I sighed as I looked down on the children’s park from my balcony. It was always a sad thing for me when I had to drop a book. It was even worse when I had high hopes for the book. Then the blow hit like a weighted hammer instead of a normal one.

And boy oh boy did it hurt. It hurt worse that my parents had once again left on some or the other group outing and I was all alone in the house. I sighed once more as I turned back towards the house, perhaps watching tv would provide better entertainment?

Just as I was about to step back into the living room, the ground suddenly shifted, tripping me up and making me fall down. I did not even have time to catch on to the door frame before the balcony fell down. Me with it.

For a few seconds I experienced the exhilaration of free fall. The wind whipped across my face, I was no longer held prisoner by gravity, I was finally free! And then my sanity reasserted itself. I wasn’t free. I was falling.

A scream tore itself from my throat. All around me similar screams echoed as people realised the same thing I had. I was falling to my death.

I tried, hopelessly, to manoeuvre myself into a tree. All of those people in the movies seemed to be able to use trees as landing grounds, why couldn’t I? And just as I thought I had a plan, another unexpected thing happened.

The sun went out of commission.

All I could see was pitch dark. The wind on the other hand intensified as I felt myself being pushed laterally. Wasn’t the wind supposed to not be powerful enough to push people this low? I lived on the 9th floor! In an area that was barely above sea level!

It was unfair! There was no way I was going to survive this, the velocity alone would kill me soon. Even now I could feel it tearing at my skin. I curled up. Hoping against hope it would stop my arms from being removed from my body.

I don’t know for how long I flew like that, it seemed like hours, but I was sure it was no more than a few minutes. By now I knew that this was no wind that was propelling me. It was too consistent, too powerful. No, it was something far more otherworldly.

Like someone had pressed the emergency brake on this windy car, I was suddenly no longer in motion. At first I did nothing. I took me a while to adjust to my now still surroundings. And then, when I was sure that I was no longer in danger of suddenly being picked up, I opened my eyes.

It was the wrong decision to make. I had yet to even process the scene before me when my head was suddenly full of memories. Memories that were not there before. Memories that were not mine. Scenes flashed before me at a rapid pace.

In what could not have been longer than a few seconds I lived through the life of a ten year old. A ten year old villainess to be exact. The same personalityless, cliche villainess from the story I had dropped a few minutes ago…back on Earth

The experience was not one that could be described. If I had to, I would say that it was similar to that of a dream. One thought the dream was real and felt emotions within it, but once it ended, you knew it was just a dream.

Still dizzy from the experience, I once again began to open my eyes, half expecting to once again be assaulted by some form of attack. Instead, I opened my eyes to the site of an old man staring at me from a reclining chair.

A sudden burst of memory had me remembering his identity, Lord Protector Aswelth. Guardian and grandfather-figure to one Altura Selrin. Famous for killing people randomly and often.

“Congratulations your grace, you have awakened a second affinity. Truly a celebratory matter. Though I must ask, what is the element? It must be quite a powerful one if it is making you act so unusually.” Aswelth said in a calm, controlled manner, staring at me the whole time.

Uh oh. Caught already? Don’t all the protagonists get transmigrated without anyone finding out? Oh no, what should I do? Ok, ok, time to act like I was Altura…how did she talk again? Thankfully, I had her memories to rely on.

“And why should I tell you Aswelth?” I asked, Alturia never ever referred to a lesser ranked nobility by their title.

“Because, your grace, I am your guardian and it is expected of you.” Aswelth replied. That man was too calm.

Now what was my affinity in the first place? How do you- ah yes, the book had a stupid System. A good mess of one that is. At least it was easy to call. Just think status

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (ungerminated), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

9

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

13

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

11

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

9

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

12

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

13

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

14

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

13

There it was!

…Wait, didn’t the villianess have the [Dark Ice] affinity? And [Energy] seed only? Why did it change? Did it have anything to do with- “Perhaps you could reply, your grace?” Aswelth suddenly interrupted me.

Right. Habitual murderer was watching. “The affinities are now Dragon Fire and Snowflake Ice” I answered, unsure of whether it was good or bad.

“I see…I wonder what caused you to go through such a change”- Aswelth suddenly stood up and walked out, saying- “But that shall have to wait. A small group of dire wolves are approaching. With your new affinities it should be easy enough to kill them. But don’t worry, I will be watching.”

Wait what. Direwolves? No Thank You! “Perhaps you could take care of them my lord?” I asked, trying to imitate Altura’s speech. “

“I see that you have truly changed, perhaps you no longer wish to pursue power anymore? But you have no choice. The direwolves will give you the Qi you need to germinate your first seed. And I did promise your father I'd have you do it.” Aswelth said, making a grabbing motion with his hands.

Suddenly, I was once again in the air, “Now go!” Aswelth said as he threw me into the air. “Let's see you survive that, your grace.” I heard him say, for some reason I could hear him just fine in the air. Perhaps it was my stats? Either way I was now once again hurtling through the air.

