Judine had constant ideas of what a legendary skill would look and sound like. What it would feel like as the System took in your own mana to do some complex spell shaping without any other guiding hand other than your own.

  The System took the mana away and spent it efficiently, more efficiently than any human ever could, with a minor exception of King Sisyphus probably; but he was little more than a myth rather than a man at any point.

  And so Judine went towards the only member in the party that had shown that he had a legendary skill. Shammus. She walked up to the man, a bit offput with how his eyes watched everyone whenever they had downtime. Like he didn’t know how to relax.

  “Hey, Shammus…” The way his eyes locked into Judine’s felt less like a person’s and more a beast’s. “...How do you know if a skill is Legendary in comparison to others? I know traits have a noticeable weight about them, but I got quite unlucky with my one legendary trait.”

  “Hm…” His immediate thinking on the question brought to him also sort of put off Judine ever so slightly. It was ‘wrong’ one could say; or maybe it was just more mechanical than human. “I mean, it has the same noticeable weight but it also feels more valuable. Kind of like a gem in a vault that catches your eye first, you know?”

  Judine nods, recalling the few times she had been in a vault to repossess someone’s valuables as punishment, or rather to prevent further and worse punishment for tax evasion whilst in prison. Terrible system, the tax system was before she left.

  Shammus noticed her look of remembrance and simply just spoke on. “They also feel heavier. The traits feel heavy, sure, but they don’t feel taxing; or at least they shouldn’t if they aren’t epic traits or active traits.” Judine nodded.

  “Alright, so in other words; don’t expect too much difference in power from the trait; even if the trait’s solely utility?” Judine asked for clarity, but Shammus shook his head.

  “I didn’t say that, I mean that you should rather expect it to feel…” Shammus snaps his fingers trying to find the right words, his gaze shifting over the field the party was staying within. “...different.” He found the right word as his gaze lingered on Bariton for a moment longer than usual. Judine shrugged.

  “Thanks for your help, Shammus.” She said it more just to be polite, but the way Shammus nodded showed her that maybe she was more genuine than she thought at first.

  67 - Legendary [II]

  The feeling of all the skills leveling to their maximum potential was odd. She felt how all of their fates converged at once, and then she was able to see everything’s fate with little to no time between.

  The fate of everyone in this room felt more foreign at first. It felt more like a stone beforehand, something that was set in stone, but she noticed as some people’s fates shifted from being stabbed in their sleep to resting in a field of flowers as they thought of the words to say.

  Someone grabbed a plate off the table; and their fate changed so drastically Judine felt the urge to say something to the poor person. But; their fate also changed for the subjective better. They were going to die peacefully yet alone, while now they were to die in a blaze of glory.

  And she could tell the person was happier in the latter. It was a foreign concept to her; being able to see the butterfly effect so clearly outside of history books and war reports, the spiralling of various people leading to so many different spots just because they made one different choice was wild to be forced into comprehending.

  Judine always thought she understood it to a degree enough. But never did she realize how little she truly was able to fathom until she was pushed onto the stage with just the study material available to her.

  And she’d never gone over it properly. That’s what she learned in that moment, the very instant her Agility allowed her to perceive everyone’s fates changing rapidly, flipping between gruesome death to existence not even tied to the system.

  It was interesting to be sure. She felt more like a researcher than a judge in this instant, wondering how the fate of the people around her’d change if she moved just one object ever so slightly to the side.

  And so she did; and what she wasn’t expecting was how many people’s fates changed in that exact same microinstant. She noticed if she’d want a more proper dataset, she would have to be able to stop time.

  But she couldn’t, and the System didn’t seem keen to gift her such an ability as the first skill loaded in. She was taken aback at what it offered, but there were clearly limitations; as with all legendary abilities. Her legendary trait was no different.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Teleportation]

  She felt it sink into her mana, with the system attuning it to her body, optimizing it just for her own use of it; just like every other skill she’d attained before. The system was keen on showing her a description if she only asked, but it went against what she wanted, not what Sornid originally wanted to learn through this tower.

  She’d only now noticed she took on Sornid’s role as the researcher. She was most interested in his research sure, but something told her this role was going to either lead to the same point or wind up with her inable to share her research.

