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 were on guard right outside the tent. They had been hearing screams from the Pixie Captain resulting in the two becoming extremely curious as to what kind of torture Lilith was doing for him to beg for his life.
'The boss head can really be ruthless.' was what Sylva thought.
On the other hand, Dhampy was listening with a straight face. She was interested in Lilith's methods, but she also had 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 final 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 was ever-present.
"Sylva go to sleep, Dhampy take 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 (head)." The two responded.
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 had reached 80%.
"Nature's Blessing!"
A green light enveloped her tiny body putting her mind and physical state at ease from the ache it had sustained for the day.
"There's still much to do."
[Nature's Blessing: a single spell that alleviates fatigue pain, heals wounds, and put the mind at ease as it is accompanied by the forest's aroma.]
It works much better than Healing Light, and she would have chosen to use this earlier instead if not for the fact she still couldn't use it as an AOE spell.
Lilith crossed her legs and closed her eyes. The wind gathered around her and with her eyes close, many would think she was sleeping, but that was 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 in order to get stronger. The beings in this forest were strong, stronger than she had imagined.
The Ogres were capable of protecting her, but if they turn their backs on her? Lilith would die. Although the mission speaks of creating a foundation for an empire in this Ogre Village, she only needed a few to lay down a foundation so she was prepared to kill.
She was also doing this to ensure she'd be able to protect the Ogres and followers who were technically her lifeline, if she needed to. For the past few weeks since she became a daemon, Lilith had stopped her training right after learning how to use the "ultimate skill" of [Run Away].
However, now that she could "walk", she must begin to learn how to "run ". And after running she would "fly".
'Alpha, how long do you think will it need for the Wind attribute to reach S?' Lilith was not bent on increasing her firepower, or anything else, she simply wanted to increase the versatility of the wind element and increase her chance of escaping.
The wind was a very versatile element, if she moves with it she could become faster, if she attacks with it she could cut her opponent, if she defends with it she could blow everyone away. Thus, increasing its power was a priority.
[There is no S-rank in the wind attribute.]
'What?'
[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.
[You should also note that there's a plethora of elements out there, and evolving one's element for something better, is extremely difficult. Some Grand Sorcerers like Merlin reached LVL 1900 and didn't get the chance to evolve his element.]
'Is that so.'
If that was the case, then...endless possibilities could appear. Lilith's attention was then poured over to her attributes. But reaching A-grade was not something she was satisfied with; she wanted more.
'With my Wind Manipulation reaching A-tier, 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 after a long time.
A gust of wind blew Lilith's hair and sent it wriggling around 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, Lilith managed to create a space within her mind where she could manifest an element and have it remained sufficiently manipulable. It was a weird sensation, but with Alpha's help, it soon became natural to her.
With a part of her elemental manipulation being empty as the wind occupied the other half, Lilith proceeded with her plans.
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 the fire to retain its form.
However, it was not enough. The wind affected the flames still, it hindered her plans.
Noticing this, Lilith lowered the wind's output. It was difficult, but she managed to manipulate its strength. The wind flowed in a coordinated manner; a circular path soon formed around her.
The wind's flow became smoother, faster, deadlier; like a scythe of the reaper 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 life it like it never had. Lilith's two-part mind didn't alter her brain but changed something deeper… something more profound.
Her mind settled and then, as the element of fire found its life together with the flowing wind, Lilith new she succeeded.
She finally managed to split her mind.
And once her minds found tranquility, it appeared...
[Double Casting, learned.]
[Description: Using two spells or elements at once is now possible. Only a few Mages and Sorcerers can do this.]
Lilith didn't smile nor did she react too much. Although she was happy, Lilith was still calmly doing what it was that she needed to do — improve.
Pouring her mana into her fire, Lilith increased its intensity thereby creating a constant pulse, like a heart that pumps blood in the body. The fire spread and it too, like the wind, the heat melded surrounded Lilith.
It was not as elegant as her wind, but it was sufficient.
'Fire is dangerous, it could burn and kill, destroy, and disfigure; but such consequences appears only if it is on the wrong hands.'
Like a slithering snake, the flames moved around the tent, but it did not light anything ablaze. Instead, it was calmly moving around, following the will of its conjurer, the fire did not cause any harm.
[Two Horns Attribute: Fire rank up (A)
Passive Skill: Fire Manipulation (A)]
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 raised it to the next rank so quickly.
She opened her eyes, and the sun was already high up in the skies.
[Fatigue: 89%]
"Tsk… Nature's Blessing."
[Fatigue: 15%]
"Nature's Blessing."
[Fatigue: 15%]
"It is much more than yesterday; Nature's Blessing is no longer helping...it's not going down any further." Lilith clicked her tongue at the sight of her fatigue remaining stationary at 15%.
'That's not a good sign.' She said to herself as she felt a slight headache.
Lilith considered the chances and possibilities and then shook her head at the idea of resting.
"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. A chance to increase my level is a chance to take a step to the future."
Lilith stretched her body and walked out of her dwelling. Her MP was at 50% but it should recuperate soon enough. Thus, the day of the Priestess began.
Like the day before, she went ahead and guided Chief's group to formulate and execute strategies and returned home.
But unlike yesterday they returned with the Priestess furious because they failed to conquer the dungeon, thus, tomorrow, Hell would come for the Chief party.
After cooling her head down, she noticed the Ogres had yet to finish their training. But soon enough, they all fell.
"Healing Light." She casted and healed them like she did before. This time, more Ogres noticed her "blessing" and "kindness".
She then trained her attributes at night and truth be told, she found it hard to progress any further, so, she moved to the Thunder Clap Leopard form and began trying to increase its attribute rank.
Unlike her Two Horns form, the Thunder Clap Leopard was not so great at controlling the attributes so her edge towards innate capabilities disappeared. But carrying over the experience what she remembered in the Two Horns form, Lilith pushed through.
Lightning crackled as Lilith's body felt 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 even opened her mouth.
She groaned, but that was about it. She did not wish weakness, not to her people not to the invisible eyes watching over her. She was strong, no one could take that away from her, she may not be attuned to fighting, but she is attuned to suffering.
A wound heals, but fear of pain does not. If she lets out even a single yelp, the chances of her breaking down was high, thus, she would endure, and endure she would.
Lilith's mind raced, and her limitations were hit but it didn't end as the pain only 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 out, she did complain throughout the experience.
Alpha watched over Lilith and sighed...
[You are foulmouthed and annoying, you complain about every little thing, but...you're pretty strong.]
Lilith's cover was moved to the side and Dhampy looked down on Lilith and then disappeared after shifting her boss' position to a better position. She could do nothing more than that.
Over at the eastern side of the Forest of Beast where the more prominent shores of the island could be found, a massive metal construct docked.
