Bennett had been completely correct when he said that Reah would have a “face”. She was completely and utterly dumbfounded by Yelena’s transformation, not that much changed. Yelena’s hair had seemingly cooled down until it was almost the same brown as Bennett’s, but there was still definitely the flames. Apparently, the fire didn’t actually hurt Bennett and specifically Bennett, since when Luna tried touching it, it had almost burned her, to which Yelena had apologized profusely.

  Eventually, they got back to the Dungeon’s edge, where something seemed to dawn upon Yelena.

  “Oh, yeah, Ben, I wanted you to help me choose my Skills. I’ll help you too when choosing yours,” she explained, her hair suddenly quite alive.

  Bennett sighed. “I can’t choose mine until tonight, most likely. I only got one.”

  Luna and Yelena gave him a strange look, Luna noticing a few conflicting feelings shuffling around within him.

  “That’s a strange requirement,” his sister said. “Any specific reason?”

  “It… has to do a bit with Maya and how Array- er, Skill transferring works with her.”

  Array Transferring? How does he-

  “Array Transfer? What exactly is that?” Yelena asked curiously.

  Bennett, who, for some reason, was in a state of panic, responded, “...Complicated. Apparently, Skills aren’t some sort of blessing bestowed by the System. Apparently, they’re also called Arrays, and they function just as we use Skills. I’m just making a very, very vague assumption here, but I think Arrays are just called Skills by the System. I also think that the System doesn’t actually give out Skills… but instead unlocks Array Patterns that we gain based on our Alignment and other external factors.”

  “But what about Spells?” Yelena asked as if Bennett knew.

  Luna looked at him curiously as well, to see his flat expression.

  “Go on, ask the ‘God of Knowledge’, Bennett Yasmine about something he guessed about. Anyhow, you said you got a new Skill?.”

  Yelena shrugged, pulling up a giant screen that even scrolled down like some computer from the Earth Luna had almost forgotten about.

  (I forgot about that though…) Cthulhu muttered, sounding a bit distraught.

  Good for you, I guess. Now let me read, you idiot.

  ___

  Seven Circles of Hellfire (Burn)

  Summon the first Circle of Hellfire when activating Hellfire State, which will upgrade itself based on the amount of Hellcircle stacks in total you have applied since Hellfire State has been Active. Hellcircle stacks are gained when applying Hellfire Char, using Hellfire Skill, or dealing Hellfire weapon damage. They give 1, 3, and 2 stacks respectively. The Circles will apply various buffs to yourself, depending on its current Level. All buffs from previous Circles apply to higher Circles. Every stack of Hellcircle increases your Hellfire Damage by 0.5%.

  First Circle (0 - 10 stacks) - Decrease Flame Skill Cooldowns by 20%. Every 2 seconds, when dealing Hellfire Damage, tick 2 seconds of a random Skill that is on cooldown.

  Second Circle (11 - 25 stacks) - When using a Flame Skill, decrease opponent Hellfire/Flame Resistance by (Skill Level * 2), stacking twice. Additionally, dealing Hellfire infused weapon damage will apply an extra stack of Hellfire Char.

  Third Circle (26 - 40 stacks) - Hellfire Char gains a (Skill Level * 10)% damage Bonus and the maximum stacks of its Resistance Decrease is increased to 30. When Hellfire Char deals damage, it does an additional damage instance that is equivalent to 15% of its original damage.

  Fourth Circle (46 - 60 stacks) - Every four Hellfire Char damage instances will enhance the next instance of damage, which deals 200% more damage and adds 8 seconds to Hellfire State’s duration.

  Fifth Circle (61 - 80 stacks) - Every 5 instances of Hellfire damage other than Hellfire Char will trigger Wild Hellfire, which deals high Hellfire Damage to any non-ally in a 3 yard radius and applies 5 Hellfire Char Stacks, which do not contribute to Hellcircle stacks.

  Sixth Circle (81 - 100 stacks) - Decreases Wild Hellfire trigger requirement to 4 and increases its damage by 70%. Additionally, Healing from Hellfire is doubled.

