The forest was growing darker, the violet sky overhead turning into a bruised black. Lysander moved at a steady pace, his boots crunching softly on the forest floor, but the sound of dragging feet behind him made him stop.
He turned around.
Seraphina Valerius was trying her best to keep up, but she was in a miserable state. Her once-pristine Academy uniform was shredded, the white silk torn at the shoulder and thigh, exposing pale skin covered in mud and fresh scratches from the brambles. Blood was trickling down her calf from where she had tripped earlier. She was shivering violently, hugging her arms across her chest to cover the torn fabric over her large bust, trying to preserve the last shred of her modesty.
She looked less like a noblewoman and more like a broken doll discarded in the trash.
"Stop," Lysander commanded.
Seraphina froze, her eyes wide with panic. "I... I can keep up! Please, don't leave me! I'm just a little tired, I promise I won't be slow!"
She tried to take a step forward, but her injured leg buckled, and she nearly fell.
Lysander sighed—a harsh, metallic sound through his mask.
"You are injured. You are freezing. And you are practically naked"
He looked her up and down coldly.
"If you walk into a Boss zone like that, the scent of your blood will attract every predator within a mile. You are a liability."
Seraphina bit her lip, looking down at her muddy feet. "I... I'm sorry. I don't have any potions. My ring... the boys took my storage ring"
Lysander turned his gaze inward.
"System. Open Shop"
Whirrr...
[Current Balance: 100 SP]
He needed to be frugal. He couldn't afford high-tier gear, but he couldn't let her freeze to death either.
[Filter: Female Clothing. Durable. Cheap]
Ding!
[Item: Common Traveler's Tunic & Cloak]
[Description: Simple, rough wool. Warm and sturdy]
[Cost: 25 SP]
[Filter: Healing. Low Tier.]
Ding!
[Item: Lesser Sun-Berry]
[Description: A small, radiant berry
containing concentrated vitality. Heals minor to moderate wounds instantly]
[Cost: 15 SP]
"Purchase both"
[-40 SP]
[REMAINING BALANCE: 60 SP]
Lysander reached into his inventory. A bundle of gray woolen clothes and a small, glowing red berry appeared in his hand.
He tossed them at her.
Flump.
Seraphina caught the bundle instinctively, nearly dropping it in surprise.
"Put those on," Lysander ordered, turning his back to give her privacy. "Burn the rags you are wearing. They smell like fear"
He pointed to the small red fruit sitting on top of the clothes.
"And eat that. It will fix your leg"
Seraphina stared at the items in her hands. The clothes were rough and simple peasant clothes but to her, they looked like the finest silk. But it was the fruit that caught her attention.
The Lesser Sun-Berry was glowing with a faint, warm light. Even holding it, she could feel the mana pulsing inside it.
'This... this isn't a normal fruit,' she thought, her hands trembling. 'It radiates pure life energy. Is this an Elixir ingredient? A Spirit Fruit?'
In the Academy, fruit like this would cost hundreds of gold coins. It was a treasure.
"You... you're giving this to me?" she whispered, stunned.
"Eat it before I change my mind"
Seraphina didn't wait. She quickly changed behind a large tree, discarding her ruined uniform. The wool tunic was scratchy but incredibly warm. She wrapped the cloak around her shoulders, feeling the chill leave her bones.
Then, she looked at the berry. She popped it into her mouth.
Crunch.
The moment she swallowed, a rush of warmth exploded in her chest. It wasn't the stinging burn of cheap alchemical potions; it was a soothing, golden heat that raced through her veins.
"Ah..."
She watched in disbelief as the cut on her leg sizzled and closed. The bruises on her arms faded from purple to nonexistent. The deep ache in her ankle vanished. Even the fatigue that had been crushing her spirit evaporated.
In five seconds, she was completely healed.
Seraphina touched her face. The scratch on her cheek was gone. Her skin felt smooth.
"It worked..." she whispered. "It's gone."
She looked at Lysander's back. He was just standing there, checking his map, acting as if he hadn't just handed her a miracle.
Suddenly, her vision blurred. A sob escaped her throat. Then another.
"...Sob..."
Lysander turned around. He saw Seraphina standing there in the grey cloak, healthy and whole, but tears were streaming down her face like a river. She was clutching her chest, weeping silently.
"What now?" Lysander asked, his voice tinged with annoyance. "Did the fruit make you sick? Or are you crying because the clothes aren't made of silk?"
Seraphina shook her head violently. "No... no! It's not that!"
She wiped her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop.
