Chương 222: Chapter 219 - Gamielle, the child of mana, part one

Pinkie was focused on one thing and one thing only, to truly become the Passive Tyrant. She had decided to strip away everything that made her who she was. She never really cared much for her old self anyway. Throwing away lingering attachments to reach the pinnacle of strength and potential was just the obvious choice. The Passive Tyrant—Ayla, had told her that it was a bad idea and that Pinkie should step back and try to stabilize her Legend properly… but at that moment, Pinkie realized that it was a trap.

Stepping back from a challenge because you had to adjust wasn't something Ayla Winters would ever do. A paradox. Pinkie needed to stabilize her Legend, but if she stepped back from this then there was a good chance that she might never get to embody the Passive Tyrant in her entirety. So… she pushed, pushing herself further than she had ever had before. Turning into a senseless formless ball that was focused on one thing and one thing only. Truly becoming the Passive Tyrant.

Her spherical form had multiple human brains within, each one trying to find that combination that made the Ayla truly her. What was instinct but a coalescent of experience, genetics and soul? Pinkie just let herself go… Deeper into the class, further than you could imagine into the flesh, using Ayla's senseless willpower to forge on ahead. And in time the Mystical Shapeshifter… Was left with one. The body began to form around it. New Legend Detected… [Mystical Shapeshifting] -> [True… Stabilizing Legend… [True Shapeshifting: AYLA WINTERS] Two bleeding hands pierced into Pinkie's side and instantly infected the form floating within. Pinkie did not have time to react. Foreign blood and mana flooded inside. But more importantly than either. Were the emotions. Emotions that a psychopath could only fathom flooded into her mind. Pinkie tried to scream, but she had no mouth. So she created them. Mouths, draconic, humanoid, animals formed on the exterior of the ball of flesh— All so she could scream. And with it, memories. Of a mother's love. Of a daughter. ——"Push! Push!"" Honey, you're doing great!"" I swear if you call me honey again, I will hex you so much that—AHH!" Xie Lihua crushed a tanned man's hand. There was more than a little regret at having to want to experience childbirth like an ordinary human. With her resources, the [Witch] had hundreds of ways to mitigate the pain and any sort of other things but had decided to go with the most natural option. She was no stranger to pain. It just was the first time she'd gone through this one. When she heard the infant start crying all she felt was relief. The [Healer] brought the baby close. Xie Lihua immediately banished the pain so she could focus on her child. The baby girl with black hair noticed her immediately and blinked, then stopped crying. Both parents' hearts sank in their chest as they saw evidence of the oddity they were afraid of. A baby freshly born, staring at them like she was trying to comprehend what was going on instead of continuing to cry out loud. The father Gamar asked the [Healer] in concern." Is she… okay?" The dragonslayer tier [Healer] shook his head." I do not know. While she is physically healthy and well… her condition can mean any number of things." They had detected the odd condition in their child ahead of time. The infant had a mana core while she had still been in the womb. It was a rarity even amongst powerful elves. The oldest elves had only seen it a handful of times and it almost always ended in tragedy. Cursed children some elven villages called them. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Half the time the infant died during pregnancy, and the other times they had developmental issues… like taking several times longer than ordinary elves to grow up, or worse, growing far, far too quickly. No other dragonslayers had this issue. All of their children had grown up fine, healthy and perhaps even a little supernaturally talented. Xie Lihua would have taken that outcome over what they were dealing with now. A stroke of bad luck or perhaps something more sinister. Perhaps the [Witch] had spent a little too much time messing with fate and it was finally catching up to her. Xie Lihua's contacts from the greater cosmos did not have much advice either beyond letting things take their natural course. They did not have some of the more advanced technology to deal with it so they could only hope and pray. The parents stared at a newborn infant that was now staring at her mother's mana core with wide unblinking eyes, reaching for it. Xie Lihua lifted a finger, about to weave a spell that would keep her daughter in stasis while they could take time to analyze it further. A hand stopped her. Ayla Winters had been sitting silently in the room with them, waiting for all of this. Ayla lifted a finger to her lips and winked at Xie Lihua, then poked the infant in the nose. It startled the infant out of their contemplation, the baby stared at the offending finger then at the face of the poker. And the Passive Tyrant gave the child a bestial grin that would have any monster running. Gamielle started crying and wailing. Ayla ignored the glare from both the parents and the [Healer] and chuckled." Aw, I think she'll be fine." And that was all that was needed for Xie Lihua. While the other two in the room were dubious, she knew better. There was nothing more trustworthy than Ayla's instincts —— Pinkie continued to wail as the memories came flooding in. An eternity, or a lifetime? Who knew how much time went past, what she did know… Was how the story would end. —— Just as predicted, the baby grew up happy and healthy. If a little too boisterous