I Became A System

As Kelyan and Heart started talking about Ellena, inside the cave, Ellena felt bored and decided to see the outside.

As it was her second day in the forest, it would be useless if she spent all her time inside the cave. This, she decided to try some extreme fighting with monsters lurking in the forest.

She stepped outside and stretched her limbs. However, when she was finally outside, she took a halt and was dazed because of two people who were below Aaron.

'They're still here?' She pondered while looking at them.

Heart and Kelyan looked at her at the same time and felt different emotions. While Heart felt disgusted, remembering the creepiness she felt, Kelyan, on the other hand, felt agitated with the slightest admiration since Ellena was still a reputable person.

"You're still here?" Ellena asked them.

"W-We're on our way. Please wait." Kelyan said, slightly stuttering.

Heart, even though she already knew what 'The Masked Monster' was, she still felt disdain for Ellena.

Ellena just shrugged and continued to speak. "If you don't have any business with me, just go. I'm starting my training."

Heart was dumbfounded after hearing it. Who would still train their bodies in the midst of a test? Is she really a weird egg?

Aaron just retracted and let Ellena do the rest. He already felt entertained. Even without having a good night's sleep, it was enough for him to stay energized.

Aaron decided to rest on Ellena's head and tried to sleep. At least he could put his mind at rest in this small manner.

"By the way, please, I ask for forgiveness for what Heart did to you. If she offended you even the slightest, please forgive her." Kelyan bowed his head to show some respect to Ellena. However, it wasn't on the side of Heart.

This act by Kelyan was just a sign of cowardice. Just because of rumors he would bow his head? They didn't do anything wrong in the first place, so why would someone like her try to threaten them?

'I felt agitated at first. But if she's a monster, then I am a beast. She creeped me out since she knew my name. I'm not popular, so she must be a stalker. And it must be a bluff that she has people watching me. It's totally unbelievable.' Heart thought while gazing at Ellena, intensely, almost glaring.

Ellena noticed the bothering gaze from her. But she still did not react to it and just shrugged it off.

"There's no problem. She didn't offend me in the slightest. And in the case of her, I knew her name. It was just a small prank since I have the means of knowing someone's name." Ellena said.

Kelyan finally breathed out and didn't want to drag off the conversation. Thus, she initiated to end the conversation.

"If that's so, thank you. We're going now." Kelyan said.

Heart, hearing Ellena's explanation, realized something. She was stunned by electricity when she heard that Ellena was just pranking her. Even though it wasn't a believable reason, it was still understood since there was no connection with them.

She was the one who made herself feel creeped out. Because of overthinking, she looked at Ellena with disgust. That also hurt her morals.

Heart doesn't like to be arrogant, but the way she reacted earlier was just an instinct of her purity. It was not her purpose to degenerate Ellena in her mind.

She sighed and bowed to Ellena after patching up things inside her mind.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you earlier. And if that was the reason for 'pranking' me, I understand it." Heart said with her voice almost as soft as bread newly baked.

Ellena smiled. It wasn't her plan in the first place. She was just following Aaron's plan since she was too lifeless to argue with him after waking up.

"All good. Then... if you don't mind. I'll be the one who'll leave first." Ellena said to them as she finished her stretching.

Since their talk, she hasn't stopped for a second of stretching. And after realizing it, Heart made a dismayed sigh.

"She has a nice voice, but her actions are weird. As if she wasn't bothered by it and acted purely. That's a rare attitude in this place... I wonder what my grandfather will think after hearing that I met a humble person," she mumbled after patching up the weirdness Ellena made.

At first, it was because of her mask. But after looking at Ellena for the second time, she realized that Ellena was humble.

"Hey, don't say that. What if she heard you?" Kelyan reacted.

"Don't mind it. I can see her attitude." Heart said, stiffening Kelyan for a moment.

"Don't tell me you used your ability?" Kelyan asked and was dumbfounded when Heart nodded. "No way... That's dangerous!"

***

Meanwhile, after leaving both of them, Ellena felt relieved when she started running.

"Those two... Are they also participants, Aaron?" Ellena asked.

Aaron slightly opened his eyes and answered Ellena. "Yup. They just happened to see your remains last night."

Ellena gasped. "That's right! I forgot to bury those! I am too stupid!"

"Forget about it. Just don't forget it next time." Aaron said and Ellena just nodded.

After some time, in Ellena's routine, she runs into a mutated wolf. Ellena prepared, unsheathed her sword, and coordinated with her foot. She swung the sword, removing the head from its body.

As the mutated wolf died, Ellena didn't return her sword and just carried it as there was still blood on it.

A few moments later, when she was starting to breathe unnaturally, she took a rest and sat on a boulder.

"This feels like an easy test though," she remarked.

"Well, if the guild thinks that C-rank monsters have some difficulty, they are wrong. Or maybe that was just for me? Argh! Never mind!"

After resting, she stood up and continued practicing her stamina control. At first, she used the natural limiter where the cooldown is implemented to her ability.

After that, she controlled her ability by simply using it at her will. She reduced the stamina usage and modified the power produced. Then, after finally feeling satisfied, she finished her training and decided to have some fun.

It was boring not fighting powerful monsters.. Since she still needs an effort to defeat B-rank monsters, she decided to hunt some.