“…” Rakna did not respond to Hans’ claims. Was there even a need to refute his words? The same went for the rest of his group. They had nothing to say, nothing to repudiate in good faith.

“{This boy…}” Fray whispered. “{I have severely underestimated him. He is looking into you and your companions as if you were not human; this has gone beyond typical Tale Magic. It is as if he can read your…!}” He gasped in realization. “{Rakna, could you inspect his status?}”

The therian wordlessly agreed and triggered Crystal Sight.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: Hans De Vale

Age: 36 | Level: 216

Race: Human

Path: Scribbler of Tales

Sub-Path: Painter of Realms

Affiliation: None.

Titles: Omen of Hatred, Conceptual Incarnation, Fairy Doll.

Potential: S+ | Host Rank: XII | Ascent: II

Attributes:

STR: 216 | END: 216

SPD: 216 | DEX: 216

INT: 216 | LCK: 2.16

Statistics:

STA: 1296 | MP: 2376

SWI: 1080 | AGI: 864

SEN: 1080 | ATC: 1298

ATT: 1620 | DEF: 1080

MA: 864 | MR: 23.54

Proficiencies:

- Story Telling (Lv.27 ⋆⋆)

- Fine Art (Lv.17 ⋆)

-Mana Control (Lv.17)

- Mana Sense (Lv.16)

- Weapon Mastery (Lv. Max)

- Divine Speech (Lv.8)

- Magic Theory (Lv.7)

…

Magic Skills:

- Word Magic (Lv. 15 ⋆) => [Typing Craft (T.6), Effacing (T.10 – T.1), Imprinting (T.10 – T.1), Scripture (T.10 – T.1)]

- Book Magic (Lv. 12 ⋆) => [Time Diary (T.2), Arcana Order (T.10 – T.1), Invocation (T.10-1), Trace (T.10)]

- Painting Magic (Lv. 11 ⋆) => [Rule of Color (T.7), Image Link (T.10 – 1), Conjuration (T.10 – 1), Trace (T.10)]

- Tale Magic (Lv. Ex) => [Divine Land (T.3), Garden of Eden (T.4), Guillotine of The Fallen (T.5), World of Hatred (T.5), Noble Road (T.6)] + [Unregistered Tales (T.10 – T.7)]

- Union Magic (Book + Word) – Transcript Magic (Lv. 11 ⋆) => [Tome of Possession (T.7), Mimic Tome (T.10 – T.1)]

- Unity Magic (Book + Tale + Painting) – Chronicle Magic (Lv. Ex) => [Overwrite (T.10 – T.1)]

…

Cognitive Skills:

- Pure Soul Heart (EX ⋆⋆⋆)

- Fear Immunity (Lv-)

- Mind Immunity (Lv-)

- Fatigue Resistance (Lv.18 ⋆)

- Aura (Lv. Ex)

- Magical Damage Resistance (Lv.9)

- Pain Resistance (Lv.6)

- Heart of Stone (Lv.5)

- Physical Damage Resistance (Lv.3)

…

Spontaneous Skills:

- Rewrite (UEX ⋆⋆⋆)

- Quintuple Burst (Lv-)

- Skill Burst (Lv-)

- Celestial Gate (Lv-)

- Eonian Gate (Lv-)

- Gaze of Madness (Lv.13 ⋆)

- Screening (Lv. Ex)

- Fleeting Stroke (Lv. Max)

…

Path Skills:

- Quill of Heaven

- Sublimation of Reality

Sub-Path Skills:

- Jade Brush

- Realm Canvas

- Realm Invocation

Nirvana Skills:

- Cursive Insight: A Nirvana Skill obtained after incarnating into a specific concept. It is the ultimate vision capable of seeing all lives through the eyes of a creator following his children. A story unfolding, page by page.

In one look, the holders of this skill understand sentient creatures more than they will ever understand themselves in their whole lives. They cannot be lied to, deceived, or even be left in ignorance.

Unique or Racial Traits:

- Magic Sigil

- Doll Soul: A trait belonging to those bearing the title of Fairy Doll. Their attributes, luck included, will always be scaled to their level on top of a matching stat boost. Their soul will become impenetrable and they will never age. In exchange, they cannot earn Attribute Points, nor can they assign any if they were to be offered some.

- Fool’s Hatred: The holder of this trait has reached a state of immutability with their spirit and has learned to think through a deep controlled layer of hatred. They cannot be made to hallucinate nor can they fear anything.

Note:

Born with Tale Magic, he awakened Word and Book Magic later on in life. Plagued by hatred that he could not escape, he nurtured it to the extreme, taming it through willpower. As a mere child, the world itself cursed him into a Fairy Doll, forever banning him from aging and turning his body into a blank puppet capable of being rewritten.

Pouring his loathing into writing, and developing his Sub-Path, he became in tune with his potential, becoming an incarnation. After acquiring his Nirvana Skill, he could not stand the presence of others, and his hatred devolved into a stale and grim torment from which he escaped by isolating himself to focus on his craft.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna’s face twisted strangely. This was even more unbelievable than Shin-Woo’s status, and the latter even had proclaimed his identity as a regressor beforehand; its impact was attenuated.

