Chapter 97: The Girls Talk
Lyris blinked, her violet eyes wide with confusion. She struggled to comprehend how such a small, fragile-looking child had managed to enter the dangerous Ascension Realm. She opened her mouth to ask the little girl who she was and where she came from.
"Don’t bother asking who I am," the child interrupted before Lyris could even speak.
"I am Ravena, Alen’s bond. You can simply consider me as a Spirit tethered to his soul."
Lyris looked at her with genuine curiosity, realizing she was seeing a true spirit for the very first time in her life. She had heard ancient tales that spirits existed and that various high-level Awakeners could actually summon them. Some spirits took the form of humans, while others mirrored the terrifying visages of demons or monsters. Various kinds of ethereal beings existed in the world, but encountering one was rare.
This was her first time seeing a spirit this close, let alone one that looked like an innocent child.
Ravena folded her tiny arms across her chest and asked in a calm tone,
"So, who are you? And don’t try to hide anything from me. I already know you are a girl."
Lyris let out a soft sigh. Realizing it was pointless to maintain her disguise in front of this perceptive entity, she didn’t try to hide herself anymore. She replied softly,
"I am Lyris Veyra. I was hiding my true identity because I didn’t want anyone to recognize me while traveling. I came here solely to attempt the Ascension trial."
"Several days had already passed in this ruined city. I couldn’t see anyone else around, and I couldn’t find the ghost I was supposed to hunt. So when Alen suddenly crashed down from the sky out of nowhere, I assumed the ghost had read my mind and mimicked someone I knew."
She shook her head.
"I searched the entire area and couldn’t find any other Awakener besides myself. It was far outside my expectations that he could be real. I didn’t figure out the truth until just recently, right after I accidentally attacked him and saw him bleed."
Ravena kept her arms folded and stared blankly into the fire for a second.
"Hmph... That sounds convincing enough. But how do you know Alen?"
Lyris turned her violet gaze toward the sleeping boy. She stared at his resting face for a moment before replying.
"Well, we met during a tournament several months ago. It was a rather brief meeting, but since we fought against each other in the arena, we became acquainted."
Ravena’s crimson eyes sparked with sudden interest at the mention of a tournament.
"Then tell me about this competition! Who won the fight, and just how strong are you?"
Lyris chuckled, laughing awkwardly at the little girl’s fierce excitement. She patted the dusty floor beside her, inviting the spirit to sit down. Little Ravena didn’t wait a second and sat right beside her. In reality, Ravena didn’t care about the prestige of the tournament; she just wanted to hear if someone had beaten that silver-haired scumbag into the ground.
"Well... Most of the participants in the tournament were rather weak," Lyris explained.
"Alen and I both climbed to the final round without exerting much effort."
Ravena’s excited expression dropped into disappointment upon hearing that the weakling didn’t get an early beating.
"Then what about the final round? Who won the championship?"
"I won," Lyris answered calmly.
There was no hint of arrogance in her tone; she stated it like a simple matter of fact. She sat composed by the fire, not looking the slightest bit happy about her past victory. Her primary goal had only been to win the prize money to sustain her long journey.
A bright, excited smile tugged on Ravena’s small lips.
"Then tell me exactly how you beat him! Tell me dramatically so I can feel the impact!"
Lyris smiled softly, easily figuring out exactly what the spirit wanted to hear.
"Okay, so listen..."
As both girls busied themselves in quiet banter, talking about this and that near the fire, Lyris recounted the battle she fought against him. She described how stubborn he was, refusing to give up and standing his ground until the bitter end.
"So you are saying that weakling tried to use dirty tricks to win the battle? Yeah... That sounds typical of that scumbag," Ravena muttered, shaking her head.
"He tries to act like a sweet guy, but he is a literal lunatic. Don’t get attracted to his pretty face."
Ravena suddenly looked up at Lyris, her expression shifting to one of composed curiosity.
"What was that silver light you used earlier? It couldn’t be normal magic; I could sense the difference in its nature. It almost cleaved through that guy despite his strong body. He nearly died because of that strike."
Lyris fixed her gaze on Alen, who was still fast asleep with his head resting comfortably on her lap. She considered the spirit’s question carefully.
"Well... I actually don’t know much about that power either. I am just somehow able to use it using my own willpower."
Ravena’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at her vague answer. She opened her mouth to interrogate her further, but before she could ask another question, she sensed a familiar fluctuation of mana within Alen. She could tell his consciousness was slowly returning to the world.
"Alen is going to wake up soon," Ravena warned.
Lyris blinked, caught off guard by the sudden comment. She quickly channeled her mana into the pendant resting on her chest. The artifact charged up instantly, and her body started to emit a bright violet light. The ruined room was once again illuminated by the glow as her physical form transformed back into the mysterious, cloaked guy known as ’L’.
He let out a heavy sigh of relief as he looked down at Alen, who stirred from his deep sleep. L’s calm, composed facade cracked for a brief minute as he waited anxiously for Alen to wake up and inevitably snap at him in anger.
Ravena sat beside him with a playful, teasing look in her crimson eyes.
"You know, if you don’t want him to snap at you, you should just transform back into your real self right in front of him. I can guess he will definitely feel shocked." She giggled softly.
"That guy will be stunned seeing you like this."
L blinked in sudden panic, quickly turning toward the little spirit with a pleading expression.
"No, please don’t reveal my identity! I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of my secrets. He will involuntarily get dragged into severe trouble because of me." He shook his head.
"I don’t want to cause any more problems for him."
"Hmph... Okay, okay, I understand. I will hide your little secret from him," Ravena agreed.
Suddenly, a small, wicked smirk tugged on the child’s lips, contrasting sharply with her eyes.
"But, I have a condition."
L looked at her in shock for a second, realizing this tiny spirit was actively demanding a bribe to keep her mouth shut. He stared blankly at the child before involuntarily nodding his agreement.
Ravena’s expression sparked with pure excitement at his affirmation.
She leaned forward toward L’s ear and whispered the details of her devious condition.
L stiffened immediately. His expression turned pale under the hood, and his violet eyes stared blankly at the tiny girl in disbelief.
"Are you really ’his’ bond?"
Ravena smiled and replied calmly.
"Of course. So, are you doing it?"
L sighed heavily, rubbing his temples.
"I will do it, but not exactly the way you asked."
Ravena nodded in satisfaction.
"Okay, okay. You can do ’that’ according to how you feel like it."
Just as their secret conversation finished, Alen slowly stirred again. His eyes fluttered open, pulling him out of his daze as everything around him in the dimly lit room felt hazy.
"Am I dead again?"