At least there was no weird wind that had picked me up. Yet. Thankfully, Aswelth had apparently set the magic to slow down my descent. Why would he- another burst of memory- apparently I, or rather Altura, had her magic connected to a special crystal that would send the last image she saw before dying to her family.

So that's where the direwolves came in. Direwolves would not be Aswelth’s fault. If I died of his hand then Altura-my family would know. That was not a good thing for him.

“Oomph,” I could not help but exclaim as I touched the ground. Bad mouth. I had just alerted every wolf nearby to where I was. Time to run. I leapt up as soon as I could and moved my new ten year old body forward.

My speed sadly, was not enough to outrun or even matter to these wolves. Not if their howls were any indication. If anything I was encouraging them. Time to climb a tree. Trees were good. Wolves couldn’t climb trees right? Perhaps it was the same for direwolves? A girl could hope.

I climbed the nearest tree I could find. It was some type of fruit tree. With glowing fruits of course. At least my summers climbing trees were coming into use. As soon as I reached the first branch that looked strong enough to hold my wait I sat on it.

There was no way my ten year old legs would survive climbing any higher. Sitting on the branch in a thoroughly awkward position I waited. Waited for my hunters to come. And come they did.

Large, tall beasts about the same height as your average ten year old, their silver fur shown harshly in the light. There was no way I was going to beat even a single one of those. Let alone more than one. Guess the tree would have to be cosy enough.

It didn’t take long for the wolves to track me. Did everything in this world have super senses? Ugh…what do I do? Was there a set time before wolves got bored of their prey? More importantly, did that cross over to these freak wolves?

What to do, what to do…what would a protagonist do. Well, they would probably discover their cheat and use it to reduce the wolves to ash. But what was my cheat? Ugh…status?

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (ungerminated), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

9

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

13

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

11

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

9

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

12

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

13

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

14

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

13

No cheats here…well the elements looked good…and the seeds…though I don’t see them being useful anytime soon. Okay. How do you do magic? The MC used…his OP seed. Ugh.

MCs.

Going back in Altura’s memory’s though, I did find something worthwhile. Elemental casting. I might have no mana but I can call upon the elements! Ok, think about the element. Snowflake. Easy enough. Then think about it doing what you want it to. Multiply! Fall down!

Suddenly the wolves were assaulted by a legion of…snow particles. Those little things that you could see but never touch because they would immediately melt. Needless to say, they did absolutely nothing.

“Thwack”

A wolf suddenly banged its head onto the tree. Guess it did do something, it irritated the wolves! Uhoh. There went the wait out the wolves plan. The tree would fall before they gave up.

Another thwack and I almost fell off the tree. Time to cling on the tree’s trunk for dear life. Bad pun intended. Maybe fire would be better? Then again how effective would embers be against the wolves?

A third thwack, this time the tree creaked.

Well, it's not as if I could anger the wolves more… Go fire! Imagining it was easy enough, fire was iconic right? Now for what to do…just throw it out…there…rain of tiny embers engaged!

Go do something!

Thankfully it did do something, it set the wolves coats on fire, a colourful fire that enraged the wolves even more. Another thwack, the tree creaked some more as it seemed to bend against the force.

Thankfully a wolf coming from the opposite side corrected that. ‘Crack’ nope, no correction. It cracked the trunk. Fire, fire, fire! Just go! Why couldn’t you learn something useful, Altura! Ugh…c’mon memory! Remember!

Okay how did magic really work? People had seeds. Seeds germinated when you fed them Qi. Then grew after feeding more Qi. Bigger the tree the bigger the stats. Easy enough. But…how do you get the Qi? Not all of us are OP MCs with plot armour that run across dying beasts!

Some of us are stuck on falling trees! Now, what to do? I just needed to kill one…then I could germinate…Fire! Fire! Suddenly the rain turned into a torrent. Overkill was normal right?

“Awooooo” the wolves yelled as they burned. Guess all I needed was more fire? Well then fire away! I went a bit mad and cast fire…right up until the tree caught fire. Oops. I forgot trees caught fire too. Uh oh.

Lord Protector Aswelth the uncaring.

Aswelth was amused. It had been far far too long since he’d had someone suffer like that. It was always entertaining when a noble suddenly discovered that no beast actually cared for their pedigree. It was especially entertaining when that noble was one as bratty as this one.

It was pure luck that the brat had gone through a second awakening in the middle of the woods. A second awakening that had left her confused and easy to fool. Before he’d never be able to throw her out like that. The brat would have been ordering him to not do so in five seconds flat.

And now he got to watch her die. Oh would you look at that! The brat sent snow, snow, into the wolves’ nose. This was even more fun than he thought it would be.

And then of course the brat had to go and spoil it by sending fire. Who gave her the brains to think of that? At least she didn't send more than one… oh she did that too. Ugh… was the irritating brat going to survive anyway?

Not if he could help it. Time to… spread a little love. Lovely flames that is. Aswelth sent a small ember of fire to the woods, setting them on fire. Unlike the brat's useless dragon flame, his was far more useful.

