She withdrew the sword from his throat. The momentary sound of metal scraping flesh and pulling out blood was punctuated by the thud of a lifeless body slumping onto the floor. To think life was this fragile. The strength from the mark and the willpower of the human spirit all became so powerless in the face of death.

Rana gave Kai one last look before turning away. The dead were dead. It was pointless to do anything further, even if it was for her own humanity. Whatever she did for him now, were only lies to make herself feel better, and she didn’t operate on emotions. Besides, what could she possibly do to alleviate the sin of condemning another to torment that lasted an eternity? The answer was that there was nothing she could do to atone. There was only the reality that it was not her that was condemned to the void.

The dead had no right to the living world and no rite or prayer could save their souls from eternal slumber. Yet here she was, the walking contradiction to everything she once believed in. The dead returned, and death had no peace.

Rana was an inquisitor, and their loyalty was only to the truth. The Church was supposed to be the truth, yet now she had doubts. So who and what should she fight for? That question was easier to answer. It was simple. Truth brought peace while falsehoods and uncertainties lead to chaos. The only thing she should do remained unchanged. There were mysteries that need to be uncovered, truths that needed to see the light. She still had to find out how and why she died, and now, she also had to uncover her sister’s treachery.

Still, there was something far more urgent as of right now.

Rana strode towards the Altar, what she had been fighting to reach for the past several months. For something as important as it was, the Altar was rather plain looking, yet there was something beautiful in its simplicity. The sacred device that granted humanity the power to fight monsters was a simple cube, no bigger than a standard desk. However, the obsidian surface was smooth and without a single flaw. It refracted no light but still shined on its own.

The Altar encapsulated the One Deity’s simple perfection. However, it was also rather lazy. Whatever divine material the One Deity had, he could’ve spent more time on its craftsmanship.

Rana put her hand on the smooth surface, the blood from her amputated arm was nowhere to be seen. The Altar hummed in silence, the soundless vibration turned within the divine device, and the System revealed itself.

[System (notification): Rana (marked) connected. Experience converted. Rana (marked) level 1 -> 5. Stats increased: HP: 100 -> 160, MP: 200 -> 260, MGI: 200 -> 220, SKL: 100 -> 140, VIT: 100 -> 120. Stat points +40. Talents unlocked: Support Defend. Talent points +4. Talent unlock points +2 ]

She checked her level up notification and chuckled. To think she used to pride herself in her own talents. A marked one was already a fortunate one to have survived the awakening process.

When a marked one leveled up, they gained 10 points in either Health or Mana and 5 in the other. Then, they gained 5 points in one, two if they were lucky, of their blessed Attributes, and another 5 points to freely spend in any of their Stats. New Talents were unlocked at level 1 then every 4 levels afterward, and each level gave them 1 extra point to rank them up.

Rana had two blessed Attributes, which already put her ahead of most other marked ones, and she and her sister were also born with unique Talents. Few people were born with a Talent, and it was even rarer for them to be born with a non-generic one. Her sister was born with the Talent Twin Soul, which gave all her level up bonus to her twin sister Rana. This meant that Rana when leveling up had double the bonuses compared to other marked ones.

Rana herself was born with a unique Talent Imaginary Seeker, which allowed her to freely choose her unlocked Talents. Aside from spending points to increase their Stats and the potency of their Talents, a marked one was unable to choose their class and specialty. Their class was determined the instant they placed their hands on the Altar, and their Talent progression, what they specialized in, was also set during that moment. What sort of guard would a marked one be without Support Defend, and what sort of caster did not have the mana related Talents?

Still, it was time to reveal her Status.

[Status Page]

Level: 5 / Class: Magician / Race: Zombie

Health: 160 / Mana: 260 / Focus: 100

STR: 100 / MGI: 220 / SKL: 140 / VIT: 120 / AGI: 150 / PER: 150

[Damage and Resistance]

Power: 10 / Arcane: 20 / Armour: 10 (+60) / Mobility: 110% (+10%)

Steel: +20% / Silver: -20%

Fire: -40% / Water: -20% / Air: -20% / Earth: +20% (+10%) / Light: -200% / Darkness: +200%

Her Status was as she thought much more exemplary than other marked ones of a similar level. If she were to use her free Attribute points, they would be even better. However, she decided to wait before making a decision. There was another mystery that could greatly affect how she would use those points. For now, the biggest concern was to find an arcane weapon and accessories. Without equipment, her base damage was pitiful unless she expended all her mana for every Spell.

She would also need to find a way to increase her resistance. She was lucky she did not need to face casters up until now, but that could not be said of the future. In fact, she would definitely encounter one later. Her zombie state gave her a unique spread of resistances, but they wouldn’t be ideal against most human marked ones.

[Skills, Spells, and Abilities]

Mana Blast (mage)

— potency: 40 / cost: 40 / range: 4 meters / element: neutral arcane

— shoot a blast of arcane energy at an enemy

Healing Touch (mage)

— potency: 30 / cost: 60 / range: 0 meters / element: light arcane

— cover your palm in healing energy and heal those you touch

Fool’s Fire (mage)

— potency: 10 / cost: 20 / range: 1 meters / element: fire arcane

— a wisp of fire that detonates when consuming energy near it

Her MGI and MP total gave her room for one more Spell, and another fifth one soon, but she would have to choose carefully. The Singularity school of the Sapphire Order was tempting, but once again, depending on the situation, there might be better options. What concerned her the most was that she did not have an Ability. They were powerful boosts that cost Focus, but they were unlocked only when pushed to the brink of death. It was curious why she had none.

[Talent]

Imaginary Seeker (focus requirement: 0)

— truth beyond the horizon, (but what can you see?)

Twin Soul Connection (focus requirement: 0)

— an immortal bond, (but is it worth the sacrifice?)

Support Defend (focus requirement: 20)

— use defend on a nearby ally being attacked (1) times per minute; guard result halved

Support Attack (focus requirement: 20)

— use attack on target a nearby ally successfully attacked (1) times per minute; damage halved

She sighed. It seemed like even with the Codex, some unique Talents still had vague and nondescript explanations. However, there was something else that bothered her. She dove deeper into the System and found what she was looking for.

[System (codex): Unlock Talent. Please choose your Blessing. Svelto or Cierna?]

This was it. The final mystery she was trying to unravel before her death. Rana for most of her life believed that she shared Status boosts and Talents with her twin sister. However, that was not quite accurate. When she found this cryptic message, she realized she was able to unlock her own Talent, and that the Talents she had, was her sister’s.

This was an important clue because it was her last.

[Innate]

Maturation

— (monsters, born from the same womb, grow in cannibalistic harmony)

— effects locked, activation requirements not met

[Status Effects]

Lunar Sanctuary

— halt negative status effects

— duration expired, reactivation trigger undiscovered

Bleeding (curse)

— bleed unless the cursed item is unequipped

— (zombie immunity active)

The two unknowns when she initially peered into her Status still remained a mystery, but Lunar Sanctuary at least explained how she survived for such a long time without her zombie degeneration activating. Now, thanks to the curse, she should be able to indefinitely prevent the degeneration. The only issue was that she could not upgrade her armor piece.

Rana rubbed the bridge of her nose and frowned. She must be imagining her headache. The road towards the truth would be a long one, and she was practically no closer to it than when she began. There was some progress, but there was still much more to be done. She faced the rising sun, the blinding light burned and irritated her. There was at least one mystery solved after she regained her memory.

Rana was not a morning person.