The Locked System

Shokan city, 20 years ago

Inside a dungeon on the City Lord's manor were three persons, a man, a woman, and a little baby girl. The man looks around 20 years old, he has white hair with purple eyes and has an anxious expression on his pale handsome face, he wears a complete shiny silver armor. The woman has beautiful with golden eyes and black long hair, her body was voluptuous but athletic, she wears a black shirt and black skirt with metallic protections only in her c.h.e.s.t, legs, arms and some parts of her skirt, she looks at the same age as the man. The woman was carrying the little baby girl with only a few strands of black hair she was seeing the baby girl with a sad smile, the baby was white pale and it doesn't seem to be breathing very well. They were standing next to a small pool on the floor. The pool was filled with a shiny azure liquid, it was so shining, that the liquid was illuminating a small part of the dungeon

The man sees the woman with concern as he says " Elena, please it has to be another way, we just need to keep searching, give me two days.. no, just one day and I will cure our daughter "

Elena turns to see him keeping the sad smile on her face then she c.a.r.e.s.ses the man right cheek with her right hand saying softly " There isn't another way, Kein, not even the Great Priest of the Kallan Empire could heal her, and those from the guardian races will never help us, remember that I'm the daughter of a half-elf, so the High-Humans and the Elves will never help her, after all, she has my blood "

Kein starts to cry as he grits his teeth then he hits his c.h.e.s.t with his right hand and says " Then let me do it, you can raise our daughter! "

Elena shakes her head and walks near the edge of the pool making the man shiver with fear then she says without turning around " You don't have the power to save her from the poisonous blood, even I, that I'm an Intermediate Immortal Magic Swordsman, have barely the strength to do this "

" Elena... please.. just let me... search for another... solution " Said Kein with a choked voice and tears in his eyes

Elena ignores her husband prayers and walks towards the blood pool then " Humph " she covers her body and her baby's body with a thin layer of white energy

Kein clenches his fists with impotence seeing her walk towards the pool, suddenly she puts a foot on the pool and the veins of her leg begin to pop out

" Agh " Elena makes a very pained expression but she still puts her other leg inside the pool, absorbing the poisonous properties of the blood

" Elena! " Yelled Kain with worry and he runs towards her just to be pushed by her, the man falls on his b.u.t.t a few meters away from her, he sees her with worry and noticed the saddened expression on her face " I sorry my love, but you need to stay there for the meantime "

" ELENA!! " Kein stands again yelling loudly when he saw that she submerged her entire body on the blood pool, he approached a little then abruptly the whole azure blood pool begins to shine with an intense light, the light was so bright that he needed to use his arms to cover his eyes from it

After a couple of minutes, the light begins to go down making Kein finally put down his arms, he sees the blood pool as the pool was still brightening but it seems that the blood pool changed from azure to a light blue color, then from the blood pool Elena and the baby came out, the baby was now in perfect condition she was even crying but Elena was in very bad shape, her body has all her veins popped out with blue color and she was breathing with difficult

" Elena! " Kein approached Elena and the baby as she approached the edge of the pool and put the baby at the edge carefully, then she moves a little bit at the left and collapses with half of her body still in the blood pool

Kein sees the baby first and noticed that her few strands of hair changed from black to azure then he hears Elena saying with a weak voice " Take her.. the blood here... had become... like... water "

Kein grabs the baby girl carefully and grabs Elena left arm pulling her out from the blood pool " You are going to be okay! you hear me! "

Elena's breathing becomes weaker and weaker but still, she turns to see Kein with a sad smile and with a weak voice she says " I'm not gonna... make it... please... take care... of Kara "

Kein makes a pained expression and says between tears " Please, don't say that Elena " Then she turns to see the entrance of the dungeon and yells with desperation " Selene!! please came here!! "

A red-haired woman around 20 years old enters running, she comes together with a brown-haired young man, he was around 15 years old " Grab her! " Said Kein as he gives Kara to Selene, Selene grabs Kara carefully and her eyes and the young man watched Elena with shock

Elena with a very weak complexion whispers to Kein in his arms " Make sure... that she chose someone who... really loves her... because the man who takes her v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y... could become as powerful... as a Hero "

Kein sees Elena in his arms with surprise just like the young man and Selene they couldn't help to yell " What?! " but suddenly Elena seems to lose all her strength as her hands and head start to hang. her eyes stay half-open but she isn't breathing anymore

Kein watches his wife in his arms with a horrified expression yells " Elena!! ELENA!!! " the echoes of his heartbreaking screams fill all the dungeon

