Asher and Alyssa stepped into the portal, but as they did, a huge turbulence of mana occurred, and both of them felt pushed out of the portal.
“Cough Cough,” Alyssa coughed, feeling such mana turbulence for the first time.
[ Deviation of Fate Detected ]
[ Resonance with Curse of Fate Detected ]
‘System, what happened?’ Asher asked the system as he looked behind him, but the portal gate was gone.
[ Bearer of the Curse of Fate can experience such things ]
[ Right now, this Dungeon has become a C Rank Dungeon ]
[ According to Host’s memories, this is a hybrid between Yellow and Red Gate ]
“C Rank,” Asher muttered, and Alyssa noticed him.
“Should I remove the artifact?” Alyssa asked Asher.
“Yes,” Asher said, and Alyssa touched the metallic mask on her face, removing it.
She touched her jaw, and suddenly her pale skin turned into a healthy color, and her scars disappeared as well. Her lifeless pink hair turned into beautiful cherry blossom pink, and her eyes turned into a light shade of pink.
Alyssa stepped on the ground and stopped hovering. From the mana turbulence, she knew that they had encountered a Dungeon Defect.
In her hand was a white mask with a hollow space for eyes and mouth.
“Keep the mask in your spatial ring for now,” Asher said as he looked around the environment in front of them.
A huge cavern with signs of lava on the cracks of the walls opened up before them. From the heat alone, this was a habitat for monsters aligned with fire elements or those who could survive such a harsh environment.
ƥαṇdαηθνε|
Asher was frowning because C Rank Dungeon was not easy, even for him. He could easily deal with D Rank monsters, but Dungeon Defects increased the possibility of lower C Rank monsters. And the boss of this dungeon would be a challenge for Asher.
But Asher looked at Alyssa, who was already studying the environment around her. In his previous life, he had never looked at the full potential of the cured Alyssa. He knew that she was extremely strong even in her half-broken body, which was taking away her lifespan, but he wanted to know what she could do now.
Weeks ago, when Asher had given the golden vial, he had given her a special artifact in the spatial ring as well.
‘I hope it works,’ Asher was not completely sure, but there was a chance her illness could be related to the curse of fate.
Asher was waiting for Alyssa’s reply when he noticed a message from Alyssa.
<Can we meet?>
Asher agreed and told her to meet in the Resting area on the ground floor.
This was one of the areas where only those with Ranker’s authority could enter, and they could talk privately.
An hour ago, on Floor 4, a girl was lying down on the floor with black blood around her body.
“Argh,” Alyssa opened her eyes and smelled the pungent smell around her.
“Blergh,” The smell was so strong that she immediately puked on the spot.
She coughed repeatedly, but as she grew more aware and her senses returned, she was shocked. She could feel her legs again.
“What?” She spoke out and tried to stand up.
Her legs gathered the strength to stand up, but she soon fell down stumbling. Her body was cured, but it didn’t have enough strength.
“No way!!” Alyssa’s eyes started to tear up.
She had given up on her body. All she wanted was to somehow stabilize the mana inside her, which was always uncontrollable for her. She tried to gather her mana, but she immediately felt weak.
“What’s happening?” she tried to gather more mana, but she found it quite hard.
Her meridians were repaired, but the damage was so bad in her previous state that the way she circulated her mana was not working for her current self.
The room was full of a nauseating smell, but she tried to gather the mana around the room. She could feel that although it was painless, it had become a lot more difficult for her to gather mana.
But soon, it kept becoming a bit easier, and she could see the improvement. Right now, her body was devoid of any fat, but it was utterly lacking in proper energy to sustain herself.
She stood up, but her legs kept shaking. It was the first time, after such a long time which felt like eternity, she could walk again. She could be like other normal people. Maybe she could experience a normal life like others did.
Slowly and steadily, she reached the bathroom and saw her face.
*Drop*
A tear dropped from the clear skin of Alyssa. She could see the resemblance she had from her mother. She had always believed that her mother was the most beautiful and caring person in the world, and now she looked like her.
Tears kept dripping, but they were not of sadness like countless ones in the past.
No matter how much Alyssa kept a stoic face, but every time someone cursed her, called her names just because she was different from them, just because they hated her family, it hurt her. But her heart had grown to handle such words, but it hurt her every time.
“I should thank him,” Alyssa said to herself.
Until now, Asher was an anomaly for her who piqued her interest, but right now, she was genuinely glad that he helped her so much. Whatever it was, Alyssa knew that it was not a normal potion. Asher had used a high-ranking potion for her.
