"It looks like the Maddening is receding." She speaks up with a warm, gentle voice as she lifts her gaze from the sleeping form of the young boy on the bed in front of her to stare at the worried father and mother, who release a sigh of relief, hands clasped together in prayer for their child. "The patches of fur shall recede slowly. Remember to keep up with the usual dosage of Holy Water and not expose him to any blood." She states as she goes to stand, glancing down at the small sleeping boy one last time with a warm look in her bright sky-blue eyes before stepping away.

"Ah, thank God!" The father nearly falls to his knees, kissing the small golden cross in his shaky hands reverently. "Thank you Sister Ataraxia, may God bless your day." Her smile grew warmer at that, eyes trailing to the mother as she went to cradle and kiss her son on his slightly furred cheek.

"Father Henry will make the rounds tomorrow to distribute more Holy Water, make sure to top up on your reserves just in case. May God bless your family." With that, she gives the man one last bow before turning and walking out of the door, leaving them to celebrate their son recovery.

The 'Maddening', a disastrous sickness that appears at random, with no clear way of transmission. It attacks people of any age, gives them a massive craving for blood, and that's how it progresses. Through the scent and taste of blood, the sickness slowly turns it's victims into feral beast with long arms, fur all over their bodies, elongated jaws, and large claws capable of rending even steel.

Holy Water helps with curing the Maddening, but the scent of a single drop of blood can instantly ruin entire months of healing and make the victim go on a frenzy. Even in the earlier stages, the need for blood makes the victim unable to distinguish their own family.

And now it had struck a poor child. She'll reserve a prayer to him tonight and pray for a speedy and safe recovery.

Thank the Lord that incense helps cover the scent of blood in case of injury or other factors, else it'll be nearly impossible to deal with the Maddening patients.

"Sister Ataraxia!" Her eyes brighten as she lifts her gaze to stare at the elderly priest walking down the road towards her. "I hope little Mario is alright?" His eyes crinkle with worry he doesn't bother concealing, making her warm smile grow a bit as she stops to give the man a low blow.

"Father Henry." She greets the man with her usual warm smile. "Mario's Maddening has started receding, he should make a full recovery in a month or two." She reports to the priest, making the man breathe out a sigh of relief as he straightens his back.

"May God bless their family." He signed the cross and kissed his closed fist before crossing his arms behind his back once more. "You should go back to take a rest. You've been out and about the whole day." That is true, she didn't sleep much and even barely had anything to eat. Mario might be the only one with the Maddening disease in her small village, but that meant little when no one knows how the damned disease even spreads.

Only thing they know is the origin. The Land Beyond The Mist, or that's what everyone calls it now. The Maddening started from the few survivors that escaped that land before it was swallowed by Mist, probably summoned by the Gods of that land for whatever reason.

"Then I shall take my leave sir." She announces with a short bow after shaking away those thoughts. "Do let me know if anything comes up and you require my assistance." The elderly man merely waves her off, making her chuckle beneath her breath before starting her walk back home, her bright eyes trailing towards the now orange and purple sky up above.

Her thoughts trailed back towards Mario and his family, but she soon shook her head and crushed the small seed of jealousy that threatened to sprout within her yet again.

She has no parents, and she had all but mysteriously appeared in front of an orphanage in the Vatican, where she was taken in and looked after, then trained to be a Nun for the Church and God by one of the veteran Nuns, Griselda Quarta.

Unfortunately, she lacked any sort of talent for anything. Even with her supposedly incredibly rare Sacred Gear, one of the Seraphim Gears to be exact, and also the one said to be the weakest, Ars.

Even after all the years, all she can do with it so far is still summon just simple, bland weaponry of all kinds. Sure, she is very skilled with all kinds of weaponry and she has a fairly large pool of Mana, but that really means nothing when compared to Stray Devils, Fallen Angels and other monsters that roam the world.

So of course it didn't come as a shock when Sister Griselda gave up on her and decided to focus on two other more talented Nuns in training. Xenovia and Irina if she remembers their names right, though she never encountered them.

She shook away those thoughts with a low sigh. She didn't care if she has power or not, as long as she can assist people, put smiles on their faces and drive away the evil in their hearts, then she'll be satisfied.

It doesn't take her long to finally reach the small wooden hut in the woods that is her home. Away from the church in her small village and her fellow Nuns.

They all preferred giving their chores to her, look down on her, and even sneer her away, something a Nun, a follower of God, should never do. But alas, they are misguided in their ways, and she can only pray that they will be enlightened by God and change their ways in the future.

