There was no one who did not desire beauty.
Man or woman. No one enjoyed watching themselves grow old, losing opportunities simply because they were not considered attractive enough. Whether people admitted it or not, it mattered.
And Lily was no exception.
She was still young, but she liked beautiful things. It was just a sha her mother limited so many of her actions.
Every ti Lily even hinted at wanting to try makeup like so of her classmates, she was imdiately shut down with the sa line.
"You're too young."
Too young. Too young. Too young.
Lily had heard it so many tis her ears were practically bruised from
it.
It did not help that ever since Michael's face had beco well known, her so-called classmates had suddenly beco very vocal.
"Are you sure you're related by blood?"
"That face is too much."
"He's too fine."
Lily still did not fully understand what they ant by that. What did they an, too fine? And were you related by blood?
Was she not fine too?
She might not be so overwhelming beauty, but she was definitely cute. And she was only sixteen. What did they expect her to look like?
In the end she could only comfort herself with her grades. That was her final defense. While others spent their ti worrying about appearances, she focused on her studies.
That had to count for sothing.
Unfortunately reality was not kind.
First place in class? Jester. Second place? The class beauty. Third place? The class's recognized handso male student. Lily could only cling to fifth place with Jester's help.
Not even top three.
If Michael knew all this he would snort in disdain and call them country bumpkins. Putting aside that they were too young to be focused on such matters, what beauty could they possibly have compared to elves? Even elderly elves looked like they could still model. This was not even being a country bumpkin. They were universal bumpkins.
"You're really annoying, you know that?"
Michael raised a brow slightly.
"Because I look good?"
"Don't say it out loud!"
Lily snapped imdiately, her ears turning slightly red. She crossed her arms and looked away.
"Anyway."
She forced herself to calm down. Her gaze slowly returned to him, more focused this ti.
"What's your secret. Not that I particularly care about it, but for your sake I'll accept it."
Michael let out a brief laugh before his expression settled into
sothing slightly more serious.
"There's one thing you should know first."
Lily's posture straightened instinctively.
"What?"
"It's going to hurt."
The curiosity in Lily's eyes did not disappear, but caution quickly followed behind it.
"Hurt how?"
Michael shrugged. "All I know is you won't forget it easily."
"That doesn't help."
Lily's lips twitched.
Her pain tolerance was not low. Thanks to Jester's training she had endured quite a bit already. But that did not an she liked pain.
Especially not unknown pain.
"How painful exactly?" she pressed.
"A worthy kind."
Lily went silent.
That was not exactly reassuring.
For a mont the two of them just stood there. Lily's expression
shifted slightly, hesitation creeping in.
She liked beauty. She really did. But pain was another matter.
She looked away briefly, clearly struggling with herself. Then she
looked back at him.
"Fine."
Her voice carried a note of stubbornness.
"I'll still want it."
Michael raised a brow slightly.
"Oh?"
Lily lifted her chin a little. "It can't be that bad."
Even as she said it there was a hint of doubt in her eyes. But she did
not take it back.
She also did not believe Michael would hurt her for no reason. If he said the pain was worth it, there had to be a reason. And more importantly, this was probably connected to his first question about wanting power. If she acted scared now, would that not be the sa as admitting her earlier answer had only been words?
Lily did not want to put on a weak front.
Michael's smile softened slightly.
"Good."
As he spoke, a bead of blood appeared in midair.
"Stay still," Michael said as he positioned the blood bead an inch
before Lily's forehead.
This was a very small drop of his blood essence. However it was not blood essence from his original body in Aurora, but from his body in the Land of Origin.
In a few months Lily was going to attempt her first awakening ceremony. If Michael said he had no expectations he would be lying, but he also knew how rare the opportunity was. It was why he had devised this plan. The body in the Land of Origin had been shaped by the Origin Will, or whatever governed the awakener system. rging Lily with the blood essence of that body might produce so unexpected results.
He did not have much faith that it would, but it did not hurt to try. In any case his blood counted as an extraordinary material capable of strengthening Lily's foundation regardless of the outco.
After casting the taming skill on Lily, Michael proceeded to the next
step.
[Human with extraordinary material detected. Consu to evolve?]
The difference between this thod and simple rging was that rging only combined the targets to create a mixture, and though it
might strengthen the individual it was not an evolution of the self into sothing higher. Michael did not want to simply rge his blood with Lily. He wanted to evolve her.
"Get ready," Michael said to Lily, but before she could react he had already activated his talent to initiate the evolution.
The mont the command was given, the calm purple space around
them trembled faintly as mana surged from every direction, rushing toward Lily.
Lily's eyes widened as she felt it first brush against her skin.
"H-"
Before she could finish a word the mana crashed into her. Her body lifted slightly off the ground. A bright light burst from her figure,
swallowing her whole in an instant.
It was blinding.
"What-?!"
Lily tried to move but her body no longer responded.
Then from out of nowhere a sudden pain enveloped her entire being.
"АААННННН-!!!"
A sharp, tearing scream ripped from her throat.
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