Rise

I used to have dreams.

It might have been childish ones, but I still had them. To live in luxury, to be happy and fulfilled.

I wanted to explore the seas, the skies and outer space.

To travel the world and meet people I've never meet before. To eat foods, I've never tasted and sights I've not had the pleasure of seeing.

To see a cute girl with only her socks on.

I wanted to start a business, but it always seemed like such a lofty goal to be a respectable CEO. 

But it was because it was so unrealistic to achieve, that it was worth achieving.

That fourteen-year-old girl could never have imagined the future that truly awaited her. A few months after my sixteenth birthday, I found out I had breast cancer.

It was a slow and insidious thing.

Oh, I was hopeful at first but how many more experimental treatments, how many more burdens on placed on this fragile body of mine till this disease would leave me.

So, along with the last strands of my hair all hope had left me.

If there was one thing, I was proud of, it was the beautiful red hair I took care of since I was young. The sole treasure of mine that was praised no matter where I went.

…it was with dry eyes I threw out the numerous hair products I bought, the hair clips and the oils… the first scrunchie that my mom gifted me as she tied my hair into a ponytail… all those hours me and my mother spent combing my hair… it was all a waste in the end.

It used to pain me to look at the mirror, to see the vile thing I had become. A miserable and hopeless thing that barely clinged onto their life.

But now all I felt was the cold. A realization that death would wed me no matter what I wanted.

The only thing that gave me even shred of hope was May. She was the only one who truly supported me throughout my school life. It was such a silly thing to do, to waste her beautiful black hair for me.

But, she did it anyway. She cut it all off and I hated her for it. Because it forced me to try and live the life I never wanted. I didn't want to disappoint someone who sacrificed something so dear to her for someone like me…

My parents thought they were helping with their prayers and silence. They never held back in anything I wanted or anything I had a remote interest. But I could see the resignation in their eyes. 

And tears didn't come this time when I realized they saw me as a dead person walking… just like the rest of them.

My classmates knew kindness, that vile thing that forced me to talk with them when I had no interest. And that stupid teacher who would try and talk to me everyday no matter how cold I was to him.

I loved/hated them to death.

So, I held on. But life couldn't be beaten out of a dead horse. And my feeble body became weaker and weaker. If it weren't for my pride to walk on my own two feet, I would be using a wheelchair.

It was a grand sendoff that they planned. So, that they could send me off to my death with a proper goodbye.

After graduation, on a field trip that lasted till new-years eve. They planned and planned. Justin's dad pitched in and so did a few other students.

My parents were still struggling from paying all the previous treatments, but they pitched in none the less.

And as a last send off before we all went our separate ways, we gathered one last time. All of us had already turned eighteen and weren't above sneaking in some alcohol.

And that wonderful teacher of ours turned a blind eye to it all.

So, we explored the world. Laughed and cried. Love bloomed and friends merried.

We all swam together.

Ate dinner together.

And walked together.

May and I hiked mountains together, though hills would be a more appropriate term. And was carried the whole way there by a very kind guide.

We explored the oceans together and this I somehow managed to do on my own. Seafood would never taste as good as it had on that beach.

And at New Year's Eve I shared my first kiss with Acela, who used a bit more tongue than I was strictly comfortable with. Her beautiful stormy grey eyes made my heart flutter despite it all.

She dropped a few hints, later that night. To head to her room and play 'Rock, papers, Scissors'.

I politely declined despite my nagging desires.

Though it did not take a lot of convincing before we headed to a steam bath together... it was a shame that it didn't go any further than naked skin being shown.

It was all so beautiful and so sad all at the same time. And it was with satisfaction and bittersweet feelings that we headed back to our homes.

But disaster struck.

A drunk driver and a teacher who didn't react quick enough. That was all it took.

Death is always distant until it stares you right in the face.

But, despite the screams and cries against it all. I found myself to be strangely at peace. To know that at least if I'm going out that it won't be alone.

And in one daring last moment, I took May's hand.

Beautiful Black eyes looked into mine, as our fingers threaded together.

