Chapter 53: Chapter 53- Ryuk should wear a Mask from now on
Gaia's rays welcomed the morning on Planet Blue star, especially over the Heindal Continent.
Light rays made their way toward one of Count Carlos's estates.
Within a span of six years, there were not many changes in the Count's status. Countess Carlien still presided over high society with her elegance and etiquette — a perfect example of a noblewoman.
In the mansion belonging to the Count, preparations for the upcoming event regarding the Teleportation Gate, organized by Princess Olivia, were at their peak, though delayed due to the assassination attempt on Saintess Maria.
"Hey, Faster! Lady Carlien will kill us if we don't bring that dress," one of the maids hurriedly said as they approached the room belonging to the Countess.
The first thing that greeted them was a sound.
"Ugh... F-forgive me, My Lady."
A girl around eleven years old stood with dull eyes and pink hair, her exhausted eyes seemingly holding nothing but the story of the pain befallen her.
Jenny was mentally exhausted from these six years of torment. Not once did someone take pity on her, and even the maids treated her like an insect.
Right now, her only hope was to leave this hell and go back to the same person who helped her in her previous life, but not once did she get a chance to leave this mansion.
SMACK!
A sharp pain assaulted her cheek, which was now imprinted with red finger marks. The sheer pain from an adult seemed to have little impact on Jenny. She was not immune to pain but was accustomed to it.
"I told you to bring my fan, and you even dropped it, you useless pest!" Carlien shouted as she sat, her hair being combed by maids, her anger visible upon seeing the pitiful girl standing with lowered gaze.
"Tch, who knows why His Highness wants me to send you to him," Carlien's face formed a frown as she remembered the events of a week ago when she received a letter from the Crown Prince of the Selvius Kingdom requesting Jenny's presence.
Of course, Carlien would have rejected others, since she couldn't find a pet that could be beaten at night and healed during the day — an unlimited source of her frustration.
'H-his Highness,' suddenly those exhausted eyes lit up, and a surge of hope ran through Jenny, feeling an emotion that her mind experienced after a long while.
Each day, working tirelessly, getting beaten at night, and drinking the Healing Potion, then repeating the cycle in the morning — a true nightmare.
Drip
A tear bead slid past her eyes boundary, already overwhelmed from the relief coursing through her, a hope slowly lighting her eyes, thinking about the ways to somehow leave this hell and then, make a deal with Ryuk.
Yes, it was clear that something was wrong with her, except for her knowledge and skills about daggers from her previous life, her mana was at a minimal level and even her bloodline seemed completely dormant.
In a previous life, With the help of Ryuk, She had come to know about her body Using mana, which was much more suitable for some type of energy referred to as Internal Energy.
Ryuk was also unaware of the training he should give her to become strong until Jenny Awakened her Bloodline.
And, with there, Ryuk informed her about possessing a special bloodline which awakened her special physique, seemed confusing at first about Bloodline awakening her Physique but She was only told by Ryuk about it being her initial level.
With the awakening of the New physique, her body automatically started to synthesize the surrounding mana into internal energy, indirectly providing her with strength.
She practiced Daggers and became proficient in them, but after coming into this world again, Her body was so weak that even after trying to use the dagger to attack Carlien, the result was a whole day of beatings.
Without her Bloodline awakening and not having any progress, She was stuck at a level.
"Of course, I will not send you just like that" Carlien slowly stood from her chair, making her way towards the girl standing with her tears streaming down, which Carlien had seen after three years.
Seeing Jenny's tears, a strange sensation ran through Carlien's mind, which wanted to torment this girl more, of course, She was not going to beat her anything since, it would not make this girl cry.
"I can let you go, Sell 1000 bottles of perfume from our newly opened shop" A grin formed on Carlien's face, her finger tracing the shoulders of Jenny who stood with her tears which were of relief slowly turning into despair.
'N-no' Jenny's body slowly fell on the floor, bended knees, tears streaming down her eyes evidence of the despair she felt, Since, in noble Society, Selling newly found Perfumes at such an expensive price was impossible for her.
At that moment, only a few words left her mouth, which was normal for her for a few years.
'P-please save me R-yuk'
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In the Royal Palace, a light streak seemed visible, directly moving towards one of the rooms' balconies inside the huge Main Palace.
SWISH
Alisia landed on her room's balcony before moving inside, her amber eyes observing a woman seated within her room while other maids stood by her side.
"Isn't it bad manners to enter someone's room uninformed?" Alisia slowly approached the sofa in the middle of the room before turning her gaze towards the woman seated, her blonde hair shining in Gaia's rays.
"Don't test my patience, Alisia. Tell me why you called me here," Venessa said, running out of her remaining patience after being summoned by Alisia, only to wait since early morning.
Naturally, hearing such a tone coming from Venessa would have been enough for Alisia to silence her, but her way of thinking was different.
Alisia saw the profit and consequences of dealing with Venessa right now.
The profit was the artifacts that Venessa's daughter, Olivia, prepared for the kingdom, and the consequences were that killing Venessa would cause the Silvesters to go on a rampage. Of course, she alone was enough to not only handle the Silvesters but the whole continent, but...
