Chương 12: I think we’ve lost the plot

The Sovereigness of the Seam and the Shadow Queen sat around a large piece of rubble, helping Rin sort out her sudden gains from killing the high-level zombie. The priority was choosing her class. In the webtoon, Rin had only been given two choices: [Warrior] and the slightly rarer [Assassin]. This time, perhaps because she had killed the zombie with a high-level magical sword instead of a cheap scalpel, she received a few more options.

[Spellblade] - 1% Rarity [Paladin] - 10% Rarity [Knight] - 30% Rarity [Warrior] - 60% Rarity To Ophelia's horror, Rin's actual class [Assassin] hadn't appeared as an option. Despite all the changes to the story, this one made her stomach flop uncomfortably. Rin's class had been a fundamental part of her character and journey. An Assassin couldn't be trusted. The class permanently marked her a killer, a figure in the night that would stab you in the back.

Someone so dark the System itself offered them that class, and someone so dark they had actively chosen it. Even when Rin interacted with friendly characters, they were always suspicious of the class hanging over her head. It was a black mark. A brand. The other issue was that Ophelia knew what all the broken and OP Assassin skills were and how to get them. As for the other classes, her knowledge was much spottier. She would have to rely on stories and anecdotes told to Rin during the course of the story.

With a breath, she calmed herself. Rin was the protagonist. Whatever class she chose, she'd figure out how to make it OP. Besides, this was a new story. A better one, if Ophelia had anything to say about it. Maybe it would be better for Rin's mental health if she had a more socially-acceptable class.

"Warrior, Spellblade, Paladin, Knight..." murmured Lucrezia.

"Shame Necromancer didn't show up. I hoped it would." Ophelia arched one elegant brow.

"Did you wish to steal my apprentice for yourself?"

"Not steal." Lucrezia fiddled with her fingers.

"Share?"

"Only in your dreams." A wispy expression passed over the Necromancer's face.

"Yes, that usually is the case." Ophelia turned her attention back to Rin, smiling encouragingly.

"Which class are you drawn to? Remember, it's a permanent decision." Rin turned her head away, her face half-hidden in shadow. It was hard to read her expression.

"Mistress, you've really inspired me recently. And because of the headmistress's generosity, I'll be attending the Royal Mage Academy. I think I'm interested in one of the magic classes." Ophelia's brain short-circuited. Magic class? Inspired... generosity... What were these words coming out of her very martially-inclined black cat protagonist? As her brain cells were failing to rub together to form a spark, Lucrezia slammed her fist against the stone, a crack fracturing it.

She quickly drew back her hand, nursing it with a shy purse of her lips.

"Ah... hah... Rin, you aren't actually interested in the Paladin class, right? You don't give off the impression of someone interested in the Holy Arts."

"Quiet, Lucrezia! If she wants to be a Paladin, then she will be a Paladin," snapped Ophelia.

"Mistress, it's okay. I don't think I have the heart to be a Paladin." Thank god. Their lives would be much more pleasant without interacting with those pompous buffoons.

"Well, then, Warrior is purely physical - even its upgrades don't use magic. As for Knight, it has a few spells here and there, but they are mainly for buffing their weapons and mounts," mused Ophelia.

"Spellblades use offensive spells and steel in equal measure. If you're interested in magic, Spellblade is probably your best bet." There hadn't been too many Spellblades in the original story. It was far rarer than Assassin. Now that she thought about it, unlocking Spellblade was actually something of an achievement, wasn't it? It was one of those inconsistent classes that sometimes showed up and sometimes didn't, even if two people had relatively similar achievements.

Even adventuring with a magical blade didn't guarantee the appearance of the class. Her mind was polluted, inundated with all the late-game characters that had weird, one-in-a-million classes, and the Divines. Spellblade was top-notch with a 1% rarity. There was one major figure in the webtoon with that class. The leader of the heroes, Dietfried von Orsainvillea, the Duke of the North. Rin selected [Spellblade] from the System Screen. She was instantly taken to the next notification, offering class upgrades.

However there were no options to select from.

"You need to advance your skill tree a little first," said Ophelia.

"Here, how about we distribute your skill points first?"

