End of the Trial

The dagger blade was only the size of a palm and double-edged. Its craftsmanship was far from exquisite. There were no decorations on the handle, making it look like an ordinary weapon.

Thea fiddled with the dagger in her hand for a while but couldn't discern any hidden secrets. She didn't know if she could take it out with her, so she casually tucked it into her belt and continued to search her surroundings.

Time flew by quickly, and by the time she had confirmed that there was nothing left in the room, more than an hour had passed. There was no clock in the room, so she could only guess approximately how much time had gone by.

Bored, she propped her legs up on the table and closed her eyes to rest.

Just as her impatience grew and she was about to get up and push the door, the answer sheet on the table silently disappeared, just as it had initially appeared.

Then, without warning, an invisible flame seemed to ignite from within her body. "Wow—"

What in the world was this? A ghost! Faced with something she couldn't see or touch, she didn't know what to do. She felt like all the blood in her body was rushing towards the flame, and a large amount of blood was being transformed into an unknown substance. Each passing second felt excruciatingly long.

As her blood inexplicably flowed away, she felt her ability to think weaken, her mind becoming blank. She forgot who she was and where she was. Her body was gradually taken over by instinct, and her consciousness was slowly swallowed by endless emptiness.

When she regained awareness, Thea found herself back at the initial starting point, having left the painted scroll realm. The Swamp Thing was still staring at her from a distance with its blood-red eyes.

She checked her body and found that Kevlar was still intact, and the dagger she had found earlier was hanging conspicuously from her waist.

But she wasn't in the mood to care about the dagger now. She just felt sore all over and devoid of any strength.

"What happened to me? And how much time has passed?" Thea's questions were naturally directed at the Swamp Thing not far away, though her voice was a bit weak, and she wasn't sure if the other party could hear her.

The Swamp Thing carefully examined her from head to toe with its eerie gaze, and his eerie gaze made Thea's hair stand on end. He spoke slowly. "You indeed possess extraordinary potential. Your bloodline has successfully awakened."

Whether she had potential or not, Thea couldn't tell. She just felt like she was about to collapse—her strength was barely a third of what it used to be. Her breath was unstable, her steps were weak, and she broke out in a cold sweat after just a few steps. Checking her pulse, she found that her heart rate was much slower than usual, and touching her face, she noticed it lacked its usual elasticity.

How badly injured was she? She tried to feel the so-called bloodline that the Swamp Thing mentioned, but she just felt dizzy and saw double, which are usually symptoms of anemia.

The Swamp Thing seemed to also notice her extreme weakness and explained slowly, "Don't worry, this is a good thing. When awakening your bloodline for the first time, there's a process of refining it to increase its purity. As for why you are so weak, I don't know either. After all, I'm not an expert in magic." After he finished speaking, the Swamp Thing shrugged, but his huge height of over five meters didn't give off any cute vibes.

Thea didn't have the energy to retort now. The Swamp Thing's words were as good as not saying anything.

Damn it. Although she was so weak now that she couldn't even beat Commissioner Gordon, fortunately, she had flown out on her Glider and could still slowly fly back to the camp.

She waved goodbye to the Swamp Thing, preparing to leave. He had been relatively friendly to her, but she didn't see the point in asking anything more. This guy didn't look like he was from the magic side anyway, so asking any more questions would likely be futile. She just wanted to return to camp as soon as possible, lie down on her bed, and sleep.

"This is for you." The Swamp Thing put away the chalice, took out a green, oily fruit from the ground, and handed it to Thea.

"What is this?" Thea looked at the fruit. It was about the size of a coconut, shining with an oily luster all over. Its emerald green color reminded her of a ripe avocado, and its surface was covered with strange patterns. Was this edible? It wasn't a Devil Fruit from the One Piece series, was it? But Thea knew it was impossible, even without thinking.

"I don't know whose bloodline you awakened, but the earth can bear all things. This fruit can further stimulate your bloodline. Consider it a gift to you from me. I can see every corner of Gotham; you have brought light back to the city. You're a good kid, and justice needs your strength."

Despite receiving a "good person card" from a five-meter-tall green creature, Thea felt oddly pleased. It seems that her constant urging for rain has its benefits after all.

Smiling as she accepted the fruit, Thea wondered if it really could stimulate her bloodline once more. It seemed quite nice, but given her recent experience, Thea was a bit apprehensive, and coupled with her current extreme weakness, she decided to hold onto the fruit for now.

Watching the Swamp Thing slowly sink back into the ground, Thea didn't bother to tally her gains. Instead, she found the direction to the camp and flew back, albeit unsteadily.

Fortunately, in the recent two assaults on Arkham, coupled with the infighting among the major crime families in the city, the thugs in the downtown area had all been called away. Thus, there was no repeat of the spectacular welcome she received with a rocket launcher on her first day in Gotham, allowing her to safely fly back to her base.

She had originally planned to quietly return to her room, but she still ended up alerting Felicity next door. Lately, Felicity has been growing increasingly close to Selina. The two of them were playing video games in her room, and upon hearing the commotion from her side, they both came out to inquire.

"Thea, what happened to you?" Selina had been avoiding Thea for the past few days out of concern that Thea might return the painting and ask for a refund. However, now that they were face-to-face, she couldn't ignore Thea's pale face and unsteady steps. With concern, she quickly asked about it.

How should she explain this? She could tell them about her bloodline awakening, but she had to consider Batman's aversion to anything unnatural. After finally gaining some reputation, she couldn't afford to lose it again.

Just as she was pondering how to weave a plausible lie, Felicity, whose imagination was always wild, scrutinized her for a while before exclaiming with sudden realization, "Is it your time of the month? And it's quite heavy this time!"

For a moment, Thea was confused, and it took her a good half of a minute to understand what she meant. Damn, how could anyone bleed that much? But upon careful consideration, she had lost about one-fourth of her blood, albeit for different reasons. Thea realized the timing did coincide, and although the amount was significantly more than usual, it did serve as a reasonable explanation. Despite feeling a bit embarrassed, she tacitly accepted this fact.

Selina immediately grasped the meaning of Felicity's words, and with great enthusiasm, she helped Thea back to her room like she was assisting an old lady and volunteered to make her some brown sugar ginger tea.

Barbara, who lived nearby, whether out of curiosity or genuine concern, heard about her situation and immediately left Dick's room to offer her assistance.

Bruce was in the midst of recovery training, but upon hearing that she was injured, he hurried over. However, upon finding her surrounded by women, he used his extensive knowledge to deduce the specific situation and quickly made himself scarce.