An Ability! I got one from an Anid again! That confirms this isn't human meat.

"Anids use liquefied people as blood."

It was a shot in the dark, but Frost came out with a brand new Anid Ability. She didn't know why or how Anids were able to grant her Abilities, but she wasn't complaining. She happily downed the food she was given, hoping that the Mother Black Bird had eaten another Anid.

Liters were dumped into her, and yet, she did not bloat like the hatchlings much to the Mother Black Bird's distress. She forced more into Frost, only for it to have seemingly no effect.

"Caw!?" It screeched before brushing its beak against her body. "CAAAAAW!"

Then, with a great leap, it flapped its wings and soared off in search of more food.

"I was expecting a fight, but this works too. Nav, any idea what it means by my 'denizens'?" She was able to speak out loud again now that the mother bird had disappeared into the fog.

The birds chirped loudly, as if somehow understanding what she was saying. Then again, Blessed spoke in a universal tongue. It wouldn't surprise her if animals could understand them.

Or at least understand Frost given what she was, and that she was a Healer on top of everything.

That said–

< I cannot find a definition for it >

< But I found that the Ability comes from the Quadranid >

"The scouts of an Anid nest. Good chance we're in one. Or at least close to a nest. Last time we came across an Anid nest we saw fog just as thick as this place. I didn't know they had natural predators."

Frost dusted her coat and began walking towards the edge of the nest.

"Chirp!?"

"Chirp!?"

"Chirp!?"

The three hatchlings squeaked. One tipped over, and another rolled on their belly towards her as if hoping to stop her. The last one's legs burst free from the bottom of its shell and started to waddle over.

It tripped, and moments before its head could land against a jutting piece of grey ironwood, Frost caught the giant bird and set it aside.

"Sorry, I'm not actually your sibling. Did you all just hatch before I woke up? That'd explain why you think I'm one of you. Keep eating those Anids~" She hummed and tugged her coat along. "Loose as hell. I didn't think much of it before, but where are we exactly? I feel sluggish. Status."

She brought up the prompt right as she stood at the lip of the nest. There was no way to tell how far the drop was. A powerful breeze swept by, indicating that they were possibly a few tens of meters high, but judging by the last Anid nest and its trees – it could very well be a one-hundred-meter drop.

The Amalgam The Confessor LIGHT : 30

HP/MP : 275,000

ATT : 7,500 MAG ATT : 7,500 ATT DEF : 8,750

MAG DEF : 8,750

RESIST : 330 AGI : 52

"My stats are a quarter of what they should be. I'm also not getting the DEF bonus from my Coat of Sanguine Prejudice." Frost had an idea of the kind of place they were.

There was only one place that could cut her stats in a quarter of what they were, aside from AGI.

< A State of Mind, or a location with similar elements. I believe the proximity of the Fate Mechanism and the Gift of a Star are the cause >

"We established that. But for it to act like a State of Mind is weird. Then again, I think we're better off moving forward than trying to make sense of what we saw earlier. An ocean, ships… I dunno. Alright. How do I use this Ability? I wanna check if I can see how long the drop is."

At first, she believed that this was tied to her [Summon Apparation: Mimicry] Skill, however, she received the same error as before when she tried to summon it.

< Summon Apparition: Mimicry Cannot Be Used Here >

< The others are experiencing the same issue. Skills do not seem to be working in this place >

"But Abilities do, huh." Frost pondered at the edge for a moment as she peered down, hoping to somehow part the fog.

Just then, she felt an invisible tug. Something imperceivable moved in the air, just as she noticed the birds crowding at the edge behind her. Frost had always possessed 360-degree vision, but this was thanks to the invisible one thousand eyes that surrounded her.

"My Judge's Aides. Wait a second. I can use them without having to manifest the One Thousand Eyed Bird?"

Frost was never capable of controlling them without manifesting that Corrupted first. But this newfound Ability allowed her to dedicate 1% of her total Mana pool into causing one to take form.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

A golden orb formed between her cupped hands, which were much smaller than she remembered. But she was so fascinated with the orb that she again, let it slide. There was an glowing embryo within the egg, giving the eye a 'pupil'.

However, it was not able to see the world. She had one less eye to see the world now, much to her dismay.

Judge's Pride (Inactive)

< Lightless >

HP : 1,500 AGI : 0

"Lightless." Frost murmured, inspecting it closer and shaking it like a snow globe. "Meaning if I were to give it Light…"

She plucked Light straight from the center of her chest and implanted it into the Judge's Pride. It was pulled through the membranous exterior, and it fused with the embryo.

The egg grew to about a meter in size before it burst open with a wet splat, revealing a white-haired version of herself.

"Mm!" She saluted.

Judge's Pride

< Luminant >

HP : 27,500 AGI : 52

"You carry one tenth of my current HP, and my current AGI. But you don't have any ATT or DEF like the Judge's Aides. Pride, huh." Frost smile at her, but was a bit weirded out by how closely matched in height they were.

"Mm!"

Then, she saw it.

She peered through the eyes of the Judge's Pride and saw a smaller version staring back. She thought it was the Little Frost, but when she opened her mouth and a soundless voice came out, she realized the horror.

"W-Wait a second. The reason why my coat is so large…"

She thrust her head into her coat and came back out with a face of terror.

"I became… Tiny…!?"

The Judge's Pride nodded back before leaping off the edge. Frost could perfectly see through her eyes, and she plummeted well beyond a kilometer before crashing into the earth.

The vision was cut short after a gruesome burst of blood and the sound of snapping bones were relayed back. She didn't mean to let her die on purpose. She completely expected her to survive, and a tinge of guilt crept into her heart as she mourned for her loss.

"Fuck… Nav, do my Judge's Pride have a limit? I mean, if they disappear after a set amount of time?"

