His appearance had surpassed the limits of human form. At this point, he was something else, something beyond.
Words couldn't describe the full extent of his appearance now.
As for the title of a Goddess, well… Mize wasn't about to claim that just yet.
He had only barely reached 71 points, not even 100. And according to the system's explanation back then, 100 points wasn't the limit.
There were still far too many steps ahead.
With a slight spin, his feet turned gracefully against the smooth floor, and his hair fanned out behind him like a silken veil, cascading down in rippling waves.
The two newly formed masses of fleshes jiggled a little under this movement, which then caused his cheeks to flush beet red for a second.
The light of the bathroom ceiling shimmered, and a faint luster gleamed over his glassy skin.
"Ah... " His lips curled and pressed together, "I never thought I ever get to see the day of this"
His cheeks reddening...
"But... " He paused, a deep breath coming in into his lung and his complexion flushed, "That was one hell of a recoil"
Mize then probed his hand around his body for a little bit longer.
The chests weren't small... They were huge, and yet, coupled with his height, they appeared to be appropriately fitting.
Perky and the most beautiful tinge of light pink at the tip.
Hch!
He jerked, his body felt as if it had been electrocuted as his hand accidentally brushed over it.
"Y-yeah... " he fearfully gasped, his breath becoming increasingly faster, and a flash of something forbidden flickered inside his eyes, but only for a moment, "let's not touch there anymore... "
After all, it would be bad if he were to accidentally convulse in public out of nowhere.
And somehow, that thought was oddly enticing as he threw it away into the back of his mind.
Then... His hand traced down along those curves at the back, "what is this?" He blinked, his hand touching, molding and brazenly cupping those elastic curves more and more, "hell... Plump and yet slim!" He exclaimed...
"If I was a man, and I have a girlfriend like this... I would definitely stay up all night just to cuddle against this heavenly plump skin!"
Ah, yes, a testament of a man in a woman's body.
The thighs were fleshy, almost perfectly curved like a sculpture.
And yet from each movement and gesture, they recoiled in a devilish temptation.
He had never thought that one day, just from his body movement alone, it would be able to tempt a person's heart like the whispers of the devil!
Even as the owner of the body himself, he almost fell into this captivating sight.
Whatever the case, he must not show too much of his body to the public.
....
'Well...'
At least, not to those who are unbefitting of seeing him.
'I wonder... ' he began, 'what Liam would do if we were to be left alone together and me being like this?' His lips parted, and inside... a hint of hidden anticipation was silently brewing.
'After all' He grasped the edge of the sink, his body peering forward, showcasing the devilish world destroying curves in the reflection, and his thoughts turned deeper, 'I am now capable of performing... On- the- bed'
He muttered the last few words bit by bit inside his mind...
[Ah yes, the path of degradation]
The system silently commented on the side.
Though Mize doesn't care.
A grin tugged at his lips. "I think I know a style that would suit this body best."
The towel at his side shimmered and shifted, morphing into a long, flowing white robe.
Intricate patterns etched themselves along the sleeves and collar, forming delicate tracings of deep silver embroidery.
The fabric clung at just the right places, accentuating his waist and back, yet from the arms down to the hem, it billowed out in wide, pristine layers.
"Sexy and conservative at the same time" Mize mused, chuckling.
He didn't even have to move a muscle, the robe molded itself over him seamlessly, like a second skin.
The fabric shimmered for a moment, briefly becoming fluid before solidifying into its final form.
"I'm getting better at this imagination realism," he muttered, a small, satisfied smile playing on his lips.
But the moment his gaze flickered toward his character panel, his expression dimmed.
His brows furrowed slightly.
"...And yet, basic morphing like this doesn't count as a skill?"
His eyes hovered over the skill list, searching for something new, only to find nothing.
Sigh…
He really thought this would be registered as a skill.
But it seemed reality had other ideas. The process of his prior skill creation, almost all of them, was accidental.
Then, how exactly did something become a skill?
