Year 5009 after the system one season later in the day 90 of the Moon season, Tonne village northeast outskirts near a lake.
"Alright we're far enough and in a good spot, Iris undress."
"Uh!? Do you know just how cold it is?"
"Hum? You're still dressed? Do you need help?"
"Of course not you perverted teacher!" I shout angrily while embarrassed at the typical randomness of this old man.
"If not then get going you weakling," Ray kicks me into the lake giving me no time to undress and falling inside its coldness.
'Ah... it's completely freezing,' I do my best to stay on top of the water as it is not that deep while completely undressing, except for my panties and necklace. I throw my clothes in ball-shaped projectiles making them fall near Ray, who then places them near a bonfire as he's not completely an insane man.
"What do I do now Ray?" I question the man who's evaluating me as he sees me struggle to stay at the surface.
"Swim while you resist the cold from one margin to the other, you should have enough stamina to do forth and back ten times, it's like 10 meters far, once you build some cold resistance and swimming skill, along learning how to sustain your breath properly, we'll climb that waterfall and you'll swim in the river instead."
'Yet another insane training, he's just trying to kill me at this point... I haven't even learned how to swim as my mother didn't let me too close to the water, but oh well, time to learn and do my best as always. Whining about it will just get me punished.'
I start using my hands mimicking a dog to what Ray who sees this starts yelling.
"You freaking idiot, you have to do it like this," he starts rotating his arm as circular as possible a few times and then shows the way he shaped the right hand.
"Why are you semi-closing the hand like that teacher!?" I ask while attempting to mimic his movement making me able to move in the water a bit nearer to the margin.
"It allows your hands to push more water behind if you shape them like a shell, it should give you a swimming skill once you learn it called frog swimming. Don't forget to use those legs underwater, it's part of swimming and the best tool to keep you on the surface, like this."
He starts alternating the arms, waving up and down and I mimic those movements with my legs, slowly gaining a better grasp of it.
"It's not fun gulping water down, is it? At least like that, you won't go down, and if you do just hit your feet on the ground and jump back up!"
"Alright!" I allow my head to lean forward and start doing those circular movements with my hand half-closed feeling the water being pulled and pushed while waving my legs.
I take a long while to get used to it eventually making a voice ring in my head.
Notice: The skill swimming has been acquired.
"I got a swimming skill, but it doesn't have a name like the one you mentioned teacher!"
I do my best to swim close to him hitting enough height to place my feet on top of the muddy ground feeling it squishy, leaving from my neck and below, underwater.
"That's fine, not often do we get the same skills, and we're a bit different too. What matters is that you got the skill you need, now go work hard for those titles, swim, swim, and swim some more!" He started laughing crazily and loudly.
'In the end, I'm just doing what he's been doing for who knows how long, so I need to do what he tells me... even though lately teacher feels a tad different, is it due to age?'
Once she's far enough he turns around and starts coughing to the bonfire making some of the blood be burnt by it.
'Just a bit more body, don't give up on me just yet.'
He sits near it gazing at me while thinking.
'The kid finished the enlightened series making her mind purer, that will definitely keep her corruption away despite being a witch.'
'She's also improved her swordsmanship, the control over mana and her element, along with some secret training she did on her own.'
'With her being this very hardworking and growing faster than the rest of the students I have, it is a shame if I'm to die without finish teaching her all the things I know.'
'I won't allow my life wish to fail just because of some crappy thing like age, even if it's the last thing I have to do or resorting to becoming a different race to achieve it!'
'Don't betray my expectations girl, your all I have left now, and we have a promise along with a reward, so run, swing, meditate, swim, do everything necessary to become stronger and stronger.'
A shadow suddenly appears on the other side of the bonfire with a blanket in the hand.
Ray looks at it in front of him.
"Here's something old man, can't have you dying without finishing the one training, if she's too become as powerful as you, then at the very least keep yourself warm."
"Tsh damn brat," Ray receives the blanket from Omar who throws it at him covering himself with it.
"Watching her naked body from here does ascertain me that she's growing physically faster than normal."
"It is a blessed skill she has, but even with it, the base is still not solid enough, no matter how many titles she gets and statuses she may have, age really impacts the person in the end."
"Wasn't it only for extra stats per year?" Omar sits near the bonfire placing both hands close to it warming them up.
