Chương 223: Chapter 220 - Gamielle, the Child of Mana, part two

Time passed. Gone was the precious, conscientious daughter that cared about her mother's feelings. It was like someone had come in and replaced her daughter with a rude brash girl that refused to listen to reason.

"That's just called puberty, honey."

"Call me honey again, and you will find yourself hexed." It wasn't a real threat between the two parents, just something she liked to say.

"I don't understand, she was so perfect, why is she like this now?" Gamielle was seventeen now, well into puberty but the change was so drastic it made no sense to her.

"I wasn't like that at her age." Gamar shook his head.

"Sometimes, that's just part of growing up. Also 'perfect' isn't how I'd put it, you weren't the one giving her magic lessons. Xavien and I were having headaches trying to figure out what was and wasn't appropriate to teach her." Gamielle picked up spells like [Rogues] picked up weapon proficiencies. If you didn't keep her busy, she would try to figure out pre-existing formations on her own, something that was absolutely too dangerous to be doing by herself. It just felt wrong to Xie Lihua.

But perhaps this was what all parents felt sooner or later. Her daughter was growing up. —— … —— Adventurer Gamielle was a whole other menace. Nineteen at realm six. Working with a team that was far, far below her standards. Gamielle could have soloed each and every Trial with her insane mana capacity and breadth of spells, but decided to take an even more difficult route: Teaming up with the most incompetent adventurers she could find.

Then carrying them through the trials without letting them realize that she was the one that made it so easy. All to maximize her achievements. She did not need to do this. Achievements were more than just taking risks with your life. Doing what others found impossible could boost your achievements all the same. In this case, it meant that Gamielle did not actually need to do anything special to maintain S grades in her realm grades.

All she needed to do was learn new spells at each realm that the vast majority of people would find to be impossible. That alone would push her into S grade territory. That was how talented she was. But for some reason, that wasn't enough for her daughter. Gamielle seemed obsessed over getting an S+ on every single trial. She made her life harder on herself with a purpose. It was just… she refused to explain why or what that was the case. Lihua had told her daughter that everything would be fine in the future.

That even if the Great Civilizations came knocking, they would still be able to maintain their peace. It didn't matter, her daughter continued chased achievements like a woman possessed. Though she wasn't. Xie Lihua had checked, multiple times. And her daughter, of course, had problems with that.

"Stop looking over me! You hovering over me is probably half the reason why I didn't get and S+ in my last advancement!"

"I would not be hovering if you weren't taking such inordinate risks. I have had enough, one should not treat their safety life like this, you are forming bad habits that I cannot condone."

"And what are you going to do, lock me up?" Xie Lihua did just that. Less for Gamielle's safety but because of the sheer cheek. You had to remind your children there were consequences every once in a while. It was just… Gamielle had managed to find a way to free herself in under a month. —— Gamielle. No. Don't… —— Gamielle was hooded, in a bar with some other seedy patrons in the city of Vitalia.

Of course, she knew her mother was watching over her, though none of the other patrons did or they'd be running for the hills. This was a place for adventurers to come and operate in a less… legal fashion. Far away from the more regulated inner Sectors, but still an incredibly prosperous area with steady flow regeneration potions from Sector Eight. Plenty of blacklisted adventurers traveled through here. Though only one figure had the Witch Tyrant worried.

That hooded figure grabbed Gamielle's arm as she was about to leave the room. Xie Lihua's finger twitched, ready to smite her down and damn the consequences. And so did Gamielle, though she did not show it on her face.

"Can I help you, miss?" Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The orcish woman threw a bunch of knucklebones onto the table, she sniffed, her bone necklace jangling as she turned to Gamielle.

"Child blessed by mana, will you not have a drink with me?"

"I'd rather not." But the orc [Shaman] stared at the knucklebones that had stopped rolling on the table.

"You hide many secrets." Both Gamielle and Xie Lihua stiffened. The [Shaman] kept reading into her bones.

"You are wise beyond your years, keep your secrets hidden well. For if the Witch Tyrant learns of it, you will never be free from her web again. That is what my bones see." Gamielle ripped her hand away from the dragonslayer tier [Shaman]. She rubbed her wrists.

"Thank you for your advice. I would have appreciated it more if it wasn't obvious I was keeping a low profile." Indigo lowered her head.

"My apologies Child of Mana. Go in peace and grow strong in secret, for that may be the only way we will one day throw off the yoke of the Tyrants." —— She no longer wished for it to stop. —— Gamielle had reached dragonslayer and Xie Lihua finally stopped monitoring her daughter as much. While there were still dangers in The Realm, at a certain point, she had to let her roam free. Though perhaps that was largely due to Gamielle's growth as a [Mage].

She was now capable of seeing through her mother's illusions and escaping her gaze. A point which Xie Lihua could do nothing but concede. Gamielle had truly grown up and was more than capable of taking care of herself. So, instead of hovering and potentially pushing away her own daughter, Xie Lihua stayed in a little cottage in Sector Ten, waiting patiently for her daughter to come back and talk about her adventures. It had a better effect than she had anticipated.

