Taking another few steps back, Maya shot an odd look at the old woman. "The name's Maya,"

The old woman's eyes lifted to meet Maya's. She clasped her hands together, and nodded. "Forgive me...I must have mistaken you."

Maya snorted. "Finally-"

"You must be Munin's scion," the old woman asserted with a renewed sense of conviction, her statement hanging in the air like a declaration.

"What, no!" Maya replied, her voice rising in disbelief.

Sophia stepped in and placed a hand on Maya's shoulder. "Calm down, the old woman's just delusional."

The old woman staggered to her feet. Her eyes locked onto Sophia with a glare of indignation. "I'm old but not blind." She slowly extended a trembling finger towards Maya, and yelled, "I can see Munin's essence in her!"

Upon hearing this, Sophia fell silent. Her eyes glanced at both the old devotee and Maya, but her lips remained sealed.

The old devotee slowly turned to face Maya. "You do not know of your role…yet, but time will change that."

"What do you know?" Maya asked.

"That you will be the key to restoring the Lord of Change."

"How?"

"To climb further up the tower. With each step, your destiny will draw nearer to fulfillment."

"And what if I just decide to stay on one floor?" Maya challenged.

"You won't. The future is unchangeable," the old woman responded with an eerie smile.

"Oh really? You can see the future?" Maya asked.

"Only what has been revealed to me."

"By… Munin?" Maya guessed.

"As she gives, so she also takes away," the old woman said.

"Speaking of which, why didn't you…burn like the other devotees here?"

Suddenly, the old woman cackled manically, causing goosebumps to break out over Maya's skin. And then, just as fast as it came, the devotee's face turned serious. "I've seen many other Tributes before you. Each time they took the goblet, they would have to face the wrath of the congregation that once gathered here."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "But that didn't happen to me."

The old woman's demeanor shifted abruptly as she got up and pressed her face close to Maya's. "That's because you're not of this world, and you best remember that."

Maya froze, sweat beaded down her forehead as the intensity of the old woman's gaze overwhelmed her. It was almost absurd, she had faced much greater threats in the Tower and yet this elderly devotee was somehow able to make her pause.

Seeing Maya's discomfort, Sophia pulled the old woman away with a firm grip. "That's enough."

The old woman offered a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Forgive me...perhaps I was being too passionate."

Sophia released her hold on the old woman but didn't drop her guard, shooting her a wary glance. "We'll see about that." The Paladin then turned her attention back to Maya. "You alright?"

Maya shook her head rapidly as if to clear it from the trance-like state the old woman's words had induced. "Y-yeah, I'm fine,"

The atmosphere in the room shifted as the old woman suddenly spoke again, "The Lord of Change blessed me so that, before I pass away, I could witness her future… her potential for revival."

Maya stared at the old woman. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

The old woman responded by clasping her hands together as if in prayer. "Yes. And now that I've seen you, I can rest."

As the old woman's final words echoed, a sudden bright light enveloped her form. It was so intense that Maya and Sophia were forced to shield their eyes. They turned their heads away and raised their arms to block out the blinding glare.

After a few moments, as the light began to dim, they slowly lowered their arms and opened their eyes. The old woman had vanished without a trace, leaving behind absolutely nothing.

Maya turned to Sophia. "Can you explain what in the world just happened there?"

Sophia rubbed her temples and sighed deeply before responding. "I'm just as lost as you,"

"I…guess what she said doesn't change too much, at least, not yet."

"Yeah, we still need to get off this floor."

"But, do you think what that old woman said about me earlier was true?"

"She seemed very convinced of it; but that doesn't mean she's not delusional."

"Right, let's forget her for now."

***

Maya and Sophia made their way back to the room marked by the peculiar painting with the goblet-shaped hole at its center. The Shapestealer stood right in front of the painting and held out the golden goblet in her hands. She turned to Sophia with a determined look. "Ready?"

Sophia met her gaze and nodded. "Ready."

With a deep breath, Maya aligned the goblet with the hole at its center. She carefully inserted the goblet into the hole, feeling a slight resistance before it slid in place. The moment the goblet was fully seated, Maya stepped back, her eyes locked on the painting.

