Villainess and Grimoire - Chapter 123 – Training Arc

Year 5009 after the system day 81 of the flowering season in tonne village.

‘Sometimes taking a break feels quite nice, like going to the marketplace and buy groceries to cook with, today is one of such amazing ones, even though I can’t shake the gaze I receive all the time which makes the world beyond the mirror the most comfortable place to be.’

“Hello ma’am, good morning, I’d like to buy two red fishes please.”

“Oh, how educated, I wish my children could be like you.’

‘A cursed human down to the core?’ I giggle softly and stare deep into her eyes,” I’m certain your children will grow fantastically, just keep pouring some of that motherly love, it’s the perfect potion one could drink!”

“My goddess, what a truly kind child, here take these two, they’re the best catch of today,” she places the fish inside my straw bag,” thank you very much for such kindness, I hope Aria will pay you,” I walk away from the stand into the rest of the market while waving goodbye to the kind lady that’s not far from my mother age.

“Take care young girl, do your best to be happy!”

‘Happy… happiness… yes, she’s right, since I was born that’s the one thing I sought from the despair of my past life, a great joy for being alive and having my dear parents treating me so warmly, and later with the addition of Aurora who started our rather coldly, slowly became a real sister to me,’ I place the bag on the floor and slap my cheeks with both hands hurting myself in the process.

Notice: 30 health has been deducted.

System: The title Masochist has been received.

System: The title Pervert Series has been received.

‘Oh my god system are you for real!?’ I burst with laughter as a normal kid would from this stupidity, scaring those around me eventually stopping after shedding a few tears reviving myself up.

‘Ah man… that was surely something else.’

“What’s so funny girl with the mysterious hair?” A childish voice questions me and then I turn around, meeting a child a little taller than me which I end up gazing at for a while,” I’ve never seen such a beautiful skin tone before… it reminds me of that obsidian!”

“Ah… uh, t-thank you!” I notice a slight blush on the boy’s cheeks which makes me smile happily,” you’re very welcome! I’m Iris, how about you?”

“I’m surprised you know what an obsidian is, and I’m Maverick.”

“My teacher actually teased me for not knowing the different gems used for necklaces, so he took me to an expensive-looking shop some days ago to have a look at them,” his dark blue eyes stare at my green ones with curiosity.

“Hum… That’s uncommon, yet an easy way to go about it, I suppose… also why do you have such weird hair and eyes color?”

“What!? Are they weird?” I make a sad expression feeling insecure while thinking they were cute till now from what friends and family told me.

Feeling flustered and embarrassed the boy raises the voice,” I-I mean they’re unique! Cute even, it’s just I hadn’t seen such colors before, so it was quite the surprise for me.”

“Oh… thank you,” I smile kindly and then ending up smelling the fishes inside the bag, I start walking to the next stand leaving Maverick behind who decides to chase after me.

“Where are you going?” Upon catching up to me he gasps for air,’ how is she so fast, younger than me for sure but quite the physical aptitude.’

“Hello sir, I’d like to buy some potatoes,” I then gaze at the boy next to me,” shopping as you can see, did you need anything?”

“Good morning child, how many would you like to get?”

“Around 10 big ones, it should be enough!” I open a different bag and the man starts throwing them inside with some cautiousness.

“What are you going to use so many potatoes in?” The curious boy keeps up with the questions.

“I’ll be cooking a meal why?” I gaze back to the shopkeeper,” thank you how much will it be?”

“600 bronze coins will do missy,” as I take the necessary money from my shorts left pocket,’ 60 coins per potato isn’t a bad price, it varies a bit depending on the season we’re in.’

“Do you need help with the bags?”

“Here you go sir,” I give him the coins and then turn to the boy next to me,” sorry Maverick I can handle it myself but thank you,” I walk onto the opposite stall who is selling vegetables, upon getting there, “Hello good morning, I’d like a cabbage, an onion, and a lettuce please.”

“Hello Iris, it has been a while since the last time you dropped by, have you been taking good care of that old drunkard grandfather of yours?”

“Yes, of course, he’s doing well miss Lilia, though I’d hope grandpa would drink less alcohol and behave a bit better, but can’t be helpt, some habits are just plain hard to change…”

“I understand hun, here you go the greenest I have left, make him a soup with some water and potatoes, I’m sure it’ll be good for both.”

“Thank you so much, I’ll do as you suggest,” I smile happily while Maverick listens to the whole conversation, and then the miss adds,” how about you boy, are you going to buy anything, or you’re just bothering the little girl? Hum!?”

