POV Selene
Everything went black after flinging my shitty brother’s across the room like the useless garbage they were. My memory was completely erased after the shadows ripped from my hands. My next memory is waking up on the ground a few hours later, unable to move, caked in blood, and covered in bruises.
Behind me was Marie’s lifeless corpse, her eyes wide open and looking at me with glossy Cataracs covering the film of her once beautiful chestnut-colored iris. I can still remember the stench wafting off her body, informing me of roughly how long I had been unconscious. What followed was me, a three-year-old little girl struggling to my feet, looking around, and then breaking down in tears due to emotional and physical pain.
The once expensive and lavish room was left in tatters. Everything was in shambles, furniture, beds, couches, and dressers. A massive fight occurred in this room, and I had no answers about the outcome. From what I could tell, only me and the lifeless Marie were. A quick glance around left me unable to locate Mommy Dearest or my brothers.
For the rest of the night, I was left alone, trying to come to terms with the fact that the woman, who had spent the last three years being the only person to show me even the slightest bit of humanity, was dead.
Holding the corpse’s hand, covered in tears, I tried my best to reign in my emotions. It wasn’t the first time I had experienced loss. During the War on Earth, I witnessed so many of my friends die and even killed my fair share of humans, yet Marie’s death rocked me to my core.
It wasn’t fair; her only crime was showing me affection. So why did that Bitch have to do this to someone so sweet and loving?
Mommy Dearest had always been cold to me, but to allow my brothers to have their way while she watched and then eventually killed her, I couldn’t fathom what kind of evil was nestled within the depts of the heart of the woman who birthed me.
If I had to put my finger on the first big character-defining moment I experienced on Vinestra, It would be the death of Marie. From then on, I knew I had to get stronger; I had to be colder; I needed to get revenge on that scumsucker of a woman Hespa Nilsson.
I have no clue how long I stayed like that, holding Marie, it could have been only a few minutes, or it could have been 2-3 days, and honestly, if the house servants hadn’t come to clean up the mess, I probably wouldn’t have moved from that spot. But, the group of servants’ gasps of horror drew me from my sorrow long enough to re-establish a connection with my brain.
Steeling my resolve and wiping the tears from my small face, I stood up and met the eyes of the four old ladies and two younger men.
“I expect you to treat her with respect and wish for you to help me bury her body by the big tree outside.” Then, looking behind me at Marie, I continued further.
“The one near the edge of the lake outside was her favorite spot to read while letting me play in the water; it is a fitting resting place.”
I couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge the reactions these maids and butlers had to my mature words. Yet, I was fully aware of what must be going through their minds, seeing a toddler covered in injuries and speaking like an adult about dealing with a corpse. I was already scanning through a novel’s worth of notifications and trying to piece together what happened during the lapse of memory I was experiencing.
The first thing I saw was how dangerously low my HP had fallen. Sitting at less than 25% in both Health Points and Stamina, I could only bite the inside of my cheek and pray I would recover quickly. A quick check-up on myself revealed none of my bones were broken, but I found it hard to move several of my fingers and my left ankle; it felt as if I may have fractured the bone.
But what really drew a bout of confusion from me was one specific notification.
-Awakening complete-
-Inventory installed current space: 1×1 meter-
-You have learned the Tier-0 passive skill, Outrage.-
-Tier-0 Passive Skill: Outrage.-
-When you are forced to the absolute end of your emotional limits, you will enter a berserker-like state for a short time. In this state, Your muscles will swell with power giving you strength beyond what your body usually can withstand. All stats will increase by 125%, Mana Consumption will decrease by 75%, and Stamina Consumption will decrease by 50%. Damage taken will be reduced to 25% of the actual amount. The rate of regeneration will double.-
-The more damage you take and the longer you stay in this state, the more significant the increases in your Stats and power will become, along with an increase in the side effects.-
-Side Effects: Loss of Rationality and Memory, damage to the body, the possibility of crippling your Codex, and Mana Circuits Possibility of Death. Possibility of reducing life span.
As I read through this insane passive skill, my eyes widened slightly, but certain things started clicking into place. Seeing Marie being played with like a human toy had cracked my mind, and in that instant, I had triggered this new passive skill, gaining an unfathomable power. The only question left wasn’t really one I didn’t have the answer to. Thanks to me attacking Mommy Dearest, the room was clearly in such a state.
After the servants took away Marie to be laid to rest, I found myself at a loss for what to do next, so I did the only thing I could think of. I took a bath. Feeling sick to my stomach thanks to the gore and stench clinging to my body, I wanted nothing more at that moment than to get clean.
