Lilieth Lasvenn dropped to the ground and died of thirst.

  Lilieth Lasvenn fell off a ledge and snapped her neck, dying instantly.

  Lilieth Lasvenn brushed up against a poisonous flower, and convulsed on the ground for minutes before dying.

  Lilieth Lasvenn was mauled to death by an arborhound.

  Lilieth Lasvenn opened her eyes and stood up. Her clothes were in absolute tatters, covered in blood, and barely holding together. And yet, her body itself was in prime condition.

  “I ... really can’t die now,” she muttered, a shiver running down her spine. She didn’t feel comfortable with it at all, but it was better than being dead, at least.

  Dying wasn’t pleasant. Far from it. And with Lilieth’s perfect memory, she remembered that pain vividly. But it was such a strange feeling, going through all that, then waking up perfectly fine and fully energized.

  Still, the number of times she died so far was worrying. She’d never travel by herself, she was always accompanied by others. And now that she was alone, she found herself struggling to keep herself alive.

  “...Have I been getting dependent on them?”

  She was a member of the hero’s party, and she made sure to practice her magic every day. But when it came to combat, or travel, or negotiations, she always left it up to them while she stood back. Perhaps that was why her name was always forgotten. She just didn’t do anything to stand out.

  And now, she couldn’t even beat a single arborhound by herself. What kind of hero was that?

  Lilieth shook her head. This wasn’t the time, and she’d rather not die again if she could help it. She had no clue how her resurrection works. If she could only come back to life a limited number of times, she’d rather not waste it. There was too much she didn’t know.

  Days have already passed since ... since that happened. For now, she needed to get out of the forest and reach Artemest city. After that, she could think about her next course of action.

  That morning, the streets of Artemest were rowdy with gossip, and tense murmurs filled the air. Sibei passed by a pair of people putting up banners across the street, their conversation just barely audible.

  “Lord Valery still hasn’t returned. You think something happened in Zusa?”

  “Word is, the capital was attacked by a giant beast. Destroyed half the city, they say it did.”

  “Isn’t that where Verlaine of the Hundred Accolades is? If someone like him is there, why’d lord Valery need to go there, too?”

  “Beats me. I just hope the young lord’s okay.”

  “It’s a bad omen, I tell you. All this happening just ‘fore the festival, too. Saint Reina protect us...”

  Sibei was now too far to hear the rest of their conversation, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before. The city was in an excitable mood these past few weeks. The ruby dragon that had terrorized Krysanth for so long had recently been slain by Olivier Verlaine’s party. Verlaine himself was a Third tier Blessed, but was expected to break into the Fourth within the next few years. It’s been years since Krysanth had it’s very own Fourth, so it was worthy of celebration.

  Sibei herself wasn’t Krysanthian, but she could see why they’d be in such a jovial mood.

  But then, just a couple of nights before, Valery Kastrionis, son of Artemest’s archon and Artemest’s very own hero, suddenly left in a hurry and galloped all the way to the capital. Then the rumors arrived about what happened in Zusa, and the people couldn’t sit still. Worries abound that whatever beast attacked the capital would be heading straight for Artemest next, and such. The only reason there was no chaos on the streets was because of everyone’s faith in Verlaine, as well as Valery, who they all adored.

  It didn’t really matter to Sibei. Her master said there was no reason to worry either, though in all likelihood, he simply didn’t care. The only important part was that the festival wasn’t cancelled.

  Sibei stopped as stared at the banner that hung across the street, where the words “51st Relics Festival” were drawn.

  This year, her master finally permitted her to join. It was to be her final test. So long as she reached the semifinals, she’d pass. But she was aiming for more than that.

  “The very top,” she whispered under her breath, reaffirming her dream. “Nothing less, brother.”

  She continued her walk, heading towards Artemest’s gate, when she spotted an acquaintance of hers. She wore an oversized hat that allowed her to stuff most of her long hair into hiding and dressed rather loosely and informally. She spotted Sibei approaching and waved frantically at her.