With an awkward expression, Maverick gazes to the ground after being shouted at without knowing what to say, and then grips the hands and looks at her,” I-I was just passing by when I ended up randomly meeting her.”

“Yes, don’t worry miss Lilia, Maverick a new friend, speaking of which, have you eaten yet? I’m about to make some lunch for my grandfather if you’d like to join us.”

“Sure! I’d love to join you two!”

‘Kids uh…’ Lilia smiles watching over both,” have a good day and take good care, Iris.

“See you soon miss Lilia!”

“See you Iris and… Maverick, take care of your new friend, I’ll be keeping my eyes on you boy!”

“Sure! I’ll do my best!” This time he replies happily without feeling any pressure from the lady.

‘Kid adapts fast,’ she giggles lightly staring at us walk away.

A little while later I place the ingredients on top of a stone balcony in front and placing the potatoes and a knife on top of the wooden table behind me,” do peel those for me will you Maverick?”

“Sure, I’ll do my best.”

“Sounds good,” as soon as I start washing the lettuce, I hear a loud scream behind me which makes me instantly turn around startled.

“Are you… okay?” I gaze upon the deep large cut he made picking a cloth and then putting it around the hand,” have you ever peel potatoes before?”

With an awkward and hurtful expression, Maverick looks down to the injury panicking as the boy’s head nods to the sides, and then while holding my left hand on the cloth to staunch the blood flowing from the wound, I use the right one to pat his short brown hair calming him the best I can,” everything’s okay, it’ll stop soon, here make some pressure on it while I do the cooking.”

“Ah… sure, thank you Iris, and sorry for being useless…”

“Don’t worry, I also cut myself plenty of times, but I slowly improved, it’s a matter of time till you learn to do these things,” he smiles while I’m focused on cutting the lettuce in big pieces while washing them, once I’m done I place them on a big pot with some water and start boiling it, and then sit on the table peeling the potatoes as fast as I can, resulting on a swift motion with barely any mistakes.

Then I wash the naked potatoes cut them in half and drop half of them on the pot.

The rest of them I place them on a metal tray and start handling the fish which makes Maverick make a disgusted expression while looking at the clean-cut in the middle of the fish belly from the hole where it pees to the neck without opening the sides, making the blood, entrails, and guts flow outside, then I slice with some strength splitting the head from the body, and an eyeball rolls down to the floor making him almost puke.

Lastly, I wash the fish insides while taking any leftover guts and place them on the trail along with the potatoes, I drop a bit of salt on the potatoes and place the metal board inside the oven, then I drop an extra amount of salt inside the pot and close it with the lid.

We chat to pass time,” so are you from Tonne village?” My eyes gaze at the expensive clothing he’s wearing.

“No, I live a bit closer to the capital in the northwest, but due to war, we ended up dropping here before meeting prince Marty.”

“Royalty is it? Sounds like you’ll have a tough time ahead of you.”

‘A tough time?’ He gazes curiously at me while holding the question inside,” how about you Iris, have you always lived here as a peasant I suppose?”

“Hum? Yes, I mean, not since my birth but for a while now at least,” I stare at the table for a moment,’ in the end my clothes do seem pretty normal compared to his green and white attire, might have gotten a noble rank from Aurora achievements, however, I rather not show it off, it just doesn’t suit me, don’t believe it ever did, and makes me disgusted just thinking about it, my past life, ugh.’

“Makes sense, that smaller wooden house next to this one, was it a storehouse?” He asks with a kind noticing my strange expression as I think.

“I’d call it a dojo, I think that’s what my grandfather named it, apparently a place where people practice some sort of art.”

Upon hearing those words he places both knuckles on top of the table and shouts excitedly,” Do you do something like that?”

“Yes, I practice a bit with a wooden sword, but I’m still very weak and inexperienced compared to him.”

“I believe that’s normal you do look super young after all!”

“You don’t look much older,” I giggle embarrassing him to which he voices a complaint loudly,” just so you know I’m 16! I’m pretty sure I’m older than you!”

“That you certainly are, I’m only 9 years old, but am a good cooker,” I stare at him teasing him while laughing softly making the boy feel comfortable despite it.

“Well, I’m a very good archer, the son of the best sniper in the world!”

“That sounds pretty amazing Maverick, you’re probably forced to train very hard!”

“Well… I can’t really say you’re wrong, but at least, if I train hard I get to visit places and sometimes tag along with my mother on trips, like this one. I end up meeting new people, mostly kids my age which I hope I’ll meet them again at a different time,” he then smiles happily after telling me about it.

‘Sounds a lot better than Alicia who gets stuck in her mansion learning swordsmanship, though between the two I don’t feel much pressure from this boy, his fingers don’t have calluses either, so the effort might not be equal between the three of us.’