Gamielle lost some of that frantic edge that had plagued her in her younger years. She was now a fully grown adventurer and knew how to take care of herself.

"I hate them all, seriously mom. Guy adventurers are the worst, and the girls are almost as bad. Cindy, no wonder you can't cast [Rain of Fire] when you're sleeping with half the damned dragonslayers and have another kid on the way!" Xie Lihua chuckled.

"Maybe it's time for you to settle down and try some of that yourself. I certainly had no regrets with your father."

"Ew, mom gross."

"I am just saying, I would not mind a grandchild at my age. I will accept it even if it's out of wedlock." Gamielle shuddered at the idea. She shook her head, firmly rejecting the idea.

"We can live forever at this point. I have time."

"That we do." The two of them drank their tea as they continued to chat, Xie Lihua cherished each and every moment. —— I should have never stopped watching over her. —— Then… At the height of the superhero generation, the nations of Earth launched a plan. It shouldn't have worked. While the Witch Tyrant was distracted, her daughter was attacked. If it was a single team of competent adventurers, she was confident in her daughter winning. Unfortunately, there were three teams.

She did not find out until it was too late. Xie Lihua remembered waiting in the portal room on Earth, waiting for her daughter's revival. Only to realize Gamielle had been using her advantage as a Destined to leave a body on Earth. A careless mistake. A nearby facility blew up only moments after the revival timer was up. The rest… was history. –-— Present… The amount of real time that had passed was only a few seconds. Though to the ball of flesh that had been Pinkie it was likely a lifetime.

[True Shapeshifting: Ayla Winters The Witch Tyrant] The mass of flesh unraveled, revealing a naked elven woman that was in anguish, tears streaming down her face as she wailed her soul out.

"GAMIEEEEEELLLEEEE, MY DAUGHTERRRR." Have you ever heard the sound of a parent losing their child? Blood, emotions and memories of the Witch Tyrant, it shaped a malleable Legend just as it had manifested for the first time. One where the original user no longer resisted and accepted the memories and the emotions it had never known existed. The clone wasn't even thinking about her original self, just the loss of her daughter. This was always the plan you see.

The Witch Tyrant had considered using Pinkie as a true body for the Fallen Gamielle, but didn't want to risk failure due to a lack of her daughter's blood. Plus, her daughter as she was would actively work against her and she did not need less control over her own Legend.

So, the Witch Tyrant went with someone that would be sympathetic to her goals, someone that would be able to help multiply her power when she brought it to bear against the Trial System itself, someone that would eternally pursue her daughter's revival if all else failed. That someone, of course, was herself. A true and complete shapeshifting. Younger perhaps, and possibly missing the [Remembrance of the Fallen], but still impossibly powerful compared to any nascent Legend that had ever formed.

The original Witch Tyrant stood coldly above the other as robes of white settled on her copy… no, her twin. She nodded.

"Yes, you understand too, we must get our daughter back. You will help me and become the backup in case I fail." The new Witch Tyrant grabbed the original's robes.

"Let me see her, let me talk–""LIHUA!" The original turned to stare at the infuriated Passive Tyrant. Her old friend was looking at her in horror and realization. Ayla came to finally realize that this was not the same person she knew all her life. The copy did not care about the anger from Ayla, the memories were still fresh in her mind.

"My daughter, let me see her. I—" The Passive Tyrant's voice shook the world.

"Gamielle was right about you. I should have listened." As the copy begged, the original just stared at her oldest friend.

"I will do whatever I need to to bring my—I guess now, our daughter back."

"No, you need some sense knocked into you."

"And how are you going to—" [Remembrance [M A N T L E R I P P E R] of the Fallen] A thin line ripped through reality itself, it cut through the Fallen [Chieftain], tearing apart his immortal existence, it cut through half of the Witch Tyrant's clone, it cut through the Witch Tyrant's arms and would have cut through her head too if she hadn't already been dodging. A deep ravine opened up in the ground where the Witch Tyrant's clone [Shapeshifter's] halves fell.

The Passive Tyrant stepped forth, no holds barred, ready to take out the Witch Tyrant's safety life. The Witch Tyrant formed arms out of light and shot backwards. She was less focused on the Passive Tyrant trying to kill her, and more focused on the falling [Shapeshifter]. [Mantle Ripper] had ripped out the Legend but it was clear that Pinkie was still in shock and grief. She did not try to run and just let herself fall into the ground below. The Witch Tyrant would have to try that one again. But first…

she had to deal with the strongest creature in The Realm. Ayla burst forward from the beach, sand exploding around her as she shot forward with an actual intent to kill. The Witch Tyrant spun her weaves of light. Golden orbs spinning around her, ready to fire. This time, every single creature in The Realm shuddered.