Chapter 51: A New Divine Skill
-----
Ding!
[You have awakened the Divine Class Skill: [War Saintess of the Umbral Hunt – Tier 3: Level 1/10]!]
The moment I activated the mysterious scroll, a brand-new skill emerged—one that fused the power of all five of my classes into a single ability. Even thinking about it for a second made me wonder how difficult it must have been to combine them in a way that actually made sense.
Yet the system had done it. The skill I received was shrouded in mystery. Not only did it manifest a powerful spiritual projection, but because it was a Divine-level skill, it seemed to transform that projection into... an actual spirit.
When the swirling energy and colors finally faded, my family stared at me with wide-eyed surprise and confusion. They had clearly seen the strange entity appear.
“Uh, what was that?” my mother asked, bewildered.
“Um, I don’t know myself,” I shrugged. “It was some kind of spiritual being summoned by the divine skill I got from the scroll.”
“Divine?!” my sister exclaimed in disbelief.
“Well...” I muttered. “I upgraded the treasure chest once, then the scroll itself, so yeah—the small scroll evolved twice and became something incredibly strong. Now this weird skill... what exactly does it do? The name alone sounds more like a title than an ability.”
Curious, I activated the skill without reading its full description. Instantly, the silhouette reappeared and overlapped with my body.
“Huh?”
As it merged with me, my senses sharpened dramatically. Strength flooded my muscles, my bones grew denser, and my blood surged like fire. Divine power coursed through every vein. One hand instinctively drew back, manifesting a bow forged of pure shadows. When I pulled the string, an arrow formed from the essence of night itself, glittering with tiny stars. “What the hell is this?!”
My other hand summoned a second construct—a large red flag radiating strange magical energy. The moment I planted it into the floor, a domain expanded outward, flooding the area with faint crimson essence. The power washed over us, boosting our strength, vitality, and likely our regeneration as well.
“Wow, I feel stronger! What is that?!” my father asked.
“I believe it’s called the Flag of Conquest,” I replied. “It’s part of the new skill. Planting it creates a domain that empowers all allied forces—including me.”
“You could use that for the next wave of monsters,” my brother said, crossing his arms with a nod. “Sounds really strong.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’ll be incredibly useful against another boss. Especially since they’re boosted by Winter—we’ll need every advantage we can get. Aside from that, this bow and arrow... we can test them once we head down.”
From what I could tell, the skill had three main effects: the spiritual projection that overlapped with my body and raised all my parameters, the Flag of Conquest, and the Umbral Huntress Bow—a strange spiritual weapon tied directly to the skill.
It wasn’t just raw power, either. The skill seemed to grant me the ability to sneak behind enemies. Darkness flowed from the bow whenever I channeled mana into it, shrouding my entire body and making movement effortless—especially in shadows and darkness.
“This is really fascinating...” I sat down for a moment, lost in thought.
As everyone prepared to descend and conquer at least another floor of the dungeon—or perhaps half of the second one—I noticed the ring I had been wearing on my left hand the entire time.
“Oh! This ring...”
It was the Goblin Ring, which boosted Agility and Movement Speed. It was the first treasure I had asked my father to collect, and it had helped our family tremendously.
I had worn it constantly since the battle against the Lich’s Bone Wyverns. By now, its speed boost felt like a natural extension of my body.
But I hadn’t evolved it yet. The green jade ring, with its jewel shaped like a laughing goblin’s face, still hadn’t been upgraded.
I might as well do it now.
I gently touched the ring and spoke the magic word.
“Evolve.”
FLASH!
The green jade ring shone brilliantly and transformed. It grew larger and more robust, now adorned with three laughing goblin heads. The central one bore sharp black horns and demonic red jewel eyes, complete with a tiny golden crown.
-----
[Laughing Goblin King Ring]
[Item Type]: Accessory, Ring
[Item Grade]: B+ Grade
[Item Requirements]: None
[Item Parameters]: Physical Defense: 3,000 | Magic Defense: 3,000 | Durability: 5,000
[Item Bonuses]: +33% Agility, Dexterity, Movement Speed, Senses.
[Item Skills]: {Goblin’s Greed} {Runaway}
[Item Description]: An ancient Ring evolved with the power of your Trait. Once belonged to an Ancient Goblin King who used it to dominate the Green Plains, and its true power has finally been awakened.
-----
“True Power?” I raised an eyebrow. “Whoa, B+ Rank? Wasn’t it D Rank before? It improved a lot... It gives even more speed and bonuses now, but what are these skills? It didn’t have any before.”
I checked the skills and decided to test Goblin’s Greed first.
“Gyahahaha!”
A wicked goblin laugh erupted from the ring, startling my family. Out of nowhere, the spirit of a goblin appeared and dashed toward the closest person—my sister.
She couldn’t see it, but the goblin spirit stretched out its phantasmal hand, touched her stomach, snatched something invisible, and brought it back to me.
“What? You want me to have this? You took it from my sister!”
I received it anyway. The object was a small white sphere. When I pressed it, the sphere burst into particles of energy that merged with my body.
“Wait, what?!”
The energy surged through me, making me noticeably stronger.
[You have used {Goblin’s Greed} to steal from target: Astrid.]
[You received Astrid’s Talent Fragment!]
[You have absorbed the Talent Fragment.]
[Your [Vitality] has increased by +300.]
[Your [Mana] has increased by +200.]
[Your [Strength] has increased by +500.]
[Your [Endurance] has increased by +200.]
[Your [Spirit] has increased by +200.]
[Your [Resistance] has increased by +100.]
[Your [Agility] has increased by +100.]
[Your [Luck] has increased by +100.]
[Your [Charm] has increased by +100.]
[You learned the Skill: [Leatherworking – Tier 1: Level 1]!]
A long list of stat increases followed, along with a new skill.
“WHAT THE F*CK?!”
I screamed in utter disbelief. This stupid ring had just stolen from my own sister! Was she okay? Did she feel weaker now?
“Astrid! Astrid, are you okay?! I’m so sorry—I didn’t know what it did!” I cried, rushing over to her as she polished her new ring. “D-Do you feel weird? Weaker? Did you forget how to use Leatherworking?!”
“What?! Calm down!” she groaned, smacking my head.
“Ouch...” I winced. “S-Sorry, I just... my ring gained a weird stealing ability. A goblin stole a sphere of light from your stomach! When I absorbed it, I gained stats and even learned the Leatherworking skill out of nowhere!”
“Huh?” She tilted her head. “Was that catfish poisonous or something? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? I feel perfectly fine, and I definitely haven’t forgotten how to work with leather.” She demonstrated by sewing a pair of boots from the catfish skin right in front of me. “Here, take these. They’ll keep you warm. I’m making some for everyone.”
“A-Ah...” I stared at the shiny D+ Rank boots—her craftsmanship was truly impressive. “These are amazing... I was just really worried. Sorry. You’re sure you’re not any weaker?”
“No,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Besides, this ring makes me incredibly strong. Did you see how much it boosts all my magic stats? I’ve never been this good at magic before. It’s a total game changer.”
“I see...” I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re alright, sis. Sorry about that... This ring is seriously weird and dangerous. It can steal people’s talents—or at least pieces of them.”
“The goblin ring?!” my dad asked, walking over in his new shiny blue boots. “Well, that sure is strange. Did you evolve it with your ability?”
-----