Olivia felt a pair of fingers softly going through her hair. She could also feel blades of grass stabbing into her back. Most concerningly of all, she felt her head resting in someone's lap.
Olivia tiredly opened her eyes and stared up at the face of Evelyn.
Her hero, the Knight she looked up to, the witch in white, was seated on a forest floor, while her head rested in the woman's lap.
Olivia recoiled and jumped up into a sitting position. "Maya!"
There was a flash of blue, and then Maya appeared, the system box opening up before her eyes. 'Yes?' Despite being text on a floating screen, Olivia could practically hear the teasing tone that came from the strange speaker.
She let out a relieved sigh when she saw the box and took a moment to look around. She appeared to be in a forest. Similar to the one she had blacked out in when she first ate the Core. She was shocked back then that she hadn't gone to Maya when she fell unconscious, but now here she was, back in the World of Paths.
'Welcome back. :]'
Olivia gave a lazy nod to the system. "I'll just go ahead and ask, what the hell happened earlier?"
'What do you mean? :0'
"Maya, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Olivia felt another chill go up her spine, but her eyes narrowed slightly. "When I was talking to Davi, I tried to tell him about my power, but…"
The memory of that hand returned to her. She recalled the way those fingers had tightened around her chest. In that moment, she was sure that her life was in someone else's hands. If she had tried to keep talking, whatever that thing was, it would have killed her.
That terrifying experience had left her shaken and unable to gather the courage to head back to Maya until this very moment.
She wanted answers.
"What was that hand? Why does the Determined trait change when others try to see it? Explain, Maya."
"My, my, you have a lot of questions for Maya." It wasn't the box but instead Evelyn, who had remained seated on the ground.
Olivia wasn't fooled, though. This Evelyn wasn't real. It was just a construct. One created by Maya to live in the World of Paths. In a way, this Evelyn was Maya herself. Or at least, she was a construct that Maya could control.
Evelyn stood up, and the witch folded her arms, giving a soft smile. "Alright. I guess I should explain some things, huh?" She asked.
Olivia gave a sharp nod. "I'd like that."
There was a flash, and Evelyn vanished. Before Olivia now, Tori stood. The blonde woman still had the same smirk Evelyn had, though. "Let me start with the basics. I know we went over this before, but the Determined trait allows you to determine the World of Paths the way you see fit. This trait has created the world in which you and I currently reside, and it is also the home of Maya, the system that runs it."
Olivia nodded her head. "Alright. I'm with you so far."
There was another flash, and Tori changed, this time becoming Davi. The raven-haired man lifted his hand and gestured to himself. "The power of Determined comes in the fact that you can train and grow within here, while also getting stronger in the real world. It also allows you to use Maya and can help you learn twice as fast. Don't you think others would want this trait if they saw it?"
"What do you mean?" Olivia began to feel a little nervous.
Davi vanished, replaced by Ragna. "Many people would kill for having such a powerful trait. You haven't even truly delved into what Maya could do. Imagine how strong you would become in the real world in such a short amount of time. Now picture training in the World of Paths every night. You're basically doubling the amount of growth you would have. Not to mention all the tips and other things you get while in here, and the Determined trait is truly a cheat skill. This trait wasn't one you were born with, though. It was a gift. One you got for helping the kin. All traits started at zero at one point, and through time and effort, a person cultivated them and created them, weaving magic together. The creator of the Determined trait saw this way of thinking when they first created the trait. They knew people, especially humans, would be greedy, and so they created something to keep it safe."
"The creator?" Olivia questioned. "Who is that?"
Ragna vanished, and in his place Laerton stood. "The creator of this trait isn't one you need to be concerned with. She has long since died out. What you do need to know, though, is that she has placed a safety net around this trait to conceal it. That's why, when you tried to reveal what the trait was the first time, it kept itself hidden. The Determined trait doesn't want to be seen."
Olivia frowned at that explanation. "So, when I tried to show it off, the trait itself hid, and then when I tried to speak about it, another safety net went off, which was that hand?"
"That's a way to look at it, yes." Laerton began the nod, and Pock finished it. "All your other traits are officially placed in your grimoire and kept under the watchful gaze of the King's Core. He isn't always staring, but in some cases, his gaze will randomly turn this way. When that happens, the trait has to hide. This is also why sometimes you can't enter the World of Paths. Because the King's Core has looked our way, and we can't risk it noticing us."
"Why not, though? Why are we hiding from the king?"
This time, the figure changed into the image of Bruno. "Let me be blunt. You're weak." Bruno said simply. "I'm not saying that to be rude either. You have had good growth, but your power is vastly lacking. We talked about how beneficial the Determined trait is. There are ways to force a trait out of someone."
"Seriously!"
Now Ken stood in front of her, and the red-haired woman ran her hand along her stomach. "Created by Rossum. Just as you harvested the Core out of a monster, it's possible to do this to a human." Olivia felt her face pale, and her blood ran cold. The fake Ken kept speaking. "Two forms of this exist. The first way is non-lethal and can be performed by extracting pieces of a person's Core. This method is typically performed through trading in Yin and Yang energy, and for the most part, it is harmless, as the Core will naturally mend itself. It has a one-in-a-million chance of working, however, so it's rarely used. The other method involves melting a person while they're still alive and forcefully turning them into a pill. This pill allows a person to absorb a trait or spell that the user possesses. It has a one in one-thousand chance of working, but with blood mages, it seems to work a lot better due to them having a much higher life force. There's a one in ten chance that it will work."