"That's like saying a baby of one year that has 1000 statuses of everything can beat an adult with 1/100th of it."
"Putting it that way I see what you mean."
"At the speed she's growing, around her fifteen or sixteen birthday, should be the ideal age where her body will be able to reach its peak. I might not be alive by then, so when that time comes make her eat this list of soul stones. If it's this combination her soul base will remain human which shouldn't become bothersome for her."
Ray takes out a list from the pocket and then lifts the shirt upward showing his body to Omar whose eyes open wider, and then he hides it.
"That explains a lot of things old man," Omar grabs the list and his eyes widen even more than before.
"This... are you truly sure about it?"
"Of course, she's my student after all, plus I'm passing everything I know to her. In a way, for her to be able to match any future threat, I believe all that will be necessary."
"Won't that affect her?"
"Don't worry, the secondary effects are only for the one who takes it firstly, once life is extinguished it'll fully become equal to the base."
"That's..."
"Incredibly smart I know, took me some tries in the past, therefore, that list being important, you can even save everything in the magic bag for when the time comes, and make sure you never betray her. I'll come back from the dead to slay every single one of your dark robes if necessary."
Despite Omar taking the threat seriously, he laughed at the old man's words.
"No one can cheat death, but don't worry, I'll take good care of the one. She's a very interesting kid after all."
"Not bringing the topic of the prophecy? That's new..."
"Well, I've really taken a liking to her, a little beam of light in a terrible world like this one I suppose."
Ray takes out two small bottles of wine from a nearby basket and throws Omar one of them.
"To the future of Iris."
"To the future of Iris," Omar repeats and they beat the bottles softly against one another.
They take the cork of it and start gulping it relentlessly leaving both bottles halfway.
"Ah, this is good stuff," Ray mentions while gazing back at Iris noticing how her swimming has become slightly better.
"Agreed, it is a nice wine."
"Look at that, she didn't know how to swim, and now look at her, how much she improved. Blessed skill endless growth, if I had that when I was her age, perhaps I'd be dueling the red dragon by now before passing on to the next life."
Ray starts laughing loudly making Omar smile faintly.
"I'm pretty sure that one would still kill you without much of an effort, after all, it has lived far too long in this world. Possibly ever since the start of it, and you know how age makes us stronger. Even if not much for us humans, I suppose for that race it'd be a lot more."
"It should affect every race no matter what, there may be beings far stronger than it out there. Some of them could even put the demon kingdom in peril, in fact, one of the things I've always wondered is that humans deem demons as the strongest race."
"Now that you mention it, Ray..." Omar takes another sip while the old man continues.
"There may be races far stronger, and they might simply belong to the god of chaos, if I were to guess... that god is the strongest of the four."
"Why do you say that?"
"He controls far too many monsters, perhaps not by quality but quantity. Enough of them to make the different races struggle, otherwise, how do you explain the demon race not have conquered this world by now?"
"Like there're different beast races like the goblins, kobolds, and orcs. You're saying that there's plenty of monster ones too, some of them that go in pair with the demons... that's indeed possible."
"This is just a wild guess, but the legendary turtle monster could be a very advanced version of those turtler monsters that you can find, and the red dragon, an evolved type of normal dragons."
"That would mean there's a kingdom of both types out there somewhere, perhaps across the sea..."
Both take a sip and then Ray continues with his theory.
"If I were to gauge all the gods based on their achievements after chaos would come order, then evil, and lastly Aria."
"Since the first two have a different quantity of beast and monster races it makes sense, whilst us humans are pretty weak, and the demons the other way around. Yes, I believe that fits pretty well."
"What are the two of you talking about?" I arrive with a towel around me leaving the knees and below exposed while sitting close to the bonfire.
After they explain everything they were discussing I add," that does sound very likely to be fair, I don't even understand how both Aria and the evil god only picked one race, it's pretty silly."
"Well in war what wins is usually numbers, so ultimately the reason could have been solely preference based on their godly titles I suppose."
"Isn't Aria the goddess of summons? Since she does it a lot with humans?"
"From our records, she has three titles, more than the rest but none really makes her particularly formidable. She's sometimes known as the goddess of good, of summons, and of laziness."
