Jeanne d'Arc.
A nineteen-year-old girl from the French countryside.
Her brief life read like a tragedy written in fire and glory: hearing the divine call, leaving her village, riding to war, winning battle after battle, turning the tide when all seemed lost.
And then, after victory, betrayal. Condemned on fabricated charges, bound to the stake at Rouen, and burned to ash.
...
The memories played out behind her eyes like a reel on fast-forward. Every rise and fall of her short, violent life, right up to the searing flames, the mysterious black letter, the quiet courtyard, the young man before her, and the contract she'd just sealed.
Now, in Leon's bedroom.
She'd drifted here in a fog, guided like a marionette, and followed his instructions to remove her upper garments before lying face-down on the bed, stiff with unease.
When the cool tips of his fingers touched the bare skin of her back, she flinched like a startled deer.
A fierce blush spread from her ears down her slender neck. Her feet twisted together beneath her. She buried her face in the pillow, voice muffled with embarrassment.
"D-does it really have to be like this? This ceremony is... completely indecent!"
Leon's expression was the picture of innocence, even as his gaze roamed with distinctly less innocent interest. His tone, however, stayed perfectly matter-of-fact.
"This is the standard ritual for joining a Familia and receiving a Falna. I'm not making this up."
His voice carried the calm weight of authority.
"Bear with it for a moment."
Jeanne wasn't tall, but her proportions were flawless. The sight of that figure paired with her severe, noble features stirred something possessive in the back of his mind.
Enough teasing. He picked up a silver needle and pricked his right index finger.
A single drop of blood fell onto her back.
Second magic: Heaven and Earth: Fortune's Blessing. Activate.
Heaven and Earth: Fortune's Blessing:
Identical in function to the Divine Blessing. Granted by Leon Hart. A mortal miracle wielding divine authority.
Ritual magic.
Blessing magic.
With a mortal body exercising divine power, it bestowed upon the recipient a blessing equal in nature to the gods' own Falna.
A soft chime.
The blood touched skin and spread like ink in water, rippling outward in concentric waves.
Leon pressed his finger to her back and began to write. Fingertip for pen, blood for ink. Complex Hieroglyphics flowed from his hand in steady, fluid strokes.
The Familia crest. Personal baseline data. Countless golden lines and runes branched from the core, spreading outward until they coalesced into a complete, softly glowing Falna array.
When the final stroke lifted from her skin, the light dimmed and settled inward.
"From this moment on, Jeanne d'Arc," Leon's voice was solemn and warm, "you are officially a member of the Hart Familia. We're family now."
The moment his touch disappeared, Jeanne shot upright. Cheeks burning, she clutched the pillow to her chest on pure reflex and sat with her legs folded beneath her.
"The ceremony... is it over?" Barely a whisper.
His gaze skimmed her bare back one last time, carrying the quiet satisfaction of a completed ritual. He nodded.
"It's done. Here... your Falna information."
He picked up a blank sheet of parchment and brushed his fingers across it. Runes and data identical to the pattern on Jeanne's back materialized on the surface.
One look at the results, and his expression settled into something unsurprised but deeply pleased.
The individual known as Jeanne d'Arc was, as expected, extraordinary.
Between her stats and her appearance, he found himself studying her the way one might regard a priceless artifact.
"L-Leon..." Jeanne took the parchment, but her eyes darted away, voice tight with embarrassment. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
"Hm?"
Confusion flickered across his face. Then he noticed her staring at the text with a look caught between bewilderment and shame. It clicked.
"Can't read it? That's nothing to apologize for."
A gentle smile.
"Honestly, it's not unusual in Orario either."
He sat down beside her as if it were the most natural thing in the world, pointed to the common script on the parchment, and began explaining with unhurried patience.
"The writing on the Falna itself is Hieroglyphics. Outside of gods, scholars, and a handful of well-read eccentrics, almost nobody bothers learning it. That's why the data transcribed onto parchment is rendered in the continental common tongue."
"I'll teach you when we have time."
Name: Jeanne d'Arc Age: 19 Title: Holy Maiden Race: Human Class: Cleric, Adventurer Affiliation: Hart Familia (Demeter Familia) Level: Lv. 1 Floors Reached: --- Basic Abilities: Strength: I0 | Endurance: I0 | Dexterity: I0 | Agility: I0 | Magic: I0 Development Abilities: --- Weapon: --- Equipment: Casual wear: navy linen dress, woven belt, mid-heel soft leather boots
Magic:
Luminosité Eternelle
Deploys a damage-nullifying barrier while providing continuous healing and increased defense to all allies within range.