  Probably the way she read Bariton’s fate once when she alone turned into a demigod during the training montage from floors 43 to 50. Kishtan got to go home, she recognized that. And now she was alone with Sornid’s research, to continue it endlessly without end.

  If she got the world quest reward of godhood, she knew one of the other four couldn’t get it. It was selfish to want it. But if she wanted it, she’d have to capture it herself. But she didn’t have the guts to tear that away from someone who probably needed it more.

  She continued to study her own fate to see how it changed, noting how it stopped being readable in all ways after the quest’s end. Right before it actually; with the ending always unknown. Sometimes she saw a fate of death beforehand, but the fate always ended up being capable of being read before a large stone gate.

  It was in a cave; but the fate was fuzzy. There were hundreds of fates sprawled out before her, and now she was stuck with the idea of her death being inevitable. Her friend’s deaths being inevitable.

  Even if they were to become a god, this tower showed the system’s lack of care for gods; with them being sent to kill Shadowing Voices on floor 41, and to fight off against a Divinity on Floor 50.

  And now the offer of divinity didn’t seem as grand anymore. She looked out at the people, the thousands of fates that weren’t her own yet hers to decide ever so slightly. It felt wrong to be so strong to be capable of vaporizing hundreds of thousands of people in just a swing of a fist.

  She had to be careful when moving, not as careful as unawakened with similar power she was sure; the system was definitely playing a hand in optimizing her movement for her in some regard.

  And that only leads to the next reward being chosen. She noted a paint brush now in her hands, one of a size certainly grand enough to be used by a giant, with the handle being the size of her body. The tip had an awful inky black substance that reminded her of the void.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Paintbrush of Split Matter]

  The way the inky black substance moved and dripped however felt different. It sprinkled off in shapes similar to constellations, it cut through space and didn’t lead anywhere per se but rather lead to other constellations filtering out like dandruff falling from an unshowered head.

  This allowed her to move similar to Shammus in battle now, without having to rely on the void for transport. She could now teleport as well, allowing for misdirection of people to assume she only wielded Portomancy, instead of the objectively stronger yet more easily misdirected Astromancy.

  She enjoyed that idea, as she placed the paint brush on her back, not fearing it ruining her outfit due to the nature of the paintbrush and equipment of the system. It couldn’t ruin clothing because it wasn’t actual ink.

  The equipment vanished into her inventory to be summoned at another time, as she felt her heels get stronger by exponential levels, as she felt space itself filter through them. It was truly an interesting piece of equipment.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Heels of Spatial Reasoning]

  She felt her steps change a little bit, ignoring air resistance, and ignoring just barely enough friction to go faster, accelerating hypothetically infinitely due to the lack of limiting factors. It felt invigorating but also kind of hurt her head to try to work through.

  It was new, to try and walk with heels that were magical. Other heels were difficult enough to deal with, being more clearly designed to look good then for function, but these ones seemed fine for combat.

  As with everything the system made, it was designed solely for combat, the looks similar to something less practical but the physics of it ignoring the design. The paint brush felt more like a hammer than a brush.

  And these heels she could move swiftly, and elegantly like those noblewomen did back when she was young. Judine was grateful to the system despite the grand evils it had employed many a times before today.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Spatial Bargain]

  She at first felt the skill name was but a misspelling of special, but then she noticed how right before she activated it she could tell she was truly bargaining away space to use later. Distance itself was just a currency she could place in a bank with the skill. She couldn’t use it just yet however…

  The bargain was to purchase space with mana. But to use it she needed the capability to store it, to use the stored space itself. Judine knew that it wasn’t too far out of reach for the System to just gift her the one thing she needed for it.

  [Legendary Trait Acquired; Buyer of Space]

  This trait felt vastly different to the trait and skills she had already attained, feeling more… eldritch in nature. Something a human nor divine being should be capable of. She felt another self constantly in action, holding onto space itself.

  She was both anchored and was the anchor in of itself. It felt mind numbingly strange for Judine to see this skill manifest, this trait. She was now always capable of storing space, and she wanted to try it, to play with her new toy.