Upon hearing those words, Ray spits some of the wine bursting into laughter startling me causing a smile on me and Omar.
"Still isn't it weird that a lazy goddess has managed to keep her kingdom intact? Was it purely only based on luck and the summons? I've met a few of them and they weren't particularly anything special."
We look at each other and then Omar shrugs his shoulders while Ray decides to discuss a bit more.
"Perhaps there is indeed something else that makes Aria special, but since they're gods, it's unlikely that we'll find out about it."
"You've reached closer to the level of the Saintess Iris."
"Why do you say that Omar?"
"The aura around your body is emanating by itself, meaning you have reached the minimum of five thousand mana."
"Oh, so that's what the elemental aura title meant, didn't know I'd also receive one."
They laugh at each other about my typical innocence.
"Since when did the two of you became so buddies?" I pout without being really mad at them making them laugh even more.
"Ah... whatever, I'll sleep! Good night!" I dress the clothes that Omar throws me as the others were still drying and then I lay down next to the bonfire while attempting to fall asleep.
'It seems like Omar's assumption was right, the kid body, the height, hair length, chest having an unexpected size, and...'
"Hey kid, have you started bleeding yet? Like between your legs?"
"Uh? Why would I?"
"That's a no?"
"Yes, it's a no, what kind of question is that even?"
"I and Omar think that your body might be around ten to ten and a half years if you haven't bled yet. Women bleed as a sign that they can have kids, it's a natural thing that Rosa would eventually teach you. I believe it usually starts at the age of twelve, if it ever happens then you'll know how far your body is due to that endless growth skill. Your body is a little different than a normal human one."
"Does that mean that'll I'll age faster and die earlier too!?" I shout worriedly at my teacher who replies calmly.
"Don't worry about it, I'll make you eat some soul stones in some years to keep your body in a good state, for now, focus on getting stronger and allowing yourself to grow."
"Wouldn't I become something else if I ate them?"
"Not if they're humans, or a stable mixture of different species, as long as you don't overdo one race, it'll be fine. To achieve that, you'll need a big soul, and also a strong base which is what we're building right now. Don't worry kid, even if I die, I've instructed Omar to lead you to the rightful path."
"Alright, I'll focus on my training for now or in resting, swimming was more tiresome than expected."
'Worse comes to worst I can use the appraisal skill to find ways to get a proper soul stone combination, allowing my body to grow faster here is necessary, so I'll go along with it for now.'
"Sleep well kid, I'll return to watch the surroundings," Omar places the empty bottle and disappears, enabling Ray to also get some rest.
Epilogue
Days like this certainly wouldn't last forever, but while they did, it made something deep inside of me grateful. Perhaps the new bond that grew from spending my current daily life with them.
I was happy, and these two knew of it, despite the odds they treated me like their daughter and granddaughter. In a way that made me miss my family, and above all else I wished that my feet would walk me to them, towards my father and mother embrace, but mom always made me stick to my promises, and there was no greater vow than the one I made to Rosaline.
As a child it was without a doubt my goal to succeed my parents, to fulfil their dreams, I had it in me, after all, my teacher Ray convinced me of it, and I also wished to strive for my own goals.
Be either me or Aurora, we the chosen children of a strange prophecy, anticipated patiently for what tomorrow could bring, whereas many a monsters awaited with their sharp teeth and weapons to gnaw our lives away as the goddess Aria declared the day she evaluated us. She who knew we wouldn't last, and the two of us who would certainly do our best to show her wrong.
Announcement With this I deem this marvelous draft concluded. It was a long ride and I'm happy and thankful for everyone that tagged along! I'll continue my journey on my own for the time being in what comes to Villainess and Grimoire in the shadows of my darkened room as I type on these melancholic black keys.It is with great despair that I've finally gathered the strength to bring forth Aurora's past life into a novel of her own. I'm currently releasing it once a week because it is not a draft thus it requires time for its quality to be as top notch as possible. I also need to write it fully and carefully, so I know how much I can use it for this story in specific, like a base, we could say, and also allow you guys to know more about this mysterious character who wouldn't reveal herself otherwise.
So if you'd like, feel free to join me in Devourer and Grimoire, the official prequel of this work. By all means, I promise it to be a rollercoaster of emotions. Prepare the tissues!
Thank you all!
Truly yours, the author.
