Empress' Evolution

Chapter 31: Injuries can be healed, fear of pain can't

"Aghh! Please, kill me! Kill me, I don't want to feel this way anymore."

"Hahaha, you must have some more valuable information with you! Spit them all out, all of them, I don't care what it is, you can even tell me when the Pixie Lord takes a shit, any and every information is fine!"

This exchange was heard by Dhampy and Sylva who was on guard right outside the tent. They had been hearing screams from the Pixie Captain resulting for the two to become extremely curious as to what kind of torture Lilith was doing for him to beg for his life.

'The boss head really can be ruthless." Is what Sylva thought.

On the other hand, Dhampy was listening with a straight face. She was interested in Lilith's methods, but she also has her own set of torturing ways, so she was not that interested in learning.

The torture continued and soon enough the two got used to hearing the screams of pain and pleading of the High-Pixie. The last screech echoed and the noise disappeared altogether.

Lilith came out of the tent and found Sylva already dozing off. Dhampy was still wide awake but her fatigue is still present.

"Sylva go and sleep, Shampy takes care of the Pixie, throw it in the woods after draining its blood. I'll be resting now, make sure to rest, okay?"

"Yes, boss."

"Yee, boss head."

Lilith disappeared from in front of them. She returned to her room but she didn't go up and rest. A red panel appeared in front of her, reminding her that her fatigue has reached 80%.

"Nature's Blessing!"

A green light enveloped her tiny body easing her body from the ache that it had sustained today.

"There's still much to do."

Nature's Blessing a single spell that alleviates fatigue. It is much better than Healing Light, and she would have chosen to use this earlier instead if not for the fact she still can't use it as an AOE spell.

Lilith crossed her legs and closed her eyes. The wind began to gather around her and with her eyes close, many would think she was sleeping, but that is far from being the case.

Two hours passed and Lilith promptly opened her eyes after hearing the familiar notification function of the system, letting her know that something had been improved.

[Two Horns Attribute: Wind rank up (A)

Passive Skill: Wind Manipulation (A)]

'It can indeed be improved.' For the sake of improvement, Lilith had been skipping sleep and rest altogether in order to get stronger. The beings in this forest are strong, stronger than she imagined.

The Ogres are capable of protecting her, but if they turn their backs on her? Lilith will die. Although the mission speaks of creating a foundation for an empire in this Ogre Village, she only needs a few to lay down a foundation so she is prepared to kill.

Also, to ensure that when she is left alone to protect her lifeline, which is currently the Ogres, Lilith will be able to do so. For the past few weeks since she became a daemon, Lilith had stopped her training right after learning how to use the ultimate skill.

However, now that she can 'walk', she must begin to learn how to 'run '. And after running she will fly.

'Alpha, how long do you think will it need for the Wind attribute to reach S?' Lilith is not bent on increasing her firepower, or anything else, she wants to increase the versatile wind element that could increase her chance for escape and attacking power.

The wind is a very versatile element, if she moves with it she'll become faster, if she attacks with it she'll cut her opponent, if she defends with it she'll blow everyone away. Thus, increasing its power is a priority for Lilith.

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[There is no S-rank in the wind attribute.]

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'What?'

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[Attributes, in general can reach SSS, but for you, your attributes will not reach S-rank at the moment because once A is overcome, then the next force will show itself, in other words, the attributes will also grow with you, evolving as you grow.]

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'Is that so.'

If that is the case, then...endless possibilities can be met. Lilith's attention was then poured over to her attributes. But reaching A-grade is not something she is satisfied with, she wishes to achieve more.

'With my Wind Manipulation reaching A, will I be able to do it now?'

Lilith's thought grew wild. And unlike her usual smile, a serious expression surfaced. One of her rarest expressions finally surfaced for a long time.

A gust of wind blew Lilith's hair and sent it wriggling in the air. Cool air swirled around her as if it was inviting Lilith to fly. That feeling disappeared as Lilith let her instinct take over in controlling the wind.

Forcefully creating a space in her brain where she's capable of controlling the wind appeared, she was consciously manipulating it but at the same time not. It was a weird sensation, but it was done naturally by her.

