I Awakened the Cursed Water Affinity

In my previous life, my boyfriend Bobby ripped my priceless Water Affinity right out of my soul and handed it over to his precious golden girl, Lyla.

They dumped me in the wasteland like a piece of trash, leaving me to bake into a mummified corpse under the scorching desert sun.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day my powers awakened.

A mechanical, icy voice echoed in my mind.

[Please select your ability conduit: A. Equivalent Exchange. B. Lifespan Consumption.]

Looking at the two hypocrites standing in front of me, I swallowed down a tidal wave of pure hatred and made my choice without a single heartbeat of hesitation.

"I choose B."

You wanted my powers so badly, Lyla? Take them.

Let's see how well you play the untouchable beauty when you are wearing the face of a shriveled old crone.

My skin had cracked and blistered against the boiling desert sands. In the final moments before my consciousness faded, completely drained of moisture, the last thing burned into my vision was the nauseating sight of Bobby and Lyla standing over me.

I hated them. God, I hated them.

In my past life, when the Scorched Earth apocalypse hit, I awakened the ultra-rare Water Affinity.

The system gave me two choices for my power source: Equivalent Exchange or Lifespan Consumption.

Terrified of dying young, I chose the former. Every single day, I carefully extracted moisture from dirt and dead wood, trading physical matter to provide our survival camp with their only source of drinking water.

I honestly thought my absolute devotion and caution would earn Bobby's loyalty and protection.

I was dead wrong. In his eyes, I would never hold a candle to Lyla, his childhood sweetheart.

To ensure Lyla lived like a queen in the wasteland, he used his incredibly rare Siphon ability to forcibly rip my Water Affinity right out of my chest and graft it onto her.

I was reduced to a crippled mortal. They tossed me into a dusty corner, and during a violent raid for supplies, I was left behind to die of dehydration under the merciless sun.

"Serena! Serena, wake up!"

My eyes snapped open. Blinding sunlight and a suffocating wave of heat instantly swallowed me.

Hovering above me was Bobby's familiar, detestable face. He was shaking my shoulders in an absolute panic.

I was reborn.

The cold, mechanical voice chimed in my head once more.

[System Alert: Host mental state stabilized. Water Affinity awakened.]

[Please select your ability conduit: A. Equivalent Exchange. B. Lifespan Consumption.]

I was back. I was actually back.

Back to the exact moment my powers manifested.

My heart slammed against my ribs in a chaotic mix of wild ecstasy and homicidal rage.

"Babe, are you okay? You awakened the Water Affinity!" Bobby's voice trembled with poorly suppressed excitement. Standing right behind him, Lyla watched me with a highly calculated look, a frail, innocent smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

It was exactly the same. Exactly like my past life.

You love my powers that much?

Perfect.

In this life, I am going to give you a gift. A little surprise bought and paid for with human life.

I lowered my eyelashes, burying the lethal intent exploding in my pupils.

When I looked up again, I grabbed my head with both hands. My body began to violently convulse. I drained all the blood from my face.

"It hurts. It hurts so much," I gasped out, my voice ragged. "There is something inside my body. It's tearing me apart. I can't control it."

My acting was absolutely flawless. Anyone watching would assume this was severe biological rejection, a common side effect for newly awakened mutants.

Bobby immediately pulled me into a tight, dramatic embrace, his voice dripping with fake sympathy. "Don't panic. This is normal for a new awakening. Your body is just too frail. I've got you."

He glanced up at Lyla. His eyes were swimming with toxic, sacrificial love, while Lyla perfectly mirrored his gaze with a look of deep, theatrical concern.

I knew the script. The circus act was about to begin.

While leaning weakly against Bobby's chest, I gave the system my final answer.

"I choose option B. Lifespan Consumption."

The moment the choice locked in, I could have sworn I heard a demon laughing in the back of my mind.

You wanted my power so desperately, Lyla?

Let's see how much you enjoy it when your youth rots away from the inside out.

I played the agony to the absolute limit. I slumped heavily against Bobby, hyperventilating as if I were about to pass out entirely.

The rest of the survival squad crowded around us. Their cracked, bleeding lips and desperate eyes screamed of their thirst.

