Black heart Leyla

Lyarael woke up in her room and was more than stunned to accept this reality as she felt it was a mind-playing trick on her at death's door.

The more she examined her situation, the more the truth struck her like a hot iron. She was indeed alive and in her room, but how? Weren't she stabbed and left to die at the foot of Mount All?

The scene that transpired flowed through her consciousness so vividly she couldn't pass it off as a mere dream. Even if it was a dream, she still couldn't bring herself to let it go like that.

Those hateful words she was told, the name she was called, the hatred in their eyes; it's forever imprinted in her memory.

But for now, she just needed to assess what was going on. She recalled at the last point of her death, she heard a ding sound and a mechanical voice asking her permission to bid with it.

Now that she thought about it, what is this little blinking dot at the bottom end of her sight? It kept moving with every turn she makes.

Immediately she thought about it, that tiny dot shot up, expanding in front of her as a transient panel carrying her information appeared before her eyes.

Aside from her name, her race, and a clear attribute gauge which she is already aware of thanks to elven magic, there are just a few things that intrigued her and was curious to know. But before she could think of a way to explore her curiosity, a message popped up in front of her, followed by its mechanical voice.

system message

"You died." Those words shocked Lyarael to the bone. Though her mind had already deduced this, it was still shocking to know it for sure.

The message changed after a few moments, "Due to the great mage system taking pity on you, you were revived back to life a few hours before your death using your beginner package."

If other systems here Alden bullshitting now, they would cough blood. Who uses the host beginner package to revive the host? And he is even saying it like it's the norm. What a worthless piece of church rat; so stingy he is glorifying poverty.

Lyarael, on the other hand, had a different reaction. Hearing this, she seemed to have gone into a frenzy, tears pouring down her eyes while a huge amount of emotional and mental energy surged into the system.

Alden was shocked seeing this as he didn't know how to react within the system space he was in. The thought of milking this innocent elf crossed his mind in a split second but decided against it.

Scanning the intent of the emotions/mental energy, he immediately cursed out loud, changing his mind to extort this b*tch as much as he could without remorse.

At present, she saw him as some sort of special artifact and could not stop fantasizing over all the possible wonders she could do with him.

"Did you say magic system?" her voice a bit shaky as she could barely hold in her excitement, her cheek had turned red down to her ear.

Alden felt a shiver run down his spine seeing this. "What sort of pervert did I bid with?"

system message

"Yes, The greatest magic system, not a tool." Alden intentionally added at the end of the message, but Lyarael ignored that as she bombarded Alden with all sorts of questions.

By the time Alden finished answering her questions to the best he could relay at the moment, he was already at his wit's end as she kept asking all sorts of baseless questions she could easily think through.

system message

"Currently you are a trash of trash, a complete disability in magic practice with no future prospect."

Lyarael finally calmed down when she saw this message. It brought her back to reality as she wasn't talented for magic and had been stuck at mage apprentice stage for long.

Being stuck at tier 0 in magic practice for ages after her endless and tireless tour is very laughable. Even the worst talent would still be able to achieve tier 1 which is Novice mage.

What Alden didn't tell her is the fact she indeed has a very terrifying talent but due to her mixed bloodline not being in harmony, it ended up as a trash talent.

This thought made Alden wonder if this is true for other system hosts. Their host isn't really a trash but just haven't had the chance to truly awaken.

system message

"But all that can change with the greatest magic system; you can not only become a mage but also become the strongest mage there is. The journey would not be easy and might lead to death, but it's achievable. Do you wish to proceed?

[Yes, No]

She fell in thought for a long time. She had been a trash laughed at for too long; she had even become the idol used to scare kids to become serious.

She had died once already and was saved by this system, so what's the use of a second chance if you still remain a trash.

Thinking to this point, she turned her attention to the system and queried a question, "What if I refuse?"

She didn't get any reply from the system for a while until a message slowly emerged with bold stance. "Rejecting would result in the system unbinding with you, and you returning to being dead."

The message was bold to specify how dead she would be if she refused. Lyarael nodded as if expecting this answer before accepting the request.

integration complete

The mechanical voice notified her after a few moments. She scanned herself but still didn't feel any changes. Wanting to question the system, a message popped up in front of her that made her legs lose their strength.

***system quest: humiliate Leyla publicly

***quest duration: 3 days

***quest reward: spirit harmonizing pill

***quest failure: you die at Leyla's hands.

Lyarael felt like cussing this system all her life. It's true she hated this half-sister of hers so much now for killing her, but still, she wouldn't dare to challenge her.

She is a tier 3 true mage, and that can be considered a force to be reckoned with in this world. Those above true mage power level are considered geniuses.

Now the system is giving her a quest to humiliate her publicly; isn't that the same thing as seeking death? She began to have the feeling that this system is just here to torment her.

While she was going through her inner monologue, Alden was facing the same thing. Before now, he had been short of fate energy.

But this lady, in a few seconds, was able to offer him a whopping 50 points, all thanks to this world level being higher than his level. It was more like a quality exchange in place of quantity. His concern now is how to purchase a pill that could help harmonize her bloodline to awaken her potential.

Seeing he is going to waste fate energy immediately he got it made his heart bleed. He couldn't tell why he is so much attached to fate energy recently.

He could only attribute it to the changes that came with being a familiar. If only he knew he had great control over his urge for fate energy than other newbies, he would be shocked silly.

Lyarael was still thinking through how she would carry out this absurd quest when she heard a soft knock on her door accompanied by her stepsister Leyla's voice.

Her body instantly tensed, scenes of how she had tricked her to accompany her to pick some rare herbs flashed before her eyes.

Her zeal and determination to become a mage were fully exploited by this black-hearted sister of hers before.

But not anymore. If she had any reserve before now, it was all gone when she saw the scene that led to her death replaying in front of her.

She stood up, forced her anger and hate down her throat, wearing a fake smile as she walked over to answer the door.

"Sister, are you busy?" Leyla looked around, wondering why Lyarael had taken time to open up when she would usually rush over immediately she heard her voice before.

"Oh, sorry about that. I dozed off reading through some magical books." Leyla checked and saw the books on the table, then decided not to press the matter further.

"I'm going to Mount All to gather some precious herbs. I recall you never stop talking about herbs. Hoping to find one that might help you break through into apprentice mage, so I thought it wise to invite you along. What do you say?" Leyla's voice, charisma, and attitude were so convincing; it was like she got a degree in Oscar.

If she hadn't witnessed the scene herself first hand and was told, she would never believe behind those innocent caring eyes of hers is a vicious beast.

Lyarael forced down the urge to punch her and smiled back at her amicably, "Sorry, sister, I would have loved to accompany you today, but I'm not feeling too well."

Leyla frowned for a moment but quickly returned to normal, pushing her acting skills further by being a caring sister before bidding Lyarael farewell and left.

Immediately Lyarael shut the door behind her, the false facade smiling disappeared from her face as she felt like screaming her lungs out in anger.

How could she have been this blinded all this while? If only she knew Leyla's expression and mood are a hundred times worse than hers when she walked out of her room.

Brimming with immense hatred one can conceal, it's a miracle she was still able to wear a smile before Lyarael.