She opens the doors and steps inside, only for her eyes to instantly flick towards the small black creature lazing on top of her table. "I haven't seen you in two months now, Blacky." The small stopped mid yawn to look towards her, one small paw scratching at it's large belly lazily as glowing blood-red eyes stared at her.

This small beast has been her close companion since she was a child, always appearing at random to either comfort her, or just keep her company. Sometimes she though Blacky was an emissary of God of sorts, but she instantly dropped that thought when she took notice of the way he just bullied other animals for fun. And kept stealing food from everyone.

The little beast sits up as she shuts the door behind her, giving her a small thumbs up with a large toothy grin as the small blood-red flame shaped patch of fur on his head wiggled left and right.

"I hope you have not eaten everything in my canteen." She gives the small beast a look, making him place a paw over his heart and one in the air, as if to swear he didn't do it. "Let's hope so." She smiles softly as Blacky grumbles and flops back down on the table, then stares at her as she takes a seat with a low sigh.

"I'm fine." She smiles warmly at Blacky, but said smiles twitches when the small creature gives her a soft glare. "I'm just… tired." She sighs softly, learning her chin on her gloved palm as she does so. "Nothing is changing. The Maddening is spreading further, yet no one is doing anything to find the source and see if it can be ended. I don't even know why the Angels aren't acting, but that might be due to the Cold War state the entire world is in." She sighs again, her slim fingers rising to scratch the chin of the small pitch black creature in front of her.

"I just wish I could do more other than just pray and smile for others. I want to fight for them, and not just them. I want to go out there doing God's work, spreading peace, smiles and warmth into people's homes. Because of all the constant fighting, the shortage of Holy Water, and the Angels being unable to help, tension have been at an all time high… and yet I am here doing nothing." A wry smile spreads across her face at that. "Not like I can do anything with how talentless and powerless I am." She blinks when Blacky suddenly sits up and rests his paw on her hand, making her blink again as a warm wave of comfort and love washes through her whole body.

"Blacky?" She always knew that he was no normal creature, but this… she rose her gaze to meet his glowing blood-red slits, and swiftly noticed the small warm smile on his face.

"I have made my decision." She jumps when a voice, deep and powerful, speaks in her head. Her eyes instantly snap to the knowingly grinning Blacky before she suddenly feels her eyelids growing heavy. "After this, you'll be on your own. Whatever path you decide to take, I'll support you all the way through." Those warm and gentle words were the last thing she heard before she lost all strength.

The last thing she saw was a sad, but proud smile on Blacky's face.

(Ataraxia)

I came to with a soft groan, my body feeling strangely warm and tingly as I raise a gloved hand to rub at my eyes.

Only for my memories to suddenly come back, making me shoot up from my bed and look around in alarm.

"Blacky?!" I call out, a fair bit of desperation in my voice as I scour my small hut with my eyes, trying to find his small black form anywhere, either sleeping or stealing food.

But nothing.

He has to be connected to my past! But what did he mean by 'you'll be on your own'? Will… Will I not see him again?

I shake away those horrible thoughts and slowly sit up on my bed, a quick glance to the clock showing that I've been out for just one hour, which is neither good nor bad.

Ping!

Huh?

"What was that…?" I furrow my brows, then pause when I realize that strange sound came from inside my own head. Could it have been from Ars? My Sacred Gear? I was told that Seraphim Gears can communicate with their wielders after a while, but even after all these years I've heard nothing from Ars.

My vision suddenly starts to swim, nearly making me stumble, but it swiftly goes back to normal and-

Uh… What is… that?

I raise my hand in front of my eyes, then try to touch the floating golden box, only for my hand to phase through it as it shimmers.

Ataraxia

Level – 1

Fighting Class – Mortal

Sacred Gear – "The Mind Of God" Ars

Law Mastery (Initial):

Law of Fire – Rank F

Law of Water – Rank F

Law of Earth – Rank F

Law of Wind – Rank F

Personal Abilities:

Mana Core – Rank F

Weapon Mastery – Rank G

This is… me?

Is this box showing my current capabilities with Ranks? No, those are my… Skills in those branches of magic, how good I am in wielding them to be precise. Or at least that's what I think.

The Church makes use of these Ranks when it comes to Noble Phantasms, manifestations of one's Soul, or Dream, or achievement. The highest Rank is EX, and Noble Phantasms in that Rank wield enough power to annihilate entire continents.

