Evil

White-Haired Girl

Hello Arakan.

A cold, sadistic voice sounded in my ears. I looked around rapidly, breathing scattered. This voice was familiar.

"Show yourself!" These past few days had been hell on earth. I had trained with Yue's friend, Willow Sparne. She was an icy princess, cold and ruthless towards me. But in the face of her, I didn't feel fear. No, I knew someone more fearful.

I am the one who brought you back to life. You died in a car crash, don't remember? Not that it matters, there is a far more pressing matter. Your strength.

"My strength?"

Artemis was sent by me to save you previously. Unfortunately, she is your fated enemy. And I can tell you Arakan, you are lagging far behind when compared to her. Even that girl you spar with wouldn't be able to hold a candle to her brilliance.

My heart went cold.

But don't worry. Since I gave a little aid to Artemis, I will also similarly aid you. But you have to know that Artemis has suffered far more hardship in these few weeks than you have ever in your two lifetimes. Now choose.

Three rings appeared before me. One granted mana, the next flight, the third, storage.

I picked the sapphire blue ring. Sliding it on, I felt a sudden increase in strength as the ring turned into a blue imprint on my index finger.

I have given you a reward that should have been yours once you managed to befriend that cockatrice you ran from. To think you'd instead run away. Haah. Don't let me down now.

———

Willow's POV.

"You comprehended magic without mana stones?" I raised a brow in utter surprise. Such a phenomenon was a rare occurrence only seen in extremely talented magisters. Even I had to use mana stones to advance.

I nodded. It seemed as if my training had managed to awaken some potential within him somehow,"Good. I will tell my master to get you a place in the academy where you will learn the magics. For now, I have a question."

"A question, Miss Sparne?"

It was a question that nagged at my head for many days now,"You are not afraid of me. Why?" Everyone I had taught seemed to have some semblance of fear of me embedded into the psyche. This man, was the sole exception and I wished to know why.

"I have seen someone more terrifying, Miss Sparne."
That was an answer I hadn't anticipated,"Oh? Do tell."

"I think Yue should have told you about our near death encounter and being saved by that woman." I nodded my head, signalling for him to continue.

"She is the supposed great evil that will cause Quarvantcoatl. But I have another reason to fear her. We come from the same world. But in our original world where killing is forbidden and magic does not exist, she tortured hundreds of victims to death and laughed when those victims' parents screamed at her. She holds no remorse for killing and will do it regardless of who the victim was. It could be an adult, a baby, a child, a man, elderly, disabled—Anyone who catches her eye would surely die."

"How do you know this?"

"Do you know why she saved me, Miss Sparne?"

"Why?"

"She wanted me to grow stronger so she could see fulfil her sick satisfaction of seeing me struggle helplessly before I died by her hands."

"That won't happen."

"I hope not."

"Let's put this matter to the side for now. Draw your sword. Let us train."

Master had already addressed the magisters at the academy. From the recent movements by the demonic factions, it was mostly likely a calculated move to force the factions into a final deciding endgame.

The more mages we had before this final showdown, the better. Better yet, if this entire thing could be avoided, it would be a much brighter time.

Unfortunately, an insidious threat sat in the background. A very, dangerous, fatal threat whose very existence could spell doom for the world

Quarvantcoatl.

A white-haired girl...

As I parried away his sword, thrusting my sword forward with a slight dodge to the left to avoid his oncoming kick.

White hair wasn't a rare trait in this world. It wasn't that common either. Despite it being more prominent amongst nobles, I couldn't find a single noblewoman who fit the description. None of the nobles were rank 5. Hell, none of them were even rank 3.

Though most nobles weren't disagreeable people, (barring the small minority of stuck-up bastards,) majority of them definitely had a bit of narcissism in their blood, thinking they were the best. Of course, once this bit of self-confidence got absolutely crushed by those more talented than them, be it another noble or better yet, a commoner, they would crack. The ones who didn't would succeed and those who did would most likely fail.

Ascending to become a rank 1 magister was simple. All one needed to become one to was sufficient mana stones. Of course, there existed people with no talent. They were the majority in actuality.

The difficult part was ascending the. Even for a successful ascension to rank 2, many things were needed:

One, more mana stones were needed. At least a couple thousand. They would be used in increasing the mana capacity of the magister.

Two, a crystal catalyst for the ascension for every attribute of magic one intended to use. For example, the appropriately lightning crystal would be used if one wanted a higher affinity to electric magic. A catalyst was invaluable and hardly sold even on the black market. The reason for such was the difficulty in finding such crystals. Even the academy would not be able to find enough catalysts for all its students.
Thus, they only aided those who showed potential.

Three, they would need to undergo the Tri- Tempering Trials. Once they absorbed the mana stones and catalyst(s) (depending on whether they chose to increase affinity with one or more attributes), a three demon of sorts would descend. Firstly, a physical demon that had to be defeated with offensive spells. Second, a mind demon who would would try to gain control of your body. Using only willpower, one had to regain control. Thirdly, a heart demon who would use one's thoughts and emotions against them.

Four, they would need to undergo the Baptism of Blood. The reason was unknown as to why but bathing in the blood of rank 2 or higher beasts granted a higher defence and strength. This was especially needed since magisters were notorious for their weak physical abilities.

Lastly, they would need to awaken their bloodline. This step was largely optional for many of the vagrant cultivators but for the academy which trained its students to become top-notch magisters, it was an absolute necessity. Awakening bloodline meant unlocking the bloodline of archaic beings. within oneself. All races descended from archaic beings. To awaken this bloodline would significantly increase their power. Alas, it was the most difficult part of the entire process. The method to doing so was nebulous and vague. Only one who attempted firsthand would be able to understand it. Describing it was next to impossible. Due to this, only a small portion of people could awaken their bloodline, even in the academy itself.

Furthermore, there was also an added risk that aside from the last step only causing a physical backlash, the other steps, if failed, would cause a mental backlash where the magister would become rogue, turning into a being which only killed until it died.

Clang!

I deflected his sword to the right and went in without hesitation, swinging it from the left, my sword drawing a line of blood from his neck.

"I have lost." Arakan muttered as he smiled bitterly.

"You have made significant improvements since I last saw you. Continue to do so. Go take a break." As I said these words, he left me to my own thoughts.