Wide-area barrier magic.
Chant: "O flag of mine, protect my comrades... Luminosité Eternelle!"
La Pucelle
All levels and Basic Ability scores are added to spell power, including latent potential. Limited to one activation. Recovery interval: twenty-four hours.
Wide-area annihilation magic.
Chant: "O Lord, I entrust this body to you... for after despair, hope surely awaits... La Pucelle!"
(Third slot: empty)
Skills:
Beloved's Crest
Obstructs detection. A disguise that deceives the gods, blocking divine lie detection and investigation.
Potential enhancement, accelerated growth. Increases latent potential and vessel capacity, enabling dramatically faster development.
Revelation
Wide-area precision enemy detection.
Revelation: in critical moments, always guides the correct choice.
God's Resolution
Massively increases resistance to all magic. Strength increases when engaged.
Massively increases resistance to negative effects. Endurance increases when engaged.
Targets or groups deemed hostile are moderately weakened.
Saint's Sacred Heart
Moderately reduces all incoming damage.
Permanent HP and Mind regeneration.
Holy Maiden
Massive boost to all Basic Abilities.
Allies within range receive a moderate increase to mental resistance.
...
That was Jeanne d'Arc's Falna sheet.
Even having already seen it, reviewing the data a second time pulled a low whistle from Leon. He turned to give Jeanne a simplified rundown.
"Jeanne, I need you to understand something."
"Under normal circumstances, ninety-nine point nine percent of all Familia members manifest zero magic and zero skills the moment they first receive their Falna."
"There are exceptions. Elves, for instance, are innately magical. Their odds of starting with a spell are considerably higher."
"Other races are roughly in the same boat as humans when it comes to those odds."
"At the starting line, racial differences mostly show up in base stats."
"Dwarves, for example, tend to have significantly higher baseline Strength and Endurance than anyone else."
"Beast-folk have sharper senses across the board."
"Elves have a natural affinity for magic."
"But none of those racial traits alone are enough to guarantee a skill on day one. That only happens with truly exceptional individuals within a given race, and the skills they get tend to be shared across their kind. I call those 'racial skills.'"
"Things like Dvergr Enhance, Fairy Serenade, Cat Walk, Fenris Wolf... they all fall into that category. Racial skills have their own tiers of power too, but we can get into that another time."
By this point, Jeanne had a solid grasp of the picture.
"You just received your Falna, and you're starting with two magics and five skills. Compared to everyone else, you can imagine how rare that is."
He met her clear blue eyes, and his tone shifted. Serious now.
"Jeanne, I've locked your Falna. No outsider can read it. But nothing is foolproof. There's a contraband substance called Status Thief that can forcibly unlock sealed data."
"So remember: always stay vigilant when you're out there."
He thought for a moment, then offered an example.
"Take the Apollo Familia. Their patron god, Apollo, has a habit of using every trick in the book to pressure other Familias into submission, then snatching anyone who catches his eye. When he's fixated, he'll even invoke a War Game to take what he wants by force."
"And he's not an isolated case. This kind of thing happens constantly in Orario. That's why your Falna can never be exposed. If the wrong people found out what you have, the consequences would be severe."
Jeanne's fingers tightened on the parchment. Something cold and sharp passed through those sapphire eyes.
"Such... despicable things happen here?"
Leon gave her tense shoulder a light pat.
"No need to panic. As long as the Falna stays locked and nobody gets their hands on a Status Thief, even gods can't force their way in. I'm only saying that living in this city requires a certain baseline of caution and common sense. Don't show your hand to anyone."
Silence. Jeanne's eyes narrowed, and the look she turned on him carried a faintly dangerous edge.
"Is your impression of me... really some defenseless, naive little girl with no sense of self-preservation?"
Leon choked and waved his hands.
"Of course not! This is just basic orientation."
His voice softened, genuine concern breaking through.
"You've only just arrived. You know nothing about how this world works. And..." He paused, then said it plainly. "You're strikingly beautiful. I just worry that some silver-tongued bastard might try to sweet-talk you into a trap, and then I'd have nobody to blame but myself."
Something warm flickered behind her ribs at the words strikingly beautiful. Heat crept into her cheeks before she could stop it.
"Hmph... at least you know how to talk." The mutter was barely audible. Her gaze drifted sideways, fingers twisting at the hem of her dress, clearly lost in her own thoughts again.
Leon watched from beside her, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He knew exactly what was happening. Jeanne was doing that thing again, fidgeting and spiraling.