  Seventh Circle (101 - 150) - Hellfire State now lasts until you cancel it. All bonuses given by Hellfire State are doubled, except for cooldown reduction. You also gain a Speed and Perception bonus of (Skill Level * 100)%. When taking damage, a Chain Burst of (Skill Level * 3) will be anchored to the opponent and explode after 5 seconds. This can happen once every 15 seconds, with the cooldown independent for each opponent. When canceling Hellfire state, you will no longer be put into a weakened state.

  Every Level of Seven Circles of Hellfire increases Hellcircle Stack gain by (Skill Level * 10)%.

  ___

  Well, that’s probably the longest Skill description I’ve seen yet, Luna thought, pushing the emotions from a few moments before looking up at Bennett’s expression as he read the Skill description. After a moment, he nodded.

  “Well, it seems like we both got something that is a huge upgrade to us currently, but mine is pretty dangerous to use (well, less to me and more to everyone around me), and yours requires a decent amount of setup to fully deck out, but is still good.”

  Yelena poked her brother’s cheek. “Lemme see your new Skill,” she demanded, poking him a few more times for good measure. Luna decided to copy her, earning the most disappointed expression she’d ever seen on Bennett’s face.

  “Sure…” Bennett said, monotone, flicking his other hand, causing a screen to pop up out of nowhere.

  For about a minute, Luna and Yelena read the screen, Yelena’s brow furrowing with each word. Luna, however, was caught up on two sections: Blood Claw - Blood Beast, and-

  “‘This Skill is not officially recognised by the System?’ The hell is that supposed to mean?”

  When will I be able to finish my-

  (You’ll never be able to finish your thoughts, so stop thinking about it,) Cthulhu interrupted Luna, clearly smug with herself.

  Oh. I forgot about you. You’ve been quiet.

  (Oh, haha, child. Since you clearly can see the major problem with this Array, I’d advise you to convince him to not use it. We don’t have time to deal with a Blood Bea-)

  Okay, shut up again.

  Luna ignored the next words from Cthulhu, instead focusing on the part where it came to healing during the “Blood Break” state.

  I wonder if Overheal counts as a part of the healing. If I brought him to 250% HP, which is achievable for some godsforsaken reason, would all of that count as part of the damage bonus? I mean, I’d assume so, since Healing Effectiveness is applied to Overheal, so I think Overheal would be considered Healing.

  Yelena huffed. “Whatever. But, it’s completely stupid, since you two are already completely insane when put together, especially since Luna doesn’t have Unheal-”

  Luna glared at Yelena in a way that said, “I’m going to slap you if you continue” and Yelana stopped mid-sentence, as if understanding that saying those words would be a bad idea.

  “You know what I mean. But still, it’s crazy how well you guys seem to fit together as a team. I don’t even have a dedicated buffer in my team! The one who’s supposed to do that is a better fighter than he’s a buffer.”

  As Yelena huffed, Luna looked at Bennett, who was looking back down at her with a strange expression. For just a singular moment, Luna felt a hint of… possessiveness within him before it was seemingly blasted out of existence by himself. He didn’t show any visible reaction, but Luna was a bit concerned for a moment, but focused back on Yelena, as she eventually got over her annoyance.

  “Anyhow, let's check out my Skill choices now, since I’m starting to get curious.”

  Luna looked over at the dark pit that was the Dungeon, thinking, Here? I mean, I guess you can test the Skill out here… but isn’t it dangerous? To any normal person, at least? I’m sure I could just jump in there and clear it by breaking a few things not meant to be broken.

  (Well, at least you got something from me-)

  Shut.

  Luna looked back at Yelena to see a Skill screen in front of her, filled with four Skills to choose from, as it seemed.

  ___

  Choice 1 :

  Fireball (Damage)

  Summon a concentration of Flame, which, when thrown, will grow in size depending on the distance. Deals High Flame Damage and Every 2 feet of distance increase size by (Skill Level * 2)%, up to a maximum up (Skill Level * 10)% and increases damage by (Skill Level * 1.5)%. Only up to two can be charging at the same time, with a doubled MP cost for each.

  (Additional Hellfire Effect : Growth and Damage Increase stats are doubled, while MP cost is decreased by 25%. Applied an extra stack of Hellfire Char.)

  Cost : Moderate MP

  Cooldown : 10 seconds (Can summon 2 at once.)