With a part of her controlling wind, another part was left to stay stationary. That mind of hers was doing nothing, and Lilith's attention is directed at that area much more than the other one.

Her hands twisted and the heat around the room increased as fast as the beat of a heart. The flames danced on her palms. The wind around her made the flame waver, but she poured more mana into it in order for the fire to continue to burn.

The wind affected the flames, it was hindering her plans so Lilith did her best and forced the wind to be suppressed. The wind began to flow in a coordinated manner, a circular path of wind was created around Lilith.

The compressed flow of wind, fast and deadly; like a scythe of the reaper that is waiting to take the head of a living being.

A whirring sound was heard, Lilith's blade of wind vibrated and the flames danced as it found a constant pulse granting it like it never had. Lilith's two-part minds began to create a space of its own, it didn't alter her brain but a deeper change began to occur.

And once her minds found tranquillity, it happened...

[Double Casting, learned.]

Description: Using two spells or elements at once is not possible.

Lilith didn't smile nor did she react too much about it all. Although she took in a deep breath, Lilith was still calmly doing what it is that she needed to do, improve.

Increasing the intensity of her fire, pouring her mana into it creating a constant beat, like it was a heart that pumps blood in the body. The fire spread throughout her every corner of her body, the heat melded with the wind and then, Lilith spread it around.

Fire is dangerous, it could burn and kill, destroy, and disfigure; only if it is on the wrong hands.

Like a slithering snake, the flames moved around the tent, but it did not lit anything ablaze. Instead, it was calmly moving around, following the will of its conjurer, the fire did not cause any harm.

Lilith's "rest" lasted for seven hours. Her mind's heart was racing but so was her mind. The movement of her fire began to become more tranquil together with her mind. But it was so smooth that she can do evolve it to the next rank so quickly.

She opened her eyes, and the sun was already high up in the skies.

[Fatigue: 89%]

"It is much more than yesterday, Nature's Blessing...it's not going down any further." Lilith clicked her tongue at the sight of her fatigue remaining stationary at 15%. That is not a good sign.

Lilith considered the chances and possibilities and then shook her head at the idea of taking a day off.

"The Pixies may come at any moment, the humans the Useless Goddess warned me about may also come tomorrow and suddenly invade us. I can't miss this day when we hunt for the C-tier dungeons."

Lilith stretched her body and walked out, her MP is at 50% but it will regenerate soon enough. Thus the day of the Priestess begins again. Like the day before, she went ahead and guided Chief's group to formulate and execute strategies and returned home.

But unlike yesterday she is furious today because they failed to conquer the dungeon, thus, tomorrow, hell would come for the Chief party.

She trained her attributes and truth be told, she found it hard to progress any further, so, she moved to the Thunder Clap Leopard and began trying to increase its attribute rank.

Unlike her Two Horns form, the Thunder Clap Leopard is not so great at controlling the attributes so her edge towards innate capabilities disappeared. But carrying over what she remembers in the Two Horns form, Lilith pushed through.

Lightning crackled as Lilith's body began to feel more and more like it was being shredded to pieces. This feeling of immense pain caused Lilith to grit her teeth, but she did not scream or open her mouth.

She groaned, but that is about it. She did not wish to show not even the invisible eyes that watch over her that she is in pain. She was strong, no one can take that away from her, she may not be attuned to fighting, but she is attuned to suffering.

A wound can be healed, but fear of pain doesn't. If she lets out even a single yelp, the chances of her breaking down are high, thus, she will endure, and endure she will.

Lilith's mind began to race, and as her limitations were hit but it didn't end as the pain grew stronger her limits were broken to pieces and Lilith finally lost her grip on her consciousness.

But even when she was forced to take a quick nap as her body was almost cooked from the inside, she never said anything or complained other than groan.

Alpha watched over Lilith and sighed...

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[You are foulmouthed and annoying, you complain about every little thing, but...you're pretty strong.]

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In the shadows where the light of the moon could not pierce, a dark-cloaked figure emerged. Dhampy observed Lilith and without saying anything or doing anything retreated back to the darkness and continued her observation.

Over at the opposite side of the Forest of Beast, on the east side where the more prominent shores of the island could be found, a massive metal construct docked.