"It's just... this fruit..." she choked out. "It healed me instantly. It must have been so expensive. It must be so rare"
She looked up at him, her violet eyes filled with a heartbreaking mixture of gratitude and sorrow.
"Why?" she sobbed. "Why would you waste something like this on me? I'm nobody"
"It's cheap," Lysander said bluntly.
"It's not cheap to me!" Seraphina cried out, finally letting the dam break. "You don't understand!"
She sank to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest. The memories she had suppressed for years came flooding back.
"At the Academy..." she began, her voice trembling. "They hated me. The other girls... they hated my face"
She touched her cheek.
"I was born with the 'Valerius Beauty'. I have the beautiful body, the face, the hair... everyone calls me the 'Flower of the Capital'. But because my Talent is Rank-F, they saw it as an insult. They said I didn't deserve to look like a goddess if I was trash on the inside"
She looked at the dirt.
"They used to corner me in the dorms. Four or five of them. They would beat me. They would pull my hair and kick my stomach so the bruises wouldn't show when I wore my uniform. They called it 'training'. They said they were teaching me my place"
Lysander listened silently, his posture unmoving.
"Every night, I would crawl back to my bed, bleeding," Seraphina whispered. "I was in so much pain. I would go to the infirmary, but the Alchemists... they knew I was the 'Disappointment' of the Valerius family. They wouldn't give me the good medicine"
She laughed bitterly through her tears.
"They gave me Rank-F Potions. The cheap, diluted sludge that tastes like rot. It barely stopped the bleeding. It never took away the pain. I had to sleep with the aches in my bones for weeks"
She looked up at Lysander, her eyes burning with the memory of betrayal.
"And my family? The Valerius Dukedom?"
She spat the name out.
"My brother, Julian... he has Rank-A Potential. Every month, packages would arrive for him. Crates of Rank-B High Potions, Mana Elixirs, and Enhancement Pills. He had so much he would throw them away if they expired by a day"
"One time..." Seraphina's voice broke. "One time, the girls beat me so badly I thought my ribs were broken. I crawled to Julian's room. I begged him. I said, 'Brother, please, I hurt so much. Can I have just one bottle? Just one small potion?"
She closed her eyes, remembering the look on his face.
"He kicked me," she whispered. "He kicked me in the ribs and laughed. He said, 'Why should I waste a Rank-A potion on a Rank-F failure? It's like watering a dead plant. Get out of my sight, you disgrace"
Lysander's fist clenched at his side, the leather of his glove creaking.
"I had no money to buy my own," she continued, her voice hollow. "My roommates... they knew I was weak. When my monthly allowance came, they would steal it. They would take the coins right out of my hand and say it was a 'protection fee'. If I complained, they would beat me again"
"The only reason I even got that allowance..."
She looked at her hands, which were now warm and healed thanks to Lysander.
"Was because my mother begged. My father, the Duke... he cut me off years ago.
He said I wasn't worth the investment. My mother had to cry and beg him just to send me enough copper coins to buy food. And even that... the others stole from me."
She looked up at Lysander, her face wet with tears.
"So when you gave me this fruit... when you healed me without asking for anything... without calling me trash... without looking at my body with lust..."
She placed her hand over her heart.
"It's the first time in my life someone has taken care of me. Even my own blood never did this"
The forest was silent. The tragedy of Seraphina Valerius hung in the air—a girl born with the face of an angel but cursed with the fate of a victim.
Lysander stepped forward. He didn't offer a hug. He didn't offer soft words.
He reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her up to her feet. His grip was firm.
"Stop crying," Lysander said.
His voice wasn't angry anymore. It was steady. It was the voice of a foundation stone.
"The past is dead. The Seraphina who begged for scraps is dead"
He looked deep into her violet eyes.
"Your brother kicked you because you were weak. The girls beat you because you couldn't hit back. The world ate you alive because you had no teeth"
He released her arm.
"I gave you that fruit because I need you to walk. I gave you those clothes because I need you to survive"
He turned toward the West, where the red skull of the Boss pulsed on his map.
"You said you want to follow me? Then dry your face. I am going to show you how to get strong. I am going to show you how to make the Valerius family regret every single potion they denied you"
He started walking.
"Come. We have work to do"
Seraphina stood there for a moment, the warmth of the fruit still humming in her veins. She wiped her tears with the rough wool of her new sleeve. The sadness in her eyes was slowly being replaced by something else.
Determination.
"Yes," she whispered to the darkness. "I'm coming, Zero"
She ran after him, no longer limping, leaving the broken girl behind in the mud.