Amidst towering oak trees rose a small hill of snowy chrysanthemums, some of them stained with dry dark-red blood.

There lay a living part of a body, sustaining itself with natural substances. It was unknown how much time had passed, but it was slowly being engulfed by nature, dying from the loss of vital organs.

Her soft lips had dried from the absence of any moisture, her breathing becoming increasingly labored with each raspy exhale.

I approached this body, without arms and legs. The torso and head were somehow being supported by vines of plants, air, and massive roots.

The chrysanthemums quivered as I attempted to approach, as if they were alive, observing, anticipating my attack.

"I won't kill her, she's already dead..."

Shush!

I climbed onto her body, curious to know why she was still alive; her heart was faintly beating. Each time, the rhythm grew quieter.

—Who are you?

My hoarse voice broke through, looking at her purple eyes.

Her vacant eyes looked through me; I didn't understand what she was trying to say. A faint smile appeared on her face.

—Sharp ears, are you an elf?

From my lips, it sounded strange, as I had only seen elves in children's magazines. Or perhaps I had heard such a term when I had to sleep under the cinema. There, I watched movies with people or waited for my victim to kill. So some words were familiar to me.

The girl remained silent, her cold face gazing at the blue sky. She could no longer say anything to me; her body lay powerless, weakly absorbing air.

Ding!

[Special mission: Devour the eyes and heart!]

[Acceptance time: 30 seconds!]

[Completing the mission will grant a special reward!]

"Ah?"

I gasped in surprise, slightly puzzled. I staggered a bit from such a notification.

[20 seconds!]

"Do I even have a choice? What does this mean? And why should I refuse?"

"Sorry..."

[Mission accepted!]

I felt no remorse; I didn't even know this creature. If the system wanted me to kill her, then it would be much better; she would no longer suffer.

I approached her face; she smiled sweetly, as if welcoming me. Her eyes were empty; all hope for a normal life was lost.

"Forgive me..."

Crunch, crunch!

I peeked at her eyes, eating them like a wild creature. The flowers did not stop me; they wrapped around the girl's body. Even after her breath stopped, she continued to smile.

I tried not to think about the taste of her eyeballs. I accepted this mission, so I had to complete it.

"What a disgusting sight."

I tried to suppress my gag reflexes; eating monsters was a completely different experience. Immediately, my thoughts were filled with the fact that this was a girl.

On the other hand, it was harder. My beak pierced her chest, trying to carve out a huge piece of meat. I needed to reach this heart; if I didn't complete the mission, I wouldn't receive any rewards. I accelerated, breaking through the heart itself. I felt this dead mass.

"Just to eat..."

I grimaced, lifting this huge heart with my wings, then I began to eat it. After this feast, a notification appeared before my eyes.

[Special mission completed!]

Click!

I saw a black button in the space before me; a small white button was glowing in front of my face.

Beep! Beep!

My wing pressed the button. The location where I had just been changed. A white room, solid white without windows, doors. In this place, nothing existed.

"What? Where am I again?"

I wasn't the least bit bothered that I had ended up in another place again. It was just a white void.

???: “So, finally, you've chosen a form for me."

From the white void came a powerful female voice.

"Who are you?"

???: "I am connected to you, and you to me. Otherwise, you gave me a name. Although, I have a more solid name."

???: "How tired I am of answering your questions, you've annoyed me!"

A terrible female scream erupted from the white light.

"So, are you Gorgon?" Dryly I asked, looking around for this voice.

???: "Idiot! Don't call me by my stupid name. You had my will until you found a shell for me!" The creature yelled in a female voice.

"How should I address you then?"

I asked, looking around.

"Lakaris!"

From the bright light emerged an entity with snow-white skin, her eyes concealed by white glasses with the darkest frame.

Sharp ears pierced through thick dark hair, swirling from the very bottom. Her black tendrils of darkness forcefully seated me on a transforming chair of darkness beneath my paws.

image [https://ranobelib.me/uploads/ranobe/pererozdenie-v-vorona-novel/chapters/2840527/phonto_Zbqx.jpg]

"Oh!" My heavy cry broke through.

The girl approached even closer, showing her sharp fangs, studying me like a painting in an exhibition.

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"It's interesting what they found in you. Usually, avatars are only given to their chosen ones. And you're just some crow."

"What are you talking about?" I asked calmly, looking into her glasses.

Her tendrils wrapped around me as she pulled the chair closer, staring me directly in the face.

"So, you're the jackpot, huh? Summoned in the body of a crow!"

"Hahaha!"

The girl's insane laughter played on my nerves; this creature was completely unhinged. I didn't understand anything at all.

"So, you don't understand me? Do I have to explain every point to you? Damn, humans should deal with this, but you're not human at all."

"Wait, wait!"

She approached me, sniffing around like some wild creature. Suddenly, wild laughter erupted from her mouth.

"Haha!"

"Your soul was immortal! How interesting, you're an unusual human, how do I understand you. To live so many years and die by mortal hand."

"Stop, so your body was lying there in the forest! And how do you know so much just by smell?" I asked Lakaris.

"Damn it! No, that elf just gave me her shell. I'm a completely different creature. As for the second question, I can't answer, the information is classified."

"So what are you then? What am I doing here? Why do I need to be here?"

I started bombarding her with questions; apparently, Lakaris didn't like it, as the darkness began to envelop me, closing my beak.

"Don't anger me, I'll leave and never appear before you again."

I raised my right eyebrow, as if asking her. She was indeed something important in this world.