"Shouldn't she wait a few centuries? You can unlock rare skills and auxiliary skill tree branches through your experiences," said Lucrezia. Who waits a few centuries for anything? Lucrezia, your age is showing. Ophelia shook her head.

"Rin's Natal Skill is special. She doesn't have a limit to how many spells she can consume." Lucrezia faced the two of them, completely stunned.

"Huh?!" Ophelia didn't resist the smug smile that curved across her lips.

"That's right. So, yes, she should probably wait a bit until a suitable class upgrade appears, but there's no harm in dumping all her skill points now for an early advantage." Besides, Rin's best skills had come from running into these one-in-a-million adventurers and taking their skills anyway. Let my enemies slave their days away finding rare skills. I'll knock on their doors and farm them later. That had been Rin's motto.

Since she had gotten 100 levels all at once, she had an overwhelming number of skill points to split between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, and Intellect. HP and Mana would scale on their own depending on what stats she prioritized. Ophelia used her knowledge of the Duke of the North's stats to guide Rin.

"Like this, Mistress?" Rin asked politely. High Dexterity and Constitution. Then came Wisdom, followed by Intelligence, and a few points in Strength to round out her build. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Ophelia hummed in approval.

"Spellblades are melee fighters, so you need to be able to survive physical clashes. Strength isn't a high priority, since you'll be wielding magical blades. Intelligence is vital for mages, who need to understand the language of magic, but your class won't have the capability to adjust complex wards or communicate with arcane beings from outside realms anyway… Wisdom is much more practical for you. Perception and intuition can save your life." Rin nodded.

She clicked 'Accept', and shivered as her body began to change with the new stats. After a few moments, she recovered with a sharp gasp, her hand over her heart.

"Most people will never experience gaining 100 levels of stats in a single sitting," mused Lucrezia.

"It can't be pleasant."

"I- I'm fine," whispered Rin with a shudder. Ophelia gave Rin an approving nod.

"Now, your skills." She didn't recall the Duke of the North's exact skills - it had just been a half-blurred panel in the webtoon, when Rin had [Observed] him - but perhaps it was for the best. She didn't think the man's ice skills suited Rin. The protagonist should go in her own direction.

"Select what interests you," said Ophelia.

"This is a very personal decision." Also, if Ophelia picked the wrong skills for Rin, the girl might blame her in the future. If Rin selected her own skills there was a chance she might create an OP never-before-seen starter build. After Rin was finished, Ophelia gave her a nod.

"When you're ready, why don't you practice your new [Moon Reaver's Song]? A flash of genuine excitement flashed over Rin's face. She went to a large cleared out section of the floor and began to practice. She swept her blade upwards, a pale, haunting arc of light following her movements. Phantom afterimages formed from the light, tearing off and howling in all directions. A shiver went down Ophelia's spine at how naturally Rin wielded the sword. Like she was born for it. Well… she had been.

Seeing that Rin's attention was focused elsewhere, Ophelia decided it was safe to speak with Lucrezia.

"If Bianca or anyone else asks you about demons, just mention Death God Nyxian. Don't bring up Azazel. I wish to deal with him myself." Lucrezia nodded, as though that were a perfectly reasonable request. Ophelia thought the Necromancer wasn't so bad when it was her interacting with the girl instead of Rin. She didn't speak in riddles, and send her on infuriating side quests for scraps of information. In the story, it was somewhat obvious she was trying to teach Rin in her own way.

With Ophelia, however, as far as Lucrezia knew they were on equal footing, so the games and theatrics were relatively minimal.

"If you notice anything strange in the underworld, you are to tell me about it first. And only me, okay?" Another nod.

"Any questions?" asked Ophelia after a pause.

"Yes…" Lucrezia lightly scratched her cheek with a fingertip.

"How many days will you give me to get the coffin ready?" //// The streets of Rosenarte had darkened with twilight, the first stars beginning to dot the purple sky. Rin and Ophelia turned the corner, Le Ciel revealing itself like a dream. Before they entered their apartment, Ophelia noticed that Rin had paused several feet behind her, standing like a statue in the dark length of her shadow.

"What is it?"

"Mistress… what do you see, when you look at me?" Ophelia's breath seemed to vanish from her lungs. Why did that question seem so loaded when coming from her? Is it because she didn't just see the girl herself, but the years that no longer existed? Would her answer impact the amount of points she had? She couldn't afford to be careless here - one wrong move, and she would be back in the hole. Ophelia smiled softly and patted the girl on the head.