< We don't know. It's my first time seeing a Skill like this >

< But if it's anything like Constructs, then they are alive for as long as they have a Soul or Light to fuel them >

"Indefinitely. I've got a bit of a dilemma then, if I have to use them like fodder." Frost grit her teeth as she rolled the hems of her coat into her arms. "Alright, I'm gonna head down."

"Chirp!"

"Chirp!"

"Chirp!"

"Sorry, don't follow me, ok? You won't survive the drop! Just stay here until your mom comes back–!"

"CAAAW!?"

The great wingbeats returned. The Mother Black Bird had returned with another feast. As much as Frost wanted to stay and see if she could fish for another Ability, she needed to find the others.

"Goodbye!" She called before jumping off.

She plummeted for several seconds before landing gracefully in a pile of gore. There were human organs, and a skeletal structure identical to that of a human. Everything about the Judge's Pride was human, except for its conception.

"… Sorry." She whispered.

Before heading out, she dug out a small hole and buried the remains. She didn't need to eat them, not like the Judge's Aide who could always come back. Giving them a semblance of Light made them feel alive, even if they were entirely subservient to her.

"I'm not gonna make much progress on my own." She summoned another ten Judge's Prides.

She was now down 11 Light, but in exchange, she had 10 more eyes that could purvey the area to help her find the others.

"Head in any direction. Let me know what you find. And… don't let yourself die. I wish I could give you all a [Protection Ward], but that doesn't seem to be possible. Just take care."

They each nodded one after the other and briskly spread dispersed. Frost stumbled for a bit as she adjusted to the multiple perspectives that played in her mind. It was like having multiple monitors.

It didn't take long to adjust, and she quickly found that they were located inside of a forest of giant trees – the same kind that were found in the old Anid nest in Grandis.

"Let the others know to look out for a mini white-haired version of me. Also, tell them that if they see the Little Frost, then that's me."

She was ashamed to admit this out loud. It was one thing to be a woman, and she had long adjusted to it. But to be small like this? It felt foreign. Weird. Almost unnatural. She had no memory of being a child, at least in a normal context.

And even then, there was so little she remembered experiencing as the Captured Star that just being like this made her feel anxious.

"… I gotta find Jury."

"Jury wants to find you."

"She must be worried about me, huh?" Frost smiled. "Really, she should be more worried about Joy~"

"My calculations are telling me that it's 9% worry, and 91% because she wants to carry you."

"Because she wants to keep me safe."

Nav didn't reply.

"Right? Nav. Right?"

* * *

One of the Judge's Prides picked up on an unnatural movement. Frost dashed in its direction as fast as she could, clashing down and chomping away at overgrown vegetation, whilst dodging spear-like branches using her Foresight.

Eventually, she reached precisely where her Judge's Pride was, and she looked down at the ground to find the footprints of a boot. The hexagonal patterns were identical to the standard boots manufactured for Nexus personnel, so she knew this had to belong Raoul, or the twins since they did not possess specialized apparel.

"My [Predatory Instincts] Passive would've worked amazingly well here. Tch. Fuck. Hey! Raoul! Orth! Thras! Can you hear me!?" Frost called out.

Twigs snapped from the side, and she turned in its direction as a feminine voice replied.

"Amalgam? That must be you. Can't see past a few meters through the fog. Been wandering for hours. I thought they finally sent me to purgatory for good. Can't say I wouldn't have minded it."

The lethargic tone, and the long drag of a cigarette caused Frost's eyes to bloom.

Frost saw their Light first, since she could detect Light from quite a long distance beyond the fog, but she could not make out who it belonged to.

But that voice… Frost knew who this person was before they emerged from the fog.

"Your voice…?"

"Not just mine." Raoul replied, tying a vine around her waist to hold up her baggy trousers. "You got hit by the effects of this Corrupted Zone too. Would've expected you to at least be immune. But Gifts from a Star are a different story."

Raoul was shorter, had a pair of large mounds bulging from her chest. One of buttons of her two-piece suit had ripped right off, whilst another held on for dear life. Their hair became longer, messier, and resembled a lion's mane as it curled around her face.

Raoul Everyman

LEVEL : 10 ORIGIN : Original

HP/MP : 300

ATT : 30 MAG ATT : 45 ATT DEF : 30

MAG DEF : 30

RESIST : 5 AGI : 18

Frost noticed that Raoul had a strange title beneath her name. Frost had one as well.

"Confessor, and the Everyman. Did you come across anyone else?" Frost asked.

She also noticed that Raoul's base stats weren't cut down into a quarter of what they were, leading Frost to believe that this was perhaps not a State of Mind, though it was strange why she was being singled out.

Then again, she became tiny, so that likely contributed to her nerfed stats.

"I didn't find anyone down this way." Raoul answered. "… You didn't come across anyone either? Not the twins?"

"No one at all, but I have eyes everywhere. We'll move together. It's too easy to get separated in this fog." Frost pulled out a Steel Strand and offered it to Raoul.

Raoul hastily attached it to her makeshift belt, uttering: "I'll follow your lead then. You seem to know what you're doing."

"Just keep an ear out for me. Any idea what 'Everyman' means?"

"Never heard of it."

"You've got a new title on you. Same as me. I'm apparently the Confessor."

Do the others also have a title?"

"They can't see it themselves. I believe you'll be able to discover it for them. The purpose may be related to this place being referred to as the Audition."

So we're likely the characters of a play, huh?

"That is to be determined. For now, the only thing I can see is… Oh. I found something. Sending it now."

< Act 1 >

< All will fade to irrelevancy and death in due time. What is the purpose of lingering on past the fulfilment of one's role? Would it be better to persist as is, eternally unchanging, in a world enshrouded with unknowns? >

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