But seeing my body violently rejecting the new power, their desperation morphed into anxiety and thinly veiled frustration.

"Bobby, what are we supposed to do? Serena is in no shape to produce water!" one of the scavengers yelled, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, we are dying of thirst out here!"

Lyla stepped forward right on cue. She bit her lower lip, her voice sickeningly gentle. "Bobby, don't force her. Look how much pain she is in. Awakening a power is a life-or-death gamble. With a constitution as weak as hers, forcing her to use it will literally kill her."

Bobby looked at Lyla with an aching tenderness. Then, a look of profound, heroic resolve washed over his face.

"Everyone, calm down! I have a solution."

He took a deep breath. "Serena, my gift is Siphoning. Using it drains me heavily, but for you, and for this team, it is a risk I have to take. I will temporarily transfer your power into Lyla. Her physical stats are much higher than yours. She can produce the water we need, and once you fully recover, I will return the power to you. How does that sound?"

Temporarily. What a beautiful lie. Return it. What a joke.

In my past life, I was absolutely blinded by his deep, emotional performance. I actually thought he was putting his life on the line to save mine.

I sneered internally, but on the outside, I forced out a weak, deeply moved smile. Tears pooled perfectly in my eyes. "Bobby. If you do this for me, won't it damage your body? I can handle the pain, really."

"Don't be silly. I'd do anything for you," Bobby interrupted, his tone practically bleeding devotion.

He didn't give me a chance to argue. He slammed one hand onto my shoulder and the other onto Lyla's.

A massive, invisible force ripped through my core. I could physically feel the aquatic energy connected to my very soul being brutally hijacked, dragged out of my veins, and forced into Lyla's body.

Bobby's face went chalk white. Beads of cold sweat erupted across his forehead. He swayed on his feet.

That was the price of the Siphon. He was burning his own lifespan to make the transfer.

Serves him right.

When the final thread of energy severed from me, Lyla's eyes snapped open, glowing with a brilliant, euphoric light.

She eagerly raised her hand, palm facing the sky.

"Water! I can feel the water!"

A second later, a crystal-clear stream materialized out of thin air, spiraling elegantly above her palm before cascading down into the cracked, barren dirt. It hit the hot soil with a loud sizzle.

"It's water! Actual water!"

"Lyla is incredible! We are saved!"

The entire camp exploded into sheer delirium.

Everyone rushed Lyla, forming a tight circle around her, gazing up at her with a feverish, cult-like worship.

As for me? I was shoved aside so violently I crashed into the dirt.

Bobby, the man who had just promised to protect me with his life, stood proudly by Lyla's side, basking in her glory.

I sat in the dust, wiping the dirt off my cheek.

I hope you love the gift, you two.

Lyla became the undisputed god of the camp. Everyone treated her like royalty, orbiting her like she was the center of the universe.

"Lyla, I am so parched. Can I have just a sip?"

"Lyla, my blades are covered in mutant blood. Can I get a rinse?"

"Lyla, the heat is brutal today. Everyone is exhausted. Do you think you could... maybe give us a little rain to cool off?"

She agreed to absolutely everything.

She was completely addicted to the intoxicating rush of causing a crowd to cheer with a simple flick of her wrist.

Spring water, hovering liquid spheres, even absurdly wasteful artificial rain showers. She squandered the stolen power with zero hesitation, pushing her status to absolute deity levels.

She even conjured enough pure water to take a full bath. In the wasteland, bathing was an extravagance reserved for emperors.

Basking in the jealous, awe-struck stares of the other women, her vanity fed on the attention like a parasite.

I was entirely forgotten.

The only time anyone remembered I existed was during ration distribution, when they would toss me the moldy, hardened scraps like a stray dog.

I didn't care. I just sat in the shadows, coldly watching Lyla summon water again and again.

With every single drop that materialized, I could almost see the silver threads weaving into her hair.

Karma didn't keep me waiting long.

Just three days later, after a massive water conjuring, Lyla instinctively pulled out her prized pocket mirror to admire her own reflection.

A bloodcurdling, ear-piercing scream shattered the silence of the camp.

The scavengers rushed over in a panic. Lyla was pointing a trembling finger at her own face. The mirror slipped from her grip and shattered on the rocks.

