Dia dipped a slice of toasted bread, heated to the point of being nice and crispy with a nifty little artefact, into a small plate of melted cheese and bacon bits, before turning her attention back to the same quest that had appeared in her vision not too long ago. For the past few days, she had been looking at this weird quest, hoping to find more clues as to what exactly the Omen was.

[Mission: Peace unto Eternity

Mission Introduction: The great age of change has come. By the covenant of the five grand skies, the three major powers are destined to fight each other to prove their doctrine right. However, in the ranks of the Absolute lies a usurper, whose goal is to herald infinite change. Chaos will reign for eons hence if the Omen succeeds, hurling all life into uncharted territory.

Mission Requirements: Neutralise the Omen.

Mission Rewards: Enhances your authority level, unlocks , 3000 years of lifespan

Additional Remarks: This mission is only open to you, the Prime Salvation Star. If the Omen neutralises all other Bearers of Destiny, this mission will fail. Failing this mission will result in immeasurable outcomes for the entire world.]

“Salvation, huh?” Dia turned her attention to that word. “There’s a war within a war here, and I’m part of it. Am I supposed to be happy?”

She let out a sigh. Whatever the case, however, it was clear that she was at a massive disadvantage. This Omen fellow was a Bearer of Destiny, but the Omen’s goal was to get rid of all the other Bearers of Destiny. She had been chosen to stop him, but…

How could she do that without a similarly powerful skill? The Absolute skills were completely absolute, as denoted by their name. Even the gods feared them, and the Moons had chosen to cower in the face of Absolute Terror. The five grand skies — it had to be them — had tasked her to get rid of such a monster.

They had to be crazy and addled.

She opened up her status and muttered darkly. Dia had received two new skills, Understanding and Salvation Star, but she didn’t know the use of them at all. The others didn’t know anything about either skill, even Nero, so she was left with two skills whose effects she didn’t know.

Dia glared at her new skill, Understanding. “What am I supposed to understand? Life and—”

Her voice cut off a moment later. “Eh?”

[Skill: Understanding

Skill effects: The skill owner can interpret their own status screen.]

She rubbed her eyes, and then looked at the little floating rectangle again. Dia thought for a moment, and then swiftly came to a conclusion. Apparently, Understanding only activated if one were to glare at a certain part of their status, and she turned her intent gaze towards the second skill that had been granted to her.

[Skill: Salvation Star (Prime)

Skill effects: This skill is awarded to the first non-Bearer of Destiny who kills a Bearer of Destiny while the Omen is active. The skill owner has drastically increased resistance against all direct attacks and negative effects of Absolute skills. The skill owner has drastically increased resistance against all direct attacks and negative effects created by alien beings. The skill owner is nearly impervious against all direct attacks and negative effects created by the Moons, the Dark, the Coloured Gods and entities of the cycle. The providence of the world will fall upon the skill owner.

Additional remarks: This skill will evolve upon the Omen’s death.]

Dia read the skill effects again, and then felt her head hurt. This skill had fallen from the sky, and it had so many effects that were really…useful. Claud would probably love such a skill, since it drastically — heh — improved one’s chances of survival when facing off the main culprits for any cases of widespread destruction.

She didn’t know how to broach this topic, though.

As she stared at the skill again, Farah walked into the living room, bored. “What are you looking at, Dia?”

“I’m reading my status screen,” Dia replied. “Did you know that there’s a skill called Understanding?”

“The one you were asking about, yes,” Farah replied. “What of it?”

“I figured out how it works. All I have to do is to open my status and stare at a skill, and I get an explanation of the skill itself,” Dia replied.

“…That’s useful. And useless, depending on who you ask,” Farah replied. “So…does that mean you finally know what the dodgy Star skill does?”

“You will not believe me when I tell you what it does,” Dia replied. “I’m wiling to bet tomorrow’s training on it.”

“Oho. What an interesting bet.” Farah thought for a moment. “Still, I could just say ‘I believe’ and you’ll lose, right?”

“I’m betting that you’ll find it so unbelievable that you can’t even bring yourself to say those two words,” Dia replied.

“Really?” another voice asked. Schwarz rolled over a moment later. “Count me in. I bet I can say those words anyway. And I really want a break.”

Nero popped up behind Schwarz. “I’m joining for the heck of it.”

“…You slacker bunch,” Dia muttered. “Anyway, we might as well do this, then. I’ll read what I see out loud. Try not to fool yourselves, okay? Ahem.”

“Please. We’re not that pathetic,” Schwarz replied. “Go on. Let’s see what this hyped-up skill of yours does.”

. “I’ll blow your socks off.” Dia took a deep breath. “Here we go. Skill — Salvation Star. This skill is awarded to the first non-Bearer of Destiny who kills a Bearer of Destiny. The skill owner has drastically increased resistance against all direct attacks and negative effects of Absolute skills. The skill owner has drastically increased resistance against all direct attacks and negative effects created by alien beings. The skill owner is nearly impervious against all direct attacks and negative effects created by…”

After narrating the rest, Dia let out a sigh. “Ta-freaking-dah.”

A simple sweep of her gaze was more than enough to show her the stupefied, dumbfounded looks on everyone’s face, and Dia felt smug about it.

“Lord.” Nero was the first one to recover. “That’s a skill? That’s a freaking skill, a passive one at that? I call bullcrap. There are at least five different effects! If that’s a skill, then what are those things in my status? Fake skills? Baby skills? Not-skills?”

“That’s unbelievable,” Farah muttered. “Really dumb.”

“Didn’t anyone notice that the Authority thing doesn’t seem to apply to this Salvation Star thing?” Schwarz added. “That means it isn’t important, right?”

Dia reached out for a nearby cup of water. “It’s a skill. I don’t think Authority applies to it.”

“Makes sense,” Nero replied. “Anyway, this skill…did it come with something?”

Dia fell silent. While the skill itself wasn’t affected by Authority, the quest that seemed to be its namesake actually was affected by Authority. Simply entertaining the thought of telling them about Peace Unto Eternity was setting off alarm bells in her mind, and she intuitively understood that all of them would probably be killed if they heard it.

Except for Nero, probably.

“Yes. Anything else will probably be fatal, though,” Dia replied. “For some reason, it’s affected by Authority…”

The others looked at Dia again.

“Seriously?” Schwarz asked.

She nodded. “I don’t want to put your lives at risk.”

“So, a really important thing…you were talking about quests, right? What quest would be this important?” Farah wondered.

“If I could tell you, I would,” Dia replied. “Still…I suspect we’ll see something huge in the days to come. Another…faction, perhaps.”

“…I see.” Nero bobbed his head. “I think I know what you’re getting at now.”

Their conversation veered into random territory for a moment, touching on roasted bread and dips, before Farah steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Right, Risti’s returning today. You guys have packed, right?” Farah asked.

“Any place is better than here,” Schwarz agreed. “I still can hear people marching and shouting, and it’s really getting to me. What’s possessing them to train for hours without rest? And why during sleeping hours specifically? Are they not tired? People sleep at night. That’s how things work.”

“Well, the Dark like to attack at night,” Nero replied. “There’s no helping it.”

“Yeah, so there’s no helping it when we move out to bunk in at some place that’s far more sensible, sheesh.” Schwarz shook his head and pointed out of the window. “See? Another bunch of soldiers…”

“This group seems like they’re heading out, though,” Farah replied.

“And with a lot of urgency.” Nero made a noise in his throat. “Did something happen on the frontlines?”

“Things always happen on the frontlines, even during this enforced ceasefire. What are you talking about?” Schwarz asked.

Nero bobbed his head. “True.”