"Fine! The thing is, every summoned hero or chosen one in this world has a purpose. A soul, an avatar is attached to them, which will help them in the future, making them stronger."

Lakaris sat opposite me, creating a chair of darkness beneath her. I continued to listen to her story, closing my eyes because my beak was closed.

"We're called 'Aspects'. We're parts of someone else's higher souls, predetermined. They're given to people who are worthy and meet the requirements of our higher beings."

"I'm Lakaris, your Aspect, apparently, a mentor. I don't even understand why they chose such a pathetic creature like you." She sighed heavily.

"So, shall we begin?"

A crazy smile appeared on Lakaris's face; she was planning something very bad.

"Look, I'm your mentor, you've reached the necessary level for me to teach you something. I've been watching you for a long time; all you needed to do was kill not a monster, so that I, being so beautiful, could awaken you."

"Some words are sealed; according to the rules, I can't say what's unnecessary. All unnecessary information will magically disappear."

"Now you have two options! First - try to devour me to gain aspect skills. And second - I'll devour you, and we'll never meet again."

"Oh! I'm already devouring you, just decided that before death this information would be useful to you."

She smirked cunningly, looking at me; she was weak in herself. It's just that her skills were acting slowly.

"What?!" I got angry, my eyes were irritated. This crap was trying to kill him, and he was listening to what she was telling.

She was devouring him, enclosing him with her darkness like a birdcage.

Shush!

My sharp wing cut through her bonds with its sharp edges. Those black tendrils evaporated, being absorbed into my body. I just needed to cut her to escape from here.

"Oh! You finally understand what to do. Indeed, at this stage, I am very weak!"

Her tendrils became very sharp, flying at me like black arrows.

Clang!

"Just die already!"

I fended off her tendrils with my wings, my cold eyes staring at her. She fought from a distance, which meant she was afraid of a direct confrontation.

"You see, Aspects teach you to fight like this!" Lakaris' darkness attempted to engulf me like a tidal wave.

"Prove to me that I'm worthy of you. All I see is a pathetic little bird!"

Crack!

In an instant, I appeared behind Lakaris; my agility far surpassed hers. She wanted me to act, so I began to approach her closer and closer.

Whoosh!

I cut through her weak darkness, getting closer to her. Emotions betrayed Lakaris; she felt her weakness, her smile slowly fading as she struggled in this battle.

"And you're persistent, silent even in battle. You're insatiable."

She offered her hand to block my sharp wings.

"Whatever you are, you're weak," my cold voice broke through.

This struck a nerve with Lakaris; her soul was majestic, she couldn't tolerate such insults about herself. Her smile turned into uncontrollable rage.

"How dare you!"

Her mad scream pierced my ears; the darkness instantly transformed the room, enveloping the girl, making her dress even blacker than before.

Several tendrils pierced into my body; she pierced me through, getting closer to me. Lakaris began to slowly devour me, looking into my dull eyes.

"Cough!"

My blood splattered from my mouth.

"You're pathetic, you're not needed, you're not worthy of my power," Lakaris whispered, looking at me.

I raised my wings, chopping off her hands.

Boom!

I fell onto the white floor, watching as black sand flowed from her hands, transforming into energy, absorbing my body.

"Aaahhh!"

A mad female scream echoed in this place; the girl fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Her soul felt sharp pain even in such a state.

I crawled to her head and climbed onto Lakaris, lifting my heavy wings, beginning to cut her eyes. My feathers pierced her head like spears.

"Aaahhh!"

My cold gaze stared at her, a crazy smile on my beak. It brought the desired pleasure.

Her scream was music to my ears. She screamed with each of my strikes.

[You have won!]

Beaten Lakaris vanished, and before my eyes, the Aspect transformed again. This time she smiled even more hideously than before.

"Why are you still alive?" I asked coldly, looking at her askance. I rose from my knees, trying to approach her with heavy steps.

"Calm down! Savage!"

As soon as she raised her hand, I found myself once again under her manipulation, sitting on a chair made of darkness.

The girl created a black throne, from which living tendrils protruded. Lakaris looked at me, folding her hands together.

"You defeated my embodiment, congratulations!" She seemed satisfied.

She slowly sat down, placing her hand on her cheek. Her white glasses prevented me from seeing her eyes. She really enjoyed it.

"Now you've become interesting to me; I give you my blessing!"

Click!

Lakaris snapped her fingers, and a notification appeared before my eyes.

[You have defeated the Embodiment of Lakaris!]

[The following skills have been obtained!]

[Lakaris's Abilities (|)]

[Devouring the Dead Level 1!]

[Misty Tempering Level 1!]

[Transformation Level 1!]

"This is for the time being. We will meet again in the next embodiment. If you win there, you will get more."

Lakaris flashed her grin, evaporating in the white room. She was excited about this battle. Her heart was stronger at the sight of me.

“…”

I felt disgusted, looking at her. She annoyed me just by her presence. Of course, I liked that I gained a couple of new skills, but it didn't make things better. I just wanted to swing and teach her a lesson.

[Leave the room! 30 seconds until destruction!]

Click!

This button appeared again; I pressed it. Blinking my eyes, I found myself in the same place as before. There was nothing left of the female corpse, just a faint breeze, the movement of flowers, and Garvus waiting for me somewhere under the hill.

"What was that even about?" I asked myself, reviewing my characteristics.

"Hmm!"

[Transformation!]

Out of curiosity, I instantly activated this skill. After transformation, heavy smoke surrounded me; I tried to rub my eyes to see something.

"This is my hand?" I whispered to myself, examining all five fingers through the mist.