"I see someone who is perfect apprentice material. Who will one day be able to do anything she sets her mind to." Rin looked down at her feet.

"Thank you, Mistress. But I meant with your [Observe] skill."

"Oh." She blinked.

"You're the reincarnation of one of the seven divine swords, Xal'yan the Blood Rain." The girl's head snapped up so fast that Ophelia feared she might've broken her neck.

"The what?"

"Yeah," said Ophelia with forced casualness, going back to unlocking the door.

"Why do you think I picked you? Why do you think I trained you so hard? The reincarnation of a divine sword has limitless potential." She tried not to make an expression that revealed that she was coming up with bullshit on the fly.

"Normal methods wouldn't do anything for you. To whet a divine sword, you need extraordinary measures."

"I've never heard of the seven divine swords," whispered Rin.

"I'm not surprised." Ophelia opened the door and went inside.

"Your formal education was rather lacking." She turned to Rin and smiled.

"But that's why you're going to school now, right?" Rin nodded hesitantly. Her lips were forming the word "Xal'yan" over and over as she walked to her bedroom. Ophelia had thought Rin would accost her and force out more answers from her, perhaps even threaten her with her new Sword of the Grand Moon. She certainly would have in the webtoon. But this obedience was actually a good thing. It gave her more time to weave together some explanations.

She sighed and went to her new bedroom, shutting the door to prevent Toma and Marika from trying to sneak in and cuddle with her. There hadn't been enough time to decorate. It mainly resembled her bedroom back in Castle Nighthold, with the ridiculously massive four-poster bed draped in a gauzy black canopy. She flopped onto her nest of pillows and blankets. Finally, alone, a goofy smile spread across her face that was completely out of character for Lady Vyx. She had a positive balance of 200 points.

It was time to buy things from the Points Shop! The blue System Screen blossomed open in front of her eyes like the sweetest flower. As her eyes scanned over the multitude of options, a flashing notification at the bottom caught her attention. [Click here to open your bonus reward for achieving a positive net worth!] A greedy light entered her eyes. No need to ask twice. [You have unlocked the Transmigrator Chat Room! A safe place for all Slayer's Requiem transmigrators to communicate!] Ophelia's heart thrummed in anxiety and anticipation. There were more transmigrators than just her??

"Open the chat room!" [First you need to make your profile] Okay. A profile creation screen popped up. There weren't too many options, but Ophelia still hesitated. She shouldn't give away her identity. Who knew who this other person was? She should scout them out first before giving out too much information. Name? The username LadyVyx was prefilled out in the box. Yeah, right. As if I'm going to reveal myself to god knows who.

With a click of her tongue, she erased it, typing her username she used on the reading site for Slayer's Requiem. dark_poet. Profile picture? After ignoring the option to take a photo, she flicked through the default list, selecting a picture of a black cat. 🐈⬛ In just a moment she was let into the chat room. There were only two profiles available. Hers, and someone else's. A custom photo of a snow-capped city she didn't recognize.

It seemed well-taken, like the photographer appreciated lighting, mood, and capturing an evocative shot. But that could've also been the work of the system. Ophelia wasn't sure how much skill had been personally involved in the shot. Her eyes went to the username. A line appeared between her brows. Username: xX_DemonWrath_Xx (Creative|Thinker|Explorer). Wait - wasn't that the name of the account she had created to astroturf? Had her actions inadvertently brought someone into the world?

Was that why the System had reacted so strongly? Just then, that person sent her a message. A/S/L? Ophelia pursed her lips. On one hand, it was strangely comforting to see something recognizable from her home world. On the other… that phrasing had gone completely out of style years ago. She decided to be honest. This was the one person who she could confide in, right? 17, Female, Maryland Submit. A bubble appeared, indicating the other person was typing. Then… Sorry, I don't want to go to jail.

[BLOCKED] Ophelia sat there, her mouth agape. The person's username changed to xX_DemonWrath_Xx (Minors DNI) Are you serious? She typed frantically. Aren't you the least bit curious about what's going on with us? Hello???!!!! [The other party has blocked your account, your messages will not be shown on their screen]