  Choice 2 :

  War Flag of Flame (Support)

  Set up a burning pillar resembling a flag in a position that inherits 200% of your HP and will lose 1% every second. In a (Skill Level * 3) yard radius of this flag, all allies will gain a (Skill Level * 7)% Damage bonus and (Skill Level * 0.3)% Damage Resistance. This lasts until the flag’s HP reaches 0%. The flag cannot be healed, but every person within the radius of the increases the delay between HP loss ticks by 50%, up to 500%.

  (Additional Hellfire Effect : Inherited HP is increased to 300% and Damage Bonus is additionally increased by 10% for every 2 Levels.)

  Cost : High MP

  Cooldown : 1 day

  Choice 3:

  Flaming Whip (Damage/Utility)

  Create a whip of Flame that is flexible and can be weakly controlled mentally. This whip can grab onto objects without burning them at will, or be used to restrain or drag opponents based on Strength and Dexterity. Deals Low to Moderate Flame damage. Restraining opponents with Flaming Whip will deal constant Low Fire damage that ramps up over time. Can dismiss Flame Whips by dropping them.

  (Additional Hellfire Effect : Can Summon up to two Whips and gain greater control over Whips. Restrained opponents will have their Flame and Hellfire Resistance decreased by 15%)

  Cost : Low MP over time

  Cooldown (After dismissal) : 30 seconds

  ___

  Luna shifted in Bennett’s hold, honestly a bit underwhelmed. She was unsure of how she should react to the Skills, leading her to look up at Bennett’s pensive expression. She then looked at Yelena to see the exact same expression on her face, even though she was bound to have seen them already.

  Huh… they don’t see them as boring at all. They just see new tools to play with… Fair enough, they don’t really have a concept of good or bad Skills, at least not as well as I understand. For instance, Fireball-

  “Fireball’s kinda dumb,” Yelena muttered. “All it basically is another Burst, but with less control.”

  Bennett nodded from above Luna’s head. “Agreed. It’s completely useless for you, even in this day and age, where Fireball’s really just a funny thing to have.”

  Yelena snorted and the screen disappeared. “Yay. Two more skills closer to the stupid amount of Skills you have.”

  Bennett frowned. “Are you really that stingy about my Skills? You just got that Seven Rings or whatever Skill. That’s far better than anything I have.”

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  “You have Luna. Case closed.”

  Luna frowned, looking up at the completely bewildered face of Bennett, who looked down at her before looking at his sister.

  “Firstly, I don’t have Luna. Luna has a choice in the matter of helping me or not and, by some miracle, she’s chosen to help us until now. Secondly, I’m not always going to be relying on Luna, y’know. She can’t come with us everywhere,” Bennett countered, mildly surprising Luna. “She does have a choice in the matter.”

  (Oh. He does respect your decisions. That’s interesting,) Cthulhu mumbled, a bit confused. (Honestly didn’t expect that-)

  “Oh, there you two are.”

  The three of their heads turned to see the Beast Studies Professor looking very annoyed with just about everything. She gave the three of them a flat expression as she pointed behind her. “The giant buffoon who calls himself the Combat Professor made me get you, along with the rude horned girl,” She snapped. “Now go, I’m busy trying to find a lion made of lightning… again.”

  Luna felt agreement radiate from Bennett, but he showed no outward signs of agreement, which Luna found mildly amusing, but didn’t acknowledge it much further than that. Bennett and Yelena looked at one another for a few moments before shrugging.

  A few minutes later, the three of them found themselves being loomed over by the Combat Professor… well, except for Bennett, as he was slightly taller than the Professor, but the threat was still there. He was completely silent, apparently waiting for something to happen. A few moments later, when Juli finally showed up, he finally seemed to come alive and he seemed to cross his arms a little tighter.

  “Hmph. Took you long enough,” he grumbled, taking a step backwards. “Anyhow, what I need to tell you is important, so you’d best listen:

  “You’re not going into that Dungeon, that’s what us Professors agreed on,” the Wolf-kin snapped.

  Huh? Luna thought. Wait, what?

  Luna looked at Juli, who stared at the man for a few moments, apparently trying to understand the insanity coming out of his mouth. She then snapped.

  “Uh huh. Go ahead and go into that Dungeon and close it yourself then. I’d love to see you even attempt to do it. Even I can tell there’s not a drop of Divinity in your Blood,” Juli snapped, completely surprising Luna.

