Dawn's Pov.
My hands rose high up to the sky to shield my eyes from the glaring sun that seemed to be coming from all directions at the same time and a groan left my lips as I tried to sit up.
Fuck! How bad has the mission gone for me to feel so much pain?.. and where was Alia with the backup I had prepared beforehand?.
My whole body was filled with excruciating pain as I finally cracked my closed eyes open and instantly, I went rigid with surprise and confusion.
Where was I?.
I seemed to be in some sort of forest with red trees and blue rocks scattered about, there were some greens too but it was far in between and the sun was three!.
For a trained assassin like me, this was a funny type of freaking out for me.
This wasn't funny, I was not interested in any rituals my crew thought they were doing.
"Alright, Alia. You can come out now, you got me." I yelled out softly, groaning lowly as my throat clenched with thirst and dehydration. Fuck, that was odd.
"Alia," I glanced around when I heard nothing but the echoes of birds chirping loudly like nothing was happening to me here.
"Initiating binding." a mechanical voice had my head swirling from side to side to check who it was. My head throbbed at the movements but better alert than dead in any situation.
"Who's there? Show yourself, I already know you're he- oh shit!" I gasped as a floating system appeared before me.
"Hello host, my name is Rae Rae. I'm your system and I can't say it's nice to meet you though." the voice came from the system again and for a long moment, I just stared at the system without blinking as my mind tried to process the entire ordeal.
"W-what? System?" I barely managed to suppress my laughter but I couldn't do so and it burst out from my lips as I clutched my tummy with amusement.
"What's funny?" She asked, her tone curious and I slowly stopped smiling.
"You should learn how to lie better." I said, glancing around and bringing my hands to check for my intercom but found it nowhere to be found and there was a slight oddity to my ears.
It felt pointed, but I didn't dwell on it for a long time.
"Your name now is Lady Athena Valerian. Daughter of an unknown noble man,"she paused and I gave her a funny look as the amusement was wiped off my face.
"Unknown?" I asked and Rae Rae swirled around in the air.
"Yes, apparently your former body resident faked her identity when she got accepted into the Academy. If it is discovered, she will be killed."she explained with a twirl and I found myself believing her as I gently stood to my feet to glance around.
"You're being serious right now? If I'm not on earth then where am I?" I asked, my gaze drawn to any tiny sound as I surveyed the area.
"This is Evergreen World."
"Ever-what now?"
"Evergreen World, keep up," she scolded and I glared at the system before furrowing my brows.
"You're a system, why do you have consciousness?" I asked with confusion and it didn't speak for a while before the system flickered and where a normal system floated before, a small cute leopard floated with an air of haughtiness that instantly doused the awe I had felt earlier.
"Hmm, impressive. Now, why was I brought here?" I asked, my hands gesturing wildly all around me but stopped when pain spliced through my veins and I winced internally.
"During your last mission, you encountered a bit of a setback and got blown to pieces." she began and I winced, it sounded really bad when someone else was the one saying it.
In my defence, I hadn't anticipated that there would be explosives hidden there, like who did such a thing?.
"During that same time, Lady Athena Valerian was on a hike in the woods when she was attacked by some ravenous mutated beasts and killed," she explained and I listened attentively to her as I glanced around at the mention of ravenous mutated beasts.
"Where are they now?" I asked and she shook her head.
"Nowhere to be found for now, but it is getting late and I suggest you get back to the academy or face punishments for missing curfew." she said before she disappeared in front of my eyes and I almost tagged the whole situation as an illusion my mind had conjured up.
But then, a voice filled my head.
"Let's get a move on now, I'll explain as we walk," I almost flew out of my skin at that and she huffed at me.
"For an assassin with the highest kills, you sure feel more worse than a child." My eyebrows raised at that as I glanced around and found myself at a loss at what to do.
"Don't you need to give me her memories for us to get back there safely and not die?" I passed back and she groaned.
"You're right, my bad." My lips tipped up in a smug smile but that was wiped off my face as a torrent of pain rushed through my whole body and sent me slamming my knees to the ground.
I grabbed my head with my hands but withheld the urge to release a scream as images and videos flashed in my head like a horror movie that I was relieving and I faintly heard a smug chuckle from Rae Rae before my vision swirled and I forced myself to grit my teeth hard against the pain.
That evil system had tricked me…fuck did this memories transfer hurt so damn much.
It soon subsided after a while and I finally came to an understanding that I was indeed not on earth anymore but on a mythical planet or world that wasn't even part of the earth's map or planets.
Apparently this Athena was an orphan from the fox tribe, one of the fox tribe that was massacred years ago and she alone had survived. She had painstakingly made this reputation and name for herself as the daughter of a rich noble which she kept perfectly but then the real rich girls in the school began to doubt her and then they began to torment her.
Until she finally gave up her revenge plan and ran here to escape it all but coincidentally, she was attacked by mutated beasts and killed.
These mutated beasts are normal beasts that had somehow lost their senses and changed into something ugly and monstrous, three times their first size and they were ravenous.
I whistled as I stood to my feet, I definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore because what the heck did I do to deserve this.
"Don't I get newbie gifts?" I asked Rae Rae as I began to walk back to the academy, making use of her jumbled brain map.
"You do. Two free draws of your choice, one million gold, a storage upgrade, any weapon of your choice and a manual to begin your fox cultivation."Rae Rae sounded excited and I smirked as I came to a stop and gently sat down on the ground.
"Let's begin," I said to her as I closed my eyes and I was thrust suddenly into a whirlwind, it whipped wildly at my face until I finally came out the other side, inside my space.
Woah, I had a space here and this Rae Rae wasn't lying at all.
"Make your pic-"
"I'll take this," I tapped on two draws quickly and they swelled for a second before bursting open and in them were two different purple tails that had me glancing at Rae Rae who had appeared in confusion.
She looked shocked.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Remember how I told you that you're from a fox tribe?" She asked and I nodded.
"You were a three tailed fox and these purple tails means that if you fully cultivate the techniques inside the manual I gave you, you will advance to a five tailed purple fox." She explained with excitement clear in her voice but I couldn't mirror it because I had no clue on what she talking about.
"I don't understand, I'm purple and you're happy? I thought red foxes had that glory" I tried waving it off as I picked out the manual and flipped through it, nodding as I sat on the ground and began to follow the instructions written there.
"You don't get it. Red foxes are rare but purple foxes are a one in a generation phenomenal, you'll become an epitome of power if you cultivate enough and with my help of course. Purple foxes have twice the power a red fox have at a stage, at two tails stage, their power far surpass that of a red fox." She explained when I huffed after failing to get the techniques again and she sighed.
"Think of it as killing an enemy," she suggested and I nodded before doing just that and surprisingly, it worked.
The techniques flew out of the book, floating around me with an unusual light that had my eyes twitching with suspicion.
Then, a light wind blew my face from each direction but I was entranced by the glowing words before my very eyes.
My very first mag-.
It shot straight at me and before I could react, it slammed into my head and I gasped long and hard as my chest tightened, my throat locking up and my nostrils failed to bring in air.
My vision swirled and black dots instantly covered my eyes as I lost consciousness.
Stupid techniques.