How can thoughts be turned into a registered skill?
He tapped his fingers against his chin, recalling the process he had gone through when creating his gravity-controlling skill.
"Hmm…" His robe shifted slightly, settling snugly around him as he adjusted his stance.
The upper layers clung just enough to highlight his figure, while the rest draped loosely in flowing folds.
Hands against his chin, he spoke, "I imagined a lot of things related to floating, Dyson spheres, space, the moon…"
His gaze narrowed in thought.
"Shouldn't it be the same for this?"
The night before, he pictured the robe as something soft and intangible, like a film of bubbles.
Then he imagined those bubbles shifting, morphing into a towel this morning.
Didn't that follow the same principle?
Conversion?
Or is it what was to become?
It was frustrating.
Mize silently floated toward his bedroom, his mind deep in thought as he settled onto the edge of the bed.
The once wet body was immediately dried under his thoughts.
'Does this count the same?' He pondered, and yet there was still no skill whatsoever in the character column.
His feet dangled just slightly above the floor as sat there.
Sigh...
"Ugh… The height's still an issue" he muttered, twitching at the realization.
But perhaps he can change it later.
Pushing that aside, his focus returned to his panel.
He scanned the skills column, revisiting the moments when he had unknowingly created each ability.
"For the Flower Domain, I pictured a circular area bathed in golden light, particles floating in the air, and asserted that it became a place where flowers bloomed"
The further he traced his steps back, the clearer the pattern became.
A state before something happened…
It was a theory, and none of them made sense.
Testing it, Mize lifted his right hand, concentrating.
Behind him, strands of hair stirred, floating lightly before beginning to grow.
The silky locks extended, stretching further and further, suspended weightlessly in the air.
"…My hair can turn into metal," he murmured.
And so it did.
Zoom!
The shimmering strands twisted for a moment before their composition abruptly shifted.
The weight changed.
The texture hardened. The once-soft hair took on a faint metallic gleam, its surface now cold.
Mize felt the slight pull of gravity as the extra weight accumulated.
He adjusted instinctively, reinforcing his control.
But when his gaze flicked toward the panel, the skill wasn't there.
Frowning, he let the strands revert to normal, then clasped his chin in thought.
"What state does the hair need to be in before it turns to metal?"
His body drifted weightlessly above the bed, arms crossed as he hovered in midair like some otherworldly phantom.
A devastatingly beautiful, reality-defying phantom.
Then, an idea.
It didn't need to be logical. It didn't need to follow real-world science.
All he had to do was imagine it as a process.
"Imagination?"
"It mustn't necessarily abide by anyone's rule... But my own rule"
"Just like before, in the maze exploration…" His voice softened as he recalled it. "I imagined a circular area filled with the glimmers of hope and dreams… a song for salvation"
"And none of them followed any principles"
Then, for this, he extended his arm, tilting his head slightly as he whispered...
"Fire... "
"burn through the heart, through the skin, through my conviction and beliefs…"
"Burn wildly like the flame you once was... I created you under my will"
"You will become my sharpest form of will, heavy as the earth, and yet light as a feather"
Crackle!
In an instant, flames roared to life.
The heat surged, then vanished.
The temperature should have skyrocketed, but it didn't.
Instead, the fire burned without heat, its existence purely conceptual.
"Heatless," Mize murmured.
Still, nothing.
Not a skill yet.
His gaze sharpened.
"Then… let it burn even further"
The fire surged again, but this time, it transcended fire.
It burned so intensely that there was no heat, no flame, nothing.
Only the lingering essence of something that had burned away completely.
And then.
Zoom!
His hair transformed.
Each strand solidified, taking on an impossibly sleek, metallic sheen.
The fire still clung to it, but now it had turned pitch-black, a void-like flame, eerie and consuming, much like Liam's abilities.
Mize's gaze snapped toward his panel.
And there it was.
A grin spread across his face. "I succeeded"
But the moment of triumph came with a cost.
