NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7
7 – The Mark on Her Face and Divine Maiden Awakening
A golden-haired loli sat beneath a small tree by the stream, her face filled with worries and thoughts unbefitting her age.
With a troubled expression, Dylin rested her chin on one hand and gazed at her reflection in the lake, sighing nonstop.
She poked at the knife-shaped black-and-white "birthmark" on her face.
There was no sensation—this patch of skin felt no different from the rest.
But such a scar-like birthmark on a cute, youthful face really was quite an eyesore, enough to significantly detract from the elf girl’s beauty.
Without that mark, it would’ve been a lethal-level charm.
Even though she didn’t feel much attachment to this body, even Dylin found it regrettable.
She wondered whether the birthmark could be removed...
A golden mark lit up on the back of her hand—like an invisible tattoo, it only became noticeable when glowing.
Dylin stared at the sun-and-harp motif puzzledly, having no clue what it meant.
After sorting through the chaotic thoughts in her mind, she finally organized the timeline and logical flow of events.
That night, she received a strange flyer and went to Coleman Forest, where she ended up in the ancient tree temple and underwent a soul sacrifice by the Elf Empress Bilodis.
It was obvious to Dylin that her current state was linked to that ritual.
Bilodis had insisted she was her sister—but if the sacrifice failed, the subject’s soul would be scattered.
Yet her own soul still existed. As for whether Bilodis's sister had been successfully resurrected… Dylin seriously doubted it.
She herself, the supposed sacrifice, was still perfectly intact. That most likely meant the ritual had failed.
As for the possibility that it succeeded—Dylin didn’t even consider it.
She’d been a Blue Star human in her previous life—not some dead sister. The souls weren’t even on the same wavelength. How would that ever succeed?
So then—where was she now?
Dylin stared up at the endless sky in confusion.
Most likely… still in this damned otherworld.
She hadn’t escaped.
This world was like a prison, trapping her inside.
“Wonder if that pointy-ear will keep her promise…”
Dylin stood up and looked at her reflection in the lake—and spotted something familiar.
A blue butterfly hairpin with gold trim fastened near her temple.
Wait, this accessory looked like—
“Take this.”
Before she lost consciousness, Bilodis had said something like that—Then shoved some object into her hand.
It must’ve been this thing.
Dylin reached for the butterfly hairpin, intending to remove it—But the moment she touched it, the scenery before her eyes changed.
Everything in her view was now outlined with color-coded borders.
When she focused on an object, lines extended from it, accompanied by detailed text descriptions written in elven script.
“What the...?”
Dylin blinked.
Wasn’t this the Divine Child’s [Divine Analysis]?
As a Divine Child herself, Dylin at least knew about Divine Analysis.
It was a unique ability granted to Divine Children by the Primordial God.
When activated, it connected the user to the Sea of Sages and allowed them to analyze items by name and function.
No one knew who had created the Sea of Sages.
But most scholars believed it was one of the Seven Saints—the Sage of Inquiry and Knowledge, the protector of Divine Children: Etolide.
Over generations, sages had improved and expanded this massive database.
Now, it contains nearly all known information about creatures and artifacts on the continent of Kaleburn.
As long as one invoked Divine Analysis, and as long as the Sea of Sages had a record of the object in question, it could be analyzed.
Of course, as with any profession, there were tiers among Divine Children—And the Sea of Sages had access levels.
The higher the level, the more items could be analyzed at once, and the more comprehensive the descriptions.
Access level was directly tied to the Divine Child’s talent.
There was even a record of one exceptionally gifted Divine Child who completely analyzed an ancient holy relic—its maker and full crafting process included.
That was considered the pinnacle of the profession.
As for Dylin? She was basically the sewer drain of the Divine Child class.
Her aptitude was shockingly bad.
Even basic Divine Analysis was a struggle.
She could barely analyze flowers and grass.
And who the hell needs help analyzing flowers and grass?!
What’s the point of analyzing a blank sheet of paper—just to confirm it’s a blank sheet of paper?!
Useless among the useless.
Her version of Divine Analysis wasn’t just ineffective—it was outright worthless.
Divine Children with poor talent like Dylin were common enough that they had their own nickname in the industry: “Blind Divine Children.”
That was one of the reasons her teammates abandoned her.
A Divine Child usually served as the leader and strategist of a team.
No Divine Maiden wanted to entrust their life to a blind Divine Child.
If you had a better option, anyone would walk.
So Dylin didn’t really blame those two Divine Maidens for leaving.
Even though she confirmed this was indeed Divine Analysis, she still had trouble believing it.
The amount of detail was just too high.
Even a random patch of weeds triggered a paragraph of analysis—five or six lines of text.
It was nothing like her usual low-grade Divine Analysis.
So this… this was what the world looked like to a high-level Divine Child?
It was like seeing the truth behind everything.
Dylin let go of the hairpin, and all the outlines and annotations vanished.
So the ability came from this hairpin?
She walked to the lake again, held the hairpin in hand, and used Divine Analysis on her own reflection.
Name: Teresa Galnorin
Race: Fey
Subrace: Gold Elf
Strength: D (Not yet Divine Maiden)
Speed: D (Not yet Divine Maiden)
Endurance: C (Not yet Divine Maiden)
Resistance: D (Not yet Divine Maiden)
Divine Authority Resistance: C (Not yet Divine Maiden)
Divine Authority: (Not yet Divine Maiden, None)
Well damn—classic CD warrior.
Below that, there was another section labeled Status.
Status: Juvenile (Not yet Divine Maiden)
Digesting [Blade of Destruction and Creation: Sacred Oblivion] (Estimated digestion time: 29 days 04 hours)
Note: Once [Blade of Destruction and Creation] is fully absorbed and digested, Divine Maiden Awakening will occur.
The facial mark will disappear completely.