Selia's greatest blessing wasn't her status as a saintess, rank of a swordmaster or even the plethora of skills she was bestowed with or developed herself.
If anything, her greatest blessing was to keep her body in perfect order even when her soul was not.
'AAAAAAAAAAAAA'
Selia's thoughts would be a mess if a high-pitched scream of frustration, stress, disapproval and rebellion wasn't the only sound she could make in her mind.
If those feelings were to ever get out, she would be locked in place, screaming her guts out at just how unfair, broken and unpredictable the world could be.
Still, no matter what, her body maintained perfect order. Her back was as straight as her instructors always wanted it to be, her face clear of a single doubt or hesitation…
And only her eyes, her damned eyes, continued to spark so much, Selia could almost physically feel it.
Regardless of her feelings or thoughts, though, Selia perfectly managed her cold, indifferent attitude. When it came to the part where her body and her mind had to cooperate to turn her thoughts into sounds…
Selia was too distraught to use anything but short, almost snubbing sentences, often no longer than just a single word!
This attitude of hers, a defense mechanism designed to minimize the damage while she was too distracted to control herself, now led her a little bit too far down the usual path.
And with her mind still filled with nothing but her own screams and questions, she now had to face a massive issue.
'How?! JUST HOW?!'
She pressed fingers against the inner palm of her hands, coiling them into fists while she gritted her teeth.
'JUST HOW IS THIS KID… HIM?!'
Even now, after this lost kid went through his entire story and arrived at a conclusion that splitting paths with Selia would be a better choice for him than trying to follow her, Selia…
She was stuck on the very first image she saw when she spotted him.
A presence that had no right to be in the deep insides of the Jungle of Doom.
Selia didn't need to look up to the kid's system to figure out how weak or strong he was. Just his presence alone was enough for her to tell that even among mortals, this guy wouldn't be able to stand out.
And yet?
He clearly survived a Doom Panther's attack, as anyone could guess from the monster's footprint all around him.
Puzzled, she raised her eyes to check what kind of unorthodox system or title would allow one to punch so far out of their own weight class…
And that's when she saw it.
Two words, less than a sentence, and yet?
And yet it meant a whole world to the girl.
Just those two words were enough to root the girl on the spot as those two words rang so extremely deeply in her soul.
Back then, Selia's stunned response was limited to just one question, 'that easy?'
She was here to find "the one." The man of the prophecy. The man who she was to find and offer her everything to, not only as a woman…
But even more importantly, as a saintess.
And yet, the very moment Selia raised her eyes again to confirm what she saw, the system window above the kid's head was… empty?
If anyone else saw it, they would likely assume the kid to be a monster in disguise.
Only monsters didn't have systems. Their refusal of Jahel's blessing was what made them monsters to begin with!
Selia, however, was one of the extremely few in the world who knew a little bit more about the systems, about the divine grace offered to this world. Which also made her the most suited candidate to welcome "the one" into this world.
It was her destiny as a saintess, even if it clashed directly with her destiny as a sword saint.
Such was the gloom of the bearers of the double titles, bound by two different fates that often didn't go hand in hand.
And yet…
Selia could still remember every word of the prophecy.
She could easily see the traces of fear, resignation… and something far darker yet hid too deep in this kid's eyes for her to put a finger on.
But she could also see the determination as he asked her for directions to safety. Which also served as a wake-up call for Selia, forcing her to realize what her auto-mode nearly led to.
'Wait, no!'
Selia's eyes widened.
'I might dislike it, but he really seems to be the one,' she thought.
She came to this forest to find the person from the divine prophecy. And by all means, she just found him. Yet, due to the shortcomings of her character, he was now trying to get himself killed by walking this deadly ground on his powerless own?!
'And if he dies…'
Selia shuddered at the mere thought of the consequences this would have not only upon her but also the entire world as a whole.
It didn't matter if she thought this man fitting the role or not. It didn't matter if she thought him a disappointment, a mere joke when compared to the kind of person her entire faith anticipated the arrival of.
Selia wasn't a free woman. She was a sword saintess.
A sword saint and a saintess of the Johel order.
And despite all of her attempts to strengthen her sword saint fate to make it dominate her saintess fate, now that the destiny came calling, she could no longer pretend to ignore it.
After all, the divine wasn't something anyone would ever dare to mess with!
'AAAARGH!' Selia gritted her teeth and clenched her jaws, turning around on the spot, not wanting this weird kid to spot even the tiniest change on her face that might slip past her control.
Then, there was this strange glint in this kid's eyes. A curiosity. His lack of system or a title resulting from completing all of the system's quests. Another curiosity. And then the food he mentioned…
"Haaah…" with a long sigh and a shake of her head filled with resignation, Selia turned back to face that weird kid again.
"I guess you are right," she said while somewhat relaxing, feeling the burden of the unforeseen consequences lessening somewhat. "I've been working solo for so long, I forgot how it is to travel with someone in tow. And with the situation as it is… Fine, I will help you out."
On the inside, Selia celebrated.
'You hear that? This gracious sister will now save your sorry ass so that we can properly find just what breed of weirdo you are,' she thought, proud over how she managed to spin the narrative in her favor.
Yet, as she looked back?
The darkness in that kid's eyes, the very darkness she only spotted a hint of before, had now turned much, much more intense.
Yet, just like with that "the one" title of his, it persisted for just a single moment before vanishing into thin air, only to be replaced by a perfectly empty, court smile on the kid's face.
"Thank you, Sword-Saintess," the kid spoke, his voice perfectly modulated to the point it gave Selia some weird vibes. "I will be sure never to forget this favor."