A Sinner’s Chance

The sun had just risen over the horizon and was beginning to shine its light as I entered the dorm. Like the school grounds the dorm was quiet and seemed deserted, as it was still too early for anyone to be awake just yet. I made my way through the empty halls made from living trees and entered the changing room. As I disrobed and placed my clothes in a basket for later retrieval I noticed there was another basket that was occupied with clothes, it seemed someone else was also up at this hour and enjoying the hot spring.

It was quite chilly and so I quickly washed myself off and made my way towards the hot spring. As I drew closer the chilly air began to quickly warm, though I felt that it was much hotter than usual. I slid open the doorway revealing the large hot spring and the figure of a woman standing half submerged in the center, arms spread and back arched as she basked in the early morning rays of sunlight, her unique silvery blonde hair gave away her identity.

While basking in the sun wasn't unusual occurrence for many of the residents of this dorm, what Arya was doing was something else entirely. While standing there the light of the sun seemed to condense and focus into strands of golden light that were being absorbed into her body, momentarily causing a set of tattoos I hadn't seen before to glow with the same golden light.

The scene was strangely captivating and I couldn't help but pause and watch until Arya lowered her arms after absorbing the final strand of light. She released a deep breath as she turned around only for our eyes to meet, and for me to see that she had an unexpected package between her legs.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Arya's tattoos flashed causing me to avert my eyes before I suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat in my chest. Instinctively I brought my hand over my chest as if it could do something for me, before I abruptly coughed and splattered blood onto the floor.

As I looked back to Arya I could see her slowly wading towards me, a look of regret and sadness on her face. "I'm sorry. I won't let you suffer." I was confused for only a moment before she raised her arm and a blade of golden flame appeared in her hand. Without a second thought I started to grow carapace as I pushed myself to the side narrowly dodging Arya's sudden lunge as she swung her flaming sword down where I had been moments before. She turned towards me and raised the sword once again. "Don't resist, the curse will only cause you suffering."

I didn't understand how I could have obtained a curse from watching her but as I pulled up my Status her words were proven, a new curse called Unworthy Burning Yang had appeared. I focused on avoiding and deflecting Arya's attacks as I used Inspect on the new curse before silently cursing when it failed to bring up any information, only for another panel to appear.

'Analyze and Truth have fused. The Skill, Vision of Seshat added.'

It seemed that Inspect had been on the verge of maxing out and becoming Analyze which led to this fusion happening. This wasn't my first time having Skills fuse, Blacksmithing, Tailoring, Enchanting and Alchemy had all fused into Artifice the moment I acquired them and my Novice Arming Sword had become Novice Swordsmanship after practicing with a larger variety of swords. Fused Skills were universally better than their unfused combinations, but they often required far more training or Experience to level them up.

This Gift was both a blessing and a curse as my vision was filled with information from my Status. There was a large amount of new information, but the most important thing was that the Unworthy Burning Yang curse now had a description and better still, it even listed a cure.

Unworthy Burning Yang. A curse placed upon one who has gazed upon Sacred Yang Body without being a Chosen. Burns the afflicted' s body with the power of the sun, using their own mana as fuel.

Cure: Death of the Sacred Yang Body or Become the Sacred Yang Body's Chosen.