Selene with the little baby girl and tears in her eyes kneels beside the now deceased Elena and her husband to whisper softly " ...Elena "

The young man stays still, clenching his fists and crying while he says " Master... "

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Shokan city, 12 years ago

An 8-year-old girl with azure hair was running through a hallway in a big mansion, she was wearing a light blue dress with a pink belt, she has a pink ribbon on her head and has a small teddy bear between her arms

" Not so fast young lady! you could trip! " Said a young woman with concern as she runs after the little girl but she was smiling her sweetly. The woman wears a maid outfit, has short black hair and brown eyes, her skin is white pale with a thin body, and her face was kinda cute, she looks around 19 years old

The little girl turns to see behind her without stopping and says with a playful smile " Come on! daddy is waiting! "

" I know young lady but please slow down! " Said the maid with a wry smile while she was chasing her through the hallway, the other maids and butlers observed they interaction with smiles on their faces it seems that these kinds of behaviors occurred often

The little girl makes a mischievous smile and says " No! hurry big sister, hehe! " and she keeps running until she saw a man standing next to a window

The little girl makes a big smile and screams while she runs towards the man yelling " Daddy! daddy! "

The man turned to see her making a huge smile then he bends with his arms open " Kara! " The little girl jumps to her dad's arms and he carries her with only his right arm then he pinches her nose and says with a smile " You mischievous girl you are giving troubles to Elsie again? "

The little Kara shakes her head making a pout " No... "

" I'm sorry, City Lord " Said the maid with her head bowed but a slight smile in her cute face

Kein smiles and says to her " It's okay Elsie, I will take care of her today "

The maid named Elsie's turns to see Kein with a humble smile and bows her head saying " Thanks, City Lord, I will clean the young lady's room " then she leaves from where she came

Then the man sees his daughter in his arms and says with a smile " Is time for your daily lessons "

The little Kara makes a smile and says with puppy eyes " I know daddy but it's boring, can we not do it today? "

Kein shakes his head slightly as he says with a small smile " No, we can't do that those lessons are for your own good besides today you will put into practice what you have learned "

" The numbers? no, daddy, that's very boring " Said the little Kara with a bored expression

" Haha " Kein laughs seeing the expression of his daughter and with a happy face, he says her " No, today you will practice magic so, with that, you can be just like your mother "

" Really, daddy?! " Said the little Kara with a face full of excitement

Kein nods and begins to walk with the little Kara in his arms " Of course, the Captain will teach you everything he learned from your mother I will take you with him "

" YAY! " Yelled the little Kara as they walked through the hallway

Kein and Kara left the mansion to arrive at the courtyard there it was a man around 22 years old he has brown hair to the shoulders and has yellow eyes, he wears a silver armor and was swinging a sword with just his right hand, then when he saw Kara and Kein he made a huge smile saying " City Lord, young miss Kara, good morning "

" Good morning uncle Robert! " Said the little Kara with a big smile

Kein smiled a little saying " Good morning Captain, it's time to Kara's magic training "

The Captain smiled with a surprised face " I see... so the day has finally arrived, good then so what do you want to teach her first? "

Kein puts down Kara and pats her head saying " I want to teach her to feel the energy around us, just the basic "

The Captain sees Kara with a confident smile and says " It will be easy for her, after all, she is my master's daughter "

Kara tilts her head as he sees the Captain with a curious smile " My mother was powerful? "

The Captain nods with a proud smile " Yes, she was, she was the strongest female adventurer of the region so you can be like her "

Kara opens her eyes with excitement and yells " Really?! "

Kein ruffles Kara's hair he takes the teddy bear from her hands and says " Really, now let's begin Kara, sit here cross-legged and your eyes closed "

Kara sits cross-legged on the grass then she closes her eyes and asks with a happy smile " Then what daddy? "

Kein sits cross-legged a few meters in front of her and says her " Try to feel the energy around you it will feel like a torrent of wind that will send small chills to your body "

" It's normal if you can feel it in your first try, so don't get frustrated when you can't feel it " Said the Captain as he walks near them

Suddenly Kara's body begins to shine with a faintly blue light and Kara yells with excitement " I can feel it, daddy! uncle! "

" ...!? " Kein and the Captain watched Kara with expressions full of amazement

" Amazing this is the first time I saw something like that but I never saw that kind of blue energy " Whispered the Captain to Kein with his eyes wide open watching Kara

" She isn't a Water Mage this kind of blue must be because of that " responded Kein to the Captain with a serious face. Suddenly the blue light around Kara begins to shine brighter making the two men saw her with surprise ' This is bad ' thought both men