"T-That's disgusting." Olivia felt sick. She had to hold back her vomit. "Does that actually happen?"
"In your kingdom, it rarely happens because it's a Rossum method, and also because your land does have morality. That said, you'd be shocked at how quickly morality fades during times of war. Think about all the Knights. Think how strong they are. Imagine someone like Father. The leader of the Shining Sentinels is the strongest Knight around right now, and some consider him the closest thing to a modern-day Haru. Especially thanks to his unique type of magic and his special trait. He hasn't been able to make a breakthrough in his training, though. No matter how hard he works, he can't seem to grow anymore, and this has frustrated him. Now picture this. He learns that the Determined trait exists. Unlike you, he wouldn't hesitate to use it. He'd allow it to guide him and draw out his true power. Now, maybe he wouldn't want to kill an innocent girl to gain this trait, but at the same time, if the kingdom is attacked by the nations overseas, and all he has to do is sacrifice one weak member of the worst guild ever, do you think he is going to hesitate?"
Olivia nearly clenched her hand into a tight fist and shook her head. "If that's how it is, then I don't want this trait anymore."
"Unfortunately, you can't just give it up." Ken vanished, and Olivia stared at another version of her in shock. This version of her was dressed in her witch outfit. "We didn't choose to come to you, either, you know. We were asleep for so long. Davi was not compatible with the Determined trait, and so he wasn't able to activate it, even after the last host placed it within him. This is because the Determined trait can only be drawn out through women, and only women with certain features—those with mixed blood. Of course, the Knights wouldn't know this, and so they'd turn you into a pill, hand you off to one of their pure Nobles, and the trait wouldn't stick and would fade away. The Determined trait would vanish from this world forever, and because it doesn't want that, it keeps itself hidden within you and tries to protect itself by stopping you from revealing the truth of its existence."
She, of course, knew that. Once you had a trait, you couldn't just give it up—especially one like the Determined, which seemed like it was one of a kind.
"So then what do I do?" Olivia asked.
"You don't have to do anything." The other her stated, and it reached out and placed its hands upon her shoulders. "If you want Maya to come and help you, then you can enter and use this trait. If you want to forget about it, you can pretend like this trait doesn't exist and carry on as you normally do. Everyone who would have known about the trait is dead, so you don't have to worry about anyone recognizing it. Only using it before the king's gaze, or trying to speak of it aloud, will pose any danger. Maya is here to help you, as is this world. We only want you to improve and grow so that you can protect the one we call kin."
"...What do you want from Davi?"
"To keep him safe, and to ensure he lives."
"Why?"
"Because we love him. You want to help him as well, don't you?"
"I do." Olivia gave a slight nod.
"Why do you want to help him?"
Olivia thought about it for a moment. "Because he helped me. Because a good person shouldn't go unrewarded. Because I get the feeling he's been hurt a lot and could use a hand."
"So then it is simple." The other her stepped away and glowed. "We'll help you grow; just use us as much as you want."
The fake Olivia faded away, and in her place floated a blue box. 'So, what do you need help with? :)'
Olivia stared at Maya and considered what she should do or say. So many thoughts were going through her head. Eventually, she settled on one, though that was present in her mind. "How did I get that Cerberus spell, and why did I black out after I used it?" She already had a feeling she knew why, but she wanted to confirm it with Maya.
The box seemed to consider her for a moment, and then it answered. 'When you consumed the Monster Core, your body broke it down and understood it. This process is rare. As I mentioned, you can turn a Core from a Mage into a pill and sometimes get a trait or spell. That happened to you. It was a one-in-a-million. You're quite lucky.'
"Someone being in Phoenix Flight being told they're lucky." Olivia snorted. "Sure. And why did I black out?"
'You aren't used to using blood magic at such an advanced level. Maya is quite familiar with the process and can tell you exactly where you went wrong. Your body is able to cast spells on the level of Row like all mages, but recently your Core and Mana stats increased, and you gained the ability to cast spells one tier higher. Vil level spells are costly, and you used them while in a dungeon, which took a toll on you. More than that, though, it was the blood you used up.'
"The blood I used up?"
'Yes. A Vil level blood spell is the equivalent of casting two Row spells, with the amount of blood it takes.'
"Seriously?" Olivia winced. She had two spell slots left when she used Vil Cerberus, but if Vil took both those slots, then that explains why she blacked out. Not to mention, outside of Polymorph, she had also used three spells and a tremendous amount of mana. She'd have to remember that going forward.
Also, she was willing to bet it'd be the same for the other spells as well. Ril level would likely be three spells' worth of blood, Vow would be four, and Full would be five. Her body didn't even have enough blood in it to cast anything on the level of Vow, so would that ever be possible?
'Do you have any other questions for Maya?' The blue box asked.