  But she couldn’t; she was in a location that was full of not violence, but innocent people. It disgusted her to feel this way, to see them as weaker and as such in the palm of her hands. She thought very often that way as a judge…

  And yet her morals always conflicted with the truth. They always clashed with how she acted and thought. And this inner self of hers disgusted her. But now was still not the time, as she swallowed in her inner demons. Maybe one of the other party members would have a skill to help her fight her worst self.

  She grabbed food on the table before her next equipment had a chance to load, before her body’s physiology changed further, changed greatly by another ‘random’ trait pushed forward by whatever in the five hells was pulling the strings.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Greed’s Love]

  She felt another skill play into the system she herself wielded. The fate behind it was terrible, terrifying even. She took a single glance at it, and saw it used behind the stone door, there was blood.

  So much blood. And she could hardly even see who’s blood it was, and there was something there. Kishtan? No, it was something, someone else. Maybe the System itself. She managed to step away from the ballroom before throwing up in a trashcan.

  Judine knew deep down that was the true ending. No matter what she did to change it, especially if she tried to change it; that’s where they’ll end. She couldn’t tell the state of anyone, but she could see the look in Shammus’s face.

  Terror, fear, and disgust. Judine threw up again as she blinked and saw such a fate. She saw a person in a raven helmet staring at her from the hallway. They had clearly walked off to get a look around everything, and they simply signed something in Elvish.

  Trust No one. So said the signing, before Judine blinked and they were gone. Judine was much more confused than hurt at the vision. Especially with the raven helmed person who knew Elvish sign language and managed to guess that as one of the two Judine knew.

  The other was Common sure, but Common wasn’t too common in the tower. And Elvish? That was more uncommon than common. It was damned near every day Bariton needed to use his Draconic knowledge.

  Judine thought back to when she relied on her translation skill, and Bariton tried his damned best to teach the party. Including Sornid. And that reminded her of death. Her of the fate nobody can evade.

  [Legendary Trait Acquired: Past Hatred]

  She felt something sprout from her left eye. It was painful, like something was clawing it’s way past the eye, and despite losing vision for just a split second, what left wasn’t anything too important.

  She got the feeling of tranquility as whatever got past her vision, past her senses and the pain suspended itself. She opened the eye and vision was there, as though nothing had happened.

  And then she realized what just happened. Something’s past slipped by her, and someone was missing from her memory. But they were still there. Just beyond her reach; this person’s warmth, their smile, the way they talked of the stats as though they had clear reasons to be each--

  But nothing ever came back.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Earring of Trust]

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Earring of Promises]

  She looked at the two notifications confused. Why was I just thinking of Promises? She found herself thinking before taking a staggered step back, sliding with the new heels into the ballroom. She stepped through space itself to enter the grand room; with the wooden floor and the ceiling being covered in arches every once in a while.

  [Legendary Equipment Created; Blinded Justice]

  The blindfold didn’t spawn already equipped, but it felt in line with her unoriginal legendary equipment given at the very start of the journey. She knew she was with five at that time, but why could she only remember four of them?

  She was just about to scream out in anguish, genuine hatred of the system before the system gave her a skill that made her second guess that reaction.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Fuel of Rage]

  It felt similar to the trait that caused her to forget somebody. She caught herself just before punching in the stairwell. No. You’ll kill almost everyone here. But now she had someone missing from her memory.

  And now she was stuck here. She began to give up on the final skill. And just walk onwards towards the party. She found the four biggest fates, the four fates that vanished at the same point of the grand stone door.

  Judine took step after step, phasing through others as the final skill loaded. Her mana vanished quickly, swiftly. It was certainly draining constantly, leaving a cold emptiness inside herself.

  [Legendary Skill Acquired; Intangibility]

  She kept walking onwards to find Clara already standing upon an apex of a five-pointed star, the candlelight visible behind her through a window looking gorgeous, almost casting upon a memory she couldn’t quite grasp.

  Bariton, Shammus, and Pallad were all approaching as well. The equipment they were wearing was similar to their previous outfits, but now they were all much stronger… Judine disabled her newest skill as she sighed. There was a comfort to converge to one point.

  There was a comfort to finding her party mates after being separated forcefully in their own journeys. To be separated naturally, or even the lack of one memory. She’d have to consult her notes at some point before this area was done for.