Chapter 109: An Elf?

“Ah...”

Xiao Lei wanted to call for help, but she quickly realized she couldn’t even turn her head. Her entire body felt as if it were bound by some invisible force, rendering her completely immobile.

“Hmm, what profession would be good?… It should at least be better than that pet woman of his…”

Future murmured to herself, frowning as she pondered for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Oh, I’ve got it.”

At this moment, Xiao Lei was beginning to realize that she was awakening, though she had no inkling that her awakening process had been forcibly interfered with.

A golden light enveloped her entire body, lasting for over ten minutes before gradually dissipating. Xiao Lei slowly descended to the ground.

Blinking, her lips slightly parted, still in disbelief.

“I-I’m an Awakened?”

She raised her hand, curling it slightly, feeling the continuous surge of power emanating from it. An unstoppable joy spread across her face.

“That’s great! I’m an Awakened too! Now I can finally help Brother Kong Zhe…”

Snapping out of her surprise, Xiao Lei began to notice that her body was far more than just what she had initially felt. Her mind was exceptionally clear; her vision and hearing seemed to have improved manifold out of nowhere. Beneath her feet, it felt as if she was constantly entwined with the wind. Though she had yet to try, Xiao Lei was certain she could run incredibly fast now.

After awakening, her very first thought was that she could finally assist Kong Zhe!

Although she still had no idea what her profession was, what precautions to take as an Awakened, or even how to open her status panel, her heart was filled with boundless enthusiasm.

“Eh, the first person you think of is him?”

Future watched the girl hopping excitedly in place and sighed, glancing at Kong Zhe slumped on the ground. She pursed her lips slightly and muttered softly, “Such a lucky man… I’m almost jealous.”

Amid her excitement, Xiao Lei suddenly felt a gentle pat on her shoulder, which brought her back to reality. She noticed Future standing nearby, looking at her with a serious expression.

“Remember what you just said… And never lose yourself! You are the luckiest woman in this world, and this fortune you have is earned through your kindness.”

Future stared at Xiao Lei with unprecedented earnestness.

“If one day you abandon your kindness, you will lose this luck, and perhaps everything else you hold dear. Understand?”

“…Oh.”

Xiao Lei tilted her head, nodding with a half-understood expression.

Seeing her naïve look, Future sighed again.

“Alright, I’m leaving now… I originally wanted to help you just take that guy out directly, so that from now on he would only have eyes for you. But unfortunately, my intervention in this timeline can only go so far.”

Future shrugged helplessly, then looked at Xiao Lei and winked playfully.

“If you want something, you have to fight for it yourself.”

“Well then, I’m off!”

With those words, Future turned and began walking away into the distance, leaving Xiao Lei staring blankly.

Her hands clasped behind her back, a red silhouette trailing her steps, she moved with a light, carefree gait, like a girl frolicking among flowers.

“Oh, by the way…”

When she reached a distance, Future seemed to recall something, turning back with a light smile. “When he wakes up later, he’ll forget everything that just happened. Promise me you won’t tell him about my existence, okay?”

“Mm…”

Xiao Lei nodded. Although she didn’t fully understand what this elder sister named Future was here for, it was clear she bore no ill will and had helped her so much. Naturally, she would agree to this request.

---

When Xiao Lei looked up again, the red figure was already gone, leaving her stunned.

This woman was like a breeze—fleeting as she arrived and departed, silently gone in the blink of an eye.

...

“Brother Kong Zhe, Brother Kong Zhe…”

While unconscious, Kong Zhe felt a wave of dizziness, faint whispers calling his name lingering in his ears.

A gentle breeze brushed past, and slowly, Kong Zhe opened his eyes.

“What happened to me?”

His mind felt foggy, as if something had been forcibly extracted, an unsettling sensation.

A comforting touch came from the back of his head—he seemed to be resting on something soft.

A faint fragrance wafted from nearby, soothing his soul and clearing the haze in his mind.

“Brother Kong Zhe, you’re awake!”

A sweet voice came from very close above him.

Kong Zhe lifted his head slightly, and Xiao Lei’s face appeared right before him.

