*/system: Kill Lili Aislien

-- Leon! Leon! What's happening to you?! -- Lili asked, her voice full of concern.

- Get away from me! - I shouted, fear gripping my heart.

Lili’s face twisted in confusion.

- I’m sorry... There’s just something bugging on my mind right now - I said, trying to calm myself.

-- You can tell me what's on your mind. I'm listening... -- she replied gently.

- Do you hate... Gustav? - I asked, hesitant.

-- Oh, I see. Do I seem like I hate him? -- Lili gave me a soft smile. -- Come with me, let's go outside for a bit. --

We walked through the forest. The leaves were slowly turning from green to yellow; the season was changing quickly. Walking calmed me, but the thought of killing her still nagged at me.

Eventually, we reached a large lake, one I hadn’t seen before. I walked toward the water’s edge while noticing that Lili had stopped halfway to the lake. I turned to look at her.

She was casting a magic projectile, launching it toward me. Instinctively, I cast a barrier to protect myself.

-- Leon, this is your final test! Your goal is to defeat me! If you succeed, I will tell you everything you want to know. --

She started bombarding me with endless projectiles—her specialty. I focused on maintaining my barrier and, with a quick motion, launched a fireball into the lake, creating a massive mist cloud. With the mist covering the area, it would be harder for her to target me. I used detection magic, to pinpointed her location. The vibrations in the air gave her away...

I attacked with earth spears, but she dodged them with ease. Her fighting style was remarkable—swift and agile, like a magic-wielding assassin. It felt like battling a monkey mage.

I flew into the sky, trying to locate her, but then she used the air itself as stepping stones, running toward me. She grabbed my leg and hurled me toward the lake. Before I hit the water, I cast a spell to stop my fall, then i fired Ice projectiles to her.

She countered by summoning a massive water dragon from the lake.

a huge water spell in a shape of a dragon.

Was she trying to kill me? I mimicked her spell, but using fire instead. My advantage was my immense mana pool.

I generate fire directly using my own mana.

As my fire dragon emerged, it evaporated her water dragon. I had the upper hand, but then I saw it—her hand generated a blade made entirely of mana. It was the same blade I’d seen in my vision, the one she used to kill Gustav.

She charged toward me again. I ascended higher and higher, reaching the clouds. In a desperate move, I manipulated the nearby clouds, forming a massive ball of dark storm clouds. I spun them rapidly, creating a tornado.

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Lili got caught in the whirlwind. I followed up by summoning lightning from the storm and directed it at her. My mana was draining fast, but I successfully struck her.

She fell into the lake. For a moment, everything was silent, but then the entire lake froze, and the ice shattered into spear-like shards, all hurtling toward me. I launched my lightning-charged storm cloud at her, and when it struck the ground, it exploded, shattering the ice spears into pieces.

Suddenly, I noticed a large shadow on the ground below me. I looked up—above me was a colossal water ball, like a meteor, falling straight toward me.

So this was her plan. She used the mist and the water I evaporated to form this giant water ball without me noticing. She knew I would rely on fire magic.

I can't beat her...

**/system:** *Kill Lili Aislien...*

My head pounded, and I felt dizzy again.

Lili dropped the massive water ball. It engulfed me as it crashed into the lake. I felt my body sinking slowly to the bottom.

I need to know the truth. Why would Lili want to kill Gustav?

I funneled all my remaining mana into my heart. It felt like my heart was going to explode—a sharp pain, like needles piercing through it. Using that mana, I generated wind magic, creating a powerful whirlpool in the lake.

I emerged from the water, floating in the air. Lili’s face showed surprise. I controlled the wind around me and formed a wind blade, hurling it toward her. The blade grew larger with each passing second, tearing the ground apart as it moved. Lili dodged it just in time, but the wind blade continued into the forest, destroying everything in its path.

I coughed up blood. Lili looked concerned, but I kept attacking with wind blades.