  “All I’ve seen is rot from that ‘Abyss’, and there are plenty of countermeasures against that-”

  “It’s nothing like rot, and I’d think that you’d have realized it at this point, but clearly, you’re dumber than one would think,” Juli interrupted.

  Luna felt Bennett flinch slightly, but she couldn’t blame him. This girl was entirely correct, but… she could’ve tried to be slightly nicer about it. Yelena seemed to be about to say something, but Juli’s head snapped in her direction.

  “Shut up, Yelena. I don’t need your help,” she said before Yelena could even get a word out.

  Luna felt Bennett tense, feeling that this situation was getting slowly more and more precarious.

  (Then forcibly stop them all from getting out of hand,) Cthulhu suggested.

  No. I feel it’s better if we let this play out, Luna argued.

  (...Your funeral.)

  Luna, trying to diffuse at least some tension, relaxed in Bennett’s hold and he had to put in slightly more effort to keep her balanced, redirecting his attention to her, though it felt a little selfish on her part.

  He looked down at her before letting out a sigh and lifting her a bit higher, frowning at Yelena and Juli. Juli noticed his expression and her eyelid twitched.

  “Is there something you want to say, or are you going to stand there looking like an idiot?” she snapped.

  He didn’t respond, just staring at her with a bored expression, somewhat reminiscent of…

  Is he copying me? I mean, fair enough, I’m sure I do it all the time, but really? Luna thought.

  Juli apparently took his stare as a challenge and glared at him for a few moments until he raised an eyebrow, causing her to flinch. It was then he finally spoke.

  “Maybe instead of complaining and insulting people, you could make an attempt to explain. It might help your case,” Bennett said slowly, as if talking to an angry animal.

  Juli let out a huff and looked away, thinking. However, his… scolding, Luna guessed, worked and she looked back at the Combat Professor.

  “First of all, Abyss may look like rot, but it is more akin to… corruption. It doesn’t make things rot away, but instead causes them to turn into Abyss-Corrupt, which, depending on the thing corrupted, can become a killing machine, or actually peaceful, like Abyssal Forests… though, to be fair, those just slowly drain your lifeforce if you’re not an Abyssal or Voidling.

  “But, to say the least, regardless of how strong you are, you can still be corrupted by Abyss, so having somebody like you go in there is the dumbest thing you can do, since you could just end up coming out and killing everyone around you.”

  In short, Abyss is nothing to play around with, along with Void, though Void is less dangerous. I wasn’t even able to experiment with it.

  (You mean I wasn’t able to experiment with-)

  Could you, for once, stop fighting everything I think about? And quit interrupting my thoughts.

  Luna didn’t get a response, which she took as an agreement, as usual. Focusing back on the present, Luna looked over to the Professor, who seemed to be debating for a few moments. He then shook his head.

  “I’m unable to take your word for that as you have no proof-”

  Before the man could finish his statement, the very annoyed Abyssal grabbed his arm and glared at him for a long moment. After nearly ten seconds, he suddenly ripped his arm from her grip, revealing a dark patch rapidly spreading through his arm and seemingly robbing him of control of it. The dark patch spread from his arm to half his face before stopping where Luna assumed his brain was, clearly struggling to take over, most likely due to Juli’s lower level.

  However, that didn’t stop her from letting out a bored sigh. “Sit down on the floor. Now.”

  Immediately, the man sat down onto the floor and-

  Luna let out a yelp as Bennett’s face seemed to go blank and he sat down on the floor as well, followed by his sister. Luna clung to the now stiff Bennett as Juli looked back and blinked in confusion.

  “Oh, for the Gods sake-, You can ignore my orders, Bennett and Yelena Yasmine.”

  Suddenly, Bennett’s face regained emotion and he looked around in bafflement, but was quickly interrupted by Yelena nearly smacking face-first into his back, disoriented.

  “Wha- why am I on the ground?”

  Luna, however, stared at Juli, who also gave her a mildly confused look. What in the world was that?

  (...I have no clue. I’ve seen it before from Abyssal Royalty, but… that means she’s directly related to the Royal Abyss Family, which isn’t good for any of us. This means, wherever they are, she’s Protected by the God of the Abyss, who, from my memory of them, are terrifying in their own right.)