I brushed back her short but beautiful hair - the wolf cut did wonders for her style. And kissed those wonderful glossy lips painted with that iconic black lipstick of hers. She was pinned under the gravity pushing up to the roof of the bus, while we plummeted to our deaths.

Her eyes widened but teeth gave way to tongue. I shifted my hands under her gothic top and felt at her breasts. My other hand behind her head as I digged my fingers into her scalp.

Lifting her skirt up, I admired her blushing face. She was out of breath but not out of burning lust.

I grinded my body against her slightly and felt slender hands grab my bottom. It was with a smile that I leaned into her neck and bit it hard.

It drew blood and I licked the wound clean.

Her moan was sweet and enticing, but ten seconds was all they had and it had regretfully come to an end.

It was with hands intertwined with someone that I loved that I died.

And in that moment, I regretted nothing.

And then life was gifted to us again. But it didn't feel any different.

I was still dying and no one had time to care about little old me when we were all going to a new world - literally.

I couldn't look May in the eye and she couldn't look in mine.

But, when that angel offered her those strange gifts of hers. those 'classes' and 'skills. For the first time in forever, she had hope that things could be different. She asked a few questions but didn't get much of an answer from the angel thing.

Though she did clarify that most body enhancements or spirit enhancement skills will be ineffective since my life force has come to an end.

So, I searched and searched. And finally found a class that would give me a chance to live again.

And I found myself feeling something that I never thought I would feel again.

A burning desire to live.

It was so invigorating, but bitter at the same time. A class that allowed me to steal the life force of other people.

S-Tier Class [Blood Valkyrie]. 

It was within those class exclusive skills that I would finally be able to live again. To stop the shivers that kept me up all night and to discard this feeble body of mine that limited me so fiercely.

But, as soon s I got it. I knew what I had to do to awaken my class.

To murder a classmate.

I didn't wonder why it couldn't be anyone else. The class demanded it off her, it was an old and greedy thing. And it wanted cold blooded betrayal.

That was the only thing that would satiate it's thirst.

May had told me to wait. That she would find other options, and that the training she was going under at the Church of Nephthys would yield fruit. The question of 'what are we' held back in the back of our minds.

But, I could feel Death my dear friend whispering sweet things in my ear. And, then I could wait no longer.

So, I observed. And I found my prey.

Rey Skylar.

He didn't have any notable skills or a class that I knew off. Choosing to spend most of his time lazing around, he hadn't even advanced to an E-Tier class yet.

'Easy pickings' I thought.

But it didn't wouldn't do to get cocky. So, I trained and trained. Forced myself to go into the woods by myself and pickup some skills.

With this weak body of mine, it took some effort to kill even the weakest of slimes. But I managed, and May helped me along as well.

Her rare Shadow Priestess class allowed her to hide in my shadow and heal me if I got injured. It was a stealth-healer hybrid.

It was with blood, sweat and tears that I gained two skills with her help.

[Sprint] which was a weaker version of Acela's D-Tier Skill [Dash] and [Recovery] which as the skill conveys allowed me to recover faster.

And Rey stayed as weak as he was in the beginning.

I had seen what he was.

A greedy thing that loved no one but himself. He was selfish and most of all he was useless. The only thing notable about him was the club he carried around and that was merely a testament to his weakness.

It wasn't time yet.

Soon, they would gather at the Royal Court to meet the queen. I observed everything about him. His straining relationship with Billy. How he took Alicia's current vulnerability to further his own lust.

The more I observed the more I was confident in my judgment.

Rey Skylar will be a sacrifice for the continual of my own life. Since by all accounts my soul weighs heavier on the scale than his.

That he most of all will be missed the least and humanity will have lost nothing but instead gained a worthy fighter.

It was a cruel and selfish thing that I had become.

But I won't shy away from what I am.

I am Vivienne Flint, a Blood Valkyrie.

And I will rise again through blood.

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[Skill Details]

[Recovery]

Tier: E

Accelerates healing factor considerably, prevents death by bleeding out. Most wounds will heal within 2-3 days, fractures will take most of a week. Blood clots quicker and prevents death from bleeding out.

[End of Details]

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