From The Start

The meteor didn't stop as it hit the city—it kept going deeper. The trees withstanding the city fell and were crushed by the meteor as it slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

An explosion of unimaginable magnitude occurred, casting a blazing wall of crimson fire that surrounded the meteor for a short period of time.

The meteor’s sheer impact not only destroyed and killed every single individual in the village, but also left a giant crater.

Its shockwave was felt all the way to Commander Rock and his men, fear still gripping them tight.

Rock whispered under his breath,
"Monsters!"

Sunflower, witnessing the impact from such a close distance, was blown away alongside Reality, landing behind a tree with a severe injury to her back. However, pain was the least of her concerns. Her family, her people, her home—all destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Sunflower, unsure of what emotion to display, was engulfed by memories—her mother, who taught her etiquette; her father, who trained her to fight; the Chief, who looked out for her.

Sunflower’s eyes began to water. Tears shed down her cheeks. There was sorrow in her eyes. There was no hope in her eyes. There was death in her eyes.

With her head to the ground, she remained lying down.

A few bushes next to her started rustling, and out came a woman with red hair and golden eyes—Reality.

"So there you are! Stand up—we still have to finish this!" Reality shouted excitedly.

Sunflower raised her head, snot dripping from her nose, her entire face soaked in tears, the pain in her eyes... hopeless eyes.

"Ha, this is exactly the face I wanted to see," Reality mocked.

"Now stand up, bitch. Or do you want to die crying on the ground?"

Sunflower, having lost all hope, sat in silence, waiting for her demise—waiting to meet her people, her parents.

Reality, after waiting a few seconds, raised her right hand, holding a crimson fireball, ready to aim.

"Well done."

A voice rang out in her ears. She turned left and right but was unable to spot the source. Before she knew it, her body began to burn up. Reality started shaking. She began vomiting. Her body started to weaken rapidly.

A few images flashed in her mind—when she had joined the university to enhance her magic, how the professors were surprised by her talent. They called her a genius. She could master every spell in a semester within a day, as if she had learned them before.

“Like she had learned them before.”
This line echoed in Reality's mind until she made the connection. She looked at her arms, now weak within seconds. She tried to cast a fireball—but nothing. She had grown too weak. She couldn’t cast even half her spells anymore.

She whispered to herself,
"All this time, I thought I was blessed... but I was only borrowing powers from her."

Reality’s fear intensified. She now feared Sunflower. She took out a knife from her right pocket and started walking confidently toward Sunflower—to hide her weakness.

Sunflower, still in denial, kept rehearsing the names of the people she lost because of her weakness.

"Because of me, Fred died."

"Because of me, Mary died."

"Because of me, Dawn died."

"Because of me—"

Suddenly, Sunflower realized that Arnold had already been outside the village. He was still alive.

This gave Sunflower hope again. She stood up with a dagger in hand, her sharp eyes returning.

Reality, brimming with fear, decided to confidently mock Sunflower.

"It's useless! I am far str—"

Before Reality could finish her sentence, Sunflower was already behind her. Reality didn’t even have time to turn—she was beheaded.

During her final moments, Reality contemplated why her borrowed powers had been retrieved. She couldn’t understand. If it was because of the curse, then the curse wasn’t complete—Sunflower still existed.

However, upon further thought, she realized something terrifying: only Sunflower remained from Tresia.

If the curse had completed, that meant...

"SUNFLOWER WASN’T FROM TRESIA."

With her final thoughts, Reality—the genius mage of our era—was delivered to the door of death.

Sunflower dashed left and right, climbed trees to scout for the trio. Her sharp eyes finally spotted some arrows displayed on the ground. As she rushed toward the destination, with each passing step she slowed down. With each step, she lost more strength. With each step, her eyes grew grim.

Finally, she arrived.

Looking at the corpses of all three of her students—found dead in battle.

Having her last hope taken away, she grabbed her dagger with both hands and brought it close to her neck. She looked toward the rising sun, as the horrid night was about to end.

But then she heard a sound.

She turned her head.

A meter away from the trio lay a body—still breathing.

Although she hadn’t seen him in months, she could tell.

It was Lance.

She withdrew the dagger from her neck and walked up to the unconscious Lance, lying on his chest.

Sunflower looked at the dagger in her hand. She brought it closer to the back of Lance’s neck.

However, moments later, instead of plunging the blade, she placed her hand gently on his shoulder and tried to wake him up.