"Haha, Ahahaha." Lee Dojin laughed out. He threw his head back, his hand holding his mouth. "The Saintess? Light? What a riot." Even though the shadows had started attacking again, he did not feel any urgency. "Hell, there is just something about The Mirage that creates such fateful encounters." He grabbed Ji-ah and teleported away. Though he had used his one time already, that did not mean he didn't have other ways to shift through dimensions with other people. One way was to throw Ji-ah while moving to another star and then catching her. She may feel dizzy, but she could not complain about the effectiveness.
His brain churned, thinking about her Affinity, and what it meant for the future. Light. What a beautiful word. Great melancholy, mixed with nostalgia, as the last decades of his life flashed past him, piercing through the shadow of his memory. It was a cathartic feeling. But at the same time, he wondered why Ji-ah would change her Affinity in this worldline. It did not seem as if her past was any different than before. He thought about how Light had appeared after the other two disappeared. An Affinity was based on experience, memory, and way of life, meaning it had to be within her all the time, yet it never surfaced in her old life.
He had a hunch on why that happened.
"It's because I chose it first." The Affinity of Light was ranked with its rarity at S. There could only be one in the entire planet. Maybe even the galaxy. That was what it meant to be of the highest rarity (putting aside Lee Dojin's EX). Ji-ah never had a chance as the Affinity had already assimilated with him first. And it may also be because she had taken another mindset in this crucial step of life, which birthed this new Affinity, thus it came after the other two had vanished.
A grin appeared on his face. He realized the future had changed. Maybe only by a minuscule amount, but it still meant that he was not fighting in hopeless determinism. But that was true, he did not travel back to the past but into a parallel universe, through the power of his mother, one of the greatest Outer Gods. Of course, she would have thought about that.
While atop Lee Dojin's shoulder, Ji-ah kept reading all the new messages popping up. She felt her head spin, seeing all the information piling up. "It tells me to choose a skill, which one do I take."
"Again, that's up to you," he told her while fending off against the other shadows. "But why don't you read them out, I'm sure it will help."
She nodded. "The first one is called Radiant Scorch. Ah, watch out," she shouted as the shadows of a few leaves shoot towards them at breakneck speed. She had already seen what these things could do. One such small shadow was sharper than a blade, embedding themselves into stone.
Lee Dojin shoved Ji-ah aside then twisted his body, dodging the leaves in the air. They passed him, and he then phased back to Ji-ah. "Don't worry about me. Just choose a skill." A branch flew in his direction, and he slapped it away, as it threatened to pierce his skull. "As you know, this skill you choose will determine your first steps. It isn't as important as your Affinity, but I still wouldn't take it lightly."
"Got it," Ji-ah responded. She continued reading, this time not minding the occasional noise. She, for some reason, believed that Lee Dojin could handle it. "Where was I? Ah, yes, Radiant Scorch. Skill Tier: B, Level 1. The light symbolizes virtue. Every time the user hits a creature, it is marked with a searing light. All marked creatures take the same damage."
Lee Dojin smiled. "It really is the same Affinity. Unbelievable." He started explaining. "Upon activating the skill, you can leave a mark on your enemy. That mark will look like a bright tattoo, the form of the sun. That ability really starts to shine when you have several targets marked. Damaging one target would be the same as damaging all the other ones. For example, if you stab someone, the wound appears on everyone else too. The mark vanishes when you fall unconscious or asleep." He kicked a shadow away, though it did not do much. "The disadvantage is that the bright mark is incredibly obvious, and also stings like a burn wound, so a sneak attack is out of the question. Also, it will take a toll on you, in the form of headaches, as the ability is rather strong, so maybe unsuited for a beginner."
"I, uh, I see," Ji-ah muttered with a vacant nod. She wanted to ask him how he knew all that, but she simply chalked it up with the rest of his knowledge. Who knows? Maybe he had prepared a year in advance or is the son of some fantasy creature. She was okay with any news. "I'm going to continue with the next one then." However, if she really learned the truth, she may just fall over from shock.
"Please do."
"Brightsword. Tier: C, Level 1. Through becoming one with the light, the user can control it into a weapon." A tree swung its branch. She ducked down, but still felt the breeze following right behind it. "The user compresses the light surrounding them, then shoots it forward, creating a devastating beam."
