Chapter 9: Status Panel
[———✵ Status Panel ✵———]
Name: Gray Vireux D’Aurélion
Titles: Vessel of Beauty & Destruction, Exiled Noble
Race: Human (?)
Class: N/A
Rank: Trainee Knight
Unique Skill: [✧Swap✧]
Active Skills: N/A
Passive Skills: Blessing of Beauty
——+——+——+——
"Mhm..."
His eyes moved slowly across the screen.
"...No active skills, huh?" he muttered, clicking his tongue.
"But a vessel. Vessel of Beauty and Destruction..."
He laughed again, softly at first, before it turned louder.
"Fucking ridiculous."
Then, his gaze dropped lower on the screen, seeing his unique skill, which he had missed before, after noticing that he didn’t even have an active skill.
"...[✧Swap✧]?"
He raised an eyebrow.
Turning slowly toward Jasmine, he narrowed his eyes.
"How do I see what these actually do?"
Jasmine stirred weakly in the chair, rubbing her temple as she struggled to sit upright.
"Just focus on the skill. Will it. Your soul is bound to the system now, so you don’t need a spell or scroll to identify it."
Gray stared at the name of the skill, narrowing his gaze.
"...[✧Swap✧]..."
[DING!]
A soft chime echoed as a new screen flickered into view, text glowing gently in the air.
[✧ Unique Skill: Swap ✧]
Level: 1
Type: Spatial / Utility
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Effect: Instantly switch positions with any object or living being within a 100-meter radius.
Additional Traits: Swap ignores most barriers and terrain obstacles.
— Cooldown and range increase with skill level.
——+——+——+——
"...Spatial manipulation?" Gray muttered.
He blinked continuously, and then his lips curled into a smile.
"...Heh."
"Now that’s useful."
He flicked the window away with a casual motion.
Jasmine, still pale, suddenly sat up straighter.
"...Wait."
Gray turned his head toward her, his smirk not fading.
Her glowing eyes had sharpened.
"You have Swap...?" she asked slowly, voice quiet.
"Yeah." Gray tilted his head slightly.
"Why? Something wrong with that?"
Her lips parted in surprise, but then they closed before parting shortly after.
She stood up now, slowly, her bare feet silent on the cold black marble.
"That’s not a human skill."
Gray blinked in surprise.
"What?"
"That isn’t something any of your kind should be able to use," she said quietly.
"Even among gods... that level of spatial rewriting was rare. Most couldn’t maintain it without sacrificing something."
She stared at him, wide-eyed, glowing eyes now flickering like a fire that had just been reignited.
"...It’s a trait only given to the Clowns’ lineage. And he was erased."
Gray’s smile didn’t fade.
"Guess I’m full of surprises, huh?"
He turned back to the panel and muttered again:
"Let’s try the titles..."
[✧ Title: Vessel of Beauty & Destruction ✧]
You are the first mortal to inherit the dormant powers of Jasmine, Goddess of Beauty & Destruction.
As a vessel, you are a direct conduit for her two divine authorities.
In your current state, your body is too fragile to wield them directly.
As your bond deepens, access will grow.
—『Beauty Lv.1』: Your presence exerts a constant passive charm effect. Those of lower Charisma or Willpower may become emotionally affected, stunned, or obsessed with you upon eye contact.
—『Destruction Lv.0』: Dormant. It can only awaken when Jasmine recovers one percent of her total power.
——+——+——+——
Gray hummed at that one.
"Level one beauty... and destruction is still asleep, huh..."
Then he muttered again and focused on his other title.
[✵ Title: Exiled Noble ✵]
You were cast out by blood, but a noble’s roots run deep.
You are the shame that was discarded, and the dagger that remembers.
— Increases resistance to social manipulation and status-based suppression.
— Grants hidden affinity with rebels, traitors, mercenaries, and fallen knights.
— When surrounded or cornered, all stats increase temporarily.
(Effect scales based on desperation and hatred toward the former House.)
——+——+——+——
Gray’s smirk twisted further as he read it.
"Heh..."
"...So even my shame gives me power now?"
He let out a low chuckle that wasn’t quite laughter.
"Kekeke..."
"Guess being thrown away was the best thing those bastards ever did for me." He continued laughing before he finally decided to check his passive skill.
[Passive Skill: Blessing of Beauty]
Level: 1
Type: Seduction
Effect: The user exudes unnatural allure and perfection, increasing the user’s appearance, charisma, and affinity with all beings.
Additional Traits: Hostile intent may be pacified or twisted into attraction.
— At higher levels, illusions of beauty may become a physical force, creating blinding flashes, false doubles, or even physical paralysis.
— The effect gets stronger with skill level.
——+——+——+——
Gray scoffed under his breath.
"...So beautiful I kill people by existing, huh?"
He glanced at Jasmine, who was also looking at him.
"It seems that you were telling the truth."
Jasmine gave a faint sigh, brushing her fingers along her collarbone as she slowly sat down again, still drained from their contract.
"So? Now that you’ve seen everything," she murmured, her voice as quiet as before, "do you still think this is useless?"
Gray turned his head slightly, gaze sharp.
"It’s useful."
He didn’t smile this time.
"But it’s not enough."
His eyes dropped to his hand as he flexed it slowly.
"I want more. And I’ll take it."
Jasmine’s lips curled, faintly amused by his hunger.
"How predictable..."
Then he glanced sideways at her.
"Get me out of here."
She blinked.
"...Already?"
"I’ve wasted enough time in this tomb," he muttered.