Sadly it was also your normal yellow fire. Something that the Bray's father would recognise at once. At least he gave her a good scare, he could always kill her later.

Altura (MC)

I was panicking. I'd tried summoning snow to stop it, but for some reason it just wouldn't stop! At this point, I was half sure that the old man was behind it all. It seemed like something in character for him.

Right as I was about to give up, I suddenly found myself once more in the air. This time I didn't even realise it. What now?

"So, I see that you managed to kill those wolves. Good for you." Aswelth said from behind me. Creepy old man. Not waiting for my answer, he propelled himself back to camp, pulling me with him. Wind, could you please stop getting in my face?

The journey, needless to say, was not the most pleasant. At least it wasn't long. Within minutes I was back on the bed with Aswelth staring at me.

"Lord Aswelth, would you mind leaving me alone? That is not a request. " I said, politely. No need to aggravate the murderous Xianxia elder. Yet. I needed to get a hang of things or I would be back in that tree. Except next time it might not be just dire wolves that were circling.

"Very well your grace, I shall retire to my tent. I am sure you will be alright" Aswelth said. Smug bastard.

Thankfully Aswelth did leave, giving me a chance to finally relax a bit and try to make a sense of the jumble of memories in my head. Ok, what did I know of Altura? Next to nothing, she said only two sentences in the entire book, you shall regret this something something cliche rubbish. The character was simply your typical Xianxia villianess given a more western name.

There were several references to her in the book though. The first time she was mentioned was in the beginning of the book, at the age of 10 she visited the protagonist’s village and during that time tried to kidnap the MCs first love interest.

Of course, since it was Xianxia, the love interest had actually been the hidden young mistress of the Jade Water sect, one of the most powerful sects in the neighbouring kingdom and had helped the MC take revenge. There’s a flag to avoid. Note to self: Don’t kidnap anyone.

Altura was apparently also a weak character, only powerful because of her bloodline. Another thing that didn’t make sense, if the world was obsessed with personal power then why was someone as weak as Altura so privileged?

Putting aside the long list of improbabilities that were scattered across the book, it did make me ask one thing, why exactly did Altura travel to the village? And there’s the memory. Apparently dear Altura had been offered the valley as her fiefdom as Archduchess if she chose the Royalty seed as her main.

That would put her at a major disadvantage when competing against the throne since a place that low levelled would be very hard for her to level and would likely hamper her growth. Presumably she’d said no in the original plot and made an enemy of the MC.

Then there were the future events. I knew that in about three years the neighbouring kingdom would invade this one causing heavy losses before being eventually saved by the MC with the help of the first love interest.

But that was late in the game. First the MC discovered quite a few ‘heavenly treasures’ while travelling from his village to the centre of the kingdom. Wait. What was the Kingdom called? Ah, the Kingdom of Reverie. I was almost used to the memory dumps at this point.

Perhaps this was some advanced version of that thing where people usually only remember things when something reminds them? That's why I had to ‘trigger’ them? Whatever. At this point I should be grateful that I could at least do that. I’ll figure the rest out later.

Now for the next thing. There was a tournament in the capital that the MC attended…but that was in over a year…best to think smaller now. I’d note things down later so I don’t forget them. Now for the next thing, choosing the main seed.

I had three options, Royalty, Military and Energy. Time to trigger the memory on them. Yep, there it is. The three seeds were apparently three ways for Altura to pursue the throne. Royalty meant her taking her trash fief, crippling her growth but it might keep her safe. Just like her ancestor.

Wait. The ancestor. How could I forget that guy? The very ‘wise’ prince that gave up his chance to the throne and supported his brother. Thus earning a bad fief in a remote corner of the kingdom. Much like Altura. If it wasn’t for the fact that the current King had been poisoned and was thus unable to have hiers, Altura wouldn't even be in the running.

But that old guy was still alive and while not the most powerful cultivation wise, was the most ancient person in the kingdom that bothered to stay. The problem was that the guy had also never moved a finger when Altura and her family had been slaughtered. But perhaps he would care more if I took a path similar to him?

Then there was Military. The consequence was apparent, it involved me joining the army and serving there with unreasonable schedules and lots of fighting…and presumably death. Let's just put that aside for now.

Finally Energy. That was likely the one the original Altura had chosen. Restricted to those in the direct line of descent it would put me pretty much in the same overall position as Altura. No please. I didn’t want to die, even if it seemed that I had already done so once.

Ignoring Energy left me with only two options. One that involved living in comfortable, though insecure luxury for the rest of my life…and the other led to more fights like I had with the wolves. The choice was obvious. Royalty.

Before I could change my mind, I sent all of my Qi to the seed. Inside a special place within my mind that I didn't even know existed, a seed germinated into a sapling. A notification appeared before me, confirming my choice.

Seed Germinated: Royalty

Main seed slot allocated. Class Royal Archduchess assigned. Please choose a fief to begin levelling.

And there was that.

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (Seedling), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

9

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

13

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

11

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

9

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

12

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

13

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

14

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

13