Of course there's basically none of them around right now. The time of Legends and great warriors is over, History has already been made and shaped by them. It saddens me that I was not born during such era, but alas, I accepted it like I accepted many unfortunate things.

My eyes are then drawn to my Sacred Gear, making me freeze up slightly.

'The Mind Of God'… That can only mean that… Ars was not created in the image of one of the Archangels… but in the image of the Lord Almighty himself!

This…! I am unworthy of such artifact! Especially with my utterly pathetic and lowly talent!

But… Can this strange floating box help me get better? Help me grow stronger and actually follow my dreams and desires?

'Course it can!

I jump as the box shifts, followed by those glowing words appearing on it and resounding in my head.

That's… Blacky's voice, isn't it?

Right you are! Now, lemme explain how this thingy works!

His voice truly fits his personality…

This floating box is called 'System'. It'll allow you to grow stronger, without limit, through adversity, constant training, and meditation.

That sounds… hard, but I kind of already expected it somehow. Nothing is served on a silver platter, there is always a condition. This one seems to be hardship.

Your Level will raise as you kill monsters and defeat enemies, with each Level giving you a boost in all physical and magical parameters.

Your Fighting Class shows what kind of enemies you can fight, and currently it's just mortals, but with high enough Skills you can take on enemies slightly stronger than you.

Fighting Classes are these -

Lv. 1 – 50 Mortal

Lv. 50 – 100 Low Class

Lv. 100 – 200 Middle Class

Lv. 200 – 500 High Class

Lv. 500 – 1000 Ultimate Class

Lv. 1000 – 2000 God Class

There is a lot more beyond God Class, but that's far into the future.

This is… Quite a lot to take in. This Fighting Class system is no different than the Threat Class System the Church uses. Low Class are capable of taking on hundreds of Mortals, while Middle Class can take on hundreds of Low Class, so on and so forth.

Is this System perhaps adapting to things I am used to so to make it easier to get used to?

Next are how to raise the Ranks of your abilities.

Laws grows stronger through use, fighting, and meditation upon them. If you wish to meditate on the Law of Fire, then doing it in hot places helps. Same concept for the Law of Water and the others.

Your Mana Core instead only grows through meditation. You can meditate anywhere for this, and must focus on simply sensing and drawing Mana in your body. Each Rank will raise the amount of Mana you have at your disposal, lowers the cost for Spells, and also strengthens your Mana in general.

Leveling up also grants you more Mana, but the boost the Mana Core gives is a lot better.

Other things like Weapon Mastery grows through practice. Duh.

I can't help but smile softly at the last part before I process all of the information I just received.

This could truly help me grow stronger, if it's true of course. I practice a lot, but while I can use magic, it's just… pathetic. I can create flames the size of candles and a small trickle of water. And just throw pebbles with Earth Magic.

Speaking of, why does the elemental magic in the System start with 'Law'? Is it just for theatrics or is it… an upgraded version of the basic form of magic?

Now, I won't tell you anything else as I have explained the basics of everything. How to obtain other stuff is all up to you.

Best of luck, Ataraxia.

I could feel Blacky's presence disappear, making my eyes sting a bit before I shook my head and sat back down on my bed.

I'll miss him a lot, but I know that if I grow strong enough I'll be able to see him again, then get answers on my past and on who are my parents.

I also have to thank Blacky for helping me figure out what my Sacred Gear really does.

Those 'Law' powers are also very likely related to it since it is the Sacred Gear made in the image of the Almighty himself, the one who had mastery of the initial elements of creation itself.

The original power that Ars is the creation of simple weapons, weaker then steel itself, but the cost if very little and I can create dozens of them at a time.

And now I know why. It's the power of my 'Mind', my own Imagination, that fuels Ars, and I never realized it through these years!

It's probably also why using magic was so hard for me, because I was trying to use the methods other do, like 'try to make your Mana hot and lit it on fire' kind of stuff. It… kind of worked, but perhaps the reason I couldn't go far with them is because my Sacred Gear changed my magic system?

I furrow my brow at the thought, then raise a gloved palm in front of me. I imagine a large flame the size of my head in my palm, then flinch and pull back when a strong burst of flames poured out of my palm.

I may or may have not screamed at how sudden that was…

I feel my face burn as I cough into my fist, check if my hand is harmed, then decide to try once more.

Again, a large burst of bright flames pours out of my palm and swiftly forms a ball of fire that hovers above my hand, the flames not harming me or my clothing in the slightest as I stare at it.

