them? Rose herself couldn’t read the symbols.
Rose began to leave, satisfied with what she had learned, when she suddenly stopped to look over one of the corpses, a woman who seemed older than the rest. Her divine sense was finding… something. It wasn’t a wrongness in the world, so it had taken a moment for her to notice, but as she looked over the woman’s robes, system text suddenly appeared.
Ceremonial Shrine Maiden Robes
The ceremonial attire of the Mennväeg shrine Maiden’s, who are charged with tending to their many shrines. The robes help reach a deeper connection with one’s chosen deity or spirit. Contain a minor self-repair enchantment.
The nascent deity stared. If she were to put that set of clothes on, did that mean…
Would I connect more with… myself? Could this help me figure out my Divine Sense? Intrigued, Rose began taking the robes off. She felt just a bit bad about stealing a dead woman’s clothes and leaving her bare to the elements, but well—she was dead. Rose doubted her soul would mind.
Especially if Rose could put the Robes to use.
Artifact Gained: Ceremonial Shrine Maiden Robes
Huh. Artifacts are generally gained from monsters, so does it count if they only start to turn to monsters? Or was this an artifact already, before all this happened?
She didn’t know precisely how artifacts were created, but the Robe had adjusted to her size on its own, and the description didn’t mention a feature like that. It was a comfortable, airy garment with the skirt split in two to allow a range of motion at the feet, and wide, billowing sleaves one could hide all manner of knives in.
Examining herself newly attired, Rose found she rather liked it. Red was kind of her colour lately. But I don’t feel like I’ve made any great revelation about myself… does that come later?
Her divine sense didn’t feel different—at least not yet. But the divine sense was only the first aspect of her divinity she had found, so she hoped the robes might help her discover the next. Just as Rose was once more prodding at her divine sense, making absolutely sure it hadn’t gone through a breakthrough—
Bells started ringing from the mountaintop. Rose whipped her head up, staring towards the peak. Does that mean—? Confirming her fears, system text finally appeared.
The Dungeon Boss of Paslamm Shrine has been engaged in battle.
She wasn’t alone in the dungeon. Which God’s side were the others from? It didn’t matter, in that moment they were all enemies to her. Some bastard’s trying to steal my boss kill!
Rose started running.