"My eyes. What is happening to my eyes?" Her voice was a hysterical, terrified quiver.

The people closest to her leaned in. They gasped. The skin around the corners of her eyes, which had been flawless and tight that morning, was now etched with deep, unmistakable crow's feet.

"You're probably just exhausted, Lyla. You've been working way too hard for us lately," one of the men offered, his voice lacking conviction.

Lyla snatched up a broken shard of the mirror, her panic skyrocketing by the second.

It wasn't just the wrinkles. Her vibrant, glowing hair looked completely fried. It was dull, brittle, and lifeless.

A dark, terrifying premonition twisted in her gut. But the sheer addiction to the camp's worship pushed the fear down.

To secure her crown and prove to everyone that she was perfectly fine, she decided to pull a massive stunt.

"Everyone, watch this!" Lyla climbed onto the roof of an abandoned transport truck. She took a deep breath, pushing the hijacked power to its absolute limit. "I am going to bring a true oasis down upon us!"

Dark clouds aggressively materialized overhead. A torrential downpour crashed into the desert camp.

Men and women danced in the mud, screaming her name, chanting for their goddess.

Lyla stood perfectly in the center of the deluge, soaking in the god-like worship with a deeply satisfied smirk.

What she couldn't feel was the massive, terrifying volume of life force being violently sucked out of her marrow to fuel the storm.

The rain stopped.

When the clouds parted and the blinding desert sun illuminated Lyla's face, the cheering died instantly.

A graveyard silence fell over the camp.

Absolute horror was painted on every single face in the crowd.

Lyla's previously youthful, delicate face was literally sagging before their eyes.

Her cheeks were hollow and drooping. Deep, heavy laugh lines carved into her face like ravines. And the most terrifying part of all: thick strands of her hair had turned a stark, sickly gray under the sunlight.

She no longer looked like a vibrant twenty-year-old. She looked like a haggard, exhausted woman pushing forty.

Lyla sensed the dead silence. Her hands shot up, frantically feeling her own face.

"My face. Oh my god, what is wrong with my face?!"

Overnight, the wasteland goddess mutated into a monster.

No one dared to flatter her anymore. The entire squad avoided her like the plague, casting fearful, paranoid glances her way.

"Look at her. I swear she aged another year just walking over here."

"That power is cursed. Do you think she's trading her actual life for the water?"

"Shut up! Keep your voice down, or she'll cut off our supply!"

The whispers acted like toxic needles, driving themselves deep into Lyla's fragile psyche.

She locked herself in her tent. She shattered every reflective surface she could find. She spent her days entirely consumed by the suffocating terror of her own rapid decay.

Finally, she completely snapped.

"Bobby! Get your ass in here right now!" a hysterical, demonic shriek erupted from the tent.

Bobby rushed inside, only to find a woman who looked like a deranged asylum patient.

She lunged at him, grabbing him by the collar with claw-like fingers. "What the hell is happening to me? What kind of demonic curse did you put inside my body? It is eating my life! It is eating me alive!" Lyla sobbed, her voice raw and jagged.

Bobby was equally horrified. Staring at Lyla's sagging, aged face, a spike of pure ice drove straight up his spine.

He wasn't an idiot.

Remembering how violently Serena had convulsed during her awakening, and seeing Lyla's rapid decay, the truth slammed into him like a freight train.

Serena's Water Affinity demanded lifespan as payment.

"I. I had no idea it would do this." Bobby's voice shook violently. He tried to peel her off him, but she clung to him like a rabid dog.

"You didn't know?!" Lyla viciously slapped him across the face. "You jammed this death sentence into my soul. And now you tell me you didn't know?!"

She hammered her fists against his chest like a maniac. "Give it back to her! Right now! Do it right now! Give this fucking curse back to that bitch! I don't want it! I refuse to get old! I don't want to die!"

Her paralyzing fear of aging entirely obliterated her lust for power.

Right now, her only goal in life was to throw this ticking time bomb back into the hands of its original owner.

Under Lyla's violent demands, and driven by his own rising terror, Bobby caved.

He stumbled out of the tent and marched straight over to where I was sitting in the dirt, idly drawing circles with a dried twig.

"Serena."

I looked up slowly, meeting his eyes with absolute deadpan silence.

