[mass release 4/5]

The lady in the room had also taken notice of them, but she said nothing, simply staring at them with empty, hollow eyes.

Steven did the same, though not staring into her eyes, but elsewhere, anywhere else. It didn’t take him long to shake off the unsettling feeling, snapping out of his daze as he activated the Mana Burst skill.

In a flash, he closed the space between himself and the woman, summoning the brimming verdant blade of the Echo into his grasp. He appeared right before her, placing the blunt edge of his sword against her shoulder, dangerously close to her throat.

Shawn was stunned by this sudden move, wanting to object to Steven’s actions, but after recalling their encounter with the Blood Burst, he said nothing. He only watched as the scene unfolded itself, hoping, praying, that things would not go sideways.

The lady, with a sword pressed to her neck, did not utter a word. Her empty eyes slowly dropped to the blade, then lifted to meet Steven’s fiercely flaring gaze, before shifting briefly to the other two.

"Odd way to say hello," she finally began.

Steven’s brow arched at that. "Are you a Monster or a human? Is that the question I’m supposed to ask?" His grip tightened. "Or should I just slit your throat instead and see if I gain extra stats?"

The girl did not reply immediately, as though carefully weighing her options. Then she spoke, her voice calm. "Why don’t you find out."

"Prove yourself," Steven added coldly.

The lady nodded and raised her hands to her chest, covering her cleavage from the gazes of the three party members. "We all entered the first Sanctuary together. I saw you on the very first day of entering the Sanctuary. You might not recognize me, but I do not forget a face."

Steven felt unease coil in his chest, confusion quickly following. ’The first Sanctuary shouldn’t be information a Shadow Eater could mention within the Realm... so how does she know me?’

There was only one way to find out.

---

{Astral Chat has been activated}

{You can now see the chat between a vessel and her sponsor}

[Silva: ...]

[God of Fate: So this is the Fateless brat. Even I can’t see his fate.]

[Silva: Same result as the first time I saw him in the Sanctuary.]

---

Steven hesitated internally as he read the Astral Chat between Silva and her Deity.

She was no Monster, nor a Husk. But from what he understood, this girl could read fate—an ability similar to that of the Honourable Fatso.

’Does that mean she’s related to him...? Did I kill her brother?’

Questions swarmed his mind.

---

[God of Fate has noticed the presence of the Astral Chat skill]

[Skill has been cancelled]

---

Steven’s eyes brightened slightly at that, and at the same moment, he noticed Silva’s expression change for the first time, twisting briefly into something irritated.

’She knows I was reading through her and her Deity’s chat.’

Steven swallowed hard, his grip around the sword tightening even further as he wondered what her next reaction would be.

Just because she was an Awakened did not make her any less dangerous.

From her state, she had clearly been through intense battle, losing her armor, her weapons, and all of her supplies. Killing Steven for his armor and sword, harvesting Shawn for flesh as food... that didn’t sound like a bad option from her perspective.

{A skill has been used on you}

{Skill: Fate has failed}

{No one can see the Fate of the Fateless}

"I see," she said quietly, low enough that only Steven could hear. Her gaze fell once more to his sword. "Do you mind?"

Steven lingered for a moment, then dismissed the green blade of the Echo. She had also attempted and failed to read his fate. A mutual invasion of privacy. Typically, such things were settled.

’So that’s the use of the Fateless stat. My fate can’t be read or predicted.’

Steven smiled inwardly.

"I am Silva Trenoa, of the Trenoa family," she introduced.

"Shawn Boulder!" Shawn yelled from behind.

Nott simply waved a hand, saying nothing.

Then it was Steven’s turn. The young Awakened, wearing an irritated demeanor, hissed, "I’m Steven."

He stretched out a hand, and several lights began weaving themselves into the air before him. The lights condensed, forming a scarred, full-body armor set, clearly worn through intense training, yet still retaining its quality.

"Take this and put it on. It’s not much, but I doubt stealing clothing off extinct people will do you better than this," Steven said, dropping the armor onto the floor before her.

It was the armor he had used during training, stored in the Dimension Shop in case he ever ran out of undead cores and was left unprotected.

Silva looked at the armor and nodded. "Thank you... Steven."

She bent down and began strapping herself into the tight enslavement of the nearly worn-out armor.

While she did, Nott suddenly grabbed Shawn by the face and forced him to turn away from the dressing woman.

’How disrespectful.’

After a short while, Silva cleared her throat, gesturing that she was done.

They turned back around, each of them staring at the beautiful woman now clad in armor, with some of her alluring skin still exposed, but thankfully covered enough to avoid distractions.

"You two look quite beat up," she remarked, her eyes lingering mostly on Nott, the Grey Knight’s armor being nearly in the same condition as hers.

Steven nodded. "We fought a Disaster Rank Two and barely survived."

Silva nodded in understanding. "I take it... he is your summon."

Steven gave no reply, instead voicing his own concern. "What left you in this condition, might I ask?"

Silva sighed and sat down on the small bed in the room. "What was the first Shadow Eater rank you met when entering the First Realm?"

"I fought a number of Dreadlings," Shawn answered first.

"A fucking flock of Disasters," Steven added bluntly.

Silva fell silent for a moment— either thrown off by his answer or deep in thought, before continuing.

"This place, whatever it is, is nothing like any First Realm I’ve heard of. The moment I stepped into this horrid hell, I found myself face to face with a hideous Disaster. I managed to escape, met a few other Awakened, and then encountered another Disaster... and another."

Her voice lowered. "Eventually, I became the last survivor of my first group, barely killing the Disaster that hunted us down."

Silva exhaled slowly. "I’ve been here for a week. I studied how these creatures move, mostly how to avoid them. Please... let me join your party, and together we can navigate our way to the exit of this fallen kingdom."

Steven sank into deep thought. For one, the Realm had placed her here a week before them, meaning she had more experience. Recalling who she was back in the Sanctuary, the girl who told the story of being shipwrecked on an island. He remembered enjoying her tale.

"A guide would be good," Steven finally said, turning to Nott and Shawn. "But we’re far spent. We’ll rest for the night and continue tomorrow."

Silva had no objections, nodding in agreement. But deep within her mind lingered a troubling thought, one that had haunted her ever since she first saw Steven in the Sanctuary.

’Who is this person... whose fate I cannot see? How in hell can someone be Fateless?’