Chapter 322: Chapter 285: Advanced Level Talent [Clear Essence]! The Buried "Saintess

When Jon rushed back to the quiet room in the manor, Carina was curled up in the deepest corner of the room.

Her one remaining right arm was wrapped tightly around her head, her lusterless black hair matted to her sweaty forehead and neck. Her body was convulsing violently. Dressed in a disheveled purple nightgown, she looked like nothing more than a discarded, filthy heap of dark purple cloth.

"How long has she been like this?"

A glint flashed in Jon’s eyes as he took in her state, but he didn’t approach immediately. Instead, he turned to Rosalind, who was standing beside him.

"The messenger said her reaction wasn’t this severe at first?"

"That is correct, Master."

Rosalind’s reply was as concise as ever.

"I have been standing guard here ever since receiving the message. Initially, she was only holding her head and trembling lightly. But four minutes later, she began to show signs of independent movement, crawling aimlessly around the room. By the time you returned to the manor—"

Her silver eyes glanced toward the huddled figure in the corner, devoid of any superfluous emotion.

"She quieted down somewhat. As you can see, she is now squatting in the corner."

"Alright, I understand. Wait here."

Jon grew thoughtful upon hearing this. After leaving that instruction, he took a step forward.

Traces left by the woman were visible all over the room—scrapes from bumping into things, specks of blood from tearing at her own skin.

The marks were chaotic and random, but they all converged on the "pile of rags" in the corner.

Up close, he could see that the woman’s once full and well-proportioned body had been ravaged by profane energy, leaving her so emaciated that her bones were clearly visible.

She was hugging her head and trembling, as if terrified of an attack from the outside world.

But as Jon drew closer, her trembling subsided at a visible rate.

When Jon finally stopped just a step away from her, she had calmed down completely. The head buried in her arms slowly turned, and she peeked at the man before her through the gap between her arms.

Jon watched her in silence.

Without a doubt, the original Carina could have been called a great beauty. Back in the "Painted World," even under the Governor’s control, she possessed a kind of perverse, frenzied beauty.

But now, her face was hollow and twisted, like a humanoid doll crafted by a clumsy toymaker.

Her eyes, which should have been pure black, were clouded over, unable to find a focal point.

Her chapped lips moved with difficulty, uttering broken, meaningless syllables.

"N-no... I don’t... save... Ah... Aaaah..."

Jon narrowed his eyes and slowly crouched down.

He didn’t touch Carina right away, merely observing the twisted "vessel" before him in silence.

’Considering the calamities she’s endured... Her body was possessed by an expert far stronger than her, her soul was torn apart and tainted, and she ultimately became a conduit for a vile creature’s power. Then, through our Soul Contract, I forcibly searched her memories. Any ordinary soul subjected to such torment would have been extinguished long ago, scattered into nothing more than dust in the void.’

Even the Advanced Level experts present at the time, like Bagget and Finian, assumed Jon had formed the Soul Contract with her only to search for traces left by the "Governor" in order to hunt him down.

They believed that once this soul, which had committed countless sins, had completely lost its value, he would send her where she belonged.

’To be honest, that’s what I thought at first, too.’

’But... the power of the System lies in its ability to display information that even the person themselves doesn’t know. For instance—Talents. After I forcibly forged a contract with Carina while her soul was shattered, I was able to see her status panel, just like I can with Rosalind’s. And one look told me I’d hit the jackpot.’

—

[Name: Carina Delorin]

[Contract Type: Soul Contract (Bound by soul, never to betray)]

[Race: Human Race - Southern Harvia]

[Life Value: 665/870, Magic Power Value: 1140/1140, Qi Value: 255/255, Willpower Value: 5/14985]

[Attributes: Power: 22, Constitution: 29, Agility: 61, Intelligence: 38, Spirit: 367]

[Class: Stalker Apprentice LV. 20, Deceitful Mage LV. 3]

[Sub-profession: Spy LV. 22, Alchemist Apprentice LV. 9]

[Skills: Stealth LV. 6, Assassination LV. 6, Conspiracy LV. 6, Charming Deceit LV. 4, Illusionary Clone LV. 4... Click to expand]

[Personal Background: Formerly a Tier 3 agent of the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs’ "Raven" sequence, codenamed "Violet." Later defected and joined the Blood Eye Association, becoming one of its intelligence deacons, responsible for infiltrating and controlling the Heta family.]

—Talents—

[Kind Words: Increases negotiation success rate by 10%.]

[Resilient Body: Agility growth coefficient +5%.]

[Clear Essence: Increases Willpower growth. Spirit growth coefficient +50%. Gain an additional +10 Spirit growth per level. When taking any damage, Willpower Value is deducted first. Greatly increases Resistance to abnormal statuses and control skills.]

—

’367 points of Spirit! A Willpower cap of 14,985! An Advanced Level Talent!’

Carina Delorin... just as Bagget said, this woman really was special.

She actually possessed an Advanced Level Talent!

Jon had to admit, he was unexpectedly surprised when he learned this.

’Then again, it’s not impossible.’

Unlike players, some lucky natives on the Yino Continent can break through their limits and obtain Talents that exceed their own tier. This is what’s known as being "exceptionally gifted."

And [Clear Essence] is one of the most famous and unique Talents, even among those at the Advanced Level!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.