  Wait, even you don’t know what that command is?

  (I just said that. I have no clue how it works, but it’s existed for as long as the Royal Abyss Family bloodline has.)

  Juli suddenly seemed to remember the professor and grabbed his arm, where the Abyss began to retreat back into her and he fell face first onto the ground for a few seconds before, in a split second he got back onto his feet and his sword was suddenly at Juli’s neck.

  “You… what was that?” he growled, his ears shaking slightly.

  Juli, not perturbed in the slightest, shrugged. “Abyss. I told you how bad it is. The thing is, if I’m correct-”

  Juli suddenly grabbed Bennett’s arm and, a moment later, cursed as a loud sizzling sound seemed to burn her and Bennett hissed in pain, and, clearly reacting on instinct, his arm was suddenly covered in blood, which seemed to worsen the pain for Juli. She suddenly let go and began shaking her steaming hand, which was mildly burnt.

  “What the hell is that Scythe?! That thing feels like it’s chock-full of Divinity!”

  Bennett looked at his very angry looking arm before momentarily blanking out as she’d seen him do before. It was very, very subtle, and lasted for not even a moment, filled with a flash of emotions, but he suddenly came back out of it, looking like he had even more questions.

  Curious.

  ***

  A few moments before, right after Juli had grabbed him, Maya had suddenly reacted without him even acknowledging the pain, surrounding his arm angrily, clearly wanting to attack her. As Juli pulled away and cursed, the familiar feeling of everything slowing down to a stop and Maya appearing sitting next to him, looking very much pissed.

  “Uh-”

  “The absolute gall that girl must have is beyond me if she thinks attacking you with Abyss is anywhere near a good idea! Like, I was completely unprepared for her Command, but when she tried injecting you with Abyss was crossing a fine line,” Maya snapped. She suddenly looked at Bennett, who flinched at her glare.

  She then let out a sigh and her expression turned to concern. “Why would you even let her touch you, Bennett. Are you an idiot? Just because you have some semblance of Divinity, which is very much annoying to argue with, mind you, doesn’t mean you can resist direct infusion of Abyss. Just the more annoying passive kind.”

  Bennett, still in a state of confusion, muttered, “Wut?”

  She seemed to realize he was uncomprehending of what had just happened and sat there in silence as he shook his head, processing. A few moments later, he looked at her, confused.

  “Okay, now that you’ve given me a chance to think, what does she mean when you’re full of Divinity?” Bennett asked.

  “Depends on the context. Technically, you’re full of it and-” Maya started, looking a bit too smug.

  “The fact I know where you’re trying to go with this tells me you’ve already done too much to, as my mother would say, ‘defile my mind’. Just give me the actual explanation.”

  Maya pouted. “You really have no sense of humor, do you? But fine, since you only now decided to ask. I’m, by technicality, a Divine weapon.”

  Bennett blinked. “I just felt about a dozen metaphorical targets just lock onto my back. You’re a DIVINE WEAPON?!”

  As Bennett exclaimed in horror, Maya flinched slightly. “I mean, how else would you get a Soul into Bloodsteel? Of course I am. I have a core and everything, though, for some reason, it’s inside of you right now.”

  Bennett tried to calm down, but horribly failed at that task. “How the hell did you even end up in the Academy? Scratch that, how are you even still on this planet.”

  “I could say the same about many things, like the Headmaster here. Based on the books you’ve read, once a person is Level 100, they’re forced off the planet for the safety of many people. And based on information, your mother is at least Archon, so I think it’s fair that I’m here.”

  “In basic terms, you were created by a Level 500 plus being. You’re probably a Demigod Level Weapon. There is no way you should be allowed here.”

  “Look, there’s a lot of things I don’t understand either, like how I was made in the first place-”

  “Now you’re being contradictory. You know that it takes a God to put a Soul into Bloodsteel, now you’re saying you don’t know how you were made.”

  Maya, put her head on his lap, clearly bored. “That’s not contradictory. I just know very little about the creation of Divine weapons other than that. I don’t know how I ended up here, or much of anything except for the people who’ve failed to ‘claim’ me.”

  Bennett wasn’t sure how to respond. He sat there for a moment, thinking about how to respond. Before he could, she let out a huff.