Alyssa swore to herself that apart from her revenge, she would side with Asher, even if the entire world stood against him.
She showered quickly, but she kept touching her face. It was new for her to breathe so properly, have no pain, but regaining her strength, the fire for her revenge had increased a lot.
“I have a chance to take them all down,” Alyssa said to herself.
After an hour, she met Asher, but she had worn a hoodie and her metallic mask and used her gravity magic to meet him.
Entering the resting area after identity confirmation, she saw Asher, who was sitting with an indifferent face.
Alyssa walked up to him, and seeing that Asher knew that the potion had worked.
“Thank you,” Alyssa bowed towards Asher and looked at him, removing his mask.
Asher’s eyes widened a bit as he himself had never seen her complete face. It was new for him to see this Alyssa, but he was glad nonetheless.
“Do you have the artifact?” Asher said without breaking his indifferent face.
“Ah, yes,” Alyssa’s tone towards Asher had changed a bit.
She took out the mask, and due to the system, Asher could see the info of the mask.
| Mask of Illusion – Rank S |
| Morphs the person’s body into what they imagined |
| Passive Effect – Cannot be detected with mana |
| Limitations – Cannot increase the mass and size |
| Limitations – Only one change could be used by this mask. Once chosen, it will never change |
This was the artifact that came out in the Auction that happened inside World Academy half a year ago, and Asher used a lot of money to make Eric buy this mask for him. He remembered somebody had bought this mask, sold it in the coming auction a few months ahead.
“Do you still want to carry on with your revenge?” Asher asked Alyssa.
“I will,” Alyssa told him with a serious look.
For her, avenging her mother and killing them all was above her own life.
“But I will repay this help, even if I have to work my whole life for you,” Alyssa said, basically stating that she would become a slave for Asher.
It was a bit surprising for Asher as well, but he didn’t show it. He knew her hatred for elite families, and he had seen it enough in his previous life.
“Wear this mask and hide your identity for now,” Asher told her.
“And stay low for now. There’s no need to overperform in the physical test, just do the bare minimum in all tests except the mana reading one.” Asher stood up.
“That’s all,” he said and left Alyssa behind in the resting area.
He wanted to know what Alyssa would do once she had the choice to live a normal life, but when he asked her that question, he could see in her eyes that she was not ready for her revenge. Maybe she might even give up in the future, realizing it was useless.
But it was different for Asher. Unlike Alyssa, who was born with a caring personality, Asher was the complete opposite, and now even Alyssa was not enough for him to contain his bloodlust. He had realized that although his obsession with her was still present, from the moment he had returned, he was gradually accepting his true self.
He had seen what happened to him in his previous life where he tried to live like a normal person, but it was impossible for him to change. He was exactly what others thought about him.
A monster.
***********************************
“System, how many points are needed to level up mana flow to Rank S?” Asher asked as he touched the wall of the cavern and realized something.
[ Host will need all his skill points, but for Rank A, we can do it in 20 Skill Points ]
“Do it,” Asher said after thinking a lot.
Just from the environment alone, Asher could judge what kind of monsters were present in this Dungeon. He could feel that this dungeon would need all his strength to clear it.
[Adding 20 SP in Mana Flow Rank C]
[Mana Flow Rank C → Rank B]
[Mana Flow Rank B → Rank A]
Asher could feel the mana around his body a bit more clearly, and his control over his aura had increased a lot. Going from Rank C to Rank A increased the chances for him to defeat the C Rank Boss Monster by a lot.
“ROAAARRRRRR!” The deafening roar of a monster startled Alyssa, and she got serious, looking towards the end of the cavern which was lighting up.
“Get ready,” Asher told her as he unsheathed his sword.
What seemed like the end of the cavern from Alyssa’s angle was just a sharp turn. But from that turn, a 3-meter-long monster with glowing eyes that seemed like they were made of lava came out and turned to look at Asher and Alyssa.
Seeing them, the monster once again roared, making Alyssa start to conjure her ice lance.
“Don’t waste your mana on this,” Asher said as he started walking towards the monster.
Alyssa glanced at Asher, but he suddenly disappeared from his spot. She turned immediately to look at Asher, who was in front of the monster.
His sword was glowing deep blue, and he was standing in front of the beheaded corpse of the hideous D Rank monster.
His aura had changed, and he was looking at the corpse of the monster. Alyssa was surprised by Asher’s speed but looked at him as he crouched to touch the blazing hot corpse of the monster.
“Absorb,” he said.