Counter-System: The Side Character's Revenge Chapter 2

I had no desire to watch any more of this cloying display. I withdrew my arcane senses, a coldness settling in my heart.

So that was the correct answer. Coddle her, praise her, and never mind the consequences for her future.

The injury on Liana’s wrist looked dramatic, but what blade-mage didn't start their training with such pains? Those were not wounds to be healed; they were pains to be overcome. One had to train until the wrist adapted, until the pain ceased. To stop halfway was to reset all progress.

But Rhys was a pure enchanter, a weaver of spells. He knew nothing of a warrior’s path.

In my previous life, after my core was shattered, it was he who used his magic to rip out my arcane roots and graft them onto Liana, restoring her damaged potential. He had turned me into a cripple, forever barred from the path of magic.

All because of one sentence. They had justified using me as a stepping stone for Liana's glorious ascent.

A bottomless hatred churned within me. Every person who had harmed me, who had tormented me in my past life… I would repay them all, one by one.

I replayed the events of my past life in meticulous detail. My hand unconsciously drifted to the amulet I wore against my skin. It was a spatial artifact I had found in the Fae-touched Grotto of Taelus. Though I had bonded it with my blood, I could never enter its inner sanctum, the Hall of Legacy. Only an outer spring, filled with pure mana, was accessible to me.

I focused my will and entered the amulet's space, leaping into the mana spring. The raw, surging energy slammed into me, scouring my meridians, widening them. The pain was so intense I nearly blacked out, but I gritted my teeth and endured. My rate of mana absorption was now ten times faster than before.

In my past life, I had listened to the words of a Nix, drinking only a single mouthful of the spring's water each day. It improved my constitution, yes, but it was nowhere near enough to truly reforge my body and soul. My progress had been slow.

After emerging from the amulet, I went into seclusion for another two weeks, solidifying my newfound power before finally stepping outside.

I went to the deep pool in the back mountains and cast three enchanted stones into its depths. The water roiled, and a Nix with a magnificent blue tail surfaced. His beauty was breathtaking, but his eyes were filled with impatience.

He swam to my side, his voice a low hiss. "Danielle, are you trying to get me killed? What took you so long to bring my elixir?"

This was Corin, a Nix I had rescued from the Taelus Grotto. I had pulled him back from the brink of death with the finest potions, allowing him to recuperate here. Every month, I was to bring him a high-grade spirit elixir for his wounds.

I smiled. "Corin, your temper grows shorter. The herbs for these potions are rare, and a spirit elixir of this grade is not easily brewed."

Seeing his entitled expression, I remembered the day I first met him. He had clutched at my robes, his face a mask of agony, begging me to save him. He had sworn to be my servant for life, to be eternally loyal.

But at some point, he had entangled himself with Liana. He had even presented her with my amulet as a token of his love.

I was cast out of the Spire, left with absolutely nothing.

Just as I had before, I took out an elixir and offered it to him.

Only this time, it was a poison that would rot his heart and lungs from the inside out.