Obtaining a Star
The Ancient King, Dramut.
A mountain keeper who guards the Star, and a Colossus with a gigantic body. Dramut's origin was that he was a spiritual beast whose body grew and gained wisdom due to the Star's spiritual energy.
Name, his True Name as well, was inherited from the Star.
Naturally, it would only be normal if no one other than the Star knew it.
Only the one who possessed the Star and became the Star's master could know his True Name.
Wilhelm, the very strongest character, and only I.
「W-where did you hear my True Name? Did Wilhelm tell you?」
Dramut shook his head once and stood up, flustered as he asked.
"Idiot. Have you already forgotten the contract's terms?"
But mentioning the True Name is bound by contract.
Meaning it's impossible to divulge it to someone else.
Of course, I'm not bound by that contract now, so I let it out as much as I pleased.
'Yeah. It's real.'
Dramut's scales trembled, zzzrrr.
The mountain keeper could distinguish truth from lies as well.
If it were a lie, he could just freely break the contract, strut around, and eat that human.
But it was the truth. Not a speck of falsehood.
Even the claim that the master had returned.
'A human I've never seen knows my True Name and even the contract's contents. He even mentioned Wilhelm's name.'
An unspoken rule of contracts. The moment you so much as mention anything related to a third party, the target dies and the contract is broken.
Let alone Wilhelm, a 5-Star Transcendent Being. A protagonist-class existence with weight in every word and gesture, he had no reason to break a contract and leak secrets to someone.
If it had been broken that way, there's no way Dramut wouldn't know.
'But Wilhelm is dead. The Star fell.'
However, even if the contract's target died, the contract would be broken all the same.
Wilhelm was dead. All five Stars had fallen. That meant he had met a perfect, flawless death, and every shackle tied to him had been released.
Naturally, a contract between Dramut and that human right now couldn't be established. Even if he knew the True Name, it was only surprising.
"Guide the way. The Star will prove me."
For a frail human who'd barely leave a trace even if swallowed in one bite, how could he be that confident?
And what? The Star will prove it?
「You? A Star? You'd burn up just by getting near it.」
Dramut scoffed.
Not enough. That human was far below the standard to eat a Star.
Dramut was the one who guarded Stars. Instinctively, he could sense the level suited to a Star. But that human not only failed to meet the standard, he wasn't even properly built up from the basics.
He didn't know why the human wasn't affected by his Divine Domain, but surely he was getting help from some special equipment or tool.
「Don't tell me you mistook the female human beside you as the challenger?」
If anything, that female human over there was a little better. Of course, she was still lacking. The one to eat a Star had to be a powerhouse equal to, or beyond, himself.
She would burn up before even getting close.
A Star was endlessly generous to one who met its standard, but to one who didn't, it offered not even a sliver of mercy.
"I'm the one who's challenging."
Challenging? A chaaallleeeenge?
「Kuhahahaha!」
Dramut twisted his body and burst into laughter. He just couldn't hold it in.
After rolling around laughing for a long while, Dramut finally regained his senses.
It had been centuries since he'd laughed like this.
'Way better to burn up in the Star than to have me handle it.'
Fine by him. That weird fellow who knew even his True Name and Wilhelm, it was unsettling beyond measure, but the Star would take care of him on its own.
No matter how special or unique his gear or tools were, they were useless before a Star. A Star judged only the challenger's own ability.
「Good. Follow me, you greenhorn.」
Sssshk.
Dramut cheerfully began guiding the path toward the Star.
***
Star.
A 'boundary cornerstone' needed to surpass the species' specifications and achieve transcendence of cognition.
More precisely speaking······ it was a corpse.
We called the shattered body of the dead twin goddess, Rhea, a "Star."
On the continent of Pangaenia, there were a total of 32 Stars.
Their parts were as follows.
Ten fingers, two arms from the back of the hand to the shoulder, one torso, one head, two eyeballs, one nose, one lower face including the mouth, two ears, one neck, one lower body, ten toes.
Thirty-two kinds of body parts of Goddess Rhea.
With a Star, and by passing the trial, you could finally transcend.
Naturally, the transcendence granted differed subtly by part.
And here, in the "Mountain Where the Nameless Star Is Buried," the body part of Goddess Rhea was······.
"Th-that is······ a Star?"
Isabella recoiled in shock. Her eyes nearly popping out as she stared at the "Star" on the altar.
Of course she would.
She'd heard about Stars, but it was her first time seeing one with her own eyes.
No, when people talked about Star Engravers and Stars, no one ever said they were corpses.
"Th-that skull······?"
A skull with its jaw cut off.
"Greet her. That's Goddess Rhea's face."
"Ah."
Wobble.
Isabella's knees went weak. Partly from surprise, but in front of a Star, all sorts of bizarre phenomena happened anyway.
"Don't come any closer than this. It's dangerous."
Even Dramut was just watching from far away. He looked like he was anticipating how I'd die.
After stopping Isabella, I walked forward.
From here on, it was fifty-fifty.
This hidden Sky Island within the Holy Land can grant skills and classes in every domain.
Then this mountain and the Star should be the same.
Before, I already had a class, so I only took the Star and transcended.
"······."
Letters float up.
It feels like I can hear a voice.
But there was a lot of noise. It wasn't a proper process of communication.
Still, I felt like I knew who was sending me these messages.
The dead twin goddess, Rhea. The one scattered across the continent as Stars.
"Emptiness."
When I stepped one foot closer, the voice became clearer.
With each step, more words were added.
"Dexterity, All Master, Weapon Master, Giant's Magic Resistance, Druid's Nature Affinity, Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch, Beast Lord, Heavenly, Golden Grace, Mutation, Glutton, Great Sage."
The thirteen hidden traits I possessed.
The goddess read them.
And then.
"The one who faced 'Ruin.'"
Slowly, I lifted the goddess's skull, the Star, with both hands.
Fwoooaahk!
In that instant, a brilliant surge of light poured from the Star into my body.
·····.
Messages that kept appearing without end.
The amount was so vast it couldn't even be taken in at a glance.
<'Main Quest 2: Obtain a Class' has been completed.>
<'Constellation of Adventure' applauds your recklessness, rewards are upgraded further.>
Constellations of Pantheon?
It was absurd that they were already paying attention to me.
Those high-nosed folks don't usually notice a beginner who just started walking.
Even when I played as Wilhelm, they only barely started paying attention after I'd eaten three Stars.
'Because of the Successor of Stars?'
That class was new even to me.
Still, it wasn't bad if Pantheon's constellations noticed me.
Because they upgraded the rewards.
I focused even more on what rewards would come next.
<'Michella's Armor'>, <'Michella's Helm'>, <'Amulet of Protection'>, <'Anvil of the Adversary'>, <'Gills of the Sea Beast'>, <'Red Knight's Banner'>, <'Red Earth Horse'>, <'Palam's Armor'>, <'Fairy Queen's Tears'>, <'Shadow Cloak'>
And after reading every line related to the rewards, I couldn't help but mutter.
"······ This is insane."