『 Cilia has entered the Trial Tower! 』

"Hmm?"

While Sheila was watching Sylvia hunting the slime one by one, an immediate notification caught her interest. With a swing of her hand, a new window appears in front of her. Looking at the screen, she could see Ria have just entered the Trial Tower and was about to accept the quest of killing slime.

Sheila had thought Ria would be busy with catching up to her studies since both of them had been spending a lot of time in the Trial Tower together, after all. The two didn't neglect their study even after all the grinding, but Ria is the type to went and reviews all subject when the exam is near.

Sheila had been focusing on getting stronger that she ended up forgetting about the exam coming two weeks later. Now that she has seen Ria, it suddenly dawned on her. Although she wants to level up more, Sheila doesn't want to fall behind in her study. That was why she used a bit of her free time to reviews the subject together with Ria sometimes.

It's a good thing that she had Photographic Memory, if not she would have been in a lot of trouble. All she has to do was reviewing the key point from the past exams for once, and she won't forget it even when the exam is over. Basically, she didn't have to worry about the exam due to her skill. But this is not the case for Ria.

Although Ria's intelligence stats are pretty low compared to her, that doesn't mean she is more stupid than Sheila. If anything, Sheila was more of an idiot than Ria, even with the high intelligence she had. It's a wonder how is she still stupid after increasing her intelligence stats, or maybe God is fair.

Joking aside, Sheila wonder why Ria is here instead of focusing on reviewing her study. While Sheila was pondering over this thought, Ria immediately went after the spawned slime after she had accepted the quest.

The reason why she is inside the Trial Tower instead of her room, reviewing the past exam is due to the unrest she felt for the past few days. She didn't know why, but her heart is becoming restless for no logical reason. Ria had initially thought she was sick, but after having a visited the hospital for a check-up, she was told to be as healthy as possible by the nurse.

She thought that by killing slimes in here, it would help in distracting the restless feeling she had. After killing two slimes, her unsettled feeling subsides. Ria could feel her strength increased by a small amount after she had killed the slimes. It was different than the feeling of leveling up since this one is quite weaker compared to it. Ria didn't know, but to Sheila, she was used to this feeling. It was the feeling of gaining experience from the dead monster!

After all, only Sheila, as the host of the system, could check her overall status, which included the experience bar. But to Sylvia and Ria, they didn't have such privilege. But even so, it is good enough to know that they could feel the experience flowing into their body from over the dead monster they have slain.

"Master, I have completed the quest!"

The sudden voice jolted Sheila out of her deep thoughts.

"...you still calling me that. Sigh."

"Whatever, since you already finished the quest, let's leave."

"Um, how to..."

Sylvia was about to ask how to exit when her sight engulfed in darkness, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the beautiful scenery of the city she lives. She was already back to the real world.

"A simple thought is all you need to exit from it, but of course if you didn't complete the quest, you won't be able to exit it no matter what."

"Now, you can enter and exit from that place no matter where you are."

"Look at your right forearm; you will see a strange looking tattoo there but don't worry. Just know that it's due to my power and it can be invisible if you ever wish for. You should do so as not to attract any attention."

Sylvia nodded her head in response while staring at the strange tattoo on her right forearm, and the tattoo really disappeared entirely from her forearm when she thought of making it invisible. She had initially thought it was Sheila's power that pulled her out of that world to reality, but it was the ability given to her, in a way still considered as Sheila's power.

"And make sure no one saw you, or rather don't enter the place unless you're sure that no one else around."

"One last warning, if you ever break any of the rules I set up, I won't show any mercy. Got it?"

Sylvia's whole body trembled from the intimidation that Sheila sent to her. The chilling gaze coming from Sheila caused her to feel like she was standing in the cold snow of Antarctica. It was also a gaze that would kill her without any hesitation if she really did the opposite of what she was told.

Ignoring the fact that she had scared off the girl in front of her, Sheila continued explaining the rules. Although Sylvia feels scared of her intimidation, she didn't back down and carefully listen to everything that Sheila said.

"Lastly, I give you my power, that means I can also take it back from you whenever I want. You should take note of that."

"Yes, Master."

Sylvia nodded her head firmly. Ah, thank God. She actually falls for that bluff. I can revoke their access to the Trial Tower, but that doesn't mean I could take away their experience. At least she had no way to do it at the moment. Ordinary people had no way to stop such people if they went rampage in the real world after becoming powerful unless she stepped in. But she would simply be asking for death if she went ahead while she is weaker than her opponent.

To stop a monster, one needs to become a monster themselves.

But then again, that was somewhere in the future. As of now, Sheila would only take one person, and that is Sylvia. She hopes such future won't come or it will be troublesome, and to make sure of that; there's only one way to do so. It is getting stronger.

"As for your mother..."

Sylvia flinched when her mother was mentioned.

"W-Why are you bringing my mother here out of nowhere?"

"Just to let you know in case, you didn't know."

"I have no idea what your mother did in the past, but there is one evil spirit haunting her."

"...evil spirit?"

"Someone who died unfair death and have a lingering grudge and resentment."

"I don't know why such an evil spirit was haunting your mother, but I have already exorcist it to nothingness, to where it belongs."

"T-Then what is..."

"My point is, even without the evil spirit's influence, your family will end up divorcing sooner or later."

"I would not say I understood your feeling, but if I were in your place, I would blame myself for it too. But it wasn't your fault; you could even say that it was fated for their separation."

Sylvia lower her head as she keeps her silence. Seeing her like that, Sheila could do nothing but let out a sigh. She had told her the truth, what happened afterwards was all in her hands. Should the girl chose to leave the house where she was abused, Sheila would find a shelter for her. Or if she decides to stay even after knowing the truth, Sheila won't do anything against her decision.

To be honest, she didn't want to tell Sylvia the truth, but if she keeps her silent, she would feel guilty whenever she saw her again. That wasn't the only thing she was worried about.

"Once you have come to a decision, give me a call."

Sheila gives a pat on the girl's shoulders before walking away as her figure slowly disappeared in the distance. When Sheila turned her back against her, she didn't notice that the girl has already looked up to her as she walked away. Her expression is pretty complicated, but Sylvia didn't wait to stand there any longer before following Sheila's path, heading down the hills.

***

"I'm home!"

Sheila shouted as she entered the house and put her shoes aside before stepping inside and went straight upstairs.

"Oh? Welcome home, Sheila."

When Sheila was walking on the hallways, her mother greeted her from the kitchen. She was surprised to know that her mother was home since she had thought Sara would be busy at work. Instead of heading upstairs to her room, she went toward the kitchen and saw her mother in a pink apron while she was cooking.

"You're home, Mom? I thought you would be busy with the company."

"Oh, that would be the case if it was any normal day."

"???"

Sara looked up and saw the latter confused expression and chuckled.

"Your father... He got a day off for a week and decided to spend it at home."

"But wasn't Father out of the country for his business?"

"Well, yes. He has just arrived at the airport 2 hours ago and was on his way home now."

"Father is really...coming back home?"

"Of course, it's been a year since the last you saw him due to how busy his schedule is. Now that he got a day off, of course he would like to spend it with his lovely daughter at home."

Sheila didn't respond and keep her silence. Although she missed her father, she didn't know how to react to this. Sheila was also worried if her father found out about her secret since she is never good at lying and keeping her secret. Because Sara is not always at home, she is somehow lucky up until now. But will it end here? Maybe she should give Ria a call. She needs back up!