She was not alone like previous times; her child needed this land and its people for better growth.
"I called you here because I want Alia to appoint your daughter's personal maid."
"Y-you!" Venessa swiftly stood, feeling humiliated for being summoned only to hear about some maid transfer, a disgrace for a Queen to be brought here.
In these six years, after the events with the maids, Venessa never once tried to act openly; she only dealt with rebellion on the ground in the underground, making her mostly busy with her work. She was called here for some mere maid.
"Wait, I am not done yet." Slowly rising from her seat, Alisia moved towards Venessa, gazing into her eyes before declaring, "And do you think, by giving shelter to snakes, you can defeat me?"
GULP
Venessa swallowed hard, understanding that everything from the beginning was known to Alisia. Her movements in the background for the preparation of rebellion made it much easier for Alisia to prove her a traitor and execute her legally.
Seeing sweat beads forming on Venessa's face, Alisia calmly stood and moved towards the door, while assuring, "It was not a warning, I just want you to understand: don't test my patience. It's not as thick as you think."
Slowly pushing the door, Alisia left the room, while Venessa, seated on the sofa, kept looking at the floor with visible nervousness evident from biting her nails.
Alisia moved towards Ryuk's room, even though she could feel his presence inside. She was aware of the effect of the mana Repelent she gave him, causing her not to detect any energy signal.
But she needed to check on him somehow; even though she detected that he was present in the palace, her instincts pointed something was amiss.
'Hope that boy doesn't create any more trouble for me.'
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Far away from the capital city, in the northern borders, covered in white snow, existed a cave whose entrance was now turned crimson.
Slowly entering it, crossing a colossal gate, a huge dense energy aura became vivid, inside which a hazy figure of a seated individual in Lotus form came into view.
Surrounded by a falling waterfall made of dense mana, an enormous amount of energy seemed to have not much effect on him.
'System, does that mean a hundred meters around me is a zone where others too become immune?' Ryuk, after hearing about the reason for heroines to reach such strength even after being inside the influence of this artifact in a previous life, tried to inquire further while seated in the middle of a huge circular platform which was a crystal artifact with aura falling all over it.
[Yes, Host. From my observation until now, it seems to also remain with the people you came in contact with for some time until they touch another person.]
Ryuk at least understood that it was like a static charge which can be transferred to another but for only a short amount of time.
'So, this is how Edward became stronger.' A smile formed on his face, understanding everything from the beginning about how he was destined to cross paths with these people, since Edward always kept fighting him from time to time.
[ BODY RECONSTRUCTION - -> 100% DONE!!! ]
CRACK
A sound reverberated in the hall, a shining crack started to form on Ryuk's body, slowly covering his whole body.
CRUNCH
Like a tree's bark falling on the ground, Ryuk's skin slowly started to fall on the floor and shattering like powder, smooth skin becoming visible, with chiseled features around the abdomen.
Slowly the big pieces of outer layer started to peel off, revealing a firm chest, completely different from someone of the tender age of eleven.
His slender frame now carried a newfound toned elegance, added with a strong jawline, his already handsome features became even more accentuated, amber eyes turning into deeper ones, same-colored yet holding depth like a serene ocean.
"Phew~" Sitting in that position while his outer skin was falling slowly, he exhaled, feeling all the internal being completely structured, causing him to feel much clarity with his Ether core which also seemed to upgrade to another level.
SWISH
From the tips of his fingers, Aura moved towards his upper body, his focus was on channeling this whole energy and testing his complete strength without any restrictions.
'Here We Go' His eyes snapped open with all energy getting repelled swiftly.
BOOOOOMMMM!!!
CRUMBLEE!!
[ EMERGENCY!!!! ENERGY DOME— Overwritten, Initiating More layers ]
Usually, this much energy had destroyed the System's Energy field but now, it created another one on its own.
A surge of enormous energy left his body, causing the surrounding mana to repel, a huge collision sound resonated due to the artifact's energy completely vanishing and in all events, the whole conduit was broken into pieces.
Crumbled into several pieces, since this artifact's work was done.
'System, Absorb this Artifact and create a dome surrounding Heindal and instead of taking energy from inside, take it from outside.' Slowly Ryuk stood from the now cracked artifact, completely destroyed and crumbled into pieces, leaving it since he had decided his way to approach.
[ Initiated, Can I know what you are planning?, Host]
'Aren't you starting to speak more openly now?' Ryuk leaned and picked up a small piece of that artifact and turned to leave the hall whose walls were crumbling.
Of course, he could never leave such an artifact alone in this place, and knowing the consequences it could cause by destroying it without countermeasures, he had ordered the system to absorb it.
'System, give me new clothes,' Ryuk commanded, seeing his destroyed attire due to body reconstruction.
SWISH
Suddenly, new clothes appeared on his body, and a mask covered his face. Feeling confused, he took off the mask and threw it on the ground. 'No need for this.'
[Host, I would suggest otherwise.]