She dashed toward me again, stepping on air as though it were solid ground. My vision blurred. I launched myself further into the sky, gathering all the mana I had left. I ignited a flame in my right hand and summoned a swirling storm of wind in my left, both amplified with dark magic.

Lili's mana blade emerged once more as she approached. I pressed my hands together; it felt like they were magnets, pulling toward each other. My head throbbed, my heart ached, and my vision darkened. As I opened my hands, black lightning erupted between them.

Lili leaped toward me. Her blade was inches away from me, but before it could pierce my body, her weapon crumbled. She dispell it then hugged me in midair.

-- Well done, Leon... --

The black lightning struck her, and in a flash, it blasted her into the lake’s depths. The water evaporated, leaving Lili lying at the bottom.

My vision went black. My mana was completely depleted. I started falling from the sky.

Suddenly, everything turned white, and I saw a man standing in front of me. I could see his feet, but I couldn’t look up to see his face. It felt like I was paralyzed—like being trapped in sleep paralysis.

-- Did you kill her? -- the man asked.

His voice sounded familiar, like I had heard it before.

- No... I couldn’t kill her - I replied.

-- I see... I couldn’t do it either... --

- huh, Who are you? -

**/system:** *Reboot...*

Suddenly, I woke up. I was staring at the blue sky. A warm breeze brushed against my skin, and my head rested on something soft.

-- You're awake already... -- a familiar voice said.

I looked up. It was Lili. I was resting in her lap.

-- You’ve become so powerful in the past three years, Leon. I have nothing left to teach you. I thought you were going to die... It's a miracle you survived after using so much dark magic... --

- Did I win? - I asked, my voice weak.

-- Yes, you defeated me, Leon... You definitely did. --

- So, will you tell me now? Why? -

-- Hmm? -- Lili seemed confused.

- Why are you going to kill Gustav? -

-- What?! Who told you that I was going to kill Gustav?! -- she exclaimed.

- Well, do you hate him? - I pressed.

-- Not at all. Let me tell you a story...

I was born in Hariya, a southern province of Hanisha. My mother was an elf, once a slave, and my father was a human farmer. I have two siblings, Lala and Lulu—we're triplets. Elves are known for their powerful magic, but unfortunately, we’re also highly sought after as slaves.

Our mother taught us magic to protect ourselves from slave traders. While Lala and Lulu weren’t interested in magic, I had a passion for it. Lala was more like our father, taking care of the farm animals, while Lulu enjoyed doing household chores like our mother.

One day, Master Enchu and a young Gustav came to our village. Back then, Master Enchu wasn’t part of the Council of Elders. He and Gustav traveled, performing magic tricks to earn money for their journey. Gustav was around twelve years old then, a thin, pale boy, while I was eleven.

Master Enchu was incredible, forming shapes out of elements and summoning small creatures. To me, someone who could barely manage small elemental projectiles, he seemed like a true master of magic.

I watched them perform every day. Gustav acted as Master Enchu's assistant, handling props. After their performances, they would head back to their camp at the foot of the mountain, where Master Enchu trained Gustav. It was intense. Gustav was weak at the time and lost more often in their sparring than not, which resulted in him being harshly beaten during their training, he can't even touch master enchu.

Whenever Gustav failed, he would vent his frustration by kicking and punching trees or running up and down the mountain until he collapsed from exhaustion.

I would always spy on them from a distance, eager to learn magic from Master Enchu. I tried to imitate his spells, but without understanding the fundamentals, it was nearly impossible.

One evening, while watching them from a cliff, I lost my footing and slipped, tumbling down toward their camp. Before I could hit the ground, Gustav caught me with surprising speed.

-- You’re heavy, -- he said, struggling to hold me up.

Under the moonlight, I could see his face clearly for the first time. His blue eyes sparkled, and my heart raced. Time seemed to stop, and I couldn’t think of a single word to say. He was even more handsome up close than he was from afar.

And that was the moment I realized—I had fallen in love with him... --