This… I can feel the slight consumption on my Mana… I can do magic now.. I can follow my dream now.

My shoulders shake as I clench my hands into fists, the fire dissipating into thin air as I cover my burning, crying eyes.

I can do it now. I'm not useless anymore, nor am I powerless. I'll need to train hard to catch up with the others, but I'm going to do my best.

This is all thanks to Blacky. I must thank him profusely once we meet again!

XxX

I hum a soft tune as the warm water of my shower pours down my body, washing away the fatigue of my day of hard training.

I probably pushed myself too far, but the excitement only kept growing since I got the System yesterday, and I barely had any sleep as I just kept messing around with my Laws.

There was, of course, no shown improvement on the System 'Status Page', but I could feel the difference.

I usually went entire weeks before feeling an improvement in my physical abilities, or a slight one in my Mana, but now? After just a few hours of training I could feel the slight improvement in everything.

So it's not a wonder that I'm in a such a good mood. I can finally grow stronger and do my duty as a Nun and follower of God, I can finally spread his word, peace, and love.

One step at a time of course.

I also discovered another function of the System, the ability to create 'Skills' and 'Spells'.

[Fireball] (2/10)

Creates a ball of fire with negligible power.

[Spear Thrust] (4/10)

Pierces forward with the tip of the spear with moderate power.

[Spear Swing] (2/10)

Swings the spear to one side with negligible power.

[Spear Throw] (2/10)

Launches the spear forward with negligible power.

The description of the first three Levels has 'negligible power' in it, while after three it becomes 'moderate power'. Will the description change again after Level six? That's something I'll need to check.

Either way, it is nice that I can have simple moves like that as Skills, and improve upon them. It allows me to better my spearmanship since it's my most preferred weapon, albeit I am skilled with nearly all of them.

It helps that I've practiced with them all the time since it used to be the only thing my Sacred Gear could do before I had my enlightenment.

I step out of the shower and start drying my body as I think of where I might find good places where I can meditate to raise the Rank of my Laws.

The sea is nearby, a few hours of walk away to be exact, so that's good enough for my Law of Water. As for my Law of Fire, I am unfortunately too far away from any volcanoes in Italy.

As for my Law of Wind, there should be a storm in a few days, so I can try and use that chance to see if it works.

The Law of Earth has me stumped though. Can I just meditate… anywhere? Or specific plots of land with only earth and ground for miles? Or do I need to bury myself in earth so to feel something?

I'm going to have to try all of those ideas. I'd rather cover all of my bases, just to be sure.

I put on a set of clean robes, then pause as I walk in front of the mirror. I blink a few times, then lean against it as a grab a pen and drag a line above my head, then pull back and smile.

Looks like I've grown taller again. When was last time I checked my height? Six months ago? Maybe a bit more? Oh well, I think I should be nearing the 5'8 in height now.

I truly hope I don't get more growth spurts.

I glance down at my chest, then look at my hips through the mirror. I don't mind having a womanly figure, but at this point am nearing Griselda's figure, who holds the jealousy of many fellow Nuns due to her beauty… and said curvaceous figure.

I'd rather not receive more glares my way, so if my body could stop growing, then it'd be appreciated.

Especially my behind.

I give my body a glare through the mirror, then stare at my long flowing silver hair. I run my fingers through my hair a few times, then gather it up in a ponytail.

Only to be interrupted by a series of urgent knocks at the door.

"Sister Ataraxia!" My eyes narrow at the urgency of the voice, and I don't waste time in running out of the small bathroom and towards the door, swinging it open a second later to stare at one of the villagers.

"What's wrong?" I ask softly as the older man catches his breath, face pale. Hell, his whole body is shaking like a leaf!

"T-The hunting group! They were attacked by a magical beast!" The man shouts, making my eyes go wide. How on God's green earth did a magical beast get near the village?!

"What about the other Nuns?" I ask as I put on my boots, my eyes narrowing even more as the man shakes his head in a hurry.

"I couldn't find them! They weren't at the Church!" Not at the Church at this time? Then where the hell are they?! They are supposed to be around in case such situations arise!

"Tell me everything as we walk." I ask the man as I step outside and smash the door close behind me.

I may not be confident in defeating the magical beast, but I can at least hold it back long enough for reinforcements to arrive. If they do arrive.

Father Henry can't fight anymore, any use of his Mana strains him too much, and I'd rather not risk his health because of the mistake of other Nuns.

May God be with them, because Father Henry will be furious once he learns of this.

