When the unnamed princess, now Alyria, opened her eyes, she was no longer in her ruined room or beside the goddess but in a cave dimly lit by glowing blue moss. She looked back to where she assumed the cave entrance was but found it blocked; in other words, she was trapped in the dungeon.
Realizing her situation, she began to inhale and exhale to calm herself. Then, after a moment of being frozen, she started laughing—laughing so hard she nearly suffocated, but still with a smile on her face. After taking a few minutes to calm down, she checked her status.
[Name: Alyria Valenwood
VITALITY: 32
STRENGTH: 26
DEFENSE: 24
STAMINA: 31
MIND: 15
MANA: 16
SPEED: 6
CLASSES: N/A / N/A / N/A
TALENT: Multi-Class
SPECIAL SKILLS: Devour / Skill Tree
CLASS SKILLS: N/A
SKILLS: Etiquette 6 / Mathematics 5 / Tailoring 6 / Hunger Resistance 3 / Sleep Resistance 2
BLESSINGS: Strong Body / True Beauty / Material Manipulation / Bloodshed]
She smiled when she saw that she finally had a name, and was even more surprised and pleased to see she had gained three additional blessings.
“Since I can remember, I’ve had the Strong Body blessing, but I didn’t expect to gain three more blessings before even obtaining a class.”
In the kingdom of Caelum, women cannot receive a name until marriage, nor a class until they marry or are sold to work somewhere, like in the king’s palace or for a noble. In that case, they’re given numbers instead of names. This applies even to women in the royal family, like the princess, who, despite having two special abilities and an incredibly powerful talent, would have been used as a political tool.
“Let’s review what my blessings do before choosing a class.”
[Skill: Strong Body
Blessing: Granted by the Goddess of Life
Doubles strength stat gains and gives a 1.25 multiplier to strength when performing actions (like lifting or attacking).
“Grow big and strong, dear.”]
The princess smiled when she saw this last part, remembering the goddess who had shown her so much love over the years.
[Skill: True Beauty
Blessing: Granted by the Goddess of Beauty
Ensures the body is always in optimal condition, that it develops in a way considered beautiful, and prevents the formation of imperfections and scars.
“You’re lovely; my blessing will help you… I hope.”]
The blessing of beauty… also known as the curse of beauty. Desired and feared in equal measure.
“I’ve heard too many stories of how women ended up in ruin after receiving this blessing, but I swear on the Goddess of Life that I won’t be one of them,” Alyria said firmly.
[Skill: Material Manipulation
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Blessing: Granted by the God of Creation
This skill allows the user to alter materials for equipment creation or terrain modification, limited by the Mind stat.
“I expect great things from you.”]
“… I wasn’t expecting this.” Her surprise was reasonable, as the God of Creation is the highest god of all, surpassing any being, even the outer gods, so it was a great surprise to receive his blessing.
After several seconds in shock, she decided to check her last blessing.
[Skill: Bloodshed
When an enemy is killed, the Strength, Defense, and Mind stats increase by 0.10% per enemy slain, up to a maximum of 25%. These boosts last five minutes, but the time resets with each kill.
“I don’t know what the others see in you, but something tells me you’ll spill a lot of blood, and I like that.”]
“Seems like what they say about the God of War is true,” she commented upon reading the note.
“Well, I have four blessings from the twelve great gods. Why? No idea. I’m trapped in a special dungeon that I must complete without anyone’s help except the blessings, and I have no weapon training… Sigh I suppose I’ll choose my classes.”
With this in mind, she opened another window similar to her status window but with obvious differences.
[Available Classes:
Young Devourer:
Unlocked by possessing the Special Skill: Devour
Grants access to skills that complement the special ability
Stats gained per level:
VITALITY +5 STRENGTH +5 DEFENSE +5 STAMINA +5 MIND +5 MANA +5 SPEED +5
Princess:
Unlocked by being a princess
Grants access to skills useful for the user’s education and territory management
Stats gained per level:
VITALITY +2 STAMINA +1 MIND +6 MANA +2
Fugitive Princess:
Unlocked by being a princess who has run away of her own free will
Grants access to skills for concealment, escape, and disguise
Stats gained per level:
VITALITY +4 STRENGTH +2 STAMINA +6 SPEED +6]
Classes are unlocked through talents, special skills, regular skills, actions, and past classes; however, not all of these will unlock classes.
“Well… there are only a few classes, and one of them is useless for my situation… so,” she paused, making a decision, “For now, I’ll choose just one class and use the skill point (HP) on the first skill of the Skill Tree.”
[Name: Alyria Valenwood
VITALITY: 32
STRENGTH: 26
DEFENSE: 24
STAMINA: 31
MIND: 15
MANA: 16
SPEED: 6
CLASSES: Young Devourer / N/A / N/A
TALENT: Multi-Class
SPECIAL SKILLS: Devour / Skill Tree
CLASS SKILLS: Devouring Mist 1/
SKILLS: Etiquette 6 / Mathematics 5 / Tailoring 6 / Hunger Resistance 3 / Sleep Resistance 2
BLESSINGS: Strong Body / True Beauty / Material Manipulation / Bloodshed]
Normally, obtaining a class would immediately grant all its abilities, but due to the special skill [Skill Tree], the princess and anyone who has it must spend skill points (HP) to unlock abilities, in exchange for being able to access more skills. For every class level gained, a skill point is granted, unlike others who gain points through leveling up.
“Well, now I need a weapon,” she looked around a bit until she spotted a sizable stone, picked it up, and activated Material Manipulation. Initially, nothing happened, but with a bit more effort and concentration, Alyria managed to mold the stone, which seemed to transform into clay, and gradually reshaped it into a stone mace about fifty centimeters long.
“Panting That was harder than I thought, and it’s just a mace. If it were something with a blade, it’d be even worse.”
After recovering, she took the mace and made a few movements to get used to it, though they were quite amateurish. However, she decided it was sufficient for now.
Thus, armed with her dress and a stone mace, she set off on her adventure.
…
It didn’t take long for her to encounter her first enemy. In the distance, she only heard a soft bouncing sound, which gave her an idea of what it might be. Proceeding cautiously, she turned a corner in the cave and found herself in a large room with a small lake of crystal-clear water and the source of the sound—a blue Slime, the weakest monster of all, known only for its bouncing and slight resistance to blows. Unlike its green counterparts, it wasn’t even acidic.
When the princess saw it, she lowered her guard and approached slowly. The Slime noticed her too, bouncing in her direction. The princess, calculating its trajectory, lifted the mace above her head and brought it down on the Slime, hitting it but not killing it, as she hadn’t damaged the core. Though it lost some mass, she finished it off with a second blow, leaving behind slime residue on the ground and a broken core.
The princess hesitated for a moment but realized that she couldn’t afford to be picky in her current situation. She had hoped the first monster she devoured would be a legendary beast, not a Slime, but using her new class ability, a purple mist emerged from her mouth, quickly enveloping the Slime's remains.
[Skills Obtained: Slow Regeneration, Elasticity]
She quickly checked the new skills. The first allowed her to regenerate limbs, though it could take weeks, and provided a small boost to natural regeneration. The second gave her skin an elastic texture that reduced blunt damage without affecting her defenses.
So, armed with two new abilities and greater confidence, she prepared to follow one of the two paths in front of her, venturing forth with courage and resolve!
But after walking a bit, she turned back, realizing she might not find any more water ahead. While drinking from the small lake, she looked at her reflection, seeing her purple hair—a signature trait of the royal family of Caelum—and her mother’s golden eyes. After admiring her reflection for a few seconds, she stood up and said to herself,
“Let’s do this.”