for a child her age." Mummy, mummy, look at what I can do!" She was levitating a bunch of kitchen tools including a knife that Gamar had to snatch from her. Meanwhile, she sprinted around her mother. Xie Lihua let it happen, then, when the child inevitably exhausted her mana, she nudged one of the metal chopsticks so that it hit her daughter in the head. Little Gamielle started crying. You had to teach them that there were consequences for ignoring their parents. —— Pinkie could not look away nor could she do anything to change the outcome. Her own Legend was being overwritten by a much more well-developed one. The steady flow of blood pumped into her malleable Legend and it was changing. But Pinkie could only see the memories, the remembrance. —— Her daughter was floating! At the tender age of five, her daughter had developed enough of her mana core and was expertly using her mana to levitate. Not an insane speed, mind you, but even then! Such a display would bring fourthers with brand new mana cores to their knees. Xie Lihua couldn't help but look on in heartfelt pride, searing the memory into her mind for all of eternity. —— No. Gamielle, no, no, no. ——"Mommm! Why do I have to do this by hand!"" A [Witch] must learn to get her hands dirty."" But I don't want to be a [Witch]! I want to be a [Mage]! Like dad and uncle Xavien!" Xie Lihua dropped the bucket of milk. —— I don't want to feel this. Take it back, take it back. —— A pre-teen Gamielle was crying." Do we have to move away? She didn't mean it. I shouldn't have told her." Gamielle had revealed to her best friend the truth about herself, taking off the amulet that had her looking human instead of a half-elf. Her friend had lasted a few months before telling her parents the secret. An impressive feat if the Witch Tyrant had been honest. The Witch Tyrant had used a mix of bribes and thinly veiled threats to keep the family silent. But there had to be consequences to mistakes… so they were moving away." A lesson to be learned. I told you to be careful with who you trust."" I thought I could trust her! She's my best friend!"" Don't be angry at her, you have to remember, she is a child."" I'm a child too mom."" Yes, but you know you're different." The initial punishment of separation from her current life, then she would give a present to let both children still be in contact. If they matured suitably, the Xie Lihua would bring her daughter back here. Gamielle sniffed." Can you not just wipe their memories?"" That is not a field of magic I will dabble in, and neither will you. Understand?"" Yes mom." —— Please. —— Gamielle grew incredibly quickly in terms of her mental age. Her true physical age seemed to develop normally, as if her body was purposefully keeping in pace with the friends she had made. Book smarts, social skills, magical affinity and physical talent. There was nothing that wasn't prodigious about her. And her control of mana… At this point she could learn spells faster than evolved adventurers in the fifth realm. Gamielle was, perhaps, too talented for her own good. Xie Lihua could see it in the times her daughter talked with those of her age. A side she'd never reveal to everyone because she simply couldn't. Even that old best friend she had tried to cultivate over time could not keep up with her daughter's mental development. They drifted apart, as people often did. Gamielle probably felt the same with everyone around her. Sometimes, Xie Lihua felt like her daughter just acted her age because that was what her mother wanted of her. It wasn't a problem Xie Lihua knew how to fix. Her daughter did not grow up sheltered, but neither did Gamielle grow up not knowing who her mother truly was. Xie Lihua did not believe in fooling her daughter for decades just so she could live a more ordinary life. But she did want her daughter to be socialized properly instead of the mask she wore. So… the attempt to enroll her at the best tuition across the world. Using a false name and the father, Gamar's identity, they enrolled her with a few other children of adventurers. Xie Lihua had hoped to find peers for her daughter. But of course, there was none. If Gamielle put her mind to it, she would outlearn and eventually outskilled any talent in any field they taught. So, to fit in, Gamielle hid most of her talent. Only allowing herself to show some modicum of skill in artifact control. It broke Xie Lihua's heart. —— I'm sorry. —— Gamielle spent most of her time practicing with her mana core. From time to time, her auntie and uncle tyrants would drop by and she would learn from them. Listening to their stories, talking about their exploits. Surprising them with her spellcraft. All of them loved her, everyone treated Gamielle like she was their child, it was perhaps the only time Gamielle could be herself other than with her parents. For the most part, Xie Lihua was happy despite her failure to find peers for her daughter. Gamielle had grown into a well-adjusted and thoughtful individual that did not let the presence of her mother's status go to her head. And surely someone, somewhere out there would be capable of keeping up with her daughter's pace. If not, then well, Gamielle would one day reach the level of the Tyrants. … Something had changed in recent years. Her daughter had been more focused lately, more driven than before at working on her talents." What are you hiding from me, daughter?"" I thought you told me you wouldn't read my emotions anymore."" I am not. A blind amperdon would be able to tell that something has changed with you, and I, am no blind amperdon." Gamielle stuck out her tongue." Not telling! I'm allowed to have secrets right?" Xie Lihua blinked. And her daughter's rebellious streak began.