Immediately after, the room began to rumble. The canvas and the walls behind it started to split apart: revealing a long stone stairwell that descended further down. Soon, the rumbling ceased and the room fell silent once again.

Maya approached the stairwell and looked down. Seeing a familiar white portal at its base, she turned back to Sophia. "Hey, I think that's our ticket out of here."

Sophia walked next to Maya and looked down as well. "Was expecting a bit more, if I'm honest."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Maya shrugged. "Suit yourself, I'm going down."

The two then began to traverse down the stairs. The air grew cooler as they neared the bottom and got closer to the portal: its white light contrasting with the dark surroundings.

But eventually, Maya and Sophia stopped a few inches away from the portal. Out of curiosity, the Paladin extended a hand into the portal. Her hand vanished into the white light, disappearing from sight before she quickly pulled it back.

Sophia examined her hand and turned it over. "Interesting."

"Once we pass through, we'll head to the next floor and Level Up." Maya said.

"Oh? It's been a while since I've seen mine."

Maya pointed a finger at the portal. "You never went through one of these before?"

"If I did then I don't remember." Sophia shrugged. "But let's not worry about that."

With a quick exchange of glances, Maya and Sophia stepped forward into the portal.

***

As they emerged from the portal, a musky stench immediately struck their nostrils. The air was thick and heavy with the smell of decay. The light from the portal faded behind them before it vanished completely; leaving the two in the dim light provided by sporadically placed lamps that laid on the ground.

They found themselves standing in what appeared to be catacombs. The walls were lined with recesses that were filled with skeletons. Some were clothed with tattered robes, but most were left bare.

Maya looked around, taking in the sight of endless rows of the dead. She turned to Sophi and spoke, her voice echoing slightly. "You recognize this place?"

Sophia scanned their surroundings, but then shook her head. "Sadly, no."

"That's…unfortunate, this place looks huge."

[Tribute has entered Floor 7]

[Level up awarded]

[Updating status]

Tribute Name: Maya

Level: 10 >> 11

Physique: 3

Dexterity: 6

Divinity: 1 >> 2

[Divinity Perk Unlocked: Subsumed Spells]

Maya's eyes widened in disbelief as she saw her new status. "Wait, where did my magic stat go?"

Sophia pointed to her own updated status that appeared in front of her. "Not sure, I still got mine."

[Tribute has entered Floor 7]

[Level up awarded]

[Updating status]

Tribute Name: Sophia

Level: 17 >> 18

Physique: 8

Dexterity: 6

Magic: 3 >> 4

Maya eyed Sophia's status up and down. After a moment, she muttered, almost to herself, "Huh, so it's just mine being weird."

As the glowing notifications of their updated statuses vanished into thin air, Sophia turned her attention back to Maya. "Maybe that old woman from earlier wasn't just talking nonsense."

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"I mean, not everything is bad. Looked like you got something from your divinity stat going up."

"Hmm, let me try something."

After thinking for a bit, Maya decided to check her [Relic Class Status]. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw that a new section had been added under [Copycat].

Relic Class: Shapestealer

Relic Class Ability: Copycat

Divinity perk: Subsume Spell

[The user can receive subsumed spells from any form they have saved.]

[The spell received is determined by the system and is dependent on the form's abilities]

[Subsumed spells can only be used once before being exhausted]

[The user can gain additional uses of a subsumed spell by transforming into the relevant form where the subsumed spell originated]

[If a form is destroyed or is replaced; the user will lose access to that form's subsumed spell]

[To check a user's subsumed spells, refer to their respective transformation list]

"Looks like I can actually use spells now." Maya said.

"Why don't you test it out?" Sophia urged.

The Shapestealer nodded and opened her [Transformation list] next. More notifications manifested in front of her.

Tier 1: Wind Elemental (requirement: transform mid-air; subsume spell available)

Tier 2: Blaze Knight (requirement: bleed; subsume spell available)

"So, what are you supposed to do now?" Sophia asked.

"Usually, I try to figure out which commands do the thing I want; let's try 'subsume spell'." But after Maya spoke the command, nothing happened.

"Try 'Subsume Tier 1 Spell' maybe?" Sophia suggested.