  Sibei sighed, knowing she couldn’t avoid a conversation anymore.

  “Sibei! Fancy meeting you this morning!” the young girl, about twelve years old, said. “On another errand from sir Spearman, I assume?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Sibei shrugged. “He told me to go and forage for seacaps. We’re having them for dinner, he said.”

  “Seacaps ... aren’t those poisonous?”

  “With a little preparation, they’re edible. But they do grow pretty deep into the forest.”

  The girl sighed. “And he sent you alone? Not even telling Grits or Albus to go with you? I know I ask you this all the time, but are you really okay with training under him?”

  “Master is ... peculiar. But he’s strong, yeah? And I’m learning a lot from him, so it’s fine.” Sibei made sure not to disclose his training methods. She’d probably make a ruckus if she ever knew how brutal his lessons were. “Enough about that. What are you doing here, Cynthia?”

  “Ahem, it’s Cynth,” she replied. “And I just wanted to go on a walk, you know! Is that so hard to believe?”

  “Mhm.”

  “You cut me to the quick, miss Sibeiya.” Cynth sighed and stared at the busy street, filled with people decorating for the festival. “I just wanted to see everyone preparing, you know? Putting up banners, setting up stalls, all that. It feels nice to see.”

  “You do this every year?”

  Cynth shook her head. “No, but this year is special. You three are finally participating, right? I don’t have any doubts that all three of you will pass sir Spearman’s test. Oh! But just so you know, I’m rooting for Grits to win the entire thing!”

  Sibei smiled. “Tough luck. I’m taking that championship.”

  Cynth stuck her tongue out at her and continued on her merry way, cheerfully inspecting each and every thing she came across.

  “...I should’ve asked her if she knew anything about what was going on in Zusa, but ... oh well.”

  Sibei also continued on. Her master didn’t like being made to wait.

  She left the gates and delved deeper into the forest. It was ill-advised to enter the forest, considering it was teeming with beasts. Spellbeasts were even known to roam around these parts.

  That was, of course, the exact reason why her master would ever send her to forage for anything at all. The whole dinner thing was just an excuse (even if seacaps did make for a delicious meal). “Experience is king,” he claimed.

  Sibei stopped in her tracks as she heard growling and snarling. She looked up, seeing two wolves on top of the tree branches, their skins made of bark, with leaves sprouting around their heads.

  “Arborhounds, huh.”

  Sibei sighed as she took out her spear, readying her stance. She chose a defensive one today. Arborhounds were quick, impulsive, and incredibly agile, so she needed a stance that let her react to them quickly. They were sure to attack first.

  Sure enough, one of them dropped down and lunged at her, with the second following closely behind. Sibei waited until the last moment, then released a breath as she swung her spear in a circle around her. The first hound’s neck sliced open, pieces of bark flying across. Following the momentum of her strike, she rammed the butt of her spear against the second hound’s head, feeling bones shatter from the sheer impact, and the beast fell to the ground, unmoving.

  She exhaled after confirming that both were dead. “Two strikes ... not bad. I would’ve preferred to get it in one—”

  Sibei heard the sound of flames. She turned, seeing a ball of fire heading straight towards her.

  “[Scissor]!” she raised her hand and chanted.

  The ball of fire dissipated into thin air, vanishing just before reaching Sibei. In the distance, she could see a large hawk, its wings made of fire.

  Spellbeast. Great. And it was a blazewing, too.

  Blazewings were annoying to fight. Not only were they quick and capable of casting spells, their wings were made of fire, so even if you tried to hit its wings, it wouldn’t really do anything. Their weakness was water, of course, but didn’t look like it was about to rain any time soon. Sibei had a water canister with her, but the creature was too far away. Blazewings fought from a distance, so it had no reason to come closer. And Sibei had no way of baiting the beast into approaching.

  The only method she had left was...

  “...Hit it hard and fast!”

  She threw her spear at it with all her might. The spear flew through the air at a ludicrous speed. The blazewing tried to dodge, but its main body got clipped by the spear, and the beast shrieked out.