“You’re lost in thought again Iris,” he points at my forehead with a finger while voicing out making me chuckle joyfully.

“Can’t help it, after all, I appear to be in the presence of someone important.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’m used to meeting all types of children, even the ones from the slums, who live completely in poverty without anything to hold onto.”

“Surprised your parents allow that!” I ask gaining some curiosity towards him.

“They certainly don’t, I always sneak out and meet children that way, and pray inside that they won’t find out, but I can’t help myself, I wish to change this world one day, therefore, meeting others who may share this wish of mine.”

“That’s very noble of you.”

“I hoped that was the true meaning of the word noble, but sadly they all act superior, I was mesmerized by the speech of a young girl such as yourself in the capital, her words really pierced this heart of mine.”

“A speech?” I ask curiously despite knowing what he’s possibly conversing about.

“She’s in a different army than the one my mother serves, but a little kid called Aurora, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and young like you, the main reason I approached you, since there’s a bit of a similarity in the hair color, however, I was too far to know how she looked like, but I could tell how the girl truly was with the speech alone, a magnificent child like the Saintess, sharing the rightful values that woman has.”

‘You’re talking like my sister is the kindest person in the world, in a way, I wouldn’t mind that was true, but… there’s little to that left inside of her, and possibly the remnants of it are only given to me and parents.’

“You don’t happen to be her right?”

“Certainly not, my name is Iris after all.”

Three men and a woman then barge in Ray’s house causing a ruckus.

“Maverick!? What are you doing in this place with a peasant no else?” The mother approaches the son and pulls his right hand forcing him to leave the place he was seated on while staring at the confused me.

“It’s okay mother, I was just passing by, she didn’t do anything wrong, and Iris is just a normal human like us,” upon hearing such words the entitled mother started shouting things like,” are you saying we’re the same!? Guards punish that peasant, I’m tired of this bad behavior of you always meeting the lowborn didn’t you learn anything!?”

One of the guards approaches me and pulls me upwards by the hair forcing my body to ascend from the chair, and then delivers a punch to my stomach which makes puke almost come out from deep inside.

Notice: 50 health has been deducted.

“Please stop, Iris did nothing wrong, she’s just a little girl mother hear me ou-” he received a slap from Eliana the head of the green rose family, five green rings left a mark on the face of the boy which didn’t go unnoticed by me, understanding clearly who the noblewoman was, therefore disabling me to act as the guards were most likely on the level of the royal guards, and this woman possibly being the famous sniper.

“Ugh my hand, you’re hurting me, Eliana,” the mother then looked at the delicate hands of her son become furious, and then at Iris,” make sure she’s beat to death for harming my son.”

I receive a punch in the left cheek close to the eye from a different man making me moan in pain,’ my left eye vision has disappeared a bit, must be swelling, filthy humans,’ I receive a kick in my right leg which makes me trip to the floor hitting my head, and then I instantly cover it with both arms and hands while shaking from the pain.

Notice: 200 health has been deducted.

I receive a kick on the chest and then another on my back, followed by a few more in random spots making me cough blood out dirtying the floor with it.

Notice: 180 health has been deducted.

After taking a good beating losing about 400 more health one of them spits on my hair and then being left laying on the house floor they leave with Maverick silent in tears and snot coming out of the nose.

System: The title Humiliated has been received.

He stares discreetly at me one last time before leaving with the rest of them to which I let out a kind faint smile with my face swollen that doesn’t go unnoticed by the boy as if saying everything is alright.

‘Ugh, they sure didn’t go easy on me,’ I splash some water on my face that looks a bit swollen on the cheeks and resume the cooking.

‘Surprised Omar didn’t step in, though knowing him, he wouldn’t want to cause a direct confrontation either… possibly the reason for naming himself the strongest assassin in the world, maybe the most careful one too,’ I chuckle letting out a painful moan as my entire body hurts.

‘Bad parents aren’t equal to their children, but sadly for that boy, he’s stuck with quite a nasty mother, I almost fought back, if it wasn’t for Ray teachings, I would’ve certainly died after taking at least one of them with me,’ I spit some blood in the washbasin where I then let water allow it to stream downwards through its drain disappearing slowly in a small whirlpool.

