Elior wakes up before dawn, heart racing from the phoenix dream.
The room is still dark, but a soft golden line is glowing under his shirt, right over his heart.
He sits up. The panel appears on its own this time-no need to call it.
╠═ Heavenly System ═╣
Hidden Quest Activated
"First Night of the Herald"
Objective: Survive until sunrise
Warning: The Accuser has marked you.
Spiritual entities are now aware of your awakening.
Time remaining: 04:11:27
Elior's mouth goes dry.
Outside his tiny window, the city is dead quiet… too quiet.
Even the stray dogs stopped barking.
Then he hears it:
A low, wet scraping sound on the roof.
Like claws dragging across tile, slow and deliberate.
The temperature in the room drops hard. His breath fogs.
New panel, blood-red letters this time:
╠═ Heavenly System ═╣
Minor demon (Imp of Despair) detected on premises
Threat level: E
It smells fresh faith.
Elior's legs shake, but something warm pulses from the feather-mark on his chest.
A tiny spark of courage he's never owned before.
He whispers the only thing that comes to mind, the verse he read hours ago:
"…whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish…"
The scraping stops.
A child-like giggle echoes from the ceiling, cold, wrong, hungry.
The door handle starts to turn by itself.
Elior scrambles for anything (broom, knife, anything), but his hand brushes the tiny wooden cross he carved years ago as a joke and never threw away.
The moment his fingers close around it, the panel flashes:
╠═ Heavenly System ═╣
Improvised Holy Object recognized
Temporary Skill unlocked:
→ "Name of the Son" (Lv.1)
Cost: 20 MP
The door creaks open an inch.
A small clawed hand, black, too many joints, slides in, feeling the air.
Then, suddenly the cross changed form...it lengthened, widened and before Elior's eyes the cross had turned into a shining blade.
Then the panel flashed again
||. Heavenly system ||
Lower- tier weapon unlocked
Holy blade (Lv.1)
Skill: enables user to sanctify unclean spirits.(Word Growth).
Activation word: "Jesus"
Elior's voice cracks, but he forces the words out:
"…In the name of Jesus… get out."
The sword in his hand flares white.
And then Elior feels a sudden surge of energy in his body..and before he knew it his sword had pierced into the imp's heart.
The imp screams, high, piercing, furious...turns into dust and slowly disintegrate and the door slams shut so hard the frame splinters.
Silence.
Then soft, proud chime.
╠═ Heavenly System ═╣
First victory recorded.
+80 Exp
Level 1 → Level 2
New title: "Fledgling Exorcist"
MP fully restored
The Accuser's attention deepens.
The glowing line under Elior's shirt spreads into the shape of a tiny wing across his chest.
He sits there shaking until the first ray of sunrise slips through the cracked window.
Quest Complete.
Reward: Permanent +50 HP, +30 MP
Hidden reward: "Mark of the Phoenix" (1/7 feathers collected)
The city starts waking up outside.
Normal sounds return.
Elior laughs once, shaky, tears in his eyes, and whispers to the empty room:
"…I think I'm really doing this."
and the panel fading with one last message:
╠═ Heavenly System ═╣
Prepare your heart, Herald.
Your next encounter will be worse.