"The moment someone senses this dungeon closing, they’ll send scouts. I’m not in the mood to deal with any of them."
Jasmine nodded softly, then stood. Her hand slowly rose into the air, and a faint crimson ripple appeared behind him, like a tear in the atmosphere.
Gray stepped toward it without hesitation and the moment his boots touched solid stone again...
Crunch!
His foot landed next to a headless corpse, Goran’s body still leaking old blood into the canyon floor.
The other two were scattered nearby.
Gray stood once again at the base of the canyon, the cold wind howling around him.
But behind him...
Crack... Crackle...
The entrance to the inheritance dungeon and the archway that was covered in vines began to shake violently.
BOOOOOOM—!!
With a dull rumble, the cliffs began collapsing inward, like some ancient throat closing shut forever.
Debris and broken divine stone rained down.
The entire canyon trembled as the entrance was swallowed by rubble, only leaving a thin trail of smoke and dust that curled upward into the sky.
[There goes my sweet inheritance dungeon...]
Jasmine’s voice echoed directly into his head, soft but clearly teasing.
Gray didn’t react at all; he figured out that there was going to be a way for her to talk with him.
He simply turned away from the collapsing cliff and spotted a thick stone nearby, lying over fifty meters ahead.
He narrowed his eyes on it.
"...Let’s test this thing."
He exhaled slowly and then whispered;
"Swap."
FWIP—!
In an instant, the air cracked.
His body flickered.
And he reappeared, now crouched behind the rock he had seen, his weight settling naturally as if he’d never moved.
The space he left behind shimmered faintly before going still.
He stood up, a slow smirk rising to his lips.
"...It worked."
His fingers twitched at the side of his rapier.
"It’s perfect... Just need to wait out the cooldown..."
His heart beat a little faster. Power always made his blood rush, and having such a broken ability only made him happier.
Then his eyes scanned the distance again, the sky above still choked with rainclouds.
His smirk faded.
"...Now..."
His voice lowered.
"...Let’s get out of here before that fucker of a father sends someone looking."
.
.
.
.
.
D’Aurélion Grand Estate
Second Moon of Mourningfall, High Tower of Lord Caelis D’Aurélion
CRASH—!!
A thunderous echo rang through the high tower’s war chamber as a table, which was made of solid obsidian and even reinforced with mana veins, was shattered into splinters.
Lord Caelis D’Aurélion, the head of the D’Aurélion House, stood in the center of the wreckage, his cloak flaring from the sudden force of his movement, and his chest rising and falling in complete anger.
His golden hair, normally perfectly combed back, now hung slightly over his eyes, casting shadows across his face twisted in rage.
"Destroyed?"
His voice was low, and yet it filled the room like thunder.
"You dare come to me with that kind of fucking news...?"
The trembling servant kneeling before him nodded desperately, sweat pouring down her pale face.
"T-The canyon collapsed, m-my Lord... t-the dungeon entrance was buried. It triggered the collapse sequence."
"Sequence?!" Caelis snapped, striding forward.
The servant flinched violently.
"No... no, that kind of reaction only happens when the inheritance is... claimed," another voice said carefully.
A senior knight, standing near the edge of the room, dared to speak.
Caelis slowly turned toward him.
"Oh? So someone claimed it?"
The knight lowered his eyes.
"I-It appears so."
As he said those words, the room was completely silent.
But it wasn’t for a long time.
BOOM!!!
The ground cracked beneath Caelis’s foot as he crushed a nearby stone bust of his great-grandfather into rubble.
"No one was authorized to enter that dungeon! It was locked, forgotten, and hidden for generations!"
His breathing was ragged.
"The only ones with the clearance were me... Alina... and..."
His face darkened even more.
"...that fucking trash son."
The room went deathly still.
Even the wind outside seemed to hesitate.
"Whoever did this," Caelis growled, his eyes glowing with psychic pressure, "had to know about its location. Had to know it was real. Had to survive it."
He raised his hand suddenly—
"P-Please, my Lord—!"
The servant girl didn’t get to finish.
Her body was yanked into the air by an invisible force, and in that moment, her throat was crushed instantly by his telekinetic grip.
CRRRK!
Her neck snapped with a loud crack, and her lifeless body was thrown violently across the room, slamming into the far wall with a wet, dull sound.
Blood splattered across the marble as the maids screamed from outside the corridor.
The knight took a step back, cold sweat dripping down his neck.
Caelis didn’t even blink.
"Search the canyon. Every inch."
"Comb through the rubble. Through the surrounding woods. Through the river. Search the D’Aurélion lands. Tear down the old watchtowers, the ruined shrines, everything. I want every rat caught."
The knight nodded shakily, bowing.
"Y-Yes, Lord D’Aurélion."
"And the manor..." Caelis added, turning toward the window where the full moon barely peeked through storm clouds.
"Search every corner. Every servant’s quarters. Every hidden chamber. If anyone... anyone... even breathes wrong, bring me their head."
"Understood."
The knight ran out.
Silence returned.
Caelis slowly lowered himself into his grand chair, and only now did his hands begin to shake slightly.
He knew what this meant.
Someone had claimed the inheritance of a forgotten goddess.
And worse...
He would have to explain all this to Alina.
"...Tsk."
He clenched his teeth.
"How the hell do I tell her that her pet dungeon was stolen?" he muttered bitterly.
"She’ll start asking questions."
He stared at the floor, golden eyes narrowing.
"...If she finds out I let someone get near it... especially him..."
𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
A cold drop of sweat ran down his temple.
There was only one person that the Duke was scared of, and that person... was none other than his eldest daughter.