‘Status…’

Status:

Level: 15 | Experience 750/1500

Fame: 4300 | Disgrace: 32420

Unique Class: Babel Witch | Rank 3 | Experience 4790/8000

Race: Human | Name: Iris | 9 Years old

Health: 440/1270 | Mana: 3850/3850

Status Points:0

Strength: 325(+39) | Stamina: 77(+50) | Agility: 85(+45) | Dexterity: 119(+20) | Intelligence: 263(+41) | Wisdom: 335(+50)

Attack: 0 | Magic Attack:0 | Defense:0 | Magic Defense: 0

Soul: 1754

Titles: Reincarnated+(S), Mana(S), Mana Exhaust(S), Health(S), Purchase(S), Wisdom(S), Body Training(S), Animal Slayer(S), Cooked Fish(S), Preyed Upon(F), Cheater (S), Heritage(S), Amalgam(S), Ice(S), Cooked Bird(F), Cooking Series (E), Slayer Series(F), Sale(S), Soul-bound(S), Element(S), Contracted(S), Peasant (F), Class(A), Monster Slayer(D), Slime Slayer(B), Skill Mastery(A), Criminal(S), Herbs Gathered(S), Herbs Types(S), Potion Brewer(S), Potion Types(E), Status Mastery(S), Beast Slayer(C), Horned Rabbit Slayer(C), Potion Administered(F), Goblin Slayer(E), Orc Slayer(F), Assassination(S), Herbalist Series(C), Skeleton Slayer(C), Potion Selling(F), Potion Failed(D), Potion Succeeded(D), Alchemist Series(F), Money Maker(S), Merchant Series(C), Trading(S), Herbs Sold(S), Herbs Bought(S), Disgraceful (S), Zombie Slayer(F), Curse Slayer(S), Turtler Slayer(F), Corpse Transporter(S), Library Completion(S), Crime Series(F), Wise(S), Strong(S), Human Slayer(F), Murderer(F), Villainess(S), Swordsmanship(S), Sword Series(E), Connection(S), Connected Series(E), Demented(S), Masochist(S), Pervert Series(D), Humiliated(S).

Completed Series: Fishing(S), Farming(S), Illusion(S), Reader(S), Tree(S), God(S).

Skill Points: 0

Actives: System Library level 100(S), Mana Coat level 72(B), Mana Wave level 23(E), Ice Bind level 36(E), Ice Sword level 20(E), Icicle level 66(C), Long Slash level 40(F), Ice Expansion level 18(F), Ice Hammer level 1(F), Ice Spear level 1(F), Ice Wave level 10(F), Ice Light Armor level 20(E), Ice Heavy Armor level 10(F), Triple Slash level 50(D), Thrust level 30(E), Parry level 40(D), Backstep level 20(E), Dance of Death level 5(F), Vanish step level 1(F).

Passives: Bleeding Resistance level 55(D), Swordsmanship level 60(C), Sword Mastery level D(50), Mana Control level 56(D), Ice Control level 40(D), Slight Wisdom Boost level 50(D), Slight Mana Recovery level 62(C), Acid Resistance level 1(F), Ax Art level 10(F), Ax Mastery level 4(F), Corpse Dismantler level 10(F), Brainwash Resistance level 100(S), Night Vision level 30(E), Slight Stamina Boost level 50(D), Slight Agility Boost level 45(E), Slight Strength Boost level 39(E), Slight Intelligence Boost level 30(E), Slight Health Recovery level 73(D), Ice Resistance level 50(D), Cold Resistance level 60(D), Heat Resistance level 30(E), Lightning Resistance level 40(D), Knockback Resistance level 22(E), Stealth Detection level 15(F), Paralyze Resistance level 4(F), Sword Posture level 5(F).

Class Actives: Dark Alchemy level 52, Magic Analysis level 50, Destiny Cards level 1, Cursing Objects level 5, Decay level 6, Mana Shield level 46.

Class Rituals: Snow Falling level 42.

Class Passives: Dark Alchemy Mastery level 40, Witchcraft level 100, Curse’s Mastery level 100, Ritual’s Mastery level 30, Magic Control level 60, Magic Knowledge level 60, Ice Mastery level 40, Babel Mastery level 20, Grimoire Mastery level 20, Magic Attack level 1, Magic Defense level 1.

Babel Arts: Grimoire Possession, Grimoire Renouncing.

Unique: Appraisal level 53, Illusion level 1, Hero Detector level 1, Status level 70.

Cursed: Unidentified Skill, Mirror level 17, Soul Manifestation, Endless Growth, Endless Cap, Endless Awakening, Profane Sealing, Profane Connection.

Rare Element: Ice.

Cursed Soul-bound(Grimoire Rank Unique Final Phase: 1/51200)

Contracted Witches: Anastasia.

‘Funny how humiliated improved the pervert series further, this system titles really does make me wonder if the gods have fun watching us humans suffer…’