This is the dangers from living a secluded life away from the technologically advanced civilization. It's these people choices to live away from the modern world, away from the Fog that covers the Supernatural and hides it from normal people.

But alas, these are the risks of living outside the safe zone.

The man, Alan, swiftly told me all he remembered about the beast. He is part of the hunting group, and not even an hour ago a large beast with incredibly long arms and claws appeared before them just as they were about to finish off a deer, probably attracted by the scent of blood.

Two people have already fallen to the beast, and now the fastest of them is doing his best to just keep the beast occupied and distracted. Hopefully that still stands.

I leave Alan behind so to speed up in my run, praying that no one else has gotten hurt, or worse.

"Over here!" I pause in my run and turn my head to stare into the woods, my eyes widening when I see a slightly bloodied man run towards me.

And then I notice the large beast, nearly two times his size and a head taller than him, charging at him and smashing through trees to get to it's prey.

It's a Maddening victim.

Is this little Mario…?

I shake away those thoughts and instantly erase them. No, even if Mario turned into a beast, he wouldn't be this massive. But Mario is the only one that has the Maddening disease in the whole village, so from where did this fully turned monster come from.

"Get behind me!" I shout as a long, pitch black spear with an azure blade appears in my hand.

The beast releases a loud howl as I step forward while the man rushes past me, my spear soon whipping through the air as the Mad Beast lunges forward.

The blade of the spear smashes against it's skull hard enough to send it's entire body flying a few meters to my left, but the blade shattered from the blow. Good thing I went for a swing instead of a stab.

The spear is instantly repaired with a thought as the beast stands, shaking it's head before blood red eyes turn towards me with clear hunger in them.

"God give me strength…" I breathe in, then stomp forward, causing dozen of azure blades to erupt from the ground and swarm towards the beast.

Luckily, it doesn't seem to be smart, and instead of dodging it merely charges forward and through the swarm of fragile but sharp blades. The damage is minimal, just small cuts, but the more it moves, the more severe those wounds will become, so I can just stall.

My spear whips out again, striking the top of the beast head and smashing it into the ground, then I twirl the spear, repair the damage, and use the chance to stab the beast in the head.

Only for the blade to barely sink more than two inches through it's skin. This thing is so though…

I grit my teeth and jump back, creating another field of blades to keep it away and create some distance as I repair my spear once more. Even with a Level four Spear Thrust, I couldn't do much damage to it.

I could blind it, but that will send it in a frenzy, and I don't know if I can stop it from just charging towards the village and wreck havoc. I need to think of something, and fast.

Ah… I forgot I have magic.

I really want to slap myself now.

The beast charges forward once more, but this time a Fireball smashes into it's face, making it trip and howl in pain as it's fur catches on fire.

The ground starts to soften slightly beneath it's large claws, making it sink slowly as it struggles to move out.

I create another Fireball in my hand, but this time I blow on it, turning the ball of fire into a Fire Stream that washes over the beast constantly, making it howl in pain and fury as I keep away from it's swinging claws.

I pray that it's Soul gets purged and that whoever this is reincarnates into a loving family.

I stop the stream of fire to stare at the heavily burned, charred black beast, still howling madly as the back of it's body is mostly submerged in the liquid earth.

"May God be with you." I sigh softly, sign the cross, then plunge my spear into the beast mouth, then down it's throat. With a single thought, the blade of the spear enlarges and pierces through it's sensitive organs and insides, making it vomit blood as it's struggled grew weaker and weaker.

Then a minute later, it finally dropped dead, making me breathe a sigh of relief. Good thing this thing wasn't intelligent.

"Sister Ataraxia!" I turn and give a warm smile towards the worried elderly Father Henry, his eyes widening once he stares at the now dead beast while the weapons I created fade away into motes of light. "You killed it?" I nod proudly at that, his eyes widening even more before he just shakes his head and smiles in relief.

"We'll take care of it's corpse later. Come, we have injuries to treat." I nod and let go of the spear still plunged in the beast's throat, letting it disappear as I quickly fall into steps with Father Henry.

This was my first real battle! It was… so nerve wracking, but also a bit exciting! I was finally able to protect someone with my own strength!

I'm sure that the future ahead of me is very bright now!

A.N. Oh no, another fic! A Gamer Fic! A long fic! Oh fuck! Anyway… Hope y'all enjoy it? Heh… no apologies from me, like always.

Thank you all to all of my sweat adorable s and for your constant support! Making everything so much easier now! Pat /SamuraiCheem