“Xiao Lei, you’re alright…”

It turned out he was resting his head on Xiao Lei’s lap.

Feeling relieved, Kong Zhe propped himself up with one hand. Although he regretted losing the comfort of her lap, he didn’t want to impose on such a pure-hearted girl.

Recalling the recent events carefully, Kong Zhe frowned, wondering why he had fainted.

He vaguely remembered some kind of danger but couldn’t recall any details.

His last memory was laughing and chatting with Xiao Lei. What followed seemed to have vanished into thin air—no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember a single thing.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

He opened his status panel unintentionally and was immediately shocked.

Nothing else seemed to have changed, but under the “Mystic” category, the number of darkened cards had increased from two to three!

Kong Zhe looked sorrowfully at the suddenly consumed card—it bore a lightning symbol, indicating a thunder attribute.

When had he used that card?

He scratched his head, unable to recall.

Fortunately, it was only a three-star card, which was still acceptable. If it had been a five or six-star card, he would have been devastated.

Soon, he made an even more exciting discovery: while one card was consumed, another card had been illuminated. Most importantly, it was a six-star card!

Seeing this new, dazzling golden card, joy overwhelmed Kong Zhe, and the irritation from losing the three-star card vanished completely.

A six-star card!

He had struggled immensely just to unlock a four-star card before; a six-star card was beyond his wildest dreams, and now it had been given to him freely.

Without hesitation, Kong Zhe examined the new card.

Unlike the elemental cards he had unlocked earlier, this was one of the eight special cards.

The Star of Prophecy.

Attribute: Holy Grail.

Rank: Six stars.

Card description: “The star-studded night sky holds endless mysteries, leaving only the faint traces of fleeting meteors, which will reveal the truth of the world. Learnable upon becoming a hero; learning consumes one skill point.”

“...”

After reading the card’s description, Kong Zhe felt as if cold water had been poured over his head, deflating his excitement.

Awakened levels were roughly divided into four stages: Level 1 to 20 was ‘Unit,’ 21 to 50 was ‘Hero,’ above 50 was ‘Legendary Hero,’ and above 80 was ‘Epic Hero.’

This card required at least reaching the ‘Hero’ level, meaning level 21, to learn.

He was only level 5—still far from that.

Shaking his head, though disappointed, he knew it was a gift and had no right to complain.

It was also then that he realized cards marked with a cup symbol belonged to the Holy Grail attribute.

Holy Grail… Kong Zhe had no real concept of this name, only faintly recalling that something similar existed in tarot cards.

He had no real knowledge about these things and couldn’t guess the meaning behind the name, so he let it be.

But what exactly had happened just now? Why had so many changes occurred to him in such a short time?

Kong Zhe furrowed his brow, pondering deeply, but to no avail.

“Since Xiao Lei is awake, she should know...”

Thinking so, he turned to ask her. But upon seeing her now, he was immediately stunned.

“Xiao Lei, you—you’ve awakened?”

He had been puzzled by the changes in himself and hadn’t realized until now that Xiao Lei had become an Awakened too.

Kong Zhe’s expression was strange—not because her awakening was odd. Xiao Lei had great awakening potential from the start, and after these days of accumulation, her mana was brimming to the point that Kong Zhe suspected she might have awakened at any moment.

So her awakening wasn’t surprising. What puzzled Kong Zhe wasn’t the awakening itself, but something else...

“Yes, yes!”

Xiao Lei clasped her hands to her chest, her large eyes curved into crescent moons, beaming with a delighted smile as she nodded vigorously like a child eager for her parents’ praise after achieving good grades.

But then she noticed something was amiss—why did Kong Zhe look at her so oddly? Why was he unconsciously stepping back?

Blinking, she tilted her head in confusion, a big question mark hovering over her.

“Uh, Xiao Lei, haven’t you noticed yet?”

Seeing her expression, Kong Zhe gave a wry smile and shook his head, pulling out a small mirror from his ring and handing it to her.

Xiao Lei took the mirror and instinctively held it before her face. The next moment, she screamed in surprise and immediately understood why Kong Zhe looked so strange.

Reflected in the mirror was indeed her own face, unchanged but with skin that seemed even fairer and more delicate.