‘That’s an absurd amount of multi-tiered spells,’ he muttered internally. ‘His attributes grow with his level… even his luck. He has an Ultimate Excel Skill too, but that’s nothing compared to his Nirvana Skill or even the combined nature of his magic elements. Not to mention… this is the first time I see someone with an S+ Potential other than me.’

“{I knew it,}” Fray added right after. “{He is an Incarnation. His whole existence gravitates around one concept. But this is to a degree I have never heard before… Words, Books, Tales, and Paintings; each complement one another. Using them concurrently only strengthens their mutual effects. If you are the pinnacle of talent, Rakna, this boy is the ultimate specialist.}”

“Are you satisfied?” Hans’ voice jolted the therian out of his thoughts. “I assume you now have a better understanding of me. Do you have a particular comment?”

Rakna narrowed his eyes slightly. “How much can you perceive with your Nirvana Skill?”

“Hm, pertinent question,” the blue-haired boy nodded sagely. “It is less than you believe. You may be ‘open books’ in my eyes, but turning pages and deciphering their text is another issue. You have a strong resistance, for instance. It varies between people and countering my Magic can be done through aura, as you have done before. What is easy to see about you, is what every book similarly has in plain sight.”

“The cover?” Flavia interjected on impulse and Hans glanced at her, startling her. “And, um… the synopsis, right?” She finished weakly and the boy leisurely nodded.

“Correct. That is essentially what I did with every single one of you. Would you like a physical copy of it?” He asked them. “It is quite a unique experience to see yourself illustrated and summarized in a paragraph.”

““No, thank you,”” nearly everyone replied in chorus.

“That is your choice,” he said uncaringly and grabbed a jacket complementing his suit. He put it on and faced Rakna. “Now, it is about time we enter the main subject, do you not agree?” He declared all of a sudden, confusing everyone in the room. “You still have a reward to receive, after all.”

Rakna furrowed his eyebrows. “You know about it? Are you the one who has it?”

“Indeed,” he nodded. “Let us proceed within that context,” he said and approached the front door before speaking out as he exited the house, “Follow me.”

The therian threw a cursory look at his friends before following after Hans. Once outside, the blue-haired boy leaped out of his island and landed on the water’s surface. If one looked closely, they would notice faint and transparent forms of lettering around his feet.

Rakna swiftly imitated him and stood a few meters away from him with Star Flash active under his feet. “What is this about?” He asked and Hans silently pulled out a pair of glasses from his inner pocket.

Right away, the therian could tell it was not a normal item. Hans pushed them up his nose and let out his aura. “You will fight me,” he stated and without waiting for a reaction, he opened his hands and stretched his arms forward.

His left hand’s palm was pointing upward as if he was waiting for something to land on it, and his right hand appeared to be prepared to hold a pen. Mana began to coalesce around them, ready to be consolidated into constructs upon being named.

However, before that happened, Hans closed his eyes and exhaled. “[Rewrite,]” he whispered and his figure was swallowed by a white and cyan light. Circular waves surged outward with him as the epicenter and struck against the borders of the floating isle.

After a moment, the bright display died down and two hands became visible first. One was holding a luxurious-looking quill while the other had an ornamented book hovering above it flipping pages on its own.

The rest of Hans’ body emerged and Rakna’s eyes widened. Gone was the child's appearance and a slim handsome man with long azure hair stood in his place, wearing a more ceremonial suit with the jacket unbuttoned and swaying with the wind.

The man pushed his glasses which had become bigger to fit him, highlighting his glowing blue eyes and eyelashes sharing the same color. He swiped his hand to catch the floating book, closing it in the same movement and pointing it at Rakna as if it was a weapon.

“Show me,” he spoke up coldly, a distant façade set; his matured appearance finally giving credit to his true temperament.

Rakna frowned at the sudden chain of events but readily called Sonata to his hand, prompting it to change into a Guandao in the process. As soon as he had a grip on his spear, his instincts yelled at him to move. Using Ripple of Rupture’s footwork, he stepped aside, his foot splitting the water as it slid to dodge some kind of black bullet.

It shot past his head and fizzled out a few meters behind him. The therian traced back its trajectory in a cold sweat and saw Hans’ quill pointed at him, the tip tailing a word written on thin air.

‘Just now… that small spell was a real threat to my life,’ Rakna thought grimly. ‘Death Bullet… that’s what it said. His Word Magic can probably conjure whatever he writes. But how did he do it so fast?’

“{The Quill of Heaven…}” Fray uttered dumbfoundedly. “{That quill he is holding is the first Path Skill of Scribbler of Tales. It writes whatever the user thinks in an instant. It is normally meant to be a tool to silently cast Tale Magic, enhance its power, and create new spells. But combined with Word Magic… good lord, that is a terrifying synergy.}”

Rakna groaned. ‘Great. That makes him ten times more dangerous,’ he grumbled. ‘His level surpasses mine by about a hundred. I can’t hold back against him,’ he admitted and immediately transformed into a werewolf, his two pairs of wings deployed from the get-go. Sonata adjusted to his size and he activated his Crystal Sight, ready to analyze everything his opponent does.

“Good. You are taking this seriously,” Hans remarked. “Your death would be most unfortunate if you did not.”

“…can I ask why we are fighting to the death out of the blue?”

“Survive first.”

“…”

“{Good luck.}”

‘Shut up.’