They had survived this ordeal at the cost of 25 lives, including the ones who had run off at the start. 10 had fled and were confirmed to be killed by the Anids. The Decanid, however kind Frost assumed it to be, was a frightening creature to normal people. It likely saw them as trespassers.
4 were children and others who were incapable of fighting. The rest were Adventurers. Brave souls that fought against a creature that no one should ever have to face. Few were left in a dazed, near comatose state, incapable of reacting to any stimuli.
Frost was a healer that could only repair the body. And just like on Earth, the mind was the hardest thing to fix. Unsurprisingly, there was no page in her book of experience that told her how to sooth the mind and hearts of those that were exposed to a living nightmare.
And so, she could only heal them while speaking kindly, as she always did.
Furthermore, Via, for some reason insisted that the broods came along. At first the Decanid was opposed to this but when she revealed that this was dictated by the Script, the Decanid ceased all resistance and gave them all over.
It was unknown why the Script wished for this. Or how they even knew that these broods would be here and alive. It brought the nature of these Scripts into question. And what reason did Via have to obey them for aside from avoiding certain death?
When asked, Via responded that it was as simple as granting her a purpose.
Ultimately, the Scripts remained as mysterious as anything else.
Jury scooped up the grey feathers and stored them into her own Dimensional Storage. Her Blessing of the Amalgam gave her the exact same privileges as any other Blessed to her surprise. It was unknown what additional benefits her Blessing actually gave to Jury now that she thought about it.
Regardless – the woman now wore a mantle of grey feathers. It matched perfectly with her appearance. The mantle wove around her shoulders and chest like a pair of tightly wrapped wings. It drooped closely to the ground but never seemed to ever touch it.
When standing side by side a certain aura of divinity surrounded them. Their wear was too spectacular for normal people and would easily draw the eyes of those that seek help, and the blades of those who envied.
Mantle of Sin
< Its feathers recite the sins of others >
ORIGIN : Object
AFFINITY : Judgement
Type : Apparel DEF : 150
MAG DEF : 200
RESIST : 45
EFFECT: Resistance to Judgement Affinity. Immune to Confession.
Confession turned out to be a status effect caused by the Listening Bird’s skills. As the name explicitly defined; it was an uncontrollable compulsion to confess.
Interestingly, the mantle itself had the same strange red text that fell like animated snow across its feathers. It changed depending on who she looked at, spelling out phrases that no one save for Frost could understand now that she possessed the Language of Judgement.
Jury on the other hand could hear these words being recited. Of evil that people had committed in the past. From Jury’s understanding, it did not go into detail. It only labeled people as things such as ‘murderer’, ‘traitor’, or ‘bastard son’.
It was somehow fitting for a person named Jury of all things.
That being said, Frost could also see certain things in the status window now that she had this new ability.
Furio
< Hot Headed Fire Mage >
Soul Rank: Red | Adventurer Rank: Gold LEVEL : 75 ORIGIN : Human HP : 1,300 ATT : 50 MAG ATT : 300 MP : 2,000 ATT DEF : 50 MAG DEF : 90 RESIST : 8 AGI : 15
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
She could see the titles of people, alongside all their stats. It was an incredibly useful ability for many reasons. The first being that she could identify exactly who she was talking to. This seemed to be affected directly by the RESIST stat, because as soon as Jury put on the Mantle of Sin; it became almost impossible to read her stats.
Thankfully, Jury allowed her to read them. She didn’t need to ask either. The woman was always happy to comply if it was for Frost.
“Excuse me then. Status.”
< LEVEL : 78 >
< Unhung Jury >
NAME : Jury HP : 8,000 ^20/Min
MP : 800 ^5/Min
RESIST : 32 (+45) AGI : 35 AGE : 26 ATT : 138
ATT DEF : 100 (+150)
O : 78 D : 0 ORIGIN : Original MAG ATT : 0
MAG DEF : 50 (+200)
S : 0 E : 0
< PROFESSIONS >
OFFENSIVE
DEFENSIVE SUPPORT EXPLORATION BODY VERSATILITY : 45
LACERATER : 33
< ACTIVE SKILLS >
OFFENSIVE
DEFENSIVE SUPPORT EXPLORATION Lacerate III [3/10]
Tail Whack [0/10]
Body Manipulation IV [5/10]
< PASSIVE SKILLS >
OFFENSIVE
DEFENSIVE SUPPORT EXPLORATION
Sharpened Claws IV
Budding Tail
Acrobatics V
Sharpened Fangs IV
< ABILITIES >
Their Innocence
Realized
Amalgam's Blessing
Invitation of the Archivist
The very last ability caused her to blankly blink.
“Jury… have you ever checked your own stats?” Frost was baffled by this discovery.
“Hmm? No? I only just figured it out after you told me to try Dimensional Storage.”
For some reason, it never came across to Frost that Jury could call upon the System to view herself. She was a Blessed through and through. If she did then she would have noticed the glaringly obvious ability that sat at the very bottom of her stats page.
This was most certainly the cause for her dreams. The name archivist implied a keeper of a library.
“Nav. What the hell is the Invitation of the Archivist?”
“I am not aware… but the information is suddenly being fed to me. Shall I begin?”
“Please.”
“Invitation…?” Jury uttered, finally seeing this ability for the first time. “To the place with many books?”
< Invitation of the Archivist >
< “The Archivist of the Floor of Civilization formally invites you to scour its library in search for your one perfect book. Do you seek power? Knowledge? Honor? Love? All can be provided by my library.” >
Frost froze in place and looked to where the Nexus would be.
Another floor had opened. One of Civilization belonging to the Archivist.
* * *
< CORRUPTED SKILL COLLECTION >
JUDGEMENT
First State
Active
Dismissed Confession
< The silence was evidence of their guilt. Their mouths moved but they could never speak >
< Deal 2,000 damage to a chosen target. Target will be afflicted with 50 stacks of Confession >
< Cost: 1,500 MP >
Passive
Unlying Tablet
< Our deeds were prewritten in blood by the almighty King >
< Your spilled blood summons the Unlying Tablets to your aid >
Unique
Sinless Repent