Stars covered the night sky; each star was an individual shining brightly by itself. But together, they tell a story. That was how people gave them names, the constellations.
The stars become a visual canvas, and people project their mythologies and heroes onto patterns they perceive in the night sky.
That was what Brand's dad told him often when their family went for stargazing. He would teach them how to recognize constellations in the night sky.
The stars in this world were clearer than in the world he came from. The night sky was beautiful but foreign.
However, the constellations he learned to recognize were nowhere to be seen.
***
His skin was shining bright underneath the moon, reflecting the moonlight from the surface.
"You look like a ghost when under the moon, Brand." Seraphine teased him while dozing off.
"It really became metallic, huh?" He examined his skin, admiring the beauty and toughness. When he collided with the lining of the rock formation, the rocks were damaged instead of him.
Seeing Seraphine did not reply, he turned his head toward her and found her asleep.
"Even an angel needs to sleep?" He was genuinely curious.
She appeared to be so energetic earlier, displaying more energy than a one-month-old puppy.
'Wait… Why does this feel like Deja vu?'
Puppy and angel, when you stick these two words together… It was the same words he spoke in the chamber earlier!
"You have been there since in the secret chamber?" He asked.
"Yea…" Seraphine muttered
"Little angel with puppy personality," He joked, expecting her to retort to his statement. But she was deep asleep.
"It was nice to have you as my companion, though."
He was grateful to have someone to share this arduous journey with. It's better than having no companion at all, especially when wandering over this brazen and foreign world.
He spent a little more time looking at the starry night before he went to sleep as well. After all, tomorrow they had a long journey ahead before reaching the tribal village.
There was a faint twitch in Seraphine's hair, but he didn't notice it.
***
The next morning, they continued with the journey. Brand was checking on the surroundings and thought it would be a disaster to continue with the journey with his wolf pelt on. It was getting too hot.
"Map." He opened his holographic map and checked for monster sightings near his vicinity.
"Seraphine, I'll just call you Sera from now on, okay?" Brand asked.
"Oh… okay!" Seraphine exclaimed and danced around in the air. Strangely, it felt like a familiar wiggling dance.
'She really was the spherical robot.'
"Sera, can you help check the map? Help to notify if there was something approaching." Brand asked again. The environment was too hot and arid; it was getting so uncomfortable that he couldn't focus on the road ahead while looking at the map.
He noticed that Seraphine was not affected by the desert environment at all and thought he could leave the vigilance lookout job to her.
"No problem, leave it to me!" Seraphine replied.
"Sera, now that my body has turned into a cyborg. Do I have any other special abilities?"
"Hmm, your eyes could scan for enemies' information, appraise items, and discover hidden passages," Seraphine replied.
She was always ready to explain things when it came to the system of his new body. "Every GHOST Core level up would get you an upgrade on your gear.
"But it depends on your aptitude." She continued. "The system will help you to decide the best path to upgrade for Lv 2 and 3."
"After Core Lv 3, you could make personal adjustments to the upgrade path, as they will be much more stable."
"Hmm, so I could only find out the abilities after leveling up?" Brand asked. Although this would be inconvenient, as he preferred to plan ahead, he decided to not overthink. There might be tons of choices, and he wouldn't know which was the best to take.
"Yes, guide you for now," Seraphine stated. "Oh, you would also get some new skills related to your gained title."
"I have an issue here." Brand raised his hand in the air, like a student does when asking questions. "I have no combat skills."
Even during the fight with the wolves, he fought them with his bare hands! Things would be a lot easier if there were combat skills, like how the Sand Dragon does.
"When you reach Level 3, GHOST will register a new skill for you," Seraphine stated in a manner that suggested she was reciting a script.
"This was a separate system from the GHOST Core?"
"Yep. GHOST Core is more on your gear upgrades." Seraphine replied.
"That'll be one more level to unlock the combat skill then," Brand noted.
Brand started to plan out his priorities. While he needed to reach the human settlement as soon as possible, he would raise his level first. He would unlock his first combat skill and also save up more stat points.
Because who knows what challenges lie ahead of him? He would prepare as much as he could.
==============
Status:
Name: Brand
Job: GHOST (Agent of Seraphim)
Level: 2
STR: 20
AGI: 20
INT: 20
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Additional Points: 6
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GHOST Core: Lv. 1
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Skills:
1. Debuff Cube - Decrease the target's all stats by 5% for 3 minutes.
2. Might - Increase STR by 25% for 3 minutes.
3. Haste - Increase AGI by 25% for 3 minutes.
4. Clear Mind - Increase INT by 25% for 3 minutes.
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