His vision swayed, his head suddenly light.
A wave of dizziness washed over him, and for a moment, the edges of his sight blurred.
[50% of the host's mental strength was consumed. Be careful, Host!]
He quickly steadied himself, taking a slow, deep breath.
Within minutes, his complexion returned to normal, the fatigue fading.
Now, hovering above his bed like some divine entity, his hair remained locked in its flaming metallic state, evidence of his success.
Then, Mize's gaze landed on the skill column again.
And there it was, finally registered.
[Personal Status Panel]
[Title]: Goddess Awakening
[Awakening Status]: Awakened
[Profession]: Path of the Goddess, Beauty Divinity
[Realm]: Tier 3
[Beauty System]
Beauty Points: 71
Cute: 60
Charm: 64
[Inventory]
Storage Ring (Mid-Stage Blue Grade): Holds high-end fashion items, accessories, and four 5-star summoning cards.
[Skills]
Imagination Realism [Tier 3]
Telepathic Control [Tier 3]
Gravity Control [Tier 3]
Ethereal Charm [Tier 3]
Soul Flowers Domain [Tier 3]
Set the Heart Ablaze, Set My Conviction on Fire [Tier 3]
[Points: 567]
[Note: The exchange rate for appearance is 1,000 points per increase. Physical attributes cost 10,000 points per increase.]
Mize studied the panel, his eyes lingering on the newly registered skill.
The name wasn't exactly descriptive.
It seemed to have been taken from the words he had muttered during the creation process.
'So that's how it works… '
"So it needs a process, not just a direct conversion" he murmured, his lips curling slightly in amusement.
That was interesting.
But his expression soon darkened. "Still… the cost for creating it was dangerous and unpredictable"
For now, it was just dizziness, his mental strength had taken a huge hit.
But that was for something relatively simple.
What about more complex skills?
Mize exhaled, rubbing his temple lightly.
'I'll need to train my mental endurance further'
That settled, he straightened, floating effortlessly in midair as his hair returned to its normal state.
His gaze flicked toward the mirror on the side.
Hmm…
"White doesn't really suit me, given my hair color" he mused, twirling a lock between his fingers.
But after a moment, he shrugged.
"Let's try it anyway."
Just like before, the transformation began.
Strand by strand, his hair shifted, the deep, rich hues fading away into a stark, pristine white.
His ruby-red eyes remained unchanged, standing out in sharp contrast.
And with his flawless skin…
He looked less human now.
Golden veins pulsed faintly beneath his skin, like streaks of divine radiance.
His hair cascaded behind him, drifting weightlessly, a white veil of hope.
Hope… that never seemed to exist in this war-torn land.
Mize tilted his head slightly, studying his reflection.
Then, he smiled.
"That's more like it."
Lowering his eyes, he took in the sight before him.
A face too ethereal to belong to any mortal.
"…An angel," he murmured, lips curling into a playful grin. "I look like an actual angel."
Then, as if struck by inspiration, his grin widened.
A halo.
An angel has halo right? So then, why can't I?
"I need a halo," he declared.
With a casual wave of his hand, the neglected PC on the table drifted into the air, hovering before him.
Under his will, its form began to shift.
The rigid frame of the device melted away, reshaping itself into a circular ring adorned in radiant gold.
The surface was smooth, empty. Too plain.
Mize narrowed his eyes, then flicked his fingers.
Lines of text appeared, etched into the glowing metal, each word pulsing with a deep, runic hue...
"The eternal hope of the land falls under this divine's will."
"I grant salvation to those in need"
"Mankind suffers, but not without my mercy"
"The creatures wail and smile under my name"
"For I am truly eternal."
The words wrapped around the golden halo, shining faintly as particles of light drifted from it.
The ring floated silently behind him.
Mize admired his work, then smiled again.
His reflection stared back at him.
Not a human. Not entirely divine, either.
Just an impossibly breathtaking woman, an ethereal being.