Elias knew the Trix would tear apart the archives looking for him. The Dragon-Touched Tutor might have fire and a sword, but he was facing three powerful witches in their own territory. He needed time, and the best way to buy time was to ensure he got a second chance.
He quickly spent his remaining resources.
Purchase: [System Health Insurance] (Cost: 150 SP).
[ITEM ACQUIRED: AUTO-REVIVE TOKEN]
This token will be consumed automatically upon Host death, resurrecting the Host with 50% HP and 50% MP at a safe, undisclosed location.
[SP BALANCE: 0 SP]
"One life insurance policy," Elias muttered, tucking the knowledge of the token deep into his subconscious. Now, he needed to research.
Chapter 10: The Forbidden Scroll
Deep in the Archives
The archive was a vast, multi-level chamber. It smelled of ancient dust, parchment, and a palpable, low-level hum of contained dark magic. Elias used his low-level Dragon Fireball as a temporary, guiding light, revealing towering shelves that stretched into the gloom.
He didn't need to read every scroll. He needed a powerful, immediate solution—a spell that could fight the Trix and serve his own ends. He sprinted toward the sections marked with ominous runes, ignoring the shelves labeled "Basic Curses" or "Transfiguration Theory."
He chose a massive, chained tome resting on a stone pedestal. It was protected by a thick layer of ice.
"Icy's handiwork," Elias hissed.
He slammed his Enchanted Red Sword against the ice. The intense heat of the Dragon Fire edge hissed and steamed against the ice, but the blade held, cutting through the crystalline barrier.
He wrenched the heavy tome open. The title, scrawled in blood-red ink, read: The Doctrine of Absolute Zero.
As he focused on translating the ancient, dangerous text, the System obligingly copied the critical spells into his available knowledge base.
He found it: a power meant to be wielded by a supreme master of dark magic.
[FORBIDDEN SPELL FOUND: SHADOW MANIPULATION RITUAL]
Description: A ritual that allows the wielder to temporarily corrupt natural shadow into a defensive or offensive puppet.
Requirement: Requires 500 XP and 1 Dragon Flame Fragment to unlock.
Elias slammed the book shut. He had the XP, and thanks to his stable System, he had a fragment to spare.
[500 XP and 1 Dragon Flame Fragment consumed!]
[FORBIDDEN POWER Lvl 1: SHADOW MANIPULATION ACQUIRED!]
The Trix Ambush
Just as the notification cleared, the stone door shattered.
Icy, Darcy, and Stormy stormed into the archives, their eyes burning with lethal fury.
"There he is! The pathetic little double-crossing rat!" Icy shrieked, launching a massive Ice Spike that splintered a nearby shelf.
Elias sprinted behind a pillar, narrowly avoiding the attack.
"We gave you power, and you spit on our offer!" Stormy roared, sending a blast of Lightning that shorted out Elias's small fire. The archives were plunged into darkness.
This was exactly what Elias needed.
He focused his mind, drawing on the new, corrupted power he'd just purchased. He didn't use MP; the skill drew on the sheer, ambient darkness and his innate corruption.
"You like shadows, Darcy?" Elias yelled. "Let's see how you like being stalked by your own!"
He extended his hands, summoning the spell. The shadows beneath the three witches began to writhe and coalesce, pulling away from the floor. The ambient Dark Corruption meter ticked up to 15/100.
Three crude, shadowy humanoid figures rose up—dark, twisted mirror images of Icy, Darcy, and Stormy.
"What is this magic?" Darcy whispered, fear replacing her arrogance.
The shadow puppets, crude but powerful, immediately engaged their sources, clawing and grappling with the Trix. Icy was forced to focus her energy on freezing her shadow, Stormy on trying to blast hers away, and Darcy on fighting the suffocating grip of her own corruption.
Elias had bought himself a momentary reprieve and successfully completed his final objective.
[QUEST ACCOMPLISHED: THE ARCHIVE SECRETS]
[Reward: 2000 XP, 1000 SP, Forbidden Power Lvl 1 Unlocked]
[Level Up! LEVEL 5 \rightarrow LEVEL 6]
[SP BALANCE: 1000 SP]
"I'm out!" Elias shouted, throwing his Enchanted Red Sword as a final distraction. The sword pinned the large tome to the wall, blocking a major pathway.
He ran for the nearest exit, but he wasn't fast enough.
"He's escaping!" Icy screamed, finally freezing her shadow. She launched one last, desperate, chaotic blast of dark magic toward the retreating figure.
The powerful surge of Trix magic slammed into Elias's back. The force was crushing, the cold absolute.
[WARNING: CRITICAL DAMAGE! HP: 0/115]
[SYSTEM HEALTH INSURANCE TOKEN CONSUMED!]
The world dissolved into a blinding flash of white light, followed by the terrifying, deafening sound of a system failure alarm.
Conclusion: The Safe House
Elias awoke with a gasp. He was lying on soft grass, the sound of crickets replacing the thunder of the witches' attack. The air was warm and smelled of spring flowers.
He was in the courtyard of Alfea.
[HP: 57/115]
[MP: 100/200]
His Auto-Revive Token had worked, instantly transporting him to the "safe, undisclosed location" he knew best. He was battered, but alive, and he was exponentially more powerful.
He had the knowledge of the Shadow Manipulation spell, 1000 SP to spend, and the Dragon-Touched core to power it. He was a Lvl 6 hybrid warrior—a self-made fairy and specialist, now equipped with forbidden dark magic.
He stood up, his eyes meeting the sight of the Winx Club—Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, and Tecna—training in the distance. He had betrayed the Trix and taken their power, but in doing so, he had secured his future at the side of the people he was now destined to protect.
The transmigration was over. The journey of the System of the Dragon Flame had truly begun.
Now that Elias is safe and extremely powerful, what is his first major purchase with the 1000 SP?
* [Legendary Resource Generator]: A permanent, high-level upgrade to his Magic Converter, allowing him to generate 5 SP for every 5 MP consumed (Cost: 1000 SP).
* [Dragon Fire Blast Lvl 1]: A devastating, wide-area attack that consumes massive MP, but can wipe out a large group of low-tier enemies (Cost: 750 SP).
* [Dispel Magic (Forbidden)]: A highly advanced skill that can temporarily disable the magical transformation or spells of high-level opponents (Cost: 900 SP).