A new notification suddenly appeared on the screen.
[Warning, An unknown echo exists within your soul.]
An unknown echo?
Even the system couldn’t identify it. Whatever was going on with the original Isolde was clearly far from normal.
Still, Isolde soon shifted her attention to her skill list.
[Passive Skill, Witch’s Mask.]
[Current Status, Mutating… Mutation successful.]
[Skill Type, Concealment and Deception.]
[Skill Description, First, you may assume the appearance and class of a being you have devoured while concealing your original affinity, faction, and titles. Skills may be developed while using this identity, but skills above Advanced rank cannot be activated. Second, when a target with lower Intelligence uses a detection skill on you, they will automatically see your disguised identity.]
The disguise skill had arrived at exactly the right time.
She was now a Boss. If she couldn’t hide that identity, players would treat her like a roaming monster and farm her the moment she appeared.
This would become the core skill behind every false identity she used.
[Soulbinding Thread] was her primary basic attack. It could be used for simple attacks or restraints, making it useful in almost any situation.
Next came [Purifying Light] and [Weakness Mark], which she had learned from Mina and Rowan.
Neither skill was especially powerful, but she could use them while disguised or keep them as low-cost utility skills.
For a newly born Boss, however, having only three active Boss-exclusive skills felt rather unimpressive.
Those skills were [Garrote], [Blood Banquet Substitute], and [Banquet Judgment].
Worse, the latter two could only be used within Sylvain Castle.
They were dungeon mechanics in all but name.
Fortunately, her Soul Threads had enormous potential. With enough training, or by reconstructing basic skills around them, she could develop plenty of new abilities.
In addition to her active skills, she had two more passive ones.
[Castle Authority.]
[Skill Description, First, you may sense all activity inside and around Sylvain Castle through its portraits and faceless servants. Second, you may freely modify the castle. Third, you may invite other living beings to reside within it, and the castle will accept them without condition. Fourth, the castle may occasionally express its emotions to you.]
[Home Ground Advantage.]
[Skill Description, Sylvain Castle has a small chance to help its master unlock new skills.]
Isolde studied the last entry for two seconds.
For the first time that day, her mood genuinely improved.
She really was the rightful master of Sylvain Castle now.
She had always dreamed of starting out with a home of her own. She just hadn’t expected that dream to come true in such a roundabout way.
Isolde continued reading.
At the bottom of the dark red screen, a thin line of text had been outlined in blood.
[Soul Contractor, Lia.]
[Contract Status, Absolute Obedience.]
Isolde stared at the contract status.
When two people were bound by a contract, one party’s growth could sometimes provide a portion of the attribute increase to the other.
Now that Isolde had become the master of Sylvain Castle and risen in status, Lia might have gained something from that shared growth.
But as Isolde examined the details, her expression faded.
Defense hadn’t changed.
Agility hadn’t changed.
Strength hadn’t changed.
Neither had Intelligence.
Did that make sense?
Unfortunately, yes.
Isolde looked at Lia’s thin, rigid body.
A natural living being would grow alongside its levels. The system’s rules would gradually improve its muscles, bones, and mana channels.
But Lia had been created.
Her skeleton, body, and soul had never grown naturally.
Isolde rested her chin on one hand, a new idea slowly taking shape.
Lia wasn’t incapable of growth.
She simply needed to grow differently from a normal person.
Isolde asked Lia to come closer, then studied her carefully in the daylight coming through the window.
If she viewed Lia as a person, the maid was badly damaged.
But if she viewed Lia as a weapon, she was the most reliable weapon Isolde could possibly ask for.
She was loyal, strong, capable, and able to understand orders.
The only problem was that after creating her, the original Isolde had clearly failed to maintain her properly.
It was like owning a piece of heavy machinery powerful enough to split a mountain, then using it to serve tea every day without ever bothering to change the oil.
What a waste.
Fragments of memory surfaced in Isolde’s mind.
A dark basement.
A transmutation array covered in bloodred lines.
Silver boxes filled with ashes.
Small glass bottles containing things that resembled soul remnants.
The original Isolde crouched beside a pile of severed limbs, eagerly reading a black leather book.
Isolde immediately walked to the writing desk and began searching through the original Isolde’s scattered notes.
Not this one.
This page explained how to preserve rotting flesh.
The next one was even worse. It described how to implant an embryo inside an insect egg.
This one…
Halfway through the pile, Isolde’s fingers stopped.
The corner of an old book with a yellow cover protruded from beneath a stack of parchment.
There was no title on the cover.
Only a dried eyeball had been nailed to it.
Isolde picked up the book.
The eyeball immediately turned, as though confirming the identity of its owner.
A moment later, the book opened by itself.
The sharp scent of cold ashes struck her face as she read the first page.
[Notes on Low-Tier Dollcraft.]
[Author, Isolde Sylvain.]
The contents were far more complicated than she had expected.
Creating a doll wasn’t as simple as gathering a few bones and stuffing a soul remnant inside.
First, the creator needed a compatible soul remnant.
An ordinary soul was too complete. Its memories and emotions were too clear, making it likely to turn against its creator.
A soul that was too badly shattered couldn’t carry commands. Putting one inside a body would only create a twitching mass of rotten flesh.
The ideal material was an extremely rare soul remnant born from mass death, hatred, fear, and obsession.
Such souls were damaged, but resilient.
They no longer possessed a complete sense of self, yet they retained one powerful instinct.
Isolde began turning the pages more slowly.
She finally understood.
The faceless servants throughout Sylvain Castle weren’t truly successful dolls.
They were merely the original Isolde’s test subjects.
They could walk, carry trays, and obey simple commands.
They might resemble servants, but they were little more than disposable creations pieced together from soul remnants and corpse parts.
Lia was different.
She was the only doll capable of maintaining a stable form, following clear rules of obedience, and independently judging simple situations.
In other words, among all the original Isolde’s twisted experiments, Lia was the only finished product.
Isolde looked up at her.
Lia remained standing quietly nearby.
She had no idea she was being analyzed as a “creation.”
Nor did she know that Isolde had just moved her from the category of “maid” to “essential survival equipment.”
Isolde closed the book and lightly tapped the cover with one finger.
Lia could shield her from attacks, move furniture, beat people up, collect bodies, and even offer her a basin when she needed to vomit.
Of course Isolde was going to upgrade a bodyguard like that.
Who would ever complain that their external equipment was too powerful?
No one.
Especially not someone whose Strength had only just evolved from “harmless chicken” to “chicken capable of pecking.”