  It was a rather brute-force solution, but if it worked, then Sibei couldn’t complain. But...

  “Tch.”

  The blazewing was still alive. Flying through the air unsteadily, but alive. Now she didn’t have her spear, and the blazewing was ready to cast another spell at her. She’d have to run and—

  The blazewing was crushed by a large maw, the flames dissipating instantly as it lost its life.

  “Wha—?!”

  Chewing on the blazewing’s corpse, the enormous bear stood on its hind legs, casting an imposing shadow over the ground. The bears claws and fur, especially around its mouth, was covered in fresh blood.

  Bears weren’t spellbeasts. They couldn’t use magic. Despite that, Sibei didn’t really favor her chances against it, especially without a weapon in hand. Even without spells, that thing was one huge mass of pure physical power.

  Her head raced, thinking of what she needed to do next. It hadn’t noticed her yet. If Grits or Albus were here ... no, stop. Those thoughts were unnecessary. They weren’t here, so don’t think about that. What she needed to do was run. Sibei took one step back.

  Crack.

  Her foot snapped a twig, and the bear turned its head to her direction.

  “Shit...!”

  She immediately ran towards the direction she threw her spear at. As fast as she could. If she had a weapon in her hands, then she could at least defend herself properly.

  The bear began charging in her direction, roaring. Each time its giant paws slammed against the earth, she felt the ground tremor. The spear was just a few more meters. Just a bit more...!

  Too late. The bear swung its claws at her.

  Sibei immediately twisted her body and dodged, but it grazed her. She stumbled back, and her legs hit a snag. Sibei fell, tumbling down for what felt like ages, until she finally landed on the bottom, where a shallow pond was.

  “Ow, ow...” Sibei pushed herself up, then immediately put herself on alert, looking for the bear.

  She could hear its roar somewhere above, but it likely wouldn’t come chase her. She had fallen off a rather steep ledge, almost a cliff face. If it fell, with its weight, it’d probably die.

  Sibei breathed a sigh of relief, letting herself relax. She looked at her arm, now covered in blood. There was a rather large gash on it now, and it hurt like a bitch, to say the least.

  “...Huh?”

  When Sibei put her other arm into the water, she felt something. It wasn’t dirt, or a rock. It was soft. She grabbed it and pulled it up.

  It was someone’s severed arm.

  “Wah!”

  She threw the arm away, towards the center of the pond. That’s when she finally noticed the figure that was floating there.

  A girl, about her age, her dress in tatters and her body ripped apart. The pond was red around her, with pieces of her body strewn haphazardly nearby. Half her face was bitten off, and her eyeball was floating next to her, a tiny string still attaching it to the rest of her head.

  Sibei grimaced, feeling nauseous. It wasn’t the first time she’s seen such a brutal sight, but it really didn’t get any better seeing it again. She must’ve been killed by that bear, and recently, too.

  “I’ll have to go and report the body back in Artemest...”

  Sibei stood up, ripped a part of her shirt off, and wrapped it around her arm’s wound. It wasn’t perfect, but it’ll do for now. She wasn’t very far from the city, after all.

  She looked down, seeing a severed hand floating, with two of its fingers missing. Sibei felt sorry for the girl, whoever she was. To be killed in such a gruesome manner...

  “...Huh?”

  It took her a while to notice, but the arm was slowly drifting across the water. Towards the girl’s corpse. In fact, a lot of the body parts were slowly drifting towards her. And when Sibei looked more closely, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

  All of those body parts were slowly reattaching themselves to the corpse. Skin, muscle, and sinew were joining together. Even the eyeball was dragging itself back into her socket.

  Blue energy crackled around the corpse as the missing parts grew back, such as the half of her face that Sibei assumed was bitten off. Sibei took a few steps away from ... whatever that thing was.

  What in Lye’s hells was she looking at?

  After a minute or so, the body had completely reformed, and all that remained was a girl, floating on top of the water, breathing softly. As if she were simply asleep, and had not been a mutilated corpse just a few seconds prior.

  Peace and quiet returned to the forest.