" Kara stop now and open your eyes " Said Kein softly trying to not scare the little girl

The blue light around Kara's body disappeared the moment she opened her eyes, then she sees Kein with a worry expression asking " I did something wrong, daddy? "

Kein sees Kara with a sweet smile and stands to say " No Kara but the energy that you were gathering was too much for your body, first, you have to strengthen your body, so the Captain will help you with that first "

" Ok! " Said Kara with a happy smile as she stands

" Alright little lady, we will start with little exercises until your body becomes strong enough, so let's run around the mansion " Said the Captain while he starts to run slowly

" Yes! " Said Kara with excitement and runs after the Captain

Kein watches her daughter run with a happy smile and he thinks with a sad smile " It could take a while to know what kind of power she has, after all, the Level Stones can't tell what kind of category is she "

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Shokan city, 11 years ago

A maid approached a little girl that was reading a book on a couch, the maid was Elsie. Elsie arrived near the young girl and says with a smile " Young lady it's time for your training again "

The little girl puts dawn the book revealing his azure hair and cute smile, that girl was Kara, she now has 9 years and was a little taller, her hair was long reaching half of her back, she wears now a small leather armor. Kara sees Elsie with a smile and says " Ok! maybe this time I can learn some magic! "

Elsie smiles seeing Kara's enthusiasm saying her " Your father and the Captain are waiting for you outside the mansion "

" Yes! " Kara jumps from the couch leaving the book on it then she runs towards Elsie and grabs her hand " Come on Elsie! I want to show you my training! " then she begins to pull her

" Wait, my lady! " Said Elsie with surprise but she followed Kara through the mansion with a happy face

After Kara pulled Elsie all the way outside they arrived with Kein and the Captain. they keep having the same looks after a year but their strength raised again

Kein sees Kara with a smile seeing that she pulled Elsie all the way there " Kara, ready for your training "

" Yes, father! I want to learn something new! " Said Kara clenching her fists with excitement and finally releasing Elsie's hand

Elsie bows her head towards Kein and the Captain and says with shame " I'm sorry for the intromission City Lord, I should leave now "

Kein and the Captain smile and Kein says " You can stay Elsie after all Kara sees you as her big sister "

" Yes! please stay Elsie " Said Kara as she grabs her left hand, seeing her with appreciation

Elsie see Kara's face with a small smile and bows towards Kein with a happy face " Thanks for letting me stay "

Kein nods and sees Kara again " You are going to train like always Kara, so warm-up "

Kara surprises and then makes a pout " But daddy I have been doing that for a whole year, I want to practice magic already "

Kein and the Captain turn to see each other with serious faces then the Captain nods and both turn to see Kara and Kein say " Alright Kara, I will show you to control the Earth Magic "

Kara jumps with a happy yell " Yay! Tell me what I have to do daddy? "

" You know now how to gather magic, so is the same procedure but instead of gathering the energy into your body like the body boosts you have to canalize it to your surroundings with enchantments like this " Kein points his right hand to an empty place in the garden then he yells " Earth Wall! " from the grass a wall around 3 meters tall and 6 meters wide come out surprising the little Kara who with admiration yells to his father " Woah! that's amazing, daddy! "

" Now try it " Said Kein with a small smile seeing Kara

" You can do it, young lady " Whispered Elsie beside Kara with a smile

Kara nods with a serious face " Ok! " then she points her right hand to an empty place on the garden just like her father then she yells " Earth Wall! " but nothing happened even when they waited a couple of seconds

Kara sees the grass where she is aiming her right hand with frustration and says " Why doesn't work? " Then she begins to chant again and again " Earth Wall! Earth Wall! Earth Wall! " but nothing happened just like before

Kein, the Captain, and Elsie watched Kara with pity then Kein says her softly " Alright Kara calm down you, it seems that you aren't an Earth Mage, I will bring someone tomorrow to teach you a different type of magic, so let's just train for today "

Kara shakes her head with anger and frustration, after all, she heard from the Captain that her mother could control every type of magic " No! I can do it, daddy! " Suddenly a blue aura appears around her body

Kein, Elsie, and the Captain see Kara with surprise then Kein yells with concern " Kara no! you are doing it wrong! " and runs towards her but Kara yells again with her eyes closed " Earth Wall! " Kara didn't create an Earth Wall instead her hand was covered with an Azure Fire " ...!? " All the presents watched Kara in daze until

" Eh?! " Kara opens her eyes to watch her right hand in doubt then her face changed from surprised to a pained expression " AAAAAHHH!! " Kara yelled loudly in pain the blue fire was burning her hand in an alarming rate what is worse is that the Azure Fire begin to spread into all her body burning some parts of her clothes and leather armor