"With this ability, you take the light around, placing it into your hand, then shoot it out at light speed. It's like a laser. or a railgun. But unlike the Lightning Affinity, it does not leave a thunderous echo. No, it is instant, and burns a precise hole." He paused, catching his breath. It has been a long time since he had to work out like this, and he slowly reached the bottom of his endurance. Meanwhile, the shadows hadn't dissipated by one. But he did not care. No, rather, he felt elated. "Also, do not be fooled by the description. It does not turn your surroundings dark even if you absorb the light around you. When you get stronger and gain the skill of Thousand Eyes, you should be able to see a different 'light'. One not perceived by ordinary humans. That's the thing you absorb."
Ji-ah took in all the information. She understood this ability a little more, as she had watched a lot of cartoons where such energizing beams appeared. It was obvious that this one was similar. "That sounds pretty cool, not gonna lie." As a physics teacher, she knew about the idea of optical amplification through stimulated radiation. It was like putting a giant magnifying glass on the sun, only that she was the conduit.
Lee Dojin watched her. "You can choose it if you want."
She put it at the back of her mind for now and read the last skill. "Double Quantum. Tier A, Level 1. The user forms their bright future through the darkness of the past. Through the activation of this skill, the user phase through the material world for a split second."
"Never heard of it." That was natural. After all, even if their Affinity was the same, their title wasn't. And there was only one bearer of light on this planet, so he didn't have many options to peer review. "But it must be a defensive skill since you already have the support and offensive one."
"I think it has something to do with the wave-particle duality, a concept that states light can be particle and wave, so maybe it is trying to allude to that." Ji-ah rubbed her chin. "Well, it does not matter, because I think I know what I want," she said and stopped running. The shadows from behind swiftly caught up, enveloping her. numerous eyes and mouth started assimilating, holding her down, and bubbling like a fluid lifeform. Ji-ah winced in pain, but her eyes remained steadfast.
"Brightsword."
A distant memory flashed by. Not from her, not from Lee Dojin, and certainly not from any bystander. Still, it played, with an audience of no one, passing by unnoticed.
"—get up! Get up!" A woman screamed. Upon closer inspection, it was Baek Ji-ah. However, unlike with Lee Dojin, she did not have her bright smile. Instead, her eyes were filled with tears. Her clothes were tattered, and red with blood—but it was not hers.
She crouched, genuflecting, her head on the floor. The school surrounded her, broken and in flames. The windows were shattered, the doors broken, and chunks of the wall were missing. In front of her lay a boy, whose light slowly faded away. It was Il Chunghoo, who held onto her, his last sentence left saying he had been sorry. She screamed her voice away, but so did everyone else, in this school that had turned into hell itself. Monsters, the shape of grotesque insects swarmed around her. They were the size of her head, and the mere sight could cause any Entomophobic person to faint.
Ji-ah did not understand. She only wished to retire as a teacher, how did it come to this? Everything happened so fast. Yes, Ji-ah did wish for the world to disappear, but not like this. Suddenly, a message appeared in front of her. Was it her fault? She stared up, shouting at God, but was drowned by the buzzing insects. Helpless laughter escaped her, her eyes turning completely black.
The clear message flashed peacefully in front of her. "My Affinity," she muttered silently, "You win. I will take it. Let me become a heartless woman, a woman without a soul. Just let me forget the pain and drown me in sedation." She cried out, one last time. And thus, she became the woman who would bear the Affinity of Decay, one strong enough, to even necrotize fate.
The flashback continued rolling. Maybe it was the System, who had valued history and legacy the most, that wished to convey this helpless memory, forgotten by everyone. Or maybe it was a simple mistake, a flaw in the universe—there seemed to be a lot of these. Still, it did not matter, as a bright light pierced through the painful memory, burning it away. The light, it came from below, but reached high, high, without a curve, unbending.
The shadows dissipated one by one, burned by the skill. Ji-ah resurfaced, unscathed. Lee Dojin smiled. He had seen it.
From now on, there was no Mother of Ravens.
Instead, a new story began, from an old tale, under the guise of light. One of virtue and healing, and maybe even repentance for old legacies. The story of the Saintess, Baek Ji-ah.