Olivia shook her head. "No. I think I'm ready to leave."
':0. Very well. And you'll be back to speak with Maya?'
"I will." Olivia smiled.
It was a fake one.
Unknown to Maya, she had formed an idea. A plan. One that started when she noticed something. Maya, the Determined trait, and the World of Paths. It was fake.
This thing, whatever it was, tried to trick her, but it screwed up. It caught itself in a lie—something about what it said earlier didn't make any sense.
For starters, the King's Core, as well as all the Captains, would watch the exams, and yet the Determined trait activated during the third test. On top of that, Maya had earlier claimed, or at least implied, the King was the one who altered the text of the trait, but now the story had seemingly changed.
That wasn't the lie she caught onto.
No, that went to an even bigger one.
Maya claimed they couldn't follow her into the real world and speak with her, yet when she had talked to Davi, she was sure she had seen Maya's text appear before her.
Something wasn't right with this thing.
Maya was telling her half-truths or even lying about some stuff and seemed to want to keep a lot of cards to its chest. That was okay, though. For now, she would use Maya and figure out more about it while growing stronger. When the time came, she'd get rid of the trait.
Maya had given her the clue to doing such a thing. The trait had come from Davi, and Maya mentioned that through a mixing of Yin and Yang, there was a one-in-a-million chance it could be passed on. If the trait came from Davi, it was likely that she and he had accidentally undergone this process, and that also meant she could perhaps undo it and put it back into Davi, where it wouldn't be able to work correctly since he was a man.
All she had to do was discover what the process was, and she'd eventually be able to escape from Maya's clutches. She'd only do that, though, if it were truly not safe for her. So far, it hadn't done a good job of gaining her trust.
Something about Maya was being hidden.
"I'll see you later, Maya." Olivia kept her smile on even as the world faded.
'Goodbye. :]'
The world faded back in, and Olivia tiredly stared up at the roof of Rosco's hut. She was back in the house she was raised in, sleeping in a bed she knew well, and for a moment she thought maybe everything had been one big dream, before it all came snapping back and she sat up.
"Olivia!" Instantly, a pair of arms was tightly wrapped around her, and she winced as Rosco hugged her.
"H-Hey." She awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. She looked around the room, sleep fading away from her. It was dark, and a bit of moonlight filtered in through the window. "How long was I out? It feels like I black out a lot now…"
Rosco let go of her and grunted. "You were out for only a few hours. The sun has set and the moon has risen."
Olivia gave a nod and rubbed her head. She felt a little woozy, but for the most part, her blood was all back, as was most of her mana. "Where are the others?"
"Your boyfriend is outside, and that Ragna fellow ran off into the woods and wanted to sleep outside."
"He's not my boyfriend." Olivia got out of bed and dusted her leather armor off. She'd need to get it checked out by Clause when she got back because now it was a bit banged up.
Wordlessly, she followed Rosco outside and came to a surprising sight. Most of the guards were lined up, and they were holding various swords that Davi had pulled out of his vault. All the weapons he had gotten from the Cerberus vault were out, most scattered on the ground, with a bunch of other guards going through them.
In his hands, he held his new sword, the one with the creepy eye in the center, and he seemed to be practicing a few swings, showing off to the other guards who were mimicking him.
In typical Davi fashion, just stopping the monster wasn't enough for him. He was helping the guards improve and become stronger themselves, showing them the basics of the Sky Cutting Sword style.
Olivia stood outside her hut, watching him work alongside Rosco. "After you blacked out, he and that other one made their way to the vault." Rosco nodded.
"Oh yeah?"
"There wasn't shit in it. They said it had already been looted and barely had any gear. Still, they split the Bells evenly with us and gave us half the weapons as well."
"I'm guessing that was Davi's idea?" Olivia smirked.
Rosco grumbled. "Why's he got to be like this? It makes hating him hard."
"He's a good person." Rosco just hummed. Olivia folded her arms and leaned on the hut. "So. What did my dad tell you?"
"Cutting right to the chase?"
"I want to know."
Rosco let out a sigh and nodded his head before smiling softly. "I wish this day never came, but deep down, I think I always knew. Olivia, your father wanted you to become strong. He left you behind because the place where he said he was going wasn't somewhere normal mages could follow. He always knew you'd one day stand before me like this. Your father did love you, but he loved his duty more."
"His duty?"
"I told you, I don't know everything, but he sometimes told me stuff. He'd speak of lands beyond imagination—tales of portals and stars and other realms. Your father wasn't a typical mage. He was something beyond. He had saved me during a time when Esteria and Rossum were at war. It's thanks to your father that I'm even still alive. He was also the one who blessed my marriage. Truly, he was my friend, my mentor, and my brother. But he was also the one who left you for me to raise. He instructed me to treat you like my own child and to raise you the way I saw fit. But also, if the day ever came when you were a Knight and you asked about him, I was to pass on a message. I told him I wouldn't. I said he shouldn't go and that I can't raise his child for him, yet he still left you behind."
"Yeah." Olivia felt a little bitter, but she nodded. "What did he say? What was the message?"
"He told me to tell you this. 'If you want to find him, then simply head to the most sacred of places.'"