" KARA! " Yelled Kein, Elsie, and the Captain. Kein ran towards Kara and when he tried to touch her arms " AGH! " the Azure Fire burned him

The Azure Fire spread even more but when it was about to cover her head " Damn it! Strength Boost " The Captain yelled and run in a flash to appear behind Kara then *PAM* he hit Kara's nape softly but that hit made Kara fall unconscious at the cost of a small burn in his right hand

The Azure Fire disappeared when Kara was falling so Kein grabbed the small burned body of her daughter " Bring a Light Mage quickly! " yelled Kain with a lot of concern then the Captain ran again leaving the mansion garden

Kein raised Kara to take her inside the mansion but then Elsie says softly with amazement watching Kara " City Lord... "

Kein turns to see Kara in his arms quickly and surprised as much as Elsie " What? " From some of Kara's burn marks blood was coming out but that blood was blue

' It can't be! ' Thought Kain seeing the blood after he has seen that blood color before it was the blood of the Azure Dragon

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10 years ago

Kara now has 10, she is still growing, her body is completely fine despite that incident a year ago but the problem is that her attitude has changed, from someone who always showed a smile and acts mischievous to a very silent and obedient attitude, but even like that she starts to hate the simple idea of train magic after all those incidents keep happening every time she used her magic power

The Captain and Kein tried to find a way to change that but neither of them was good with Fire Magic, Kein is an Earth Mage and the Captain is just a Warrior just like Elsie so there is nothing they can do to help her

Kein was standing in front of a window watching the mansion garden with a serious expression ' There is Selene but I haven't heard of her since Elena died just where she went? she is the only one trustworthy to help Kara after all... '

After the first incident, Kein discovered that Kara's blood has the same effect as Dragon blood, no, it was even better so the simple existence of that could bring trouble to Kara, attracting people far stronger than they can handle so the only ones that know about that were Elsie, the Captain, and Kein, after all, Kein opted to heal Kara with potions after seeing her bleed for the first time, the problem was that potions take longer to heal someone than Light Magic, so Kara suffered more time

Kein turns to see a maid behind him and say " Elsie can you bring Kara here, I need to speak to her "

Elsie bows her head a little saying " Yes, City Lord "

Elsie walked through the mansion, now Elsie is the last maid in the mansion. The same week that Kara suffered her first incident, Kein dismissed all the maids and butlers, with the exception of Elsie, he paid them a good amount of money to make them leave in silence

Elsie arrived in front of a wooden door then she opens the door slowly and says with a soft voice " Young miss, your father calls you "

Kara was sitting on her bed seeing her feet with a dazed expression, she wears a princess style pink dress and white sandals, she still has her long azure hair but now she has a pink hairband, when she heard Elsie's voice she raised her head to see her with a fake smile " Thanks Elsie I will go now "

Elsie nods and waited outside until she came out, she didn't wait for more than a minute until Kara came out of her room, Elsie made a sadden smile seeing the now often stoic face of Kara, but what made her smile was that Kara never stopped grabbing her hand. Kara and Elsie walked side by side through the mansion until they arrived in front of Kein

Kein sees Kara with a sweet smile and she walked towards him to hug him, Kein kneels and hugs Kara then he turns to see Elsie and say " You can leave Elsie I have something very important to say to Kara "

Elsie nods with a sad smile and leaves without saying anything. Kein separates from Kara and says her with a smile and soft voice " Kara do you want to train again? "

Kara opens her eyes widely and slowly puts down her head avoiding seeing her father to the eyes then she whispers " No "

Kein makes a sad smile seeing her but he says " If I find someone that could help you, you will train again " but suddenly Kein's smile disappeared after he saw tears coming down from Kara's bowed head

" Why daddy....? Why I am like this...? " Said Kara covering her eyes with her hands

Kein makes a serious face and says while her daughter was still sobbing " I will tell you, Kara "

Kara turns to see her father with surprise and tears still in her face. Kein begins to explain to Kara how she was born and what her mother had to do to save her life but he hid very well how she died because of that. They talked for some time unknowing that someone else heard their conversation

After Kein finished his history Kara watched Kein with a horrified expression then she stands from the sofa and whispers " I'm a monster...? " then she runs away crying again

" Kara! " Yelled the Kein and ran after her

Kein arrived in front of Kara's room but she locked the door. Kein tried to make Kara open her door for at least 5 minutes but nothing until Elsie arrived next to him with a worried expression and she talked to Kara. Kara open her door letting only Elsie enter her room