Year 5009 after the system one season later in the day 90 of the Moon season, Tonne village northeast outskirts near a lake.
"Alright we're far enough and in a good spot, Iris undress."
"Uh!? Do you know just how cold it is?"
"Hum? You're still dressed? Do you need help?"
"Of course not you perverted teacher!" I shout angrily while embarrassed at the typical randomness of this old man.
"If not then get going you weakling," Ray kicks me into the lake giving me no time to undress and falling inside its coldness.
'Ah... it's completely freezing,' I do my best to stay on top of the water as it is not that deep while completely undressing, except for my panties and necklace. I throw my clothes in ball-shaped projectiles making them fall near Ray, who then places them near a bonfire as he's not completely an insane man.
"What do I do now Ray?" I question the man who's evaluating me as he sees me struggle to stay at the surface.
"Swim while you resist the cold from one margin to the other, you should have enough stamina to do forth and back ten times, it's like 10 meters far, once you build some cold resistance and swimming skill, along learning how to sustain your breath properly, we'll climb that waterfall and you'll swim in the river instead."
'Yet another insane training, he's just trying to kill me at this point... I haven't even learned how to swim as my mother didn't let me too close to the water, but oh well, time to learn and do my best as always. Whining about it will just get me punished.'
I start using my hands mimicking a dog to what Ray who sees this starts yelling.
"You freaking idiot, you have to do it like this," he starts rotating his arm as circular as possible a few times and then shows the way he shaped the right hand.
"Why are you semi-closing the hand like that teacher!?" I ask while attempting to mimic his movement making me able to move in the water a bit nearer to the margin.
"It allows your hands to push more water behind if you shape them like a shell, it should give you a swimming skill once you learn it called frog swimming. Don't forget to use those legs underwater, it's part of swimming and the best tool to keep you on the surface, like this."
He starts alternating the arms, waving up and down and I mimic those movements with my legs, slowly gaining a better grasp of it.
"It's not fun gulping water down, is it? At least like that, you won't go down, and if you do just hit your feet on the ground and jump back up!"
"Alright!" I allow my head to lean forward and start doing those circular movements with my hand half-closed feeling the water being pulled and pushed while waving my legs.
I take a long while to get used to it eventually making a voice ring in my head.
Notice: The skill swimming has been acquired.
"I got a swimming skill, but it doesn't have a name like the one you mentioned teacher!"
I do my best to swim close to him hitting enough height to place my feet on top of the muddy ground feeling it squishy, leaving from my neck and below, underwater.
"That's fine, not often do we get the same skills, and we're a bit different too. What matters is that you got the skill you need, now go work hard for those titles, swim, swim, and swim some more!" He started laughing crazily and loudly.
'In the end, I'm just doing what he's been doing for who knows how long, so I need to do what he tells me... even though lately teacher feels a tad different, is it due to age?'
Once she's far enough he turns around and starts coughing to the bonfire making some of the blood be burnt by it.
'Just a bit more body, don't give up on me just yet.'
He sits near it gazing at me while thinking.
'The kid finished the enlightened series making her mind purer, that will definitely keep her corruption away despite being a witch.'
'She's also improved her swordsmanship, the control over mana and her element, along with some secret training she did on her own.'
'With her being this very hardworking and growing faster than the rest of the students I have, it is a shame if I'm to die without finish teaching her all the things I know.'
'I won't allow my life wish to fail just because of some crappy thing like age, even if it's the last thing I have to do or resorting to becoming a different race to achieve it!'
'Don't betray my expectations girl, your all I have left now, and we have a promise along with a reward, so run, swing, meditate, swim, do everything necessary to become stronger and stronger.'
A shadow suddenly appears on the other side of the bonfire with a blanket in the hand.
Ray looks at it in front of him.
"Here's something old man, can't have you dying without finishing the one training, if she's too become as powerful as you, then at the very least keep yourself warm."
"Tsh damn brat," Ray receives the blanket from Omar who throws it at him covering himself with it.
"Watching her naked body from here does ascertain me that she's growing physically faster than normal."
"It is a blessed skill she has, but even with it, the base is still not solid enough, no matter how many titles she gets and statuses she may have, age really impacts the person in the end."
"Wasn't it only for extra stats per year?" Omar sits near the bonfire placing both hands close to it warming them up.
