Legacy World 2.1 Blessings, Talents, and Scums

Luna woke up to intense pain coursing through her entire body. She hissed in frustration.

/First I wake up weak like I was on the verge of dying. Now I wake up in pain like I'm dying again. What next? I wake up when I'm supposed to be lying dead in a coffin?/

BaoBao winced. He could not control when she would appear in the story. [Do you want to receive the original soul's memories first or for me to carry you somewhere to recover first?]

/Give me the memories. I need to understand the situation I'm in first before knowing where I can go./

The first thing Luna understood upon receiving the memories was that she was in a dog eat dog world. Everything was decided by power, including the position of the ruler of the country. All they had to do was to challenge the ruler to an official death match, if the match was refused, a revolt was allowed.

People in this world had real magical abilities. They could create something out of nothing. The most common ability was creating an element of nature. People who could create two kinds of things were called Talents. People who could create three kinds of things were called Blessings. Unlike the previous world, there was no clear distinctions in power within each level. There was only a continuum of how well you could understand and control your ability.

There existed a small population of people who did not have magical abilities. They were called Scums. They were always on the run and easy picking for tyrants. They lived in poor conditions like the slums.

One day, a powerful person emerged out of nowhere and challenged the king to a death match. He successfully took the throne and created the one and only safe haven for Scums to live under his protection.

Alice was a girl born in this haven. Her parents were Scum but she was born with the ability to create water. Being treated as a miracle within that haven, she had the chance to meet that very king. She learnt about the history and the king's motivation and beliefs. Scums could be strong. Those with magic could be stronger with someone to protect. Alice internalised these words and the expectations everyone had of her. With that, the king secretly sponsored her studies at the best school for ability users.

No one expected that trouble would find her even without standing out as a scholarship student sponsored by the king.

The school was a boarding school far away from the haven and the castle. Alice grew up well-loved by others. She had not been properly prepared to survive in a dog eat dog world by herself. Her optimistic, innocent, and bubbly personality rubbed the stronger ones the wrong way. They believed that a weak person like her did not deserve to be so carefree. She became a target of bullies and she became quiet and meek after just 1 year of school.

Not wanting to disappoint anyone back home or cause trouble, she did not mention a thing to her family or the king. Everyone back home remained blissfully ignorant of Alice's suffering.

Only one thing comforted Alice in school - Her idol, Violet. A Talent who was the only advocate of the king's belief. She stood up for and protected the weaker students in school. While doing so, she clashed with the notoriously strongest Blessing in school, Stephan. Although Stephan had not yet explicitly agreed with Violet's and the king's ideology, he somehow stayed by her side. Inadvertently, he supported her cause. So, every time Alice saw Violet, it was like a reminder that not all hope was lost.

/It's an enemies turn lovers romance. It's painfully clear to see. But... I can't identify the obstacles. There's no other notable characters in her memories. That childhood friend of Violet is so reserved, he likely won't do anything./

[The original soul's wish is to avoid being a liability to Violet and to be useful to her.] BaoBao gave her the final information.

/That makes it sound like I'm affiliated with her. Don't tell me-/

[About that, they're on the way here.]

/I see. This must be the first meeting. Great./

Alice bore the pain coursing through her body and tried to move. Her movement caused a sharp and intense pain to shoot through her right arm. She bit back the urge to shout in pain. Alice lifted the flap of her bloodied white blazer to look at her right arm. The bone was sticking out. Blood oozed out to form a puddle.

Her bullies really roughened her up this time after they found out how she idolised Violet. They vented their hatred for Violet onto Alice. They had mocked Alice while bashing her up, "Where's your idol when you need her? One has to stand for themselves to survive! Not rely on others! You useless piece of shit!"

She sighed then slowly used her better arm to push herself off the ground. By the time she sat up, three people came around the corner. Before she knew it, a flurry of bright golden hair filled Alice's vision.

A soft and gentle voice rang beside her ears. "What happened?! No, before that, let me bring you to the doctor!"

Alice shook off the hand that was holding onto her better arm. "I don't need your help." Alice said weakly but it was filled with clarity and determination.

While she was standing up, her whole body trembled and she broke out in cold sweat. By now, two boys joined the girls at the scene. Violet reached out wanting to help again but froze when Alice stared at her coldly. Alice bit out, "DON'T touch me."

"Why're you so harsh? She was only trying to help." The boy with deep dark blue hair snapped back in Violet's place.

Alice had expected Stephan to be the one to snap, but she still met Ethan's gaze evenly. "Did I ask for help?" Without waiting for a response, she turned to leave, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.

Behind her, Violet and Stephan stared at Ethan, then exchanged equally surprised gazes.

Ethan had not thought anything of this injured girl until he got a closer look at her. Something about the look in her eyes disturbed him. This was a first for him. He usually did not feel anything for any victim that Violet helped. Disgruntled by it, he had shot his mouth off before he knew it.

Stephan was the first to recover. "Both of you should just leave her. She is probably someone weak and unpleasant. That's why she got bullied. Don't waste your effort on someone like that."

Violet pouted and glared at him. She stomped on his foot then led them to tail Alice quietly. Stephan grinned as he followed Violet, while Ethan followed without a sound of complaint.

Alice made her way to the clinic in school. She gave the three companions a last cold look before entering the clinic. Everyone understood it as her warning to stay away. Violet heaved a sigh of relief now that Alice reached the clinic safely. While Violet and Stephan walked away, Ethan's gaze lingered on the clinic's door for a little longer before dismissing Alice's existence, like he did for every other person Violet helped.

A notification beeped and BaoBao shared the news with Alice. [Oh, you already passed the first instance of relying on the female lead! The original soul had to be carried to the clinic which started a dependent relationship between them.]

"Alice! What happened this time?! Why's it so bad?!" Doctor Nina exclaimed. She wondered how Alice made it to her clinic by herself in this state. /Could it be that her tolerance for pain became insanely good?/

The doctor could not decide if it was a good or bad thing for Alice.

Alice wordlessly sat on the bed. Doctor Nina did not press for information. She wanted to let Alice rest. She carefully helped Alice remove the blazer and her uniform to clean and dress her wounds.

Doctor Nina had rare healing abilities but there was a limit to what it could do. She could only speed up the process and very easily identify causes for illnesses. It would not magically cause wounds to disappear.

She fixed Alice's bone, then used her abilities to speed up healing, so that there would be no need for a surgery or metal plates. She stitched open wounds while her ability was in use, so that it would not leave any scars. However, deep wounds like the one on her broken arm would still leave a mark.

"If not for me, you'd likely look like a monster by now. How can they do this to a girl. Not even your face is spared." Doctor Nina never failed to grumble under her breath while stitching her wounds.

When Doctor Nina was done, she helped Alice wear a clean and new set of uniform. Doctor Nina now always had one on standby for her. She felt like it was the least she could do for Alice. Alice thanked her in a soft voice then returned to her dorm lethargically. Nina sighed and looked at Alice's back with pity in her eyes. She prepared the necessary documents to apply for a month's absence from class for Alice.

When Alice returned to her room, she collapsed on her bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, it was late in the evening. She took a shower, got dressed, and ate the simple meal of eggs and vegetables prepared by BaoBao. Seeing how little ingredients there were in the house, the both of them decided to shop for groceries the next day.

"Are abilities transferable across the worlds?" Alice suddenly asked.

"Some are, some are not. For example, the magical abilities you have in this world can't be transferred. Things like spiritual energy in the previous world is something that every being has, regardless of the world they're in. The strength you accumulated in one world, carries over into the next world. But the application of it may differ."

Alice nodded and tried to cultivate her spiritual energy in her body.