Kein makes and small sigh thinking ' She is still young, it was a good idea to hide her that her mother died for her ' then he leaves ' Elsie will take of her, I need to find Selene she will help her '

Kein leaves the mansion to find the Captain outside, he explains to him that they need to find Selene for Kara

The Captain went to gather the knights to make then gather information in the city about possible whereabouts of Selene while Kein went to contract a messenger to go to the Shaktar Kingdom and request help for that in the Adventurers Guild there

After that Kein returned to his mansion but when Kein was halfway to the mansion's wall, he saw the figure of a robed woman and a robed child trying to sneak from the Guards on the mansion's wall gates ' Those are..? ' Kein wondered for a second who they were but when he saw the child's hair he knew that they were Kara and Elsie

Kein frowns seeing them and yells " Elsie where are you going with Kara?! " Causing that the Guards turn to see behind them with surprise

When Elsie heard Kein, she surprised then she carried Kara in her arms and ran back to the mansion " Elsie! " Yelled Kein again and he and the two Guards ran after her. They chased Elsie through the mansion, but she used a speed boost, making a little difficult to them to catch her until they arrived at the roof there Elsie stopped to face Kein and the Guards with Kara still in her arms

" What are you doing Elsie?! " Yelled Kein with anger as the two Guards take out their swords

Elsie sees Kein with a very serious expression and says " Let us go, City Lord or we are going to die together " Elsie begins to walk back, approaching slowly to the edge of the roof. The mansion was 12 meters tall, that kind of fall couldn't kill someone as strong as Elsie, but that fall will be lethal to a child like Kara

" Eh? " Kara sees Elsie with a surprised and scared expression making Kein yell her " Kara, don't worry, daddy will save you! " Kara begins to struggle in Elsie's arms but Elsie doesn't release her

The Captain saw people in the roof as he was walking towards the mansion feeling that something wasn't right so he ran as fasts as he could towards the mansion

Kein begins to sweat noticing that Elsie arrived at the edge of the roof but neither he nor the Guards move towards her fearing that she could jump toking down Kara with her, so Kein yells with a worried voice and frowning expression " Why are you doing this Elsie?! I thought that you loved Kara like a little sister!? "

Elsie makes a pained expression hearing him and then Kara yells in her arms " Let me go, Elsie! you are scaring me! " that was the moment when Elsie turns to see Kara with a soft smile making Kara stop struggling and making Kein and the Guards relax but then Elsie kisses Kara's forehead and lets herself and Kara fall backward from the roof

" NOOO! " Yelled Kein with desperation " You bitch! " said the Guards as all of them ran to the place where they fell

As they were falling Kara's body begins to emit her blue fire again burning her, her clothes and Elsie, but that only made Elsie hug her tightly in front of her and when they were about to touch the ground Elsie moved her head backward making that the first thing that touched the ground were her head

*PAM* Elsie lied lifeless in the ground with her eyes half-open and blood coming from her ears, nose, nape, eyes and serious burn marks in her arms, c.h.e.s.t, stomach, and chin

Kara seems to be fine with injuries caused only by her powers, she passed out just for a few seconds then she gets up slowly in Elsie's body " Kara! " seeing that her father and the Captain approached her she blinked to then see Elsie's body with a paled and horrified expression " Kyaa! " she yelled and passed out again

" Kara! " with a worried expression, Kein grabs the unconscious Kara on the top of Elsie's dead body ignoring her completely, then he turns around saying to the Captain before entering the mansion " Dispose of her, Captain "

The Captain only nods as Kein passed beside him, then he walks until was near Elsie's body to kneel close to her head to watch her damaged head with a serious face

The two Guards arrived at the moment he kneeled and one of them says " Sir, let us dispose of her " and they grab Elsie's hands and legs

The Captain stands and nods saying when they carry her " Bury her outside of the city "

The two Guards watched the Captain with a shocked expression, after all, they don't think that she deserves to be buried after what she tried to do but they say " Yes, sir " and they carried Elsie outside the mansion

The Captain saw the departing Guards with a serious face thinking ' Why? she never intended to kill Kara it seems that she wanted to suicide, that kind of fall couldn't kill someone of her strength, It could be that she was forced? no, she had been in the mansion since Kara had 8 years and hasn't left the mansion since then, but her suicide points that she was been watched, but who was watching her? '

The Captain observes his surroundings carefully inspecting the tallest buildings near the mansion walls, but when he doesn't saw anything, he walked fast to the mansion ' I think that this isn't going to stop here '