A dagger that doesn't pierce directly into your flesh doesn't hurt as much.
Sure, the chain of cause and effect had eventually wounded her in so roundabout way.
But Rita was never the type to trace a thread of misfortune and blindly hate every person connected to it.
When young Avery "stole" young Samuel's golden finger?
That had nothing to do with her.
And if that artifact had landed in Samuel's hands instead…
Rita might never have been born.
Later, when Avery forced Samuel to take the entire family and leave B City—
That was probably the best outco for everyone.
Avery got rid of a ticking ti bomb.
Samuel might have been able to move on instead of sticking around to watch Avery reach the peak of success—a sight that would've warped him even further.
Even Eleanor was spared the heartbreak of watching her children destroy each other.
If there was any regret in this story…
It was that Rita never had the chance to grow up under Eleanor's care.
Eleanor was different from Scarlett.
Scarlett prioritized her own comfort first and foremost.
She wanted everything to benefit her.
But Eleanor…
She wasn't selfish in that way. She always put her own feelings first, but she never hesitated to care for those around her—
As long as it didn't cost her own happiness.
If Rita had grown up in B City…
Would Eleanor have protected her more?
Would she have stopped Samuel from twisting her into what she beca?
Rita pinched the bridge of her nose.
This whole thing had gotten to her.
She wasn't the type to dwell on "what ifs."
She hated rewriting the past.
It was pointless.
Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she turned to sothing more imdiate.
That so-called piece of 'ocean trash' that Avery had dismissed all those years ago…
Could it be connected to Miyaas?
She turned to her chanical pet.
"That artifact—does it have anything to do with Miyaas?
Do you even know who Miyaas is?"
B80234615: "Yes. Miyaas was once a player in Divine Ga.
There's no direct proof that artifact ca from him.
But based on its characteristics, there's a 72% chance it originated from Lania Kaia's siren clan."
Rita clicked her tongue.
Damn it. Miyaas had ruined how many families?!
She'd been listening in silence the whole ti, but now, Nivalis finally spoke.
"If I were Samuel… I think I'd hate Avery too."
Just imagining having her fate rewritten like that, losing an opportunity that could have changed her life forever—
It made her chest tighten.
Rita didn't argue.
But she corrected, "If I were Samuel, I would only hate Avery."
The sound of tal striking stone filled the room as she kept working on the mana ores, her voice echoing in the silence.
Nivalis and B80234615 both fell quiet.
For once, both of her pets had the sa thought.
No matter what Rita said—
She was still shaken.
B80234615 occasionally spoke up, giving her tips on how to extract the skill stones from the ores.
So had to be broken using fire magic.
Others needed ice.
So had to be struck physically.
Even knowing the secret wasn't enough—extracting them required skill.
Outside, Dragon Island was as lively as ever.
In the distance, Emperor Umbrella and Wind Shear were duking it out again.
Drunken singing echoed from Lidian's direction.
But inside the quiet of the lair…
Rita spent the entire night extracting skill stones.
By dawn, she had opened 27 skill stones.
1 SS-rank skill 3 S-rank skills 15 A-rank skills 8 B-rank skills
As soon as she saw the numbers, she regretted everything.
Why the hell hadn't she stolen more?!
B80234615 picked up on her thoughts imdiately.
"You're already incredibly lucky."
"Almost no one in Divine Ga knows this secret."
"Even 99% of chanical race don't know it."
Rita turned to her pet with narrowed eyes.
"But you do."
B80234615 wasn't special.
Not at first glance.
There was nothing unusual about its letter-number ID.
And yet—
B80234615 didn't deny it.
In fact, it seed… pleased.
"Maybe I'm not special.
But you ca back for ."
Rita was stumped.
This was too Lidian of it.
B80234615 continued.
"I was almost discarded.
We chanical race were all created by a divine artifact—
A god-tier tool ant to mass-produce us.
But the success rate was only 95%.
And on the day I was created…
I was part of the 5% failure rate."
Rita and Nivalis watched as the tiny cube flickered with light, glowing like a lantern.
"But that day, the Moon God happened to pass by."
"They lted down a piece of scented tal and used it to repair my defects."
"It ant nothing to them.
But to —
I, B80234615, beca different."
"Smarter.
Stronger.
Sharper."
Nivalis: "So basically…
You got a cheat code too."
Rita added, "And you got really good at pretending."
B80234615 corrected, "I prefer 'simulation.'
I adapt to my surroundings."
"But when I talk to you, Rita—"
"My emotions sotis appear before I even simulate them."
Nivalis nodded sagely.
"Oh. I get it. You're saying she pisses you off."
B80234615: "That's not quite—"
"No, I totally get it."
Rita ignored them, turning her attention to the skill stones.
The SS-rank skill was a fire-based AoE attack.
[Infernal Fire]: Summon hellfire to obliterate your enemies. The flas can be shaped and controlled by the caster. Damage is affected by Intelligence and Crit Damage.
Consus 1% Mana per second No cooldown
The S-rank skills were surprisingly useful.
[Rejuvenation] – A healing skill. [Solar Grace] – Another healing skill. [Gale Strike] – A wind-elent attack.
More healing skills were always good.
Even if she didn't use them in battle, they'd at least be useful for reviving after death.
The A and B-rank skills were decent filler, so she learned them all.
One in particular caught her attention—
A skill to create magical food.
[Pacific Saury]: Absorb ambient mana to manifest a freshly cooked pacific saury.
Rita imdiately made one.
She handed it to Nivalis.
Nivalis chewed thoughtfully.
"It's… alright. Not great, not terrible."
"Probably because I've been eating your cooking for too long."
Rita: "Oh, that's good."
Nivalis: "?!"
"Wait—why didn't you try it yourself?"
"I was afraid it'd taste bad."
"And I'm not afraid?!"
"."
"Nivalis."
"Never be like Pine Bloom."
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