“Now… shall we begin the appraisal ritual?”

I nodded.

“Excellent, first grab onto the Spirit Appraisal Stone, Princess.

I approached the stones and reached out my hands towards the Spirit Appraisal Stone. The Head Bishop watched as a drip of sweat fell from his forehead. I glanced at the minister, who seemed to have a wide grin with his eyes closed. He seemed to be hiding something from me, but I did not want to stop the ritual abruptly… I then took a pause and stared straight into the eyes of Minister Juniper.

“The Head Bishop doesn’t know, does he?”

“Doesn’t know about what?”

Shit! He does not know what I am specifically talking about. How do I tell him that I am talking about the fact that I am a homunculus and not actually human…? I mean can the Head Bishop be trusted with this secret… think, Vienna, think…

“The secret of my birth.”

Minister Juniper took a step back before fixing himself. With his head held high and posture properly he then spoke in confidence.

“That is a matter that is reserved for both the High King, and you, to decide. I will not tell anyone without permission to do so from milord.”

I nodded my head before glancing over at the Head Bishop, who nodded his head.

“If it’s a secret that the High King himself is holding, then I will not push any further than necessary to avoid incurring his wrath.”

“W-wrath?”

“The High King is a scary man, and if there is one thing I want to avoid, is getting him angry to the point that he will beat to a pulp.”

“I-I didn’t know my father could be so violent towards his allies.”

“He was the leader of our adventure party, so it is expected that he has the strength to keep people like us in line.”

The Head Bishop then put his arms around the minister’s neck and grinned widely.

So, are these guys buddies or not? I swear I cannot tell anymore, but hey it is enjoyable to see a ship like this. I would say that Head Bishop is a total tsundere, making him the catcher. Meanwhile big brain muscles over there, Minister Juniper would be the pitcher.

I glanced back at hand which was now over the silver stone. I then picked it up and slow maneuvered it, so it was on top of my hand. I moved my right arm closer towards my body and grabbed the appraisal stone with my other hand.

“What do I do now?”

“Now try to channel your aura into the Spirit Appraisal Stone.”

I then took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I felt a slight breezing that was flowing from my spine towards my hand. When I opened my eyes, I saw an interface that reminded me of a game.

Name:

Vienna van Ainzberg – “Oshino Kana”

(Hidden):

M͖͍̤̺̥͇ͫ̽͞h̬̥̖̲̞͂̀l̳̰͕̐̽͘y͔̳͍̝̖̆͠p̘̘̖̼͍͖̻̩̃ͯ́̀l̢̦̤͕̫̭͉͆́ͮ̀ ̊͠

Race:

Homunculus

Spirit Essence:

10,000

Skills:

What? What does ‘Hidden’ mean? What is that first ability right there? Wasn’t I just created? Why do I have two skills that are already Level 5? What is going on right here?

Mia stared at me before shaking my sides, sending my head back into this world before I got lost in my thoughts.

“W-what is it, Mia?”

“What do your skills look like?

“My skills? Well, uhh…”

I glanced at the Head Bishop. He then looked at me and tilted his head.

“Is there anything wrong, Princess?”

“So how many skills should I have?”

“Well, that is hard to say… the number of skills you could have is dependent on how much you train, how old you are, or even your lineage. I would say a person your age should have at least 12 skills.”

Great… I am a bit behind on the curve right there. I sighed and placed the stone down.

“I’ll tell you later Mia,” I said as I glanced back at her and winked. Mia clenched her fist and put on a wide smile.

Minister Juniper approached me and moved his face near mine by crouching down, which gave me goosebumps since I did not notice at first.

“How much Spirit Essence did you have.” He whispered.

“10,000.”

“As expected, looks like you were able to absorb all ten thousand souls.”

He then stood up and took a few steps back towards where he previously was.

“Please continue on with the ritual.” He said with a pleased expression.

At first, I puked a little inside my mouth, or at least I think that was puke. Do Homunculi even eat?

I placed down the Spirit Appraisal Stone. The Head Bishop indicated to me that I should pick up the Comet Appraisal Stone next. I picked up the Comet Appraisal and took a deep breath. The same feeling of a slight breeze coming from the bottom of my spine towards my hands came. When I opened my eyes the Comet Appraisal Stone was still its pale blue color.

“Was it not supposed to change color?”

“If you had an Apostle Trait, it would have changed to an orange color… Strange, I would’ve expected someone from the High King’s bloodline to have the possibility to have one. Now, Princess, please look at your status.”

Spirit Essence: 10,000

Light Essence: 0

Trade Spirit Essence for Light Essence: [Y/N]

Mana: 0

“So how do I trade my Spirit Essence for Light Essence?”

“Simply just say, ‘trade all Spirit Essence for Light Essence’ for the process to begin and you shall hear the words of God to confirm.”

“Trade all spirit essence for light essence.”

“{Are you sure you want to trade 10,000 Spirit Essence for 2,000 Light Essence?}” a monotonous voice that sounded like it came from within my head said.

“Yes.”

“{Trade beginning… Trade complete…. 10,000 Spirit Essence Lost, 2,000 Light Essence Acquired… Conditions Met… New Ability Received: Prophet of Scythia Lvl. Max}”

I placed down the stone, as I felt my head feeling light. I then collapsed but managed to catch myself using the table to hold myself up.

“Princess?!”

“Don’t worry about me Minister Juniper I’m fine.”

I gasped as I tried to fix myself.

“Are you sure about that? I wouldn’t want your father to kill me.”

“I-I said I’m fine, now shall we begin the next part of the ritual.”

“There is no need to, a member of the royal family using an Abyssal Appraisal Stone would cause an uproar, so we can just stop here today.”

“I-I see,” I said as I picked myself up. As I was about to stand up full straight, I then collapsed, touching the Abyssal Appraisal Stone and felt a breeze coming from the back towards my hand before falling unconscious.