Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

A week passed by at a snail's pace for Mira as she spent most of her time holed up in a pitch-black cavern deep underground. There wasn't a waking moment she wasn't training her darkness affinity or Yin Fire, though she spent much more time on the former.

This past week was incredibly beneficial to Mira, not just with her affinities but her worldview as well. She learned not to take the elements at face value and to try and look deeper into the world around her. Following that simple advice, Mira saw an increase in efficiency during her training, which is saying something.

Increasing one's comprehension of the elements isn't just about seeing them and hoping to reach enlightenment; it's about asking questions and formulating answers based on those questions.

During this time, Mira also learned about the grades for affinities, which aren't any different from the Weapon/Technique/Physique/Pill/Array/Etc. Grading System, except for the last Realm. So, instead of the Divine Grade linked to both the Divine Sea Realm and Ascension Realm, it's split into two; The Divine Grade is only related to the Divine Sea Realm, and the Ascendant Grade is connected to the Ascension Realm.

Thus, the Grading System for affinities goes like this:

Human (Equivalent to the Body Tempering Realm)

Mortal (Equivalent to the Qi Condensation Realm and Foundation Realm)

Earth (Equivalent to the Core Formation Realm)

Heaven (Equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm)

Mystical (Equivalent to the Mortal Shedding Realm)

Divine (Equivalent to the Divine Sea Realm)

Ascendant(Equivalent to the Ascension Realm)

Origin (Growth-Type)

While this is the grading system for affinities, it's much looser than it is for weapons, pills, etc. For example, a Low-Stage Heaven Grade Sword has the power equivalent to someone in the first few stages of the Nascent Soul Realm.

However, affinities work a little differently. If someone has a Low-Stage Heaven-Grade Fire affinity, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be able to unleash the power of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm. Their power output depends on their cultivation, training, and understanding of their own element. Many Sects, Families, and Clans base their cultivation talent on one's affinity grade, but whether this works is unknown as there is more than one factor that goes into that kind of talent.

Simply put, the grades are a measure of one's potential power output. Though, if someone has a Late-Stage Heaven Grade Fire affinity and they're in the Core Formation Realm, they'll be able to unleash more power than someone with a Low-Stage Heaven Grade affinity while in the same Realm.

The only grade that doesn't follow this rule is the Origin Grade.

While someone with a Peak-Stage Heaven Grade affinity can increase their affinity to the Mystical Grade, doing so requires rare treasures and a deep understanding of their element. From then on, increasing the potential of said element only gets more demanding, requiring more and more resources.

However, if someone has an Origin-Grade affinity, although they might start weak, they'll be able to increase their strength just through comprehension. Rare treasures will also work, but they aren't necessary. It also means that even if one's cultivation is lower than the grade of their affinity, they'll be able to unleash their full power.

For example, if someone with an Origin-Grade affinity brings their fire element up to the Mystical-Grade while in the Nascent Soul Realm, they'll be able to unleash the power of someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm. This comes with consequences, naturally, but it's possible.

That's what Mira has. All of her affinities are Origin-Grade, meaning she can continuously increase their power.

After a week of training her Yin Fire and Darkness, Mira managed to raise all of them, except for Wind and Lightning, to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, on the verge of stepping into the Late-Stage Heaven Grade.

Just from her affinities alone, Mira's almost as strong as someone in the Soul Transformation Realm!

"Congratulation, Mira, on passing my 'Learning the Darkness Element for Dummies' course! Thanks to my excellent teaching skills, you've passed this trial for the Hell of Weakness!" The Guardian exclaimed.

Mira's impassive face didn't change, as she was used to the Guardian's way of speaking.

She sighed, her eyelids drooping a bit with dark bags under her eyes, "If you consider trying to kill me, training, then I suppose you did a great job."

The Guardian snorted at the bitter tone in her voice, "Hmph! Don't tell me you didn't like it. I know just how much stronger you've gotten over the last week."

Mira couldn't deny that, nor was she complaining about what the Guardian did to her over the last week. She just didn't want him taking all the credit when it was her doing everything. He only sat in some unknown location, tossing random attacks at her to survive and study, occasionally giving her advice.

"I guess now that my Yin Fire and Darkness are at the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, it's time to move on to the last two elements, Wind and Yin Lightning," Mira said in a low voice.

Soon, she felt the restriction from the Hell of Weakness shift over to those two elements, with Wind being the weakest of all her elements by far, sitting at the Late-Stage Mortal Grade.

"I don't think you'll need my help with those two, as you're actually fairly talented with the lightning element, and you have plenty of experience with the wind element thanks to that Celaine girl."

Mira nodded her head, agreeing with the Guardian. The Ancient Beast Mountain Range was also filled with wind and lightning, so finding places to train shouldn't be hard.

She got up to leave the cave, but before she did, she had one more question for the Guardian, "Will this be the last trial for the Hell of Weakness?"

The Guardian went silent for a moment before he sneered, "Heh! The last trial? Do you really think that your affinities are your only weakness? Don't tell me you're that naive to believe that?"

Mira fell silent, her eyes going hazy as the image of a golden-haired beauty entered her mind, then shook her head. Of course, she didn't believe this was her only weakness, as off the top of her head, she could name a few.

Without another word, Mira left the cave to find Rhydian.

'Time to chase some storms and be done with these damn affinities.'

***

Meanwhile, outside the cavern Mira was in, Rhydian was having a field day! Just after Mira entered seclusion, an influx of Rank 7 beasts flooded the mountains! Although the winged wolf knew that something was wrong, she didn't care.

'My prey is coming straight to me!'

She was just happy that she could laze around all day and enemies would come to her. Nothing was better in this world to her than getting stronger by doing nothing!

Over the last week, she must've killed hundreds of beasts, perhaps more, without having to move a centimeter! It didn't matter what came her way. As long as it stepped in front of her, it died.

Right now, she was lying above the place where Mira secluded herself, surrounded by blood and bones. Yet, without even trying, a pack of 25 Mid-Stage Rank 7 Star-horned wolves approached, with the leader being a Late-Stage Rank 7 wolf.

These wolves had silver-grey fur and stood about a meter tall, much smaller than Rhydian. However, their most notable features were the star on their foreheads with a horn growing out of it.

Rhydian gazed at them lazily, stood up, and prepared to tear them apart before the leading woof barked.

"Woof! (Wait!)"

[A/N: The words in parenthesis are what the beasts are trying to communicate.]

Rhydian tilted her head, confused. She stared at the wolves, contemplating whether she should ignore his words and kill him or not.

'Why did my prey approach me, then tell me to wait?' She pondered but couldn't come up with an answer.

'Doesn't matter!' She shook her head and prepared to attack again, causing the wolves to panic.

"Woooooof! Woof woof woof, Woof~! (Waaaait! Hear me out, Your Lordship!)"

The leading wolf bowed its head, followed by the rest of them.

'Lordship?' Rhydian's head tilted in the other direction at the unfamiliar word. She stared at the wolves, trying to find any trace of deceit, but with their heads lowered, all she saw was submission.

'I guess I can hear them out.' She thought as she relaxed her wings and nudged her nose, indicating them to continue.

All the wolves seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief when they saw that, but just as it was about to begin speaking, a goddess with nine tails appeared next to Rhydian. The Star-horned wolves were stunned for a moment, unable to move, but when the goddess jumped on Rhydian's back, they reacted!

"Grrrr!" The hairs on their backs stood up, and they snarled at her, ready to attack.

"What the fuck is going on here?" The goddess muttered while staring at them in confusion and disdain.