For the next few weeks, my life was actually pretty peaceful for once. The noticeable absence of the Bitch who birthed me and her two gremlins gave me the reprieve from daily abuse and torture I needed to grieve the loss of Marie. During my explorations of the mansion, I noticed that I was utterly alone other than the regular assortment of Maids and Butlers.
Unhindered and unrestrained, I was free to wander the halls of the massive house I had been living in for three years, and after several days I found myself in what could only be described as a large Gym. I found all sorts of muscle training equipment and strange futuristic devices that would help further the growth of someone’s stats.
Life went on for nearly three more years without seeing Hespa or the gremlins, and in that time, I trained. Much like what I learned in the conscripted military, I would work my body till I dropped, Lifting weights, running, doing sit-ups, punching bags, you name it, and I did it. I was a young child keeping a schedule that would make professional fighters cringe in pain. Wake up, work out, spar with the training dummies, run, swim, and spar again. All the while, I was completing any quests I received from my System, whom I had named Stella, after the golden retriever I had on Earth. Even her voice reminded me of the silly voice I would use when talking to that lovable golden oaf.
Unfortunately, my days of peaceful training came to a close on the day Stella informed me it was my 8th birthday. That was the day Hespa and the gremlins returned. As it turns out, I really fucked up my brothers that day, so much so that they were in the hospital for months, even with the level of technology on this planet. However, what surprised me was the sudden and concerning change in Mommy Dearest’s attitude towards me.
She was still cold and arrogant, but now there was a hint of something else in her eyes when she looked at me. Don’t get me wrong, she still CLEARLY hated my guts, but now, she has become a little more tolerant of my presence after that incident.
I, however, hated her fucking guts. So I refused to do anything other than grunt replies in a very “unlady” way.
What came next was a literal hell for me. Hespa, that fucking she-demon, that bitch, that whore, dragged me through the worst seven years of torture I could ever fathom. Combat training, survival training, assassination school, mage school, ACTUAL SCHOOL, well, homeschooling, I went through so much shit inhumane shit that I still can’t believe I came out in one piece.
Yet there was a light at the end of the tunnel; after all that hardship, pain, and suffering, I finally got the chance to leave home—the Academy Exams.
I had watched the recordings of all the past events from the last ten years, so I couldn’t help but be excited at the prospect of testing myself against other people, but more than that, I WAS FINALLY GONNA BE FREE.
Needless to say, I aced the Exams from start to finish and even secured myself an S-Rank applicant status. Of course, Hespa was ecstatic when she found out, even though you would never have been able to tell by her icy exterior, and when I didn’t show any outward emotion, I received a crisp smack across the face, sending me flying. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, that slut is chilling at Tier-5, sooo yeah, it hurt like a mother fucker. Still, I am no pushover, as I now have three of my eight stats capped at 300 and am at Prestige 15. Once I reach 25, everything will hit the cap, and I will stand at the peak of Tier-1.
Standing in Zone A-1, lost in thought about how close I was to meeting one of my personal goals, I suddenly felt a familiar presence. Focusing my blurry eyes since I had been in a disassociative state while in thought, I turned my head to the left and tucked a lock of hair behind my right ear.
Standing not far from me, frozen like a deer in headlights, was a boy in a black hoodie and jeans with a red t-shirt peaking through the zipper, followed by two more boys and a young girl with little rabbit ears stitched into her hoodie.
The boy broke away from his group and walked straight up to me, stopping two feet away. Although we were about the same height, his athletic build put to shame most pros and nearly every applicant around.
That wasn’t surprising, though, as most teenagers would be built like brick shit houses if they trained up their STR and VIT. But, what happened next would change my entire life. My eyes widened in shock as I saw the outline of a pendant under his shirt, and I locked up, unsure of what to do at first.
Using both hands, the boy slowly drew down his hood, exposing his violet highlighted black hair tied in a neat ponytail with an undercut and his face. Under that hood was the most dazzling smile I had ever seen. His piercing and cold bluish-purple eyes reflected surprise and excitement as he extended his left hand outward to shake.
“The name is Ivar Ragnarsson, but everyone calls me….”
Before he could finish his statement, as if overcome by some strange and sudden urge, I grabbed the boy in a tight hug while fighting back the stinging sensation of tears threatening to spill over.
“I finally found you….”
Chapter 0171 – Selene the Third Over-Break Host 2/2
-This series is exclusively published on WebNovel if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong Fam. PS Check out the Discord, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg