Chapter 12: Arbiter Panel
It’s already night
The city lights blurred past the windows as Cynthia drove the car smoothly down the quiet highway.
Arwen was lying comfortably across the backseat with her head resting peacefully on Klein’s lap.
Klein gently stroked her hair with slow movements.
He had his Arbiter Panel open in front of him, the glowing blue screen visible only to his eyes.
⋆——————✧╰──╮ ARBITER PANEL ╭──╯✧——————⋆
[Name: Klein Faress (?)]
[Age:21 (?)]
[Race: Human (?) High-elf (?)]
[Class: Spirit-Cursed Sovereign]
[Titles: The Cursed Child, Dual Contractor ]
﹄ The Cursed Child: You were born from the ashes of two fallen divinities. A child who should not exist, carrying the resentment of ruin and the regret of heaven. Fate itself rejects your existence, yet refuses to let you die.
﹄ Dual Contractor: The only being capable of forming contracts with both pure Spirits and malevolent Curses.
[Rank: F-]
[Attributes: Spirits, Curses]
[Talent: Extraordinary]
[Traits: Resurgent Soul]
﹄ Resurgent Soul: Even in death, you refuse to perish. Your will to survive is unnatural. Grants greatly enhanced regeneration and resistance to fatal wounds.
[Skills: Chains of the Forsaken, Spear Mastery (E-) ]
﹄ Chains of the Forsaken: You are bound by these cursed chains; you can’t break free from them.
﹄ Spear Mastery: Enhances the user’s proficiency with spears, increasing damage, speed, and precision with each attack.
[CONTRACTS]
﹄ She Who Speaks Ruins - The Mother of Curses
[MESSAGES]
﹄ The Seraph of Eternal Regret is watching you with trembling eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━❍────────────────────
Klein’s gaze narrowed in deep thought as he stared at the panel.
’The question mark beside my name... that’s probably because my true name is Irakiel.’
But the one that bothered him the most was the race section.
’Human (?) / High-elf (?)’
He knew this world has multiple races like Elves, Dark Elves, Beastkin, Dragons, and many others that came through the Great Convergence.
But he always thought he was fully human in this life.
’Why is there a High-elf mark? In my last life, I am pure human.’
He gently ran his fingers through Arwen’s hair as he continued pondering.
’Hmm, seems like in my current life, my origins are not simple. Where was I before I got sent to the orphanage?’
’Maybe I am a half-elf or something.’
His gaze then fell on his class name ’Spirit-Cursed Sovereign.’
’The cursed part is obviously because of Zrryha’s heart inside me. As for the Spirits... Aeloria’s blood.’
He remembered fragments from his past life... when they were still in the lower realms, long before the great war.
Aeloria had always been a gifted spirit user.
She could commune with spirits effortlessly, and she could even tame the most wild spirits.
She tried to teach him once, back when he was still a young Acolyte.
Klein’s eyes softened with nostalgia and regret ’When she was with me... she was always so gentle with spirits.’
His gaze then moved down to the skills section.
[Skills: Chains of the Forsaken, Spear Mastery (E-)]
A bittersweet smile appeared on his lips.
In his previous life as Irakiel, he was an absolute monster with the spear.
It was the weapon Zrryha personally trained him with.
Seeing it listed here, even at only E-rank, felt both comforting and melancholic.
’At least some things carried over...’
Then his eyes fell on the [Contracts] section.
[CONTRACTS]
﹄ She Who Speaks Ruins - The Mother of Curses
Klein’s smile faded.
’A contract with a dead Goddess...’
There are countless Gods and Constellations.
Most of them resided in their own cozy realms. They watch the [Towers] and the mortal world like it was one giant entertainment show.
They offer contracts to promising Arbiters, granting them power, skills, and blessings so they could watch their chosen ones struggle, grow, triumph, or die tragically.
It was all for their amusement.
Some Gods even make bets among themselves.
It was all a game to them.
But there are also some Gods who look for potential individuals so they can recruit them and make them their Acolyte.
[MESSAGES]
﹄ The Seraph of Eternal Regret is watching you with trembling eyes.
Klein’s gaze condensed ’Seraph of Eternal Regret... Elysara, well, I awakened in her temple today.’
’So I guess she was surprised to see someone awaken a Mythic-rank Class in her temple.’
Remembering her face, his lips twitched in exasperation ’But she was acting like a cunt the last time I met her.’
’She would be shocked if she came to know that it’s actually me who awakened in her temple.’
Then he looked forward, meeting Cynthia’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
She had been watching him quietly the entire time.
"Were you looking at your Arbiter Panel?" she asked softly, careful not to wake Arwen.
Klein nodded s"Yeah... just looking at my skills and trying to make sense of everything."
Cynthia let out a light chuckle and her gaze flicked back to the road for a second before returning to him through the mirror.
"Since you awakened such a powerful class, you must have some crazy strong skills, eh?" she teased.
"Like instantly summoning ancient spirits?"
Klein smiled wryly, "Not really. I need to tame some spirits first before I can unlock most of my real abilities. Right now, I only have two basic skills. One is Spear Mastery... and the other is something called Chains of the Forsaken."
Cynthia raised an eyebrow, "Chains of the Forsaken? That sounds pretty dark. What does it do?"
Klein looked down at his open palm, "I’m not completely sure yet."
"The description is vague. I think it’s some kind of restraint or sealing skill that ties the opponent with chains."
Cynthia whistled softly "Sounds dangerous. And kinda sexy, if I’m being honest. Would be useful in bed."
Klein let out a soft laugh and shook his head "Only you would say something like that."
A comfortable silence settled between them for a while.
---
The car finally pulled into the driveway of their modest house on the outskirts of the city.
The streetlights cast a soft orange glow over the front yard as Cynthia turned off the engine.
In the backseat, Arwen let out a tired yawn and stretched her arms above her head before rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Mmm... we’re home already?" she mumbled.
She sat up slowly, still looking half-asleep.
Klein gently helped her straighten up, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face.
"Yeah, we’re here,"
Arwen nodded, blinking a few times to shake off the sleep.
"I’m really sleepy... I think I’ll just go to bed. You two can have dinner without me, okay? Don’t stay up too late."
She leaned over and gave Klein a quick kiss on the cheek "Goodnight, you two."
With that, Arwen opened the door and stepped out, walking toward the house with slightly sluggish steps.
She unlocked the front door and disappeared inside without another word.
Klein watched her go with a soft, concerned expression. He stayed seated for a moment longer before finally stepping out of the car.
Cynthia parked the car properly in the garage, then walked out and joined him.
The night air was cool and quiet around them.
Klein turned to her as they stood near the front door.
"Shall I order something for dinner? You haven’t eaten anything since lunch either."
Cynthia looked at him for a moment, then gave a small nod "Yeah... that sounds good. I’m actually pretty hungry now."
They stepped inside the house together.
Klein took out his phone and opened a food delivery app while Cynthia kicked off her shoes and stretched.
"What do you want?" he asked, scrolling through the options. "There’s that Thai place you like, or we can do pasta..."
Cynthia walked over and looked at the screen.
"Anything is fine," she said, resting her head lightly against his shoulder. "Just order whatever you want. I’m not picky tonight."
He placed an order for a variety of dishes with some Thai curry, fried rice, grilled chicken, and a few sides, then put his phone down.