"Sure, I'll give it a go." This time, as Maya said [Subsume Tier 1 Spell] the notifications she saw before disappeared as a new set appeared.

[Tier 1 Spell Subsumed: Gust]

Maya smirked. "Looks like that works, let's try [Subsume Tier 2 Spell] next."

[Tier 2 Spell Subsumed: Flame Sword]

Sophia nodded in approval. "Not bad."

Maya looked at her hands and flexed her fingers. "Now I just need to figure out how to use these spells."

Sophia gave Maya a reassuring pat on the back to catch her attention and then positioned herself in front of her. "Watch me."

The Paladin pulled out her sword and concentrated her gaze on the weapon. Soon after, the sword was enveloped in radiant energy as she activated [Smite].

After deactivating the spell and sheathing her sword, Sophia turned to Maya again. "Whenever I use my spells, I just try to think about its name and what it's supposed to do; then it just sort of happens."

Maya shrugged, stepping away from Sophia to give herself some space. "Alright, no harm in trying."

She took a deep breath, extended her hands forward and closed her eyes. The Shapestealer first visualized strong winds as she tried to cast [Gust].

The spell's effect was immediate. A powerful gust of wind erupted from Maya's palms and launched her backward until landed on her back with a thud.

As Maya groaned in pain, Sophia rushed to her side and knelt down to help her up. "Are you okay?"

Maya let out a small smile as the Paladin helped her slowly get back on her feet. "I'm fine, thanks."

Sophia stepped back to give Maya some room, before letting out a light chuckle. "Aside from falling on your ass, I think that went pretty well."

Maya smirked back at Sophia and spoke. "Sure; anyway, just one more thing to confirm."

She extended her hands and tried to cast [Gust] again. But this time, she was met with a notification.

[Subsumed Spell not available]

"Looks like everything's in order," Maya said.

Sophia was about to respond with a light-hearted "That's good—" when suddenly, her expression changed. She cut herself off, her head whipping left to right. "Do you hear that?"

Maya closed her eyes, tuning out everything but the sounds around her. After a moment, she picked up on it too: odd, high-pitched sounds mingled with something that resembled the noise of either chewing or something fleshy being torn apart: probably both.

She opened her eyes and looked at Sophia. "We need to move,"

Sophia nodded. "Agreed."

***

The catacombs were filled with many large, long corridors. Maya and Sophia walked through carefully, their eyes darting around every so often. Each lamp they passed highlighted the skeletons that lined the walls and seemed to watch them as they moved. For now, the only sounds were their soft footsteps and the occasional drip of water.

Sophia eventually sighed. "We've been walking for ages."

Maya glanced to the left and right. "Better this than something coming at us."

But suddenly, Sophia paused, tilting her head slightly. "Hey, do you hear that high-pitched sound again?"

Maya stopped walking and strained her ears. "Yeah, and it sounds like it's getting closer."

The Shapestealer took a curious glance behind Sophia. And soon, her eyes widened as she shouted, "Duck!"

In an instant, both Maya and Sophia dropped to the floor just in time as a large shadow flew over them, narrowly missing their heads. Lifting her head slightly, Maya couldn't help but marvel at what she saw.

A massive bat-like creature hovered before them, its red membranous wings spread wide. The creature was covered in a mix of gray and white fur, and sharp, bony protrusions jutted out from its head. As it snarled at them, Maya could see its mouth that was filled with sharply pointed teeth. The creature's eyes bore into Maya and Sophia: filled with predatory intent.

Soon, the bat-like monster seemed to puff up its chest as if to unleash some kind of attack. Seeing this, Maya exchanged a quick glance with Sophia. They both immediately rolled in opposite directions to get cover behind the walls of the catacomb's corridor.

An ear-piercing shriek filled the catacombs. The sound was so intense that Maya and Sophia were forced to clutch their ears, trying to block out the painful noise. The catacombs shook violently under the creature's sonic assault, causing small rocks and debris to fall. Maya felt the sting as some of the debris fell on top of her.

As the shrieking ceased, Maya quickly forced herself up and peeked her head beside the wall. Though her ears were still ringing and her body still a bit shaky, she lifted her head and looked at the bat-like monster: activating [Copycat].