"It seems this ability is better suited for you," he panted, out of breath. "Lyla's body can't handle the strain. I am returning it to you."

His tone was incredibly arrogant, laced with a sickening sense of pity.

"This is your destiny, Serena. Do your part and serve the camp until your time is up."

Lyla practically crawled out of the tent, her bloodshot eyes locked onto me like a predator.

The rest of the camp gathered around, their faces plastered with cruel, expectant sneers.

Bobby didn't waste another second. He clamped one hand onto my wrist, grabbed Lyla's trembling hand with the other, and forced his vile ability to activate.

"Siphon!"

A massive, familiar surge of energy rushed back into my body like a flock of birds returning to the nest. My veins burned with life.

I could feel every inch of my skin, every single cell, practically singing in ecstasy.

The moment the transfer finished, Bobby swayed violently. His face turned the color of ash. He looked completely hollowed out.

But he ignored his own condition. Just like everyone else, his eyes were glued to me.

"Do it! Use the power!" Lyla shrieked. She was vibrating with anticipation, desperate to see my skin wrinkle and my hair turn white. "You have the power now, right? Make some water for us!"

"Yeah, come on! We're thirsty!" someone in the crowd mocked.

They were all waiting for it. Waiting for me to age. Waiting for my youth to evaporate.

Waiting for me to suffer a fate far worse than Lyla's.

In that exact split second, the cold, mechanical voice chimed clearly in the center of my mind.

[System Alert: Conduit mode reset.]

[Please select your ability conduit: A. Equivalent Exchange. B. Lifespan Consumption.]

"Why aren't you doing it? Are you scared?" Lyla's shrill voice cut through the air. Seeing my face remain perfectly youthful after receiving the power, a sliver of deep panic began to gnaw at her.

"Serena, stop playing games. Produce the water right now!" Bobby barked. He assumed I was just stalling, trying to run away from my inevitable death sentence.

Scared?

I smiled.

In the silence of my mind, I gave the system my final command.

"I choose A. Equivalent Exchange."

In a fraction of a second, the fundamental nature of the energy coursing through my veins completely transformed.

The violent, life-devouring parasite vanished, replaced by a pure, gentle, elemental force that seamlessly fused with my soul.

Under the suspicious, hostile glares of the entire camp, I casually stood up and walked over to a pile of dried, rotted wood we used for firewood.

"What the hell is she doing?"

"Stop acting crazy!"

Lyla and Bobby stared at me unblinkingly. They couldn't compute why I wasn't screaming in pain like they expected.

I slowly raised my hand and pressed my palm flat against the dead timber.

The next second, a miracle occurred.

A surge of crystal-clear water, moving as if it had a mind of its own, erupted from the exact spot where my skin touched the dry wood. It cascaded to the ground, instantly forming a pristine, bubbling spring in the dirt.

My complexion was glowing. My energy was practically radiating. There was absolutely zero sign of aging.

Dead silence.

Time literally froze in the camp.

Every single expression completely solidified.

The cruelty, the mockery, the gleeful anticipation of my suffering. It all shattered, instantly replaced by unfathomable shock and raw, unadulterated horror.

"No. That's impossible." Lyla was the first to break. She let out a guttural shriek. "How is this happening?! Why aren't you getting old?! Why?!"

She couldn't process what she was seeing.

The exact same ability. On her, it was a lethal, parasitic curse. But in my hands, it was effortless. It was totally harmless.

Bobby looked like he had been struck by lightning. He staggered backward, his face totally devoid of blood.

He stared at me, then stared at the endless stream of pure water pouring onto the sand. A terrifying realization detonated inside his skull.

The power didn't work the way they thought it did.

The rest of the scavengers didn't even dare to breathe.

They stared blankly at me, watching the endless flow of water, looking back up at my flawless, radiant face. The contempt in their eyes vanished entirely, instantly replaced by sheer awe and bone-deep terror.

They finally realized the catastrophic magnitude of their mistake.

They had treated the true god like a sacrificial lamb.

And they had worshipped a pathetic, thieving clown as their savior.

I pulled my hand back. The water stopped instantly.

Looking at their horrified, trembling faces, a vicious, deeply satisfying thrill of vengeance washed over me.