  “Only thing I remember before becoming a sentient chunk of metal is being betrayed by someone close to me, at least I think so,” she grumbled. “But, after however long it’s been, I honestly couldn’t care less.”

  Bennett frowned more. “Wait, you have a core? What is that supposed to even mean?”

  “You don’t know what a core is?” Maya’s other… legs, Bennett guessed they should be called, based on, well, spiders, pushed her up, bending back further than he expected. “Do you not have a core? Or…”

  She pushed her hands against his stomach and he flinched as he felt her seemingly move around his insides. She then smacked her head against her forehead as if making a realization. “Right, you don’t get that since you’re mostly Human. Well, for now. Actually, would my core also count as your core? But, if it’s destroyed, only I would die…”

  Bennett thought for a moment, evading her pokes before asking, “How do you know about this Array stuff if you don’t remember your previous life.”

  Maya shrugged. “It just seems natural. And I’ve had a lot of time to look over the dozens I have. I mean, they’re all layered on top of one another, so it takes some time to look through them.”

  After a few moments of her thinking, she eventually sighed again. “I still want to give you one more Array, but this is certainly not the time.”

  Bennett expected her to say something else out of pocket, but clearly held herself back, based on her sudden cutoff. Bennett, curious, asked, “Any Skill in particular you are referring to?”

  She poked his cheek, giving him a smug expression. “Slow down, I think you’re going a bit too fast for me.”

  “By the gods, you’re worse than Rebecca. I just asked a question out of curiosity,” He responded, giving her a bored expression. “Would it kill you to not make every statement that comes out of either of our mouths sexual in some way, shape, or form?”

  Maya shrugged. “Well, I think I can have some leeway; I’ve been trapped alone in a glorified storage closet for an undetermined amount of time. I’m a bit…”

  “Uh huh. Well, it’s already getting old, so tone it down a bit, will you?”

  She let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, fine. I get it, I guess… But, I can still tell you the Array. Where is it though…”

  The spider-like legs folded down to her sides as she put her hand on her back, apparently searching for something. She then shrugged and looked at him. “Guess I can’t show you. But, I can roughly explain- oh for gods’”

  She suddenly flickered out of existence before reappearing, slightly transparent and exhausted looking. “Damn it, I’ll have to explain tonight. You’re damn Divinity is fighting me again, so-”

  She flickered out of existence and when she reappeared again…

  Bennett, though unable to move, nearly managed to Flicker. The spider legs on her back had doubled in length, gaining another segment and looking like giant scythes of their own. Floating behind her back, however, was a Scythe that was a bit like the one he used. However, it was also a bit different, as it looked a bit more like… a large, inward curving blade, almost like a claw with a shorter handle, about half the length of her much larger legs. It reminded him a bit of a Falx (Which he had debated on getting a pair from the Adventuring guild once. He probably would have if he hadn’t realized it would probably ruin the skin of any kill he made) or Rhomphaia (It was a bit closer to the design of a war scythe like his, but with a shorter handle and longer blade. More of meant to be able to be used with two hands, though he was pretty sure it could be used with one with a bit of training) It seemed to be constantly dripping blood that disappeared before it hit the ground. She also wore completely different attire, akin to light armour, but it had openings, revealing part of her hip and a bit above as well.

  Why though… Wait, from what I’ve read was that both Aracne types have silk glands somewhere near their hips. But, why would one specifically use it for combat? I wouldn’t think…

  Bennett then remembered something else he read, about normal spider silk. Right, if normal silk is around as strong as steel, in certain conditions, then…

  “Fair enough,” he muttered.

  He didn’t get to study her strange attire further as she gave him an exasperated look. “Guess our conversation ends here. Your Divinity is an asshole, you know-”

  She flickered out of existence one last time and the world resumed its normal speed, with Juli still shaking her arm wildly. Bennett, recalling what had just happened, shrugged.

  “Don’t just shrug. Surely, you’d have known if you had some Divine Weapon or whatever that is!”

  I’m sure he would’ve noticed as well… Bennett thought, looking at the Combat Professor who gave the retreating Maya a mildly concerned look. I have the feeling that things are going to be slightly more complicated from here on out.

  Bennett looked down at Luna, who sat on his lap with a curious expression on her face, mirroring her emotions. And what is she thinking about this time around?