When she returned to her senses, the first thing Lily noticed was that her sword was stuck in a lifeless body. There was no time to think about the implications of losing control and killing someone, she needed to help Mia, especially since she had no idea how much time had passed. She pulled the sword out and rushed back. Her body was shaking from shock, and she felt tired like never before, but she forced herself to move.

She saw Mia lying on the ground, motionless, and panicked.

"No, no, she can't be dead, please goddess," she cried out in the dark as she knelt down beside the girl. Lily checked her pulse, and was relieved when she felt Mia's heartbeats. The feeling was temporary however, because she noticed blood dripping out of the injured girl's mouth.

All Mia could do was open her eyes when she felt Lily's touch, but she could not speak nor move, and her whole body was in incredible pain. Must be some sort of a stun spell-she thought deliriously as Lily pulled her up against the carriage.

I never thought I would die like this, in the middle of a forest, taking a blow for someone I just met. Hopefully Lily is fine-Mia thought as her vision got blurry, and more blood seeped into her mouth.

"I am not gonna let you die here," she heard Lily scream beside her, and felt a soft hand grab her, forcing her mouth open. More blood came out, and another hand holding a red vial came into view. It poured the liquid into her mouth and Mia felt instant relief. She could feel her tongue again, and she started swallowing the liquid as quickly as she could. After a few moments, she felt her body relax, and her vision cleared up. She saw Lily standing over her, with tears in her eyes and heard her pleas. She tried speaking, but only coughed up some blood. Lily reacted instantly, and knelt beside her.

"Can you hear me?" she whispered and Mia nodded meekly in response.

"Thank Dahlia, the potion must have worked, " Lily cried out, and hugged the injured girl. Mia's body protested, but she forced her arms to move, and hugged Lily back.

"Thanks to you, I think I am gonna survive," Mia said slowly, and felt Lily's tears on her shoulder.

"Never scare me like that again, ok? We just met and I thought you died and I have no idea what happened and I didn't wanna lose the first person I met and…" Lily heard herself rambling, and closed her mouth. She let Mia go, and stood up slowly, before asking:

"What happened? One second I thought I was a goner and then nothing happened to me and you got hurt instead?"

Mia looked at her confused, before answering:

"You really don't know, do you? Everyone knows about the legend of Stella and her Soul Link. Who are you?"

Lily contemplated her options. Would her goddess get mad if she revealed who she was to the first person she met? Would Mia believe her? Is reincarnation common in this world, or was she unique?

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Only one way to find out, I suppose. And she deserves the truth. Don't want her to think I am some thug ambushing people in the woods in the middle of the night.

Having made the decision, Lily spoke out:

"I will tell you if you promise you won't think I am crazy, and if you tell me what happened back there afterwards."

"Not sure I am gonna call anyone crazy after tonight, and certainly not a cute girl who saved me twice already," Mia answered with a cheeky smile.

"Ok, so, I am not from around here originally. I died on a different world,called Earth, and the goddess Dahlia picked me to be her champion on this one. I woke up in the forest this morning." Lily stopped her story when she saw the look of embarrassment on Mia's face.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked. Mia hid her face in her hands and stayed silent for a time, before finally mustering the courage to answer:

"I am so sorry, your Grace, please forgive my transgression. I did not know who you were or I would never dare do what I did. "

Her change in demeanor took Lily off guard completely.

She seems to have believed me instantly, but now she looks scared, like she is expecting some sort of punishment.

Lily sat back down and placed her hand on Mia's shoulder, trying to give some reassurance to the scared girl.

"So you believe me and don't think I am crazy?" Lily asked in a gentle voice, trying not to scare Mia further. Mia seemed to relax a little, moving her hands away from her face as she answered:

"Yes, your Grace. You being an Outworld Avatar explains some strange things I noticed about you, like the way you fight or the way your soul feels. "

"I don't know anything about my soul being strange, but that was my first fight with the skills Dahlia gave me, so I was not used to the way I could move," Lily said.

"Call me Lily, please, and as I said, I am new here, so can you explain what happened back there and the Outworld Avatar business?"

"Outworld Avatars are what we call those Avatars who are sent to Teras by the gods, as opposed to those born here and chosen at birth," Mia explained. Lily nodded and she continued:

"As to what happened back there, let's start from the basics. I am a Soulmancer, a person with the Soul attunement, an extremely rare and valuable one, that works with the power of the soul, rather than just mana. The reason I was captured in the first place is that I have a skill that is rare even among Soulmancers, Soul Link. It allows me to link my soul to someone else's, granting them buffs, and me other abilities. Back there, I saw that you were about to be hit by a powerful spell, and I was desperate, so I did the only thing I could with no mana-I used Soul Link on you," she looked down in shame before continuing. "I then used Absorb to take the next hit instead of you, and that's how I was injured."

"Wow, that's great. Why would I be mad that you did that?You probably saved us both, and almost died in the process. I should be the one thanking you," Lily said with a smile.

Mia felt her cheeks heating up in response to the compliments, and she looked away to hide her face as she spoke:

"It's not that simple. Messing with someone's soul without their permission can be seen as a grave injury, especially when their soul was touched by the Divine, and because Soul Link has some downsides, too."

Lily sat silent for a moment, trying to come to grips with the fact that she was considered part of the Divine on Teras now, when she didn't even believe in a god mere two days ago. My new life is going to be so strange, she concluded, and decided to focus on the situation at hand, for now. Mia was still scared, and her brooding could frighten her further, which was not good, not only because Lily liked Mia and didn't want to scare her, but because the raven haired girl was her only source of answers in this strange world, so she needed her to be able to think clearly.

"What kind of downsides?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as level as possible to not startle the injured girl.

"Well for starters, it can only be used on one person at a time, and it's permanent. Only death can break it," Mia answered dramatically.