Free Web NovelChapter 16: First Painted
Now Nuri just had to wait for the Canvas to grade Painty’s Painted. Inside the Soul Canvas, each time a painting was finished, the Canvas assigned a Quality Grade. The higher the Quality Grade, the higher the multiplier on the Painted’s stats.
It was honestly the worst and best part of this Blessing. Having your artwork graded by some mysterious force that even Rosaria had no hands on was pressure worse than final exams. At the same time, the grading was at least fair.
Rosaria didn’t go into detail about the grading scheme, offering only vague assurances that everything would be taken into account.
’If this motherfucker doesn’t give me at least a B or something, I swear to god!’
The Canvas let out a low hum. Above the framed mantis, gold script began to write itself, stroke by stroke.
[The Painted has been graded.]
’Come on... Please be good.’
Even Painty, usually so talkative, was silent as she waited for the Grade.
The humming stopped, and the gold script settled.
[Quality Grade: F (411)]
[The rubric is now available.]
’Huh.’
Nuri and Painty slowly turned their heads, staring at each other for a few seconds.
"H-Hey, is this... supposed to be normal?" Nuri asked, breaking the silence first.
Painty averted her gaze and lowered her head, fingers intertwining behind her back.
"Y-Yes... With the state of our canvas... this is the best I could manage."
Nuri swallowed his disappointment, knowing Painty had done her best. He wasn’t angry with Painty, either, but with the grading system itself. Art was subjective! How could someone just attach a grade to his Painted like that?
He immediately refocused on the Quality Grade, looking past it as a rubric list unraveled. freёwebnovel.com
────RUBRIC────
[Technique (146)]
[Harmony (160)]
[Creativity (31)]
[Expression (22)]
[Soul (52)]
[Quality Grade: F (411)]
────────────
The first two criteria were solid, but the last three were rock bottom. Nuri could infer what each one measured, and he connected the dots.
Rosaria had said there were many factors that came into play. Painty had also inferred that the canvas was in its worst state, which meant the brushes, the paint, the pigment, the canvas, the medium, and the varnish were subpar at best.
"How do I improve the state of the Canvas?"
Painty raised her head.
"Labyrinth Coins," the two said in unison.
Nuri nodded.
"Thought so."
Painty flew to Nuri’s shoulder and perched there.
"It’s okay, Nuri! The grade will climb as you progress, so don’t be impatient! It’s a marathon, after all."
Nuri sighed.
He understood he needed to stay patient and not take this Blessing for granted. The important thing was that the Painted was complete, and he would be getting his first Imprint — technically, his first two Imprints.
"It’s done, right?"
Painty shook her head.
"Not yet! You have to register it to the Gallery."
"Oh, right. The Gallery."
The Gallery was essentially his Imprint slots, where framed Painted would be displayed. Like Imprints, it could not be removed or replaced unless he paid a certain amount of money. Here, however, there was a different currency, if he remembered correctly.
But just to be sure, he asked:
"Painty, if I want to replace this Painted later, what do I do?"
"Ah! It’s super simple. You can remove a Painted from the Gallery by spending Ink Blobs. Ink Blobs are earned by selling your finished works or converting LCs! The rate is 100 to 1."
’Ooh, right. Ink Blobs!’
Ink Blobs were similar to LCs, but exclusive to the Soul Canvas, and were used for everything imaginable here, such as upgrading the Inkwell, the Reliquary, or buying materials.
In any case, it was finally time for him to obtain his first Painted.
They walked over to the Gallery, which was a long white wall standing perpendicular to the giant canvas. Built into the paper-textured surface were two empty alcoves at chest height.
That tracked with the universal rule of two Imprint slots per Level.
Nuri tilted his head back. The white above the alcoves stretched on, unbroken, leaving plenty of room for the frame.
He hovered a hand over an empty alcove, and the rose window appeared.
[The Gallery is looking for existing Paintings.]
[One found.]
[Register <Unnamed Painting> to the Gallery?]
"Oh, right! Nuri, you should name the Painting. You can’t change the name after!"
"What the? Painty, you almost screwed me up!"
Painty scratched her cheek.
"Ehehe, my bad!"
Nuri chuckled.
A painting’s name mattered. Many would argue that its name defined it. All masterpieces could be recognized by name alone, even if people had never seen them.
Even if this was just an expendable 1-Star Painted, it didn’t lessen the value of the effort behind it. Every painting deserved a name.
"Register Midnight Mantis to the Gallery!"
[Registration successful.]
[Congratulations! Midnight Mantis has been displayed.]
"Congrats to your first Painted!"
Painty perched higher on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Painty! You’re a freaking rockstar, you know that?"
"Hehehe!" She wiggled in place. "Sappy Nuri... I like it!"
He let out a breath and looked back at Midnight Mantis, now seated in her alcove. The other alcove sat dark beside her, waiting.
’That one’s mine! My hands are itching so bad.’
Circumstances didn’t allow him that many hours to paint, but he was taking that spot for sure. Asking Painty to paint him a second one was shameless, too.
"Alright. It’s time I head back out."
Painty saluted, then hopped off his shoulder and floated back toward the easel.
"Aye aye, Captain Nuri! See ya next time!"
He gave her a small wave and closed his eyes.
The studio dimmed at the edges of his vision, and the white floor lost its grain. In a blink, the cave came back, and he was bombarded with notifications.
[Poisonous Baby Mantis’s Essence has been absorbed.]
[The Essence permeates your spirit!]
[Body +14.4]
[Mind +9.6]
[Soul +6.4]
[Burst Agility +10]
[Toxin Potency +8]
[Weapon Sharpness +5]
[Armor Toughness +5]
Instantly, Nuri felt his muscles grow more robust, his mind refreshed from the toll the mantises had taken, and something incoherent became clearer than ever.
A small increase in stats from a single Essence had rebuilt Nuri, marking his first step away from the mundane.
He inspected the status window in full.
────STATUS────
Name: Nuri Natlan
Level: 1 (XP: 60/1,000)
Star Rating: 1.0
Body: 24.4 | Mind: 19.6 | Soul: 16.4
Attributes: [Burst Agility +10], [Toxin Potency +8], [Weapon Sharpness +5], [Armor Toughness +5]
Imprints (1/2): [Midnight Mantis] (1★)
Patron: <Unknown>
Blessings: [Life Canvas]
────────────
The Labyrinth was truly evil, in a way. There was no reason for it to construct such a system to measure growth, yet because it did, many Explorers became addicted to watching their numbers rise from a measly two digits to three.
It was a literal death game, and people kept falling for it anyway.
Nuri would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a flicker of satisfaction at seeing his numbers rise. Still, he needed to stay as levelheaded as possible if he wanted to survive ten runs, twenty runs, fifty runs.
To reach the 20th Floor, where no one had ever reached...
Never mind that. Nuri went to check his new Painted.
──MIDNIGHT MANTIS──
Name: —
Star: 1★
Quality Grade: F (411) [0.8x]
State: Wet (0%)
Body: 14.4 | Mind: 9.6 | Soul: 6.4
Imprints: [Venom Gash (P)], [Skitter Lunge (A)]
Runes: —
Art Bonuses: [More]
─────────────
’That freaking F... You really have to put that in the status window?’
Nuri sighed.
Worse, the stats were lowered because of the grade multiplier, which was just a slap in the face.
’Haa. Let’s give it a name. What would be fitting?’
He gave it some thought before finally deciding on one.
’Your name will be Kiki!’
[The Painted of Midnight Mantis has been named Kiki.]