"That's like saying a baby of one year that has 1000 statuses of everything can beat an adult with 1/100th of it."
"Putting it that way I see what you mean."
"At the speed she's growing, around her fifteen or sixteen birthday, should be the ideal age where her body will be able to reach its peak. I might not be alive by then, so when that time comes make her eat this list of soul stones. If it's this combination her soul base will remain human which shouldn't become bothersome for her."
Ray takes out a list from the pocket and then lifts the shirt upward showing his body to Omar whose eyes open wider, and then he hides it.
"That explains a lot of things old man," Omar grabs the list and his eyes widen even more than before.
"This... are you truly sure about it?"
"Of course, she's my student after all, plus I'm passing everything I know to her. In a way, for her to be able to match any future threat, I believe all that will be necessary."
"Won't that affect her?"
"Don't worry, the secondary effects are only for the one who takes it firstly, once life is extinguished it'll fully become equal to the base."
"That's..."
"Incredibly smart I know, took me some tries in the past, therefore, that list being important, you can even save everything in the magic bag for when the time comes, and make sure you never betray her. I'll come back from the dead to slay every single one of your dark robes if necessary."
Despite Omar taking the threat seriously, he laughed at the old man's words.
"No one can cheat death, but don't worry, I'll take good care of the one. She's a very interesting kid after all."
"Not bringing the topic of the prophecy? That's new..."
"Well, I've really taken a liking to her, a little beam of light in a terrible world like this one I suppose."
Ray takes out two small bottles of wine from a nearby basket and throws Omar one of them.
"To the future of Iris."
"To the future of Iris," Omar repeats and they beat the bottles softly against one another.
They take the cork of it and start gulping it relentlessly leaving both bottles halfway.
"Ah, this is good stuff," Ray mentions while gazing back at Iris noticing how her swimming has become slightly better.
"Agreed, it is a nice wine."
"Look at that, she didn't know how to swim, and now look at her, how much she improved. Blessed skill endless growth, if I had that when I was her age, perhaps I'd be dueling the red dragon by now before passing on to the next life."
Ray starts laughing loudly making Omar smile faintly.
"I'm pretty sure that one would still kill you without much of an effort, after all, it has lived far too long in this world. Possibly ever since the start of it, and you know how age makes us stronger. Even if not much for us humans, I suppose for that race it'd be a lot more."
"It should affect every race no matter what, there may be beings far stronger than it out there. Some of them could even put the demon kingdom in peril, in fact, one of the things I've always wondered is that humans deem demons as the strongest race."
"Now that you mention it, Ray..." Omar takes another sip while the old man continues.
"There may be races far stronger, and they might simply belong to the god of chaos, if I were to guess... that god is the strongest of the four."
"Why do you say that?"
"He controls far too many monsters, perhaps not by quality but quantity. Enough of them to make the different races struggle, otherwise, how do you explain the demon race not have conquered this world by now?"
"Like there're different beast races like the goblins, kobolds, and orcs. You're saying that there's plenty of monster ones too, some of them that go in pair with the demons... that's indeed possible."
"This is just a wild guess, but the legendary turtle monster could be a very advanced version of those turtler monsters that you can find, and the red dragon, an evolved type of normal dragons."
"That would mean there's a kingdom of both types out there somewhere, perhaps across the sea..."
Both take a sip and then Ray continues with his theory.
"If I were to gauge all the gods based on their achievements after chaos would come order, then evil, and lastly Aria."
"Since the first two have a different quantity of beast and monster races it makes sense, whilst us humans are pretty weak, and the demons the other way around. Yes, I believe that fits pretty well."
"What are the two of you talking about?" I arrive with a towel around me leaving the knees and below exposed while sitting close to the bonfire.
After they explain everything they were discussing I add," that does sound very likely to be fair, I don't even understand how both Aria and the evil god only picked one race, it's pretty silly."
"Well in war what wins is usually numbers, so ultimately the reason could have been solely preference based on their godly titles I suppose."
"Isn't Aria the goddess of summons? Since she does it a lot with humans?"
"From our records, she has three titles, more than the rest but none really makes her particularly formidable. She's sometimes known as the goddess of good, of summons, and of laziness."
Upon hearing those words, Ray spits some of the wine bursting into laughter startling me causing a smile on me and Omar.
"Still isn't it weird that a lazy goddess has managed to keep her kingdom intact? Was it purely only based on luck and the summons? I've met a few of them and they weren't particularly anything special."
We look at each other and then Omar shrugs his shoulders while Ray decides to discuss a bit more.
"Perhaps there is indeed something else that makes Aria special, but since they're gods, it's unlikely that we'll find out about it."
"You've reached closer to the level of the Saintess Iris."
"Why do you say that Omar?"
"The aura around your body is emanating by itself, meaning you have reached the minimum of five thousand mana."
"Oh, so that's what the elemental aura title meant, didn't know I'd also receive one."
They laugh at each other about my typical innocence.
"Since when did the two of you became so buddies?" I pout without being really mad at them making them laugh even more.
"Ah... whatever, I'll sleep! Good night!" I dress the clothes that Omar throws me as the others were still drying and then I lay down next to the bonfire while attempting to fall asleep.
'It seems like Omar's assumption was right, the kid body, the height, hair length, chest having an unexpected size, and...'
"Hey kid, have you started bleeding yet? Like between your legs?"
"Uh? Why would I?"
"That's a no?"
"Yes, it's a no, what kind of question is that even?"
"I and Omar think that your body might be around ten to ten and a half years if you haven't bled yet. Women bleed as a sign that they can have kids, it's a natural thing that Rosa would eventually teach you. I believe it usually starts at the age of twelve, if it ever happens then you'll know how far your body is due to that endless growth skill. Your body is a little different than a normal human one."
"Does that mean that'll I'll age faster and die earlier too!?" I shout worriedly at my teacher who replies calmly.
"Don't worry about it, I'll make you eat some soul stones in some years to keep your body in a good state, for now, focus on getting stronger and allowing yourself to grow."
"Wouldn't I become something else if I ate them?"
"Not if they're humans, or a stable mixture of different species, as long as you don't overdo one race, it'll be fine. To achieve that, you'll need a big soul, and also a strong base which is what we're building right now. Don't worry kid, even if I die, I've instructed Omar to lead you to the rightful path."
"Alright, I'll focus on my training for now or in resting, swimming was more tiresome than expected."
'Worse comes to worst I can use the appraisal skill to find ways to get a proper soul stone combination, allowing my body to grow faster here is necessary, so I'll go along with it for now.'
"Sleep well kid, I'll return to watch the surroundings," Omar places the empty bottle and disappears, enabling Ray to also get some rest.
Epilogue
Days like this certainly wouldn't last forever, but while they did, it made something deep inside of me grateful. Perhaps the new bond that grew from spending my current daily life with them.
I was happy, and these two knew of it, despite the odds they treated me like their daughter and granddaughter. In a way that made me miss my family, and above all else I wished that my feet would walk me to them, towards my father and mother embrace, but mom always made me stick to my promises, and there was no greater vow than the one I made to Rosaline.
As a child it was without a doubt my goal to succeed my parents, to fulfil their dreams, I had it in me, after all, my teacher Ray convinced me of it, and I also wished to strive for my own goals.
Be either me or Aurora, we the chosen children of a strange prophecy, anticipated patiently for what tomorrow could bring, whereas many a monsters awaited with their sharp teeth and weapons to gnaw our lives away as the goddess Aria declared the day she evaluated us. She who knew we wouldn't last, and the two of us who would certainly do our best to show her wrong.
Announcement With this I deem this marvelous draft concluded. It was a long ride and I'm happy and thankful for everyone that tagged along! I'll continue my journey on my own for the time being in what comes to Villainess and Grimoire in the shadows of my darkened room as I type on these melancholic black keys.It is with great despair that I've finally gathered the strength to bring forth Aurora's past life into a novel of her own. I'm currently releasing it once a week because it is not a draft thus it requires time for its quality to be as top notch as possible. I also need to write it fully and carefully, so I know how much I can use it for this story in specific, like a base, we could say, and also allow you guys to know more about this mysterious character who wouldn't reveal herself otherwise.
So if you'd like, feel free to join me in Devourer and Grimoire, the official prequel of this work. By all means, I promise it to be a rollercoaster